Chapter Fourteen
ROCCO
Iwill stand unshaken.
I’m in the home of the enemy, surrounded by his men, but I will not crumble. I’m going to get Shay back, or I’m going to die. There’s no in-between.
The single bullet I shot felled a man. He’s lying face down on the ground, and a pool of blood is starting to form around his body. Apart from him, I haven’t seen too many faces around the house. Most of the people I’ve passed are members of the cleaning staff, rather than Lombardi men.
I was expecting something different. An epic battle between good versus evil, I suppose, but why would there be one?
Emilio thought I was dead, and before he thought I was dead, he believed that the soldiers he sent would kill me.
Why would he think there would be a battle on his property, when I’m supposed to be buried in a shallow grave?
It’s almost funny. Funny enough that I can’t contain my laughter.
It’s so easy for your mind to run wild when you’re preparing for some daring attack.
I envisioned scores of soldiers, wielding machine guns and barricading my way through the house.
Instead, it’s just me, walking slowly and steadily with my pistol raised and clearing rooms as I pass them.
“Emilio,” I shout his name. “Come out here, you son of a bitch.”
No response comes from within the house.
I stop at Vincent’s library and step inside. It’s important to ensure that every room is empty while I make my way through the house, on the off chance some cowardly soul is waiting to shoot me in the back.
“I heard you were coming around,” a voice comes from inside the library. “Allen sent a message, said stay out of your way or there’ll be trouble.”
It’s Marty Crenshaw, the very man who alerted me that Vincent was dead.
I met Marty when I was in that funny stage of life, too young to be considered a man, but too old to be a boy.
He was my mentor, taught me how to hold my own in the Lombardi organization, and fast-tracked my success within the family.
He’s a dear friend, and I’d hate to have to shoot him.
“Marty,” I greet him.
“What’s the plan here, Rocco?” he asks.
“I’m here for Shay, and then I’m out. I’m getting too old for this shit.”
“Aren’t we all?” Marty replies. He has a leather-bound copy of some book on his lap.
“I’m not gonna hassle you, my man. I had a feeling you’d be dropping the life once this bad blood was over, so I thought I’d pop over and say goodbye.
” Marty gets out of his chair, sets the book on a small table next to his chair, and walks over to me.
“We’ve had some good times in this place, but I’ll be glad to see it all burn. ”
Marty removes a matchbox from his pocket.
“It’s good seeing you again, old friend,” he says, before striking a match. He tosses it towards the fireplace and it erupts in flames. A red gasoline canister sits beside it. “Vincent said a day like today might come, and asked me to do some housekeeping if it ever did.”
“He was a lucky man to have you.”
The flames start spreading through the library. With all these books, it’s a great place to start a fire.
“Well, I ought to be heading out, Rocco. Wife and kids are waiting for me,” he extends a hand to me, and I take it with a firm grip. “You stay safe out there.”
With that odd, yet brief encounter behind us, Marty leaves the library. He whistles as he walks through the corridors.
And just like that, I know it’s over. This is the end of an empire. No matter what happens here tonight, the Lombardi organization will never be the same again. I follow Marty’s trail back into the hallway and continue my search for Shay.
Only now, with the fire spreading rapidly, my time is limited.
I stumble my way through more rooms, spreading word of the fire to any staff that are still lingering inside. Vincent’s home is a mansion and it will take a while for the inferno to spread throughout it, but giving people a chance to escape is my one good deed.
After clearing a good chunk of the house, I finally arrive at the dining room.
“Let me go,” I hear Shay’s voice from inside. She’s whimpering, and an instant rage courses through me.
I let my pistol lead the way inside, and that’s when I see them. Emilio’s holding Shay in front of him. He’s taller than her by quite a good margin, his head towering over hers. He’s got a gun pinned against her temple, and she’s wriggling in his arms.
“There he is,” Emilio spits. “The prodigal son returns home.”
