4. Matteo
CHAPTER FOUR
MATTEO
A piercing scream I’d recognize anywhere— Francesca —came from underneath a nearby table. She was safe, but Ari wasn’t, standing in the middle of the library and hiding my sister with her own body.
Click.
As if in slow motion, I watched my bullet fly through the air, grazing past familiar blonde strands.
A flurry of bullets followed, filling the air around us. Nikola yanked me back, both of us taking shelter behind the heavy wooden door just as a bullet flew through the space where my skull was a mere second ago. The firing continued for what felt like a lifetime, but then just as quickly as it started, it stopped.
The silence that came afterward was deafening. I eyed Nikola, gave a wordless nod, and we barged into the library. The gunman was working on reloading his AR-15 while Ari stood frozen, blood trickling down her fingers and onto the library’s carpeted floor.
Roaring, I leapt on top of him while Nikola got ahold of his gun, then used it to smash his hand into the floor. I gripped his shirt and smashed his head back, over and over and over, hearing the satisfying crunch of his skull connecting with the hard surface.
“Stop!” Nikola hissed, Francesca’s screams still piercing the air. “He’s dead.”
That didn’t stop me, but the panic in my sister’s screams did.
“Matteo, I think something’s wrong with Arianna,” Nikola said, voice low. I lifted my head and found my sister standing in front of Arianna’s statue-like form, her green dress vibrant against her pale skin.
Shoving off the slumped body, I jumped to my feet and was by her side in three strides. I pulled my sister into a hug, then checked Arianna’s arm.
“Where are you hurt?” I demanded, turning it over and finding no wound. She didn’t answer, her eyes vacant. “Ari, look at me!” She slowly blinked, her blue eyes somewhat clearing but still looking lost. “Where are you hurt?” I asked, gentler this time.
She raised her hand, and it was then that I noticed the cut on the palm of her hand.
“What happened?” I questioned softly.
“I… I…” Still in shock, she struggled to find the words, her voice barely a whisper. “I tried to… take him down with me.”
My lip twitched. Arianna might be the peacemaker of the Morrelli household, but threaten those she loved, and she was a force to be reckoned with.
“ Bene , you did good,” I praised her, then cradled her face with one hand while still holding on to my sister with my other. “You’re both okay. It’s all over now.”
“Yep, this guy is dead and gone,” Nikola stated in a bored tone. “I have to say, there was a disappointing lack of action.”
Francesca and Arianna looked at him like he’d grown another head. I couldn’t blame them. They knew what our families were about, but they rarely had a front-row seat to the cruelty being dished out.
Just as I was about to take them away from here, the door to the library opened.
“Freeze!”
“ Suka …” Nikola let out another string of Russian curses, but I ignored them all.
“ Cazzo , are you fucking kidding me?” I muttered under my breath as a squad of cops pointed their guns at us. “You’re a bit too late.”
“Identify yourselves!” one of them yelled. Arianna’s hand shot to my vest, gripping the material, while my sister clutched my bicep like I was her anchor.
“I’m family,” I stated calmly, tilting my chin to my sister. “When I heard about the shooter, I came to get my sister and my friend out of here.”
“Not so fast,” the cop barked. All their guns were now pointed at us.
I narrowed my eyes on them.
“You better lower your weapons.” I didn’t miss the tremor from Ari’s body, and I resisted finishing my threat. The aftershock was hitting her hard, and at this moment, their safety was my priority. I motioned with my chin. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m taking the girls home.”
The cops closed their circle tighter and Nikola grinned. “Now this is what I call action.”