Revenge Vows: A Forced Marriage Mafia Romance (Ruthless Mafia Sinners)
Chapter 29

“Antonio! Please.” My fruitless cry is trapped in the room with me as the shelf slides shut.

I look down at the pistol in my hands, and shivers run down my spine. I tuck the gun into my bag shakily and retrieve my phone. The bright light illuminates the dark space, and I see the flight of stairs he is talking about.

Behind me, I can hear the faint sounds of feet flying. My blood runs cold as I think about him. What did I expect coming here? That he would run away with me? I scoff in pain. “You are so delusional, Alyssa.”

I am delusional that I want nothing but to stand by his side as he fights, but even in my folly, I know I will be nothing more than a burden to him. There is a loud squeak in the room, and the beam of light follows a mouse as it hops down the stairs.

I begin down the roughly plastered steps, my heart beating so fast that I can hear the drumming in my ears. Antonio is right. I am too cowardly to go through with anything. Why did I come here?

Why does it scare me so much to look into his eyes and tell him that I am carrying his child? Even at the thought, cold shivers run down my spine again. I can almost hear him laugh in disgust, or worse, he could pity me and be kind to me, merely tolerating me because that was what was expected.

I never thought a man would tell me to leave twice, but he has, and this time, maybe I just might listen. At the end of the stairwell, there is a wooden door. My heart leaps in fear as I feel the rusted bolts. I pull them, and they snap back quickly, but the door doesn’t budge.

I grab the rusted knob, slippery with the damp, and on the third push, the door falls open, and the fresh evening air hits my face. The day is quickly melting away, and the night is falling. I step out onto muddy ground to replace out that Antonio was right. I am outside the mansion, just beyond its walls.

I turn back to take one last look at the prison that held me for so long that I started to look at it as a home. I feel a sharp pain in my chest as I pull my eyes away, and I begin to walk to the road. Then, from nowhere, there comes a shattering noise. I duck just in time, covering my head with my hands as a shower of little stones falls around me.

I should keep on walking; it’s the sensible thing to do. I can’t save him; he doesn’t want to save me either. So, I press forward despite my whole body edging back towards the mansion.

“What on earth are you doing here?”

I turn to see Bunny standing before me, looking at me with disgust.

I freeze in realization.

“Y—you’re here?”

“Am I supposed to be anywhere else? And you haven’t answered my question? Why are you back here?” he asks.

I shake my head as it hits me.

“No—no—no.”

“You know what? Never mind. Everyone in this house is out of their flipping minds. Why would you be any different.”

He makes to walk past me, when I grab his arms.

“Why are you out here and not in there?” I ask wildly.

He pulls his arm away.

“Because my horrible big brother would rather kick his own out than let you be disrespected.”

He makes to move past me, but I grab him again. He seems clueless, almost like he doesn’t understand the situation. Is this some kind of act?

“Let me go. I am being kinder to you than I want to be.”

“So you have no idea that Giovanni is in there?” I ask.

His eyes flash in amusement, but the desperation in my face makes them widen in realization.

“Antonio kicked me out. I’ve been in a hotel for a couple of weeks. I ran out of cash— I have—I have no idea,” he trembles.

The fear in his eyes, the concern. Without another thought, I pull him with me.

“We have to save Antonio.”

“Not me,” he says slowly.

He stops in his tracks.

“You don’t understand. Your brother is in there with a man who could end his life.”

“He has Donatello. He can handle it.”

I bite down on my tongue. I can’t tell him now. I am not sure of him.

I look up to see that he is still standing still. In his face, there are signs of an apparent internal battle. I can tell he wants to help his brother.

“He must have been cruel.”

He scoffs. “What do you know?”

I nod. “I know nothing; I admit that. But—” I pause as we make eye contact, “I saw how much he loved his family.”

“That all changed when you came,” he spits out.

“Then I’ll leave forever.”

The weight of my words hit me, but Antonio’s life is nothing compared to my emotions.

He sighs. “You should go. I’ll handle this,” he says, producing a gun from under his jacket.

I bring out the pistol I was given, and he sighs.

“He gave that to you, didn’t he? Do you even know how to use it?”

“Aim, plant feet to the ground, and squeeze,” I rattle off.

Bunny sighs. “Nothing I say is changing your mind, is it?”

I shake my head.

“Your funeral, follow my lead.”

***

Antonio

I can hear them talking on the other side of the door. I struggle against my restraints but they aren’t budging.

