13. Elena
Chapter thirteen
Elena
Home…
As much as my visit to New Orleans was extremely brief, I’d loved staying there better than here at the mansion. Perhaps it was the serene environment, the fact that I wasn’t looking over my shoulder in fear of death, or… the man who shared that space with me.
My eyes flutter closed as the scrape of his nails on my skin returns to my memory. The way his palms smacked my ass… the fervent way his mouth crushed my lips.
My thighs clench together, moistening at the thought of his tongue on my clit. God!
I’d texted Annora last night so she could talk some sense into me and help me clear my head, but she didn’t help one bit.
Instead, she texted: Finally, my girl has something interesting to tell me!
ME: Shut up, Annora. He’s a guard.
ANNORA: Exactly. Which makes this sound like something straight out of one of my books.
The last time I felt like this over a man, I was a freshman in college.
Shaking away the thought, I log into my Instagram, hoping to find a distraction, when a notification slides into view: Mayor Alex Thompson started following you.
My mouth falls open.
The mayor of New York is following me on Instagram! Squealing excitedly, I press the ‘follow back’ button and instantly get a direct message from him.
My wife is hosting a charity fundraiser for entrepreneurs in New York tomorrow evening and she’d love for you to be there to share your growth journey.
P.S.: Come along with those serums she loves.
Finally! A morale boost and a sign that someone is finally seeing me for what I am. It would be a great opportunity, but why do I feel guilty for wanting to go?
Groaning, I plop my Chanel purse on the bed and my tired self beside it. I feel like I can’t just go about my business, pretending all is well, when Enzo told me the family is in a crisis.
When I arrived, I could somehow tell that something was off. The Irish aren’t backing down. Enzo also said there’s a misunderstanding with a supplier about jars replaced with acid, which is causing chaos. And with the recent raid, there’s limited weaponry left to defend the family.
Maybe I should ignore all this and move back to New Jersey. A soft knock jerks me to my feet.
“Enzo?” I was told he was out trying to sort things out, so I haven’t seen him all day.
“Amore mio (My darling).” His voice is strained and there’s a dark crimson stain on his white shirt. Shit, he’s hurt.
“Are you okay? What’s going on?” That’s when I see it, the small gash on his forehead.
He exhales deeply, fixing a tired smile on his face. “It’s been really difficult. The Irish aren’t backing down. Let’s go to my office.”
Enzo only meets in his office when whatever he has to say is extremely serious. Who could possibly be orchestrating all these attacks on us, and why?
I’ve not heard of any major hits on this family in years. So what’s changed all of a sudden?
Enzo pushes open the door to his office but suddenly stops short. I crane my neck, trying to see what the holdup is about when I hear that voice.
“Get the fuck inside.” I freeze at the hostility in the voice. It can’t be…
Enzo turns around to look at me, horror written all over his face. “Run, amore mio.” He pushes me away, but three men appear from the staircase and point their guns at us. From how Enzo’s eyes widen, I can tell they’re not his men.
What the hell is going on?
Enzo clasps my arm tightly and tugs me in, shielding me with his frame. When I take a look at the person before us, my blood runs cold.
Seated in Enzo’s leather chair, legs propped up on his large oak desk, cigar in one hand and silver Glock in the other, is Adrian.
Shock roots me to my spot as I struggle to make sense of this whole scene.
Adrian fixes a cold, blank stare on me. I can almost swear that this is a completely different man from the one who devoured me whole in New Orleans.
What the hell is going on?
“Get on your fucking knees,” he growls, narrowing his eyes at both of us as he rises to his feet.
Enzo stiffens, and I dread what’s coming next. “I kneel before nobody, boy…”
The peace in the air shatters as a bullet pierces through Enzo’s foot. Blood spurts everywhere, bringing him forcefully to one knee. I gasp, my heart tearing out of my chest as I whip wide eyes toward Adrian.
“On your knees. Now.” The expression in his eyes is pure anger. No remorse, just anger.
I scramble to my knees beside Enzo, arms hovering above his foot in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Enzo’s breath comes out in shallow pants as he cups my hand tightly. My heart clenches when he releases a strained sound of pain, and I turn to Adrian.
“W-What do you want? Why are you doing this?”
He clenches his jaw but doesn’t respond.
“P-Please I- Enzo will bleed out. We have to call the doc—”
“Silence!” He slams his fist against the table, the sound slicing through the air. “You will keep your mouth shut while you’re here.”
Enzo grunts beside me again, and a tear rolls down my cheek. I can’t let the only man who’s looked out for me die because some asshole went rogue.
“Why are you doing this, Adrian?”
“I said—”
“For power?” Anger ignites in my chest when he stands up and takes a step closer. “Money? Status? I can’t believe I was starting to think you’re a good person. I was starting to trust you… to think there’s a human somewhere beneath that cold facade. I was dead wrong. You’re nothing but a monster.”
My words hang in the air as he stalks toward us, tension rising in the room. When he stops before me, he angles the gun at my head, and I feel the cool barrel press against my skin. My heart catches in my throat, but I show no sign of fear.
He cocks it. “One more word and I’ll blow your fucking brains out.”
Before I can respond, Enzo does.
