Chapter 113 Chapter: 113

Chapter 113 Chapter: 113
ANDREA

Or should I say, Alessio! He'd come through the same back door we'd use. I stared at him, and instantly I realized what had been bothering me about Alessandro earlier; it was the beard.

Alessandro still had his beard while Nicklaus was clean-shaven. This means the Alessandro I saw with Valentina at the wedding was actually Nicklaus, not Alessandro.

Oh wow! I was beyond shocked; their resemblance was so uncanny, their height, build, the shape of their faces, all the same. Somehow, I know if I had been close to him earlier, I would have known he wasn't my Alessandro. I honestly couldn't stop staring at him.

The last time I saw Nicklaus was back in New York, at Nicotech's penthouse, in a secret room, comatose, but here he is, healthy and standing on his two feet, Lorenzo holding him hostage. And he didn't seem all that scared.

No, please, Lorenzo, don't do this! While I was panicking and hoping Alessandro would stop Lorenzo from killing Nicklaus, I was also hoping Lorenzo wouldn't die. I don't want any one of them to die. Nicklaus is Alessandro's twin brother, while Lorenzo is his cousin and my friend.

“What the actual fuck!” Valentina screeched, her eyes looking wide with shock and confusion, staring between Alessandro and Nicklaus. The look on Don Marchetti's face was beyond murderous; getting played by Alessandro must have grated on his ego.

“Alessandro, you bastard! You fucking lied to me? You told me he was dead.”

“Hello, Nonno,” Nicklaus said darkly. Suddenly, it all made sense why they could impersonate each other; apart from their insane resemblance, they each had darkness inside of them. Both were ruthless, cunning, and calculating. Dangerous, that's what they were. Don Marchetti's face was a study in the depth of human hatred.

“Not sorry to disappoint you fucker. I'm still alive, gotta wonder how you feel? The taste of defeat?”

“We'll see about that?” Don replied smugly.

“Sandro, honestly though, are you sure we're related to this bastard? I don't see any resemblance,” Nicklaus said doubtfully. Alessandro didn't say anything, not taking his eyes off Don Marchetti. Who was beyond livid. The poor man was close to having an aneurysm, with his age and all, I wouldn't be surprised if he did.

“Oh, I don't know, I think you could be related, alright, you guys got a little bit of his craziness if you ask me,” Alex replied, chuckling. God, the guy is crazy.

“Asshole,” Nicklaus said, giving him the finger.

“Crow, every fucker is here except for Benedetto. Go find that fucking rat and bring him here,” Alessandro ordered Casio, his voice low. Casio nodded, then slipped away.

“It seems we are at an impasse,” Don said cockily. Now that Lorenzo had Nicklaus hostage.

“Lorenzo, on your left,” Alessandro called out. Lorenzo quickly took his gun off Nicklaus and shot the man, whom I recognized as Matteo Moretti's consigliere. Who was sneaking up behind Logan, who still held Valentina hostage. Logan nodded his thanks to Lorenzo, who nodded back.

My brows scrunched with confusion; my brain was in a whirlpool of confusing thoughts. What just happened? Did Alessandro just warn Lorenzo that someone was about to shoot Logan? And Lorenzo actually killed him? Weren't they both enemies?

“Lorenzo, what are you doing?” Don asked in Italian, equally confused.

“You should kill Alessio now!” he ordered, still not getting what suddenly occurred to me.

“Why would I kill him? I just found out he's my cousin. I thought I only had one, turns out they were two, isn't that amazing?” Lorenzo asked, feigning confusion.

“Oh, was it because I held him at gunpoint? Oh, that's just us fooling around, Nonno.” Lorenzo was grinning, and his voice was playful. Then he turned serious once again.

“Did I perhaps give you the impression that I'm on the same side as you, you fucking monster?” he ended menacingly, that darkness I'd only had a glimpse of on his face full force.

Lorenzo suddenly looked like an entirely different person, so dark and cold, I couldn't believe this was the same person who had laughed, smiled, and flirted with me.

It seemed I'd underestimated him just as his grandfather apparently had. Just then, he fired a gun, and the rest of the Marchetti soldiers came running; they surrounded Don Marco and his guards. So, that's where the rest of the soldiers were. Don looked shocked that half his men were against him and loyal to Lorenzo and Alessandro.

“You should thank Sandro for the simple fact you're still breathing. I've got less restraint than he does. You fucking murderer. You watched her die day by day as that monster abused and stripped her of everything, and you didn't stop it until he drove her mad and she ended her own life! I've waited for this day to come for twenty years; the other bastard died before I was old enough to end him.

He glanced at Alessandro, his eyes dark with emotion.“By the way, I never thanked you for that, Alessandro. Thank you,” Alessandro only nodded.

