Chapter 21
Lorenzo
The old warehouse on the outskirts, known locally as Raven's Nest, was where we used to have business here some years ago, when dad was alive. But this location was an easy target, which is why I moved things up. Giovanni and my men were following right behind me. I signaled for silence as we moved forward.
"Are you sure this is not a false alarm?" Giovanni whispered.
I stayed quiet, my eyes scanning the perimeter. The silence of the place made my instincts flare. We moved ahead, breaking into a room within the warehouse. My smirk widened as I saw my stolen shipment of weapons stacked neatly in boxes.
"Not at all a false alarm," I said.
A distant voice cut through the silence. "So you've finally made it to me?" Nikolai stepped out from the shadows. "Took you long enough. I'm surprised. That's very unlike you." My men immediately aimed their guns at him. "Uh, uh, uh. Wrong move, buddy!" He chided. The door behind him opened, and two figures emerged, making us all freeze. Angela was pushed in with her hands tied behind her back and a wound on her forehead. She desperately whispered, "Lorenzo!" Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears and fear.
But what really shocked me was the man holding her captive with a gun pressed to her temple. "Good evening, my dear nephew. You're just in time for the party."
"Antonio," I gritted out dangerously. "It was you all along." Of course, it all made sense now. He was the only other person who knew everything around my mansion in Italy and every corner of Sicily. I have to give credit to Nikolai for actually using his brain for the first time in forever and teaming up with someone who actually knew his way around. “Just how many times do I have to kill you?" I spat.
"What? Not excited to see me? Also in my defense, you missed my heart by three inches," Antonio replied smugly.
"So you come back and join hands with your enemy because you can't take me out by yourself? How pathetic!" I shot back, my eyes flickering between Angela and him.
Angela did not deserve any of this—to be caught in the crossfire of our vendetta. “Haven’t you heard?” Antonio beamed. “The enemy of your enemy is a friend. By the way, I thought I’d get a warm welcome. Although it’s not new that I’m left disappointed yet another time.”
"Let her go, Antonio," my voice was cold.
Antonio's smirk only grew wider. "Or what, Lorenzo? You'll miss again?"
Nikolai chuckled, clearly enjoying the show. "This is what you wanted, isn't it, Lorenzo? To save your precious Angela? Well, here she is. Come and get her." Angela's eyes locked onto mine, her fear mingling with a flicker of hope. I could not afford to make a wrong move. I took a deep breath, steadying myself. "You're both dead men. You just don't know it yet."
“Wrong, Lorenzo. It’s you who doesn’t know what shit you’ve gotten yourself into!” Nikolai growled. Antonio tightened his grip, pressing the gun harder against Angela’s temple. Her wince sent a fresh wave of rage through me.
"Drop your weapons, or she dies," Antonio commanded, his voice devoid of any warmth. My men hesitated, looking to me for my signal. I gave a slight nod, and they reluctantly lowered their guns. Nikolai’s men filled in surrounding us, taking my men’s weapons away before holding them captive.
"Good. Now, let's talk, nephew," Antonio said, stepping forward and pulling Angela with him. I kept my eyes locked on Angela, reassuring her with a silent promise. Antonio sneered. "You were always the reckless one. Charging in without thinking. And look where it’s gotten you."
"Let her go, Antonio. She has nothing to do with this," I said.
"Oh, but she does now," Nikolai interjected, stepping closer.
Angela's eyes flickered with fear, and I could see the tears welling up. "Lorenzo, please..." she whispered, her voice trembling.
"Enough of this," I snapped, my patience fraying. "What do you want?"
Antonio laughed with a harsh, grating sound. "What I want is to see you suffer, Lorenzo. To see you brought to your knees. Tell me, will you beg on your knees for her?"
"Life is full of surprises, isn’t it, Antonia?” I smirked at the bastard. “It’s not every day I’ll see you clinging to Nikolai and a woman like a desperate coward to get to your goal.”
"Coward? You dare call me a coward?" Antonio seethed, his face contorting with rage. He moved to point the gun in my direction, his finger tightening on the trigger. In mere milliseconds, the scene unfolded before me as a bullet pierced through the air, striking its mark between Antonio's eyes, and he crumpled to the ground. Good job, Emir. I smirked, knowing his sniper skills were unmatched.
Angela, quick on her feet, saw this as her chance to escape the red zone. She bolted, running as fast as she could to safety. Her sudden movement was the catalyst we needed. In the chaos that followed, my men and I tackled Nikolai's forces head-on.
Hell broke loose. Declan, Leonardo, and Emir stormed in with their men, their guns blazing. Bullets rained down as they shot at Nikolai's men relentlessly. The warehouse erupted into a warzone, filled with the deafening sounds of gunfire and the acrid smell of gunpowder. Giovanni and my men followed my lead, firing at anything that moved.
Nikolai fought back fiercely, shooting several of my men as he tried to hold his ground. The zone became a maelstrom of violence, with bullets tearing through the air, ricocheting off walls, and finding their targets lethally. I moved with purpose, each shot from my gun bringing me closer to Nikolai. His men were falling, one by one. The tide was turning in our favor.
Angela had reached safety, but I could not let my guard down. The fight was not over until Nikolai was dead. I advanced through the chaos, my focus locked on the man who had orchestrated this nightmare. Nikolai saw me coming, his eyes narrowing. "You think you can win this, Lorenzo?" he shouted over the din. "You’re a fool!"
I didn't reply. Words were meaningless now. Only actions mattered. I fired, my bullets tearing through the space between us, forcing Nikolai to duck and cover. Even though he was a whole forty years older than me, the man still had his agility.