“No!” A weak arm barricades my midsection as he tries to push me behind him. “No, Adrian. Whatever it is, we can set—”
“It’s Adriano Bellandini to you!” Adrian barks, aiming the gun at Enzo.
I feel Enzo stiffen beside me. “Bellandini?”
“In the flesh,” Adrian sneers darkly.
My eyes move between both of them as I watch the interaction. Enzo’s hand around me drops limply to his side, and Adrian… or Adriano, clenches his fist. The room seems to hold its breath.
What the fuck is going on?
“That’s right, old bastard. You murdered my family in cold blood. Remember?”
I freeze and whip my head to Enzo for confirmation. He doesn’t look at me; instead, he takes a deep breath.
“I was only acting on Dean’s orders.”
That must have been years ago, when Father was still the Don and Enzo his second-in-command.
Adrian’s nostrils flare. “You slaughtered my family! Looked me in the eyes and shot five fucking bullets into my chest!” he roars. “You shot my sick mother between her eyes and killed a fucking ten-year-old!”
What?
“I’m sorry.” The words barely leave Enzo’s mouth when another shot rings through the air. Enzo collapses to the side with a loud grunt, blood pooling from his shoulder.
Shit!
“Adrian, stop!” I scream, but Adrian cocks his gun again. “Please just stop!”
Without thinking, I wedge myself between the two of them.
“Bastard!” Adrian growls, a deadly haze in his eyes. He looks possessed… consumed by a revenge too sinister, and as he looks at me, it seems to intensify.
“Get out of the way, Elena.” His voice is strained, like he’s barely holding back.
“No. No, please.” My plea is a mixture of sobs and snot. “Please, Adrian, you’ll…you’ll kill him. He’s the only man who ever cared about me. Please.”
“Well, he killed everyone who ever cared about me. And now, he’ll rot in hell.”
“Your father, Marco Bellandini…” Enzo croaks, snapping our attention to him. “He was in a secret association with Dean and Valente. You know them both.”
As he tries to speak, sweat gathers rapidly along Enzo’s forehead and starts to trickle down.
“T-They formed it t-to… ahhh!” He groans as blood spurts from his shoulder.
“He’ll die. He’ll die, Adrian. If you want answers, he has to fucking live!” I sob.
He grits his teeth, hesitation flickering in his eyes before he grabs a towel from the desk and tosses it at me.
“Apply pressure to stop the bleeding. He’ll live long enough to say what he has to.”
I’m angry at his words, but I quickly grab the towel and press it against his wounded shoulder, eliciting a low curse from him. When I look at his foot, I see it’s also still bleeding profusely.
“I need another towel.”
“That’s enough,” Adrian hisses. Then he cocks his gun at Enzo again. “Start talking.”
I rip the hem of my dress and quickly tie it around his foot before reapplying pressure on his shoulder.
“…They formed it to build a private laundering network, with the goal to create a system that allowed them to clean money discreetly without relying on the bigger, more dangerous syndicates.” Enzo coughs violently, the sound a mix of pain and exhaustion. I press down tighter.
“But one day, a deal came in from the ex-commissioner. He said they had to protect a man, Victor Caughn, promising political immunity in return, which the three families needed at the time. But your father, Marco, wasn’t comfortable with it, even though the pay was huge.”
“Dean ordered my father to be killed over non-compliance to a deal?” Adrian frowns.
“No. Marco tried to dig into this Victor Caughn guy, but he was a ghost. The officer said Victor was a federal witness in a billion-dollar corruption case, and there was a mole in the system, which is why the police couldn’t protect him.
” He coughs again, this time longer, then his voice grows weaker as he continues.
“But Marco said he searched, and the guy didn’t exist. He smelled something fishy, so he pulled out of the deal,” he explains.
“…Valente first told Dean of Marco’s intention to rat them out to federal agents.
When Dean didn’t believe him, Valente presented hard evidence.
Knowing how greedy Dean was, he prompted orders for the massacre.
Dean couldn’t afford any sabotage in that deal just when it felt like they were at the edge of a breakthrough. ”
There’s silence for a beat. Enzo’s eyes flutter open and close, and I see the wheels turning in Adrian’s head.
Shit. There’s no time.
“We need to get hi—” I start, but an angry Adrian cuts me off.
“Lies,” he growls. “My father would never rat them out just like that.”
In a split second, Adrian is before us, yanking Enzo from my hold and fisting his collar. “Is that how cowardly you are? Dishing out lies to avoid death?”
Enzo winces, struggling to keep his head upright. “The massacre happened years ago. What use is lying to you now? Trust me, son, every day since that day, I’ve drowned in guilt. It didn’t feel right to me to murder Marco and his family, but you already know that in our world, an order is an order.”
Adrian sneers in his face. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m already a dead man.” Enzo coughs. “You want more answers, find Valente.”
With that, he slumps.
“No!” I scream as Adrian throws him to the floor. “No. No. No!”
I slap Enzo’s face desperately, but he doesn’t respond. My heart stills.
“You bastard! We have to get him a doctor. Now!”
Adrian says nothing. His jaw locks tight as he glances at both of us, then he runs a hand through his hair and storms out.
Shit!
I run downstairs, screaming for help, but there’s nobody. Just bodies… all scattered lifelessly on the floor like rag dolls.
They’re all dead.