Chapter 66: Part 2

“Get up,” the man orders, but I move away from him, placing my hands near my back.

All I need to do is grab the gun from my waist; I can kill him.

“I told you to get up, damn it!” he yells, and I feel tears streaming down my face.

The cold metal envelops my hand, and I fumble until I find the gun's safety catch.

“I-I,” I begin to say, needing to distract him, “I’m feeling dizzy.”

I see him narrow his eyes in anger and lose his patience.

As soon as he lowers the rifle to try and grab me, I draw my gun and fire three times. Two in the chest and one in the head.

My hands tremble; the adrenaline is wearing off.

I get up from the floor and go into the garage, grab one of the keys from the locker, and press the alarm button.

“No, this can’t be happening,” I say desperately.

The tires were slashed with knives. I checked the other cars and they were all the same.

I get into the SUV and sit on the floor between the seats. My mind is racing, and I'm trying to convince myself that this is one of the last places they would look for me.

I take my cell phone out of my pocket and call Angelo, who was outside with some of the others.

"Sorella, tell him you're okay," he says as soon as I answer.

"I... I killed two people," I say softly, my voice choked with emotion. "I don't know where the others are, I don't know if they're alive."

The despair I feel is palpable.

"Elena, listen to me," Nicco says, and I hear the sound of a horn on the line. "Where are you?"

"In the garage, I hid inside one of the cars," I say softly, and then I hear a noise outside. "There's someone here."

Luca, who is with them, curses. "I stayed low and silent, we're arriving," Nicco says in a controlled tone.

I open my mouth to reply when the SUV door opens.

I let out a loud scream when a hand grabs my hair and pulls me, making my cell phone fall from my hand.

I hear Angelo calling me on the phone, but I'm dragged away from the car.

I try to break free, but in a second I'm unarmed and on my knees on the ground with a gun pointed at my forehead.

"A little thing like you killed two of my men," I hear a man with a scar on his face say. "Christopher warned me to be careful with you."

The name Chris chills my blood.

"Let's go inside, darling, your family is worried about you," the man says and pulls me by the hair.

I feel pain in my scalp as he pulls me. We enter the house through the front door and I find Lorenzo, Dante, and Leonardo near the stairs.

They have some injuries, but nothing serious. I look around for the others and hear voices coming from the living room.

The man leads me to the entrance of the room and hesitates, undecided about where to leave me.

I see Grandma and my aunts sitting on the sofa with guns pointed at them, Antoni and Matteo lying on the floor with their hands tied behind their backs.

Antoni has a bloodstain on his shirt, and I don't know if he's injured or not.

The man finally decides where to leave me; he drags me to the kitchen. I see confusion and worry in my brothers' eyes.

"Where are you taking her?" Lorenzo shouts angrily.

"If you touch her, I'll kill you, you bastard!" Dante shouts, trying to break free.

I resist, trying to free myself from that bastard, afraid of what he's going to do.

He throws me onto the kitchen floor, and I thump my hands on the floor to regain my balance.

“It’ll work like this: you stay here, and if one of your brothers disobeys, you pay the price,” he says, and a man in gaiters enters the kitchen. “Take care of her; if I give the order, you can have some fun.”

I’m afraid of his words.

I was left alone in the kitchen with another man who smiled at me as if he were just waiting for permission.

I cowered against one of the cabinets, clutching my legs. I could hear the voices of at least two people talking in the living room.

I started counting the seconds, anxious for my brothers to arrive soon.

Everything happened so fast.

The way they took over the house in minutes, not to mention that they broke into the property without setting off the alarm.

And somehow they knew there would be almost no one in the house, that most of the boys would be in the shed.

"Hey, if I'm going to die or be taken somewhere, can you at least tell me how you got in here?" I asked the man who looked at me maliciously.

He approached and pointed the gun at my face.

"What do I get in return?" he asked, and I felt nauseous.

"Idiot," I cursed and looked away.

He laughed and observed me intently.

“Everyone has something to lose,” he says coldly. “Some of the men who work for your brothers have families.”

I stare at him, stunned, and he laughs at me.

“You’re all cowards,” I spit out disgustedly.

“No, princess, we’re the ones others call to take out the trash,” he replies coldly.

I roll my eyes as a curse echoes from the living room, and then the man’s cell phone vibrates.

He smiles and looks at me with a malicious grin.

“Well, it seems your family doesn’t care much about you,” he says, grabbing my hair.

I’m lifted and thrown onto the table, my back hitting the wood hard.

The man pulls a briefcase from his belt, still smiling. I notice he’s carrying a syringe filled with a yellow liquid, which makes me tense.

I try to pull away, but he points the gun at me, paralyzing me.

"It'll get worse if you move," he says, wishing I would move.

He injects the liquid into me, and all I feel is the fear of dying.

"Your luck is that I was asked not to hurt you too much," he says, pulling out a knife and pressing it against my skin before forcefully sliding it inside. "But in a few minutes you won't feel anything anymore."

I scream in pain; the cut he makes on my forearm is deep, but it doesn't hit any major veins.

I hear Lorenzo's voice calling me; I know my screams will hurt them, so when the man presses the knife against my shoulder again, I bite my tongue.

Tears stream down my face.

I'm bracing for the third cut when I hear a low noise, and then the man's body falls backward.

It takes me a few seconds to understand what happened until I see Nicco enter through the staff area with his fingers over his lips.

Bruno and Vicente enter the kitchen, gesturing with their hands to communicate.

"Sister, I need you to scream as if the man were still alive," Nicco asks, and I nod.

I see that they are focused and bloodthirsty.

Vitorio enters with the tablet in his hand and shows the security cameras to the boys.

Nicco gives me the signal to do what he says.

I scream as if I'm in pain, which isn't a lie; my nose is probably broken, and the cuts hurt terribly, not to mention I'm starting to feel disoriented.

Dante shouts my name, as does Matteo.

My heart aches for them, but at the same time I feel relief because I know my brothers are going to bring hell to the lives of these invaders.