“Let her go, Emilio,” I order. I keep my gun trained on them, doing my best not to line Shay up in my sights.
“What? And give up the only protection I have? No, no, Rocco, that’s not how this is going to go. I’m going to shoot her, right here.” He taps the barrel of his gun against her head. “I’m going to make you watch as she dies, so you can understand the real meaning of pain.”
“So you are going to give up the only protection you have?” I raise a brow.
Emilio’s missing a few screws, so I wouldn’t put it past him to shoot her. I have to choose my words carefully and approach this situation with more than sheer might.
“We’re both dead men anyway,” Emilio says. “I just want to see the hurt in your eyes before I go. Give you a taste of your own medicine.”
“What shit are you going on about?” I ask.
Shay’s staring at me, with tear-soaked cheeks, but I don’t take my attention off Emilio. He’s a loose cannon, and I have to be prepared to shoot before he can make his move.
“Don’t play the fool,” Emilio scoffs. “You know what you did. You stepped in and stole my father.”
“I didn’t steal anything,” I say. I’m trying to play on any sense of humanity left in Emilio. It seems to be working.
“MY father,” he repeats. “Then you came in. His pride and joy, the mass murderer with a love for the thrill of the hunt. The second he saw you on that beach, things changed. You became the golden boy of the family and I was forgotten.”
“Vincent loved you,” I say. “He’d have done anything for you.”
“He cast me aside like garbage.”
“He left you an empire.” Shit. The fire’s still making its way through the house. We really need to hurry this up. “I didn’t want anything from him. A bullet to the head would’ve saved me a whole lot of heartache down the road. I did what I did to survive.”
“You know, I think a bullet to the head will suit you just fine, Rocco,” Emilio says. He snaps his wrist holding the gun towards me. “Take your punishment like a man. You rained hell down onto my life; it’s the least you could do.”
Everything goes quiet. Both of us have the same intention, but neither of us rushes to the point.
“You know what, Emil. I don’t think I will.”
With those words, both of us pull the trigger at the same time.
Two bangs echo out simultaneously. A brutal impact slams into my chest and I hit the ground.
Christ, that hurt. I’m not a stranger to getting the shit kicked out of me, but goddamn, a pummeling doesn’t compare to a bullet tearing a hole into you.
But even lying in a puddle on the floor, my thoughts return to Shay. I didn’t see where the bullet went after I pulled my trigger and I pray that it didn’t hit her. Then, I hear her voice over the ringing in my ears.
“Oh, no, no, no,” she says. “Rocco, no. Please, be okay.” She drops to my side. Blood trickles down her cheeks, but she’s here. Which means she can’t be hurt, right?
“Emilio.”
“He’s…” she pauses between words. “Dead.”
Thank fuck for that.
“I’m so sorry, Rocco. This is all my fault.” She cups my cheeks in her hands and peppers my face with kisses.
“No, don’t you dare. You never have to apologize for anything, Shay,” I lift myself to a seated position and every muscle in my chest feels like it’s ripping. “I don’t blame you for trying to run. This world isn’t for you, but you’re free of it now.”
“We’re free of it now,” she corrects. “I don’t want to go if it’s not with you at my side.”
Her words bring a smile to my face.
“Speaking of which, we actually have to go,” I say as the sharp smell hits me. “There’s a fire.”
“A fire?”
“Hard to explain, but it’s making its way through the house.”
Shay helps me to my feet and swings one of my arms over her shoulders. With her supporting me, I manage to walk through the house. The fire has spread from the library and is just shy of the entry hall. Smoke fills the air and, if we are stuck here any longer, this could end disastrously.
But we’re safe.
We’re finally safe.
Away from the tyranny of this bullshit life. She wants to be at my side, and I’m pretty sure that’s the only thing keeping me going.
Now it’s us against the world, and we no longer have a target on our backs.
I couldn’t have asked for a better ending to this chapter of my life.