Giovanni chuckles as he reads through the documents I assume he’s holding in his hands.

“You’ve gotten what you wanted. Our business is done now.” It’s Donatello’s voice and I feel sadness lance through me.

Giovanni groans dramatically. Oh, how I hate his guts. I despise how everything is a game to him. But I knew that there was no one else on these streets who could take my brother down.

“That’s my problem with you, Russos. So snappy and always quick to tell others what to do,” Giovanni says to Donatello. I hear him clapping my brother on the back.

“C’mon buddy, live a little. We’ve been planning this heist for five months. The least you could do is share a drink and celebrate our win.”

“Gee, thanks, Giovanni,” Donatello replies sardonically. “I’d rather not drink with you.”

“Oh, you must be mistaken. You seem to think it’s a request.” There’s a brief silence and then he says, “It’s not.”

I glance at the guards surrounding me and struggle with the bonds some more. I need to get free and end this right now.

“Oh, don’t worry about him. You have my word; I won’t hurt him,” Giovanni says next. “When you first came to me asking for my help to take your brother out, my first thought was that I was being played. I mean—Antonio was a shitty friend—to put it mildly, but he gave his life for you brats.”

“Rubbing it in, I see,” Donatello mutters.

Giovanni chuckles. “You’re getting cheeky, and I like it.”

The bottle cork flies out with a loud pop, and he cheers to himself.

“What are you looking at? Go replace us some glasses,” he snaps. He must be talking to his guards because I hear footsteps in the room as someone leaves to do his bidding. “Where was I? Oh yes, we were talking about you being a snake.” I hear him laughing and then the sounds of wine being poured into glasses.

How could my brother betray me like this? I trusted both him and Bunny, and it seems like they both turned on me in the end. My heart starts to feel like it’s breaking into a million pieces.

“But then, when you suggested the girl, the plans started to fall into place. I was astonished; who knew Russo junior had it in him?”

“Thank you for believing in me, I guess,” Donatello says ruefully.

“You know I stopped caring about this a long time ago,” Giovanni says suddenly.

“That was the deal. I get you the documents, and you help subdue my brother. What more do you want?”

“I admit, the thrill of watching Viper being stabbed in the back by his own thrilled me a bit too much,” Giovanni admits. “But in truth, the moment doesn’t feel that exhilarating now that it’s here. Sincerely, I thought I would have to try harder. I am only human. Contentment is a myth, after all. Enrique, give him his glass.”

“So what do you want?” Donatello demands.

“Now, be polite. You can’t refuse your drink,” Giovanni croons.

Donatello must have taken a drink because I hear Giovanni make a satisfied noise.

“Beautiful! Now for what I want, it’s simple. I want to kill your brother,” he says.

“You must be out of your mind or something.”

“Oh, drop the saint-like act. You resent your brother—hey—I feel you on that, same here. We could start a Viper hate support group.”

“I don’t want to kill my brother—yet.”

Giovanni coughs. “Oh—it hits harder than you would think it will.”

“Does it?” Donatello says

I hear a choking sound and then the noise of a glass breaking.

“You have no idea how much work goes into making people think that you’re a loser. I’m exhausted from the effort of playing stupid all the time,” Donatello proclaims.

“Enrique—p—poison!” Giovanni gasps as he reels, struggling for air.

Donatello sighs. “Unfortunately, Enrique works for me,” he replies. The door to the office opens, and Donatello strides in.

“Sorry, brother,” he says, cutting the zip ties binding me to the chair. I rise, rubbing my wrists, feeling shell-shocked, and walking into the next room. Giovanni is lying on the floor. As I look down at him, he lets out another cough, and dark red blood spurts out of his mouth.

“I see why men like you never lose to men like my brother, who plays by the rules. You always have a dirty trick up your sleeves,” Donatello says, hovering over his struggling body. “And I respect that so much that I learned from you. It only took doubling your pay to make most of your men loyal to me. They also happen to think you’re an ass.”

He looks over at the wine and then at Giovanni, who has stopped struggling and now lies on the ground, almost lifeless, save for the movement of his eyes. He steps over the body on the floor and picks up the documents.

“My loyalty lies with the Russos. I’ll take this back.”

Donatello turns to Enrique.

“Take care of his body.”

Suddenly, Giovanni grabs my ankle. I look down at the macabre scene before me, feeling disgust coil through me.

“You cannot end Giovanni! You hear me?” he gasps shakily, and then he laughs. “I—I know about your debts—the ones from—”

I sigh, reach into the holster of the guard next to me for a gun, and shoot him in the head twice.

