Page 87 of Veil of Vengeance

My hands tremble at my sides as I shake my head, fear gripping me, but I push through. “No. I will not.” He points the gun at me, and before I know what’s happening, Emiliano has pushed me out of the way of the gunfire and taken a bullet to his abdomen.

He falls to the ground with a thud, and I scream, my stomach dropping. No. No. This isn’t fair. Hot tears run down my face as I watch Emiliano wince as he tries to stand up. My dad advances on us, his hand grabbing my hair and he pulling me up. Romiro bursts through the open balcony door in that moment with Lucio behind him, both of them with their guns drawn.

“Put the girl down, Moretti, or I’ll fucking shoot a bullet right between your beady little eyes,” Romiro demands. Dad’s grip tightens, and he pulls me up in a headlock. The feel of the cool metal against my temple makes me pause.

“You fuckers need to get off my property and out of my territory before I blow her fucking brains.” Dad pushes the gun's mouth farther into my skull, emphasizing his threat. I claw at his thick fat arm, but he just pushes his arm into my throat. When I look down to see if Emiliano is fine, I only see a patch of blood. Romiro’s face is twisted in a look that can only be described as a pure boiling rage. I only notice a fraction of a nod before I hear the sound of a gunshot that makes my eyes ring and the warm feeling of something splattering on the side of my face.

Emiliano has killed my Dad. On my wedding day.

Dad slugs off behind me and drags me down with him. He lands with a thud, and I manage to push his arm off me before I fall to the floor.

Morbid curiosity gets the best of me, and as I’m about to turn to look, Romiro warns, “Don’t look back or you won’t be able to sleep.” My head snaps to the front, and Romiro huffs out an amused laugh before he sobers up. “We need to get out of here. Lucio, help me get Emiliano. Val, go to the balcony. Matteo is waiting down there for you.”

I look back at Emiliano, who gives me a meek smile, his face ashen. I reach for him, but he shakes his head at me. My nerves are running rampant as I move to the balcony and look down to find Matteo down there. He gives me a wave before pointing at a rope that’s hooked to the balcony rod. I swallow as I feel my throat go dry before quickly taking off my heels, throwing them down and aiming far from where Matteo is standing. Next, I rip off the bottom half of my dress. A groan from behind me makes me rub my hands together and grab the first step on the ladder to climb down. I try not to think about what has just happened. Looking back up, I find Lucio beginning to climb down, and I almost slip. I don’t know how Emiliano is going to get out of there.

“Jump,” Matteo instructs me, and I find that I’m only a couple of inches up from the ground. I can tell I’m slowing them down, so I quickly close my eyes and jump. I land and manage to fall on my back, a couple of feet away from where Matteo is standing. I quickly get up, grab my heels, and put them on.

“Come with me,” Matteo instructs once I’m near him. He quickly walks ahead of me toward the fence that separates the garden and the forest.

“What about them?” I ask. He doesn’t look back as he grunts.

“They’ll be fine. We need to get you out of here first.” I quickly walk after him to catch up. He stops before the fence and turns to look at me. “I’m going to climb first and then pull you up.”

He doesn’t wait for me to agree, and he climbs until he stands on the stone part of the fence. Extending one arm, he grabs the fence with the other. Matteo manages to pull me up the second time after I’d slipped the first, and we drop over to the other side. Romiro, Lucio, and Emiliano make it to the fence by the time we’re on the other side. Matteo begins to walk, and I follow after him, looking back a couple of times to make sure that the other three are following us. We get to the road where a parked car is hidden from view.

Once we’ve all quickly piled into the car, the drive begins. It’s only a matter of time before everyone figures out what has happened. I hope my sisters, brother, and mom will be okay since Dad is now dead. I’m sitting next to Emiliano, who’s sweating like he’s run a marathon, his white shirt soaked in his blood. Romiro is sat next to him as Matteo drives the car as fast as he can.

“Matteo, drive till we reach Ohio. We need to get the bullet out.”

Matteo at Romiro’s instructions and turns back to the road. Romiro presses a piece of fabric to Emiliano’s wound, and Emiliano winces. I really hope we can make it out of Outfit territory before everyone figures out what has happened. The wedding should have started by now, which means everyone just thinks that Dad and I are a little late, unless the guards in the house have alerted everyone. ?

We make it to Ohio in under five hours and manage to get Emiliano to one of the Camorra’s hospitals in time.

“He needs a minor surgery. The bullet is still in there and we need to get it out.”

The doctor talks to Romiro and both of Emiliano’s brothers. Emiliano is asleep, hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor.

“Okay, do it as soon as possible,” Romiro tells the doctor, and so do Lucio and Matteo. The doctor drones on about something else before rushing out of the room. I’m clutching Emiliano’s hand as the hot wet tears roll down my cheeks.

“You fucking asshole, you better wake up soon so I can kick your dumb ass. Why the fuck would you do something as stupid as jump in front of a bullet?” I ask, and Romiro’s hand lands on my back as he tries to soothe me.

“You know why, Val, come on. It’s the same reason he breached Outfit territory for you.”

I sniff, trying to compose myself.

“Yeah, I guess I do,” I mutter.

He needs to wake up. He shouldn’t get to tell me he loves me and then fucking die.

CHAPTER 22

EMILIANO

Darkness is all I see, and the throbbing pain in the side of my abdomen feels like shit. I can hear someone talking near me. Actually, no, it’s an angel talking with me. Did I fucking die by a fucking Moretti’s hands like my Dad? I groan, and all of a sudden, something grips my hand.

“Oh my God, Eli. Wake up. Are you awake? Romiro, go call the doctor, he’s awake.” She squeezes my hand, and my eyes fling open, only to fall shut again as the blinding white light stings my eyes. I try to open them again and blink away the black spots.

“What’s my name?” I croak at Valentina, who’s standing next me with a worried look in her eyes.

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