Chapter 22 #3
An all-consuming urge made my hand twitch, desperate to draw the hidden pistol tucked into the holster at my ankle and fire a clean shot between his eyes.
Instead of discharging my weapon, I drawled words like finely sharpened daggers. “Oh, Markos, I assure you, I make it worth his while. It turns out, a well-handled dick is a very satisfied dick.”
I let my eyes roam over his body in exaggerated disgust.
“But I suppose you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”
For just a heartbeat, his eyes flickered with seething rage before plunging into blind fury. Without a moment’s hesitation, he squeezed the trigger of his gun. The deafening crack sent a forceful jet hurling me violently against a wall lined with shelves.
A searing heat coursed through my veins, each heartbeat echoing the pain.
Lying on the cold floor, I gradually lifted my gaze to the ceiling, my mind a foggy jumble of confusion.
“Layana!” came a desperate cry as Cali rushed to my side. Chaos erupted around us in an instant, filled with frantic voices and clattering sounds.
I blinked up at her, still dazed, shaking my head as her trembling hands pressed against my chest, a gesture that broke my heart.
“No,” I insisted through gritted teeth, pushing her frantic hands away. “I’m fine.”
With every ounce of strength, I fought against the pain pulsating through my body as I struggled to sit up.
“Layana, be still!” Cali ordered with an unhidden edge of worry.
“No, let me up,” I rasped, trying to push myself to my feet. I managed to get onto my knees before the room spun wildly, forcing me back down onto my bruised backside, clutching the cold wall for support.
“Stay down!” Cali barked, shifting from sisterly concern to authoritative firmness.
In that moment, she wasn’t my little sister anymore. She was a commanding force, a grown woman managing the chaos, and the sight of her fierce determination was somehow endearing.
“Somebody help!” she shrieked over her shoulder, her head turning wildly as she called for assistance.
“That fucker, Markos,” I growled, anger flooding every nerve as I gritted my teeth. “Where the hell did he go?”
“I don’t know, just be still, Layana. Please, don’t move,” she pleaded as tears brimmed in her eyes.
I muttered through clenched teeth, “I hate that asshole so much, and his horrid brother too.”
Cali’s wide, wild eyes mirrored her deep worry, and I longed desperately to erase every trace of that terror.
“Just be still, Layana, be still,” she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks as she pressed harder against my wound.
“God, Cali, that hurts. Can you please stop?” I managed to say, my breath ragged as the noise throbbed in my head, drowning out everything else around me.
My chest tightened, and urgency spilled over the edges of my plea as I struggled to keep my composure, hoping for some relief from the relentless pounding within me.
Before I could continue, the shattering sound of glass ripped through the tension. I tried to push myself upward again, but Cali’s determined grip forced me back down.
“No!” Cali snapped. “If you try to get up one more time, I swear to God, I’ll knock you unconscious, Layana. I love you, and I fucking mean it.”
“Jesus,” I muttered, blinding pain burned through my body, making it hard to think and forcing me to tilt my head to the side in a futile attempt to focus. “Why are you being so damn bossy? I just want to kick that little slimy asshole’s teeth in.”
“Because it’s my turn to step up,” she hissed with frustration. “Look at you…you’re dripping in blood, you idiot! Shot and still mouthing off?”
Her outrage hit me like icy water, making it painfully clear that I hadn’t fully grasped the gravity of my injuries until now.
I gazed down at the dark crimson blotches spreading across the material of my dress, each pulse of pain sending the room into dizzying spins at a faster pace.
That motherfucker Markos had shot me. Shot me!
A low, trembling growl escaped my lips as I vowed, “I’m going to kill him.”
My vision blurred, and my mind clouded. The energy in my body seemed to seep away with every breath.
“I believe Niko will surely take care of that for you,” Cali interjected, leaving little room for debate. “If he doesn’t, I certainly damn well will.”
The fire in her eyes was unmistakable, reflecting the defiant spark I had seen in Avra’s and my own reflection. No one escaped unharmed when a Vitalis was involved, regardless of family or name.
Then, voices began to rise in the background as if on cue. I craned my neck, straining through blurred vision to catch a glimpse behind Cali.
The shattered window of the bookstore revealed a scene of utter chaos. Stefano and Markos lay sprawled on the sidewalk outside, my men holding them down with guns drawn, while the two brothers engaged in a chaotic, heated argument.
“You stupid motherfucker, what were you thinking?” Stefano roared, trying to keep his face from digging into the broken glass.
“She pissed me off!” Markos insisted, with a mix of anger and panic. “They can’t prove it was me!”
“Everything pisses you off! Didn’t you think, for once?
We were supposed to take her somewhere safe, not shoot her in fucking public, in plain view of every goddamned camera in that shop!
You’re such a fucking dumb idiot! I can’t believe I’m related to you!
” Stefano’s outrage cut through the air like a whip.
“Fuck the cameras!” Markos barked back, desperate. “We can wipe the evidence clean. The cops, if you think about it, are already on the Galanis payroll.”
“God, you’re even stupider than I thought!” Stefano bellowed back. “They’re not on our payroll; they’re on Niko’s! They owe us nothing. Are you insane? How many more disasters will you cause, Markos? Wasn’t your last mistake enough to teach you a lesson?”
“Don’t you dare bring that up!” Markos shouted, his anguish evident as rage twisted his speech into incoherent fury.
“I’ll say whatever I want, you asshole! Because of you, we lost Mama and Cora.
The target was Niko, not them. They were innocent, Markos!
I forgave you once, but that was a mistake.
You’re never going to learn!” Stefano spat out as if his mouth was filled with something heavy and bitter.
“You’re the reason I don’t have a mother and sister. ”
“You bastard! You know that was a mistake, and now you’re blaming me? How was I supposed to know that Niko would change his routines that morning? This wasn’t my fault! It simply wasn’t!” Markos’s bravado faltered, shifting from anger to despair, but I felt no compassion for him.
As he broke down, all I could think about was the consequences of his actions. The weight of the moment hung heavily in the air between us, an unbridgeable gap of misunderstanding and resentment. I stood firm, unmoved by his turmoil, aware that he needed to confront the reality of his choices.
That man was responsible for shattering so many lives.
“Mama and Cora were the only good things this family ever had,” Stefano seethed through gritted teeth.
“All you needed to do was make a call and confirm. If you had done that, they would still be alive. Their deaths are on you, Markos. There’s nothing you or anyone else can do to change that. I hope the memory of what happened haunts you every single day for the rest of your life.”
My eyes flicked over to Cali, who absorbed everything said with grim concentration.
In a low, almost inaudible whisper, I murmured, “Oh, poor Niko,” even as the room began to swirl again, darkness crept in, and the world faded to black.