Declan, Leonardo and Emir’s shots kept any reinforcements at bay, ensuring no one could come to Nikolai’s aid. With a final burst of energy, I surged forward, closing the distance between us. Nikolai's gun clicked empty, and he threw it aside, drawing a knife from his belt.
"You’ve lost," I said coldly, aiming my gun at his head. "This ends now."
Nikolai lunged at me with the knife, but I was faster. I dodged his attack, kicking him square in the chest and making him stumble back. I raised my gun, ready to end this once and for all, when a sudden, searing pain tore through my shoulder. The force of the bullet made me stagger, a hiss escaping my lips as I clutched my wounded shoulder. Thankfully, it hadn’t lodged itself in my flesh. Rather, it had just grazed the edge, leaving a burning line of pain but not enough to incapacitate me.
I whipped my head around to find the source of the shot, and the sight that met my eyes stole the breath from my lungs.
“Angela?” I whispered, disbelief and confusion gripping me as I saw her standing at least thirty feet away, holding the gun that had just shot me. For a few heartbeats, I couldn't make sense of what I was seeing. My mind refused to process the information. It couldn't be! She couldn't... she wouldn't… It could’ve been a mistake. Her hand must’ve slipped.
She stood there with a blank face, her eyes void of any emotions or moisture that surrounded them not minutes ago. She held the gun with such confidence that it made me wonder if it was really her I was seeing. The pain in my shoulder was nothing compared to the pain that now gripped my heart. Betrayal cut deeper than any bullet ever could. My mind raced, trying to piece together what just happened.
She did not lower her gun. In fact, when I saw it clearly, it was aimed directly at me. Because I had already kicked Nikolai out of the perimeter. My breathing became ragged as the shock settled in. The love and adoration I had felt for her were now twisted with a bitter sting of betrayal. The room around us seemed to blur as my focus narrowed on her, trying to find some hint, some flicker of remorse or hesitation in her eyes. But there was nothing. Just cold, unfeeling emptiness.
"Why?" The question escaped my lips, my voice raw with hurt as I held my shoulder.
She did not say anything. Instead, her empty eyes continued nailing me. My mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and emotions. Had everything been a lie? The nights we spent wrapped in each other’s arms, the way she looked at me with what I thought was love, the promises of a future together—all now tainted by doubt. The more I thought about it, the more I felt a chasm opening in my chest, threatening to swallow me whole.
Nikolai’s laughter echoed through the warehouse, that only added to my torment. "She was right. You were too gullible when it came to her. I just didn’t expect this much.” His words were like a blade in my chest. “You were so busy looking everywhere for the Joker, Lorenzo, you forgot to check your own house.” Nikolai smiled evilly. “Did you really think you could trust anyone in this world of ours?" He stood up proudly, making his way to her side. “What’s rule number one of the Bratva, Angela darling? Care to share it with your lover?”
“Rule number one: never trust anyone,” Angela spoke robotically, as if the phrase was programmed into her.
The anguish was unbearable. Every moment we had shared flashed before my eyes. The laughter, the tenderness, the promises whispered in the dark—all of it now felt like a cruel joke.
A second later, Declan, Emir, and Leonardo rushed to me after taking care of Nikolai’s men. I glanced around to see they were all dead as my men stood victorious. Yet I felt like I had lost. Lost everything.
“Are you fucking bullshitting me?” Emir exclaimed, watching Angela hold the gun in our direction. “This bitch—” he raised a gun in her direction, but my hand stopped him. She was mine.
Mine to destroy .
“My dear gentlemen, let me formally introduce you all to my apprentice, Angela Thompson,” Nikolai announced proudly. "She's perfect, isn’t she?”
“So it was you who took her in?” My voice was low and feral.
“I did. What can I say? She was quite the spitfire, had absolutely no fear. Such potential,” Nikolai looked almost entranced as he recalled. “I couldn’t just let that talent go to waste now, could I? So of course I took her in and trained her with my best men, turning her into what she is today.” He smirked before glancing in Angela’s direction and tapping her cheek with his knife. “Stand straighter!” He scolded her like a two-year-old before she obeyed like the perfect student, her eyes not wavering from mine even for a second.
“Yes, master.” She did not move the gun from our direction.
“Now, thanks to her,” Nikolai continued, “you walked right into my trap. And now, for the cherry on top. Angela, darling?” Nikolai pulled out his palm in front of Angela as I watched. Angela raised her free hand to Nikolai’s palm, the green stone flashing on her ring finger.
NO!
Before my eyes, Nikolai smirked, pulling the ring off and clutching it tight in his palm. “Thank you,” Nikolai chirped. “What happened, Martinez? Hurt?” He mocked me. “Well, I saw that coming since you clearly aren’t trained like I trained her.” He turned to face Angela once again. “Angela, darling, what is Bratva rule number two?”
“Someone always gets hurt. Make sure it’s never you.” Angela’s voice was yet again emotionless. I do not know what consumed me in that moment. I raised my gun, clouded by fury and betrayal, ready to shoot both of them. But just when I fired, my gun hit the silence after a weak click. I ran out of bullets. What the—
“Do it, Angela!” Nikolai’s voice exploded as Angela launched a grenade in our direction. It landed a few feet away.
“ Fuck , get back!” Leonardo screamed as we ran back in the opposite direction. And just like that, the explosion ripped through the warehouse, knocking me off my feet. I felt the searing heat lick at my skin, the deafening roar of the blast filling my ears. The world around me seemed to slow down as I was thrown backward, the impact slamming me into the ground.
Pain radiated through my body as I tried to get up, my vision blurring from the intensity of the blast. I could hear the shouts and screams of my men and the chaos that ensued as they fought to regain their footing before everything went black. The last thing I saw was the image of her face, cold and unfeeling, etched into my mind like a scar that would never heal.
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