His upper body flops down on the floor with his eyes wide open, and his blood splatters around us.

“What a bother,” Donatello grumbles.

He sighs and pulls out his gun, pointing it at me.

“I thought you should know that I didn’t do this for you,” he says, pressing against the trigger before I can move. I feel a sharp pain as he shoots me in the leg. My pants soak in blood as I fall to the floor.

“It would be easier to blame Giovanni, but you always taught Bunny and me never to take the easy way out,” he grins, lowering himself to look at me.

“Why? Why would you do this?” I ask, my lips quivering in pain, shock, and disbelief.

He chuckles.

“I asked myself that a lot, too, these past few months. Why am I doing this? Why do I think that I would be a better leader than my strong, perfect big brother?”

He looks around, waving his gun.

“You are tied up, and you still managed to take down armed men,” he leans closer. “Tell me how you did it. Because at this point, even I am in awe.”

The blood coming from my leg is starting to form a small pool on the floor. As excruciating as the pain is, it doesn’t equal the painful pounding of my heart. “I wronged you, didn’t I?”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” he snaps, suddenly enraged. “You’re supposed to be angry at me.”

He rises to his full height and brings his feet down directly on the gaping hole in my leg.

I breathe sharply as pain courses through my body.

“Why won’t you attack me, for heaven’s sake?” he screams, pressing down. “Fight me, throw a punch. I know you can.”

“I—I can’t hurt you.”

“But I’m hurting you and I’ll do it again!” he cries.

With my injured leg, I kick his feet away and roll over, gasping at the pain.

He walks over to me and grabs my hair. “You asked for my reason, didn’t you?”

Our eyes meet as he grins bitterly. “It’s simple. I am tired of being the little brother who obeys your every word. I have been in this world for twenty-six long years, and all you could entrust me with were stupid errands.”

“You—you—you weren’t ready yet.” I shiver.

“Of course. I never would be! In your head, Bunny and I are still those little boys you had to babysit.”

Each word is a jab and a cut in my heart.

“You will never let us handle anything as long as you are strong. And let’s face it; nothing can touch you. Believe me, I’ve tried.”

My leg is still bleeding, and so is my heart with his every word. I want to break free, but I can’t. My legs won’t move, and I don’t have the willpower to fight for mobility.

“Poisoning was out of the question. Your eyes were too sharp for an attack like that, and you could sniff out traitors from a mile away.”

He pushes my hair away as he gets up, aims his gun, and shoots my arm. This time, I groan in pain, and he chuckles.

“I flirted with the idea of shooting you in the face, but frankly, I would probably miss, and that would be the end of me. I wasn’t risking that.”

He stops as he watches me struggle to crawl away from him. My bound hands increase the sensation of the pain.

“Then one day, that bitch came into the picture, and I thought, just maybe, she might be your Achilles heel. I sat back and watched it play out, and oh, did it work out in my favor.”

“She was your bait, and Giovanni was your cover,” I say in shaky realization.

He chuckles. “Vice versa; they both distracted you so much that you left a truckload of coke in my care unsupervised, and you finally let me handle the club after so many fucking years.”

“You—you weren’t ready yet.”

He clicks his tongue. “You are such a dad, you know that?” I hear him cock his gun, and I can sense him aiming at my head. “I truly care for you as a brother, but I am so sick and tired of living in your shadow.”

I turn to him, and ever so slowly, I crack a smile.

“You messed up, didn’t you?”

His hands quiver. “What are you talking about?”

“If this were just about taking over, you would have killed me in a breath just like you killed Giovanni.”

“Aren’t you the smart one?”

I smile, breathing through my pain. “I don’t have much time, so tell me, what do you want so badly?”

He swallows. “The offshore accounts, the one with all the money! I need the details.”

I grin, flopping down on the floor, weak from losing blood.

“You got scammed? You lost it all gambling? Which one is it?” I taunt.

His lips tighten as rage takes over his eyes.

“Never mind, I’ll replace the information myself. See you in hell, brother.”

I chide myself for not seeing this ending for myself.

“You bastard!” I hear as the door bangs open.

A shot rings out, and a dent appears in the wall behind me. Another shot rings out, and a buff man, probably Donatello’s man, falls in and crashes on the ground.

Bunny bursts into the room, his eyes ablaze with fury, and he lunges for Donatello, landing a punch on his jaw.

Alyssa runs in after him, dodging around my struggling brothers.

“Oh fuck!” she cries as her eyes fall on the blood. She tugs at the rope that binds my hands. It doesn’t bulge.

She looks around desperately and opens her bag with a shaky hand, searching for anything to cut the rope with.

A shot rings out, shattering the ceiling tiles as Bunny and Donatello go at it.

“You need to go—” I gasp.

“Shut up!” she says through clenched teeth. She grabs the rope around my wrists and starts trying to tug me to my feet. I cry out with pain but try to follow her lead.

Behind her, Bunny manages to grab the gun from Donatello, flinging it at the window and shattering the glass.

“Now it’s a fair fight, you damn coward,” Bunny spits at him.

“Fucking moron!” Donatello cries as they rush at each other.

Alyssa is still tugging at the rope around my wrists. I want to tell her it’s a hopeless situation, but she is determined. Donatello deals a blow to Bunny that sends them both to the floor as they struggle to take control. I close my eyes, unable to watch.

“Antonio,” Alyssa breathes, bringing me back to my senses.

I see that the rope tying my hands has come undone. She throws my arm over her shoulders.

“I know you’re hurt, but I’ll count to two, and you lean yourself up as much as you can.”

She doesn’t give me a chance to respond.

“One, two,” she calls, and with strength that amazes me, she pulls me up from the floor.

“He’s up!” she cries to Bunny.

“Finally,” Bunny gasps. He is underneath Donatello, who has his hands wrapped around Bunny’s neck, choking him.

Bunny digs his fingers straight into Donatello’s eyes.

“You piece of shit!” Donatello cries as Bunny lands a blow, finally pushing him off.

Bunny rushes to grab my other hand, so I am between him and Alyssa.

They carry me out of the study easily, half running.

The pain shooting through my body grows in intensity as I try to relieve their burden by walking on my feet.

As we reach the hallway, the sound of gunfire echoes behind us. Donatello has somehow recovered and is right behind us.

“Oh fuck!” Bunny spits as we make our way outside the mansion. “Wait,” he says, sliding away from my body.

As he leaves, Alyssa holds onto me, handling my weight to the best of her ability.

Bunny grabs the handle of the front door and slams the doors.

He pulls out a gigantic key from his pocket and shuts the door just before the strong kicks from Donatello, who is now locked indoors, assail the door.

Bunny runs back to me and grabs me.

“We don’t have much time. We have to take him to the car,” he tells Alyssa.

“Give me the keys. I’ll drive in here. Let’s meet halfway,” she replies.

He tosses her a car key, and he holds onto me as she slips away and sprints across the courtyard at a remarkable speed.

“C’mon, let’s meet her in the middle,” Bunny urges as he pulls me behind him.

Behind us, there is a sharp sound of gunshots. Donatello has started shooting at the door. The back entrance was closed off in anticipation of Giovanni’s attack. He is stuck.

Alyssa disappears outside the gate as Bunny and I hobble across the cement courtyard.

Behind me is a trail of blood left by my bleeding leg.

Suddenly, there is a crash behind us. One-half of the front door is now open.

“Don’t fucking move!” Donatello’s crazed shout comes from behind us.

“Shit! What is taking her so long?” Bunny curses as Donatello’s bullets begin to rain around us.

Holding tightly onto me, Bunny strides forward as quickly as he can, running in an elusive zigzag pattern to throw off Donatello’s shots just like I taught him.

Suddenly, a black Volvo bursts through the gates, driving towards us.

Behind us, Donatello is running to try to catch up to us, still shooting.

The pain in my legs reaches its climax, and I am beginning to feel my consciousness seep away.

I fall limply on Bunny.

“Just a little further, please,” he pleads with me.

I suck in a breath at the pain and hold on tight to him.

The car gets to us at lightning speed, and the door falls open.

“Get in now. He’s right behind you!” Alyssa screams.

Bunny pushes me into the car, and I land on the seat, pulling myself into the vehicle with what is left of my strength.

Bunny jumps in and shuts the door just before Donatello’s bullet hits the bulletproof glass windows.

Alyssa turns the wheel, and the engine screams as the car makes a sharp turn and zooms towards the gate.

“Fuck no!” Alyssa gasps.

I force my eyes open to see the gates sliding shut.

“Step on it!” Bunny yells.

“I’m trying!”

“Try harder!”

I see her tense expression as she steps harder on the gas pedal, sending us through the gates just before they snap shut behind us.