The pain in Lorenzo's eyes makes me ache for him. To watch your own father abuse your mother and not be old enough to protect her must have been hell for him. I really feel for him.

A loud laugh suddenly bursts out of Don Marchetti, surprising me. He laughed for a long time while we all watched him with various emotions on our faces. He wipes the tears on his face, saying.

“I've really raised a pack of wolves, so all this while you've all been planning for my demise?” he kept on laughing. It's honestly a bit unsettling for me, but the guys weren't fazed.

“You brought this upon yourself. You should have never lived the way you did, and kidnapping Andrea? That I could never forgive.”

“And me? How did I ever wrong you for you to play such wicked mind games with me?” Valentina yelled. She looked hurt. Finding out Alessandro never really intended to marry her must have broken her heart.

“Let's not pretend you hadn't noticed my lack of interest in you. For a man who is about to marry you, I've never kissed or made love to you. What does that tell you? Hmm? I'm sure you get it, you're a smart woman, Valentina. You know, but don't care as long as you get what you want,” Alessandro replied calmly.

“You made me believe you were going to marry me!” she screamed hysterically.

As I stared at her, I realized I've never really hated anyone as I do her, but I didn't need her blood on my hands, and if I tell Alessandro what she did, he will definitely kill her. I didn't want that, I didn't want any more bloodshed. If I could, I would stop all that's happening right now. That's how exhausted I am.

“I will never marry a woman like you. Just knowing you're a pedophile sickens me to no end. Knowing you prey on teenage children disgusts me; it makes me want to put a bullet between your eyes,” he said so coldly.

Staring her down with blank eyes, as tears trickle out of her eyes. God, I suddenly wish I could kill her myself, just thinking of her with my child as their mother made me nauseated. No wonder she was okay with raising my child with Alessandro despite how much she undoubtedly hated me.

“Logan, get her out of my sight before I change my mind and kill her, instead of sending her to her psychiatrist.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“You can't do this to me, Alessandro! I loved you! I will never allow you to send me to a psychiatrist. I'm not mad!” Valentina kept screaming and yelling hysterically as Logan took her away.

“Did it ever occur to you that the capos would hunt you down for betraying the famiglia?”

“No, they won't. And even if they did, it would be my problem to take care of them.”

“You have no way out, Don. I suggest you surrender, though I want nothing more than to pull the trigger and splatter your brain. But you don't deserve an easy death, I want you to die slowly, regretting everything bad decisions you've ever made,” Alessandro said.

I was surprised and proud that Alessandro had decided not to kill Don, though he didn't elaborate. Surely he meant to take him to jail, right? My brows scrunched when I saw the old man smile smugly.

“Oh, I'm not that desperate yet.”

“Benedetto!” he yelled a second before shit went to hell. Everything happened so fast; it was suddenly pure, utter chaos.

Benedetto fired in my direction, Alessandro covering my body with his, and being shot twice in the front, before shooting Benedetto. I screamed when Alessandro went down, crying hysterically. Casio and Nicklaus quickly dragged Alessandro behind the SUV I was supposed to escape with. Lorenzo dragged me along. While Logan and Alex exchange fire with the soldiers.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, Alessandro! Please, please, please, don't you dare die and leave me, you can't die. Not now. Please,” I sob, my body trembling.

“Hey, I'm okay, I'm okay,” he said with a reassuring smile, his thumb wiping my tears only for another to replace it. Sweat dotted his forehead. You could tell talking took a lot out of him.

“Shhh, don't say anything. Don't exert yourself,” I said, sniffling.

“Here, keep pressure right here so he wouldn't bleed out,” Nicklaus said, placing both my shaky hands below Alessandro's left pectoral where he'd pressed a cloth. Through my blurry eyes filled with tears, I realized he'd taken off his coat, leaving him with only the white shirt inside, to use as a compress on Alessandro's injury. I press on, sobbing, while hell rains all around us.

Though I could hear Nicklaus, Casio, and Lorenzo discussing how to get Alessandro to the hospital, I couldn't say anything; I only cried harder.

“Alessio, guys,” Alessandro said, but the guys were busy discussing strategies on how to get him out of there between firing shots at the enemy. I heard Logan and Alex joined them, but didn't care to look at any of them. My entire focus is on Alessandro.

“Guys,” he yelled, finally getting their attention.

“I've survived worse; I will survive this. It's a clean shot; the bullet hasn't hit any major artery. But I need you to get Andrea out of here.” My heart sank into my stomach. He wants me to leave him?

“What! No, I'm not leaving you,” I said, shaking my head. Looking to the guys for support, but they all seem to agree with Alessandro.

“No, I…I want to stay with you, Alessandro. Please don't make me go, I don't want to, please,” I said, crying, my hands still pressing on his injury to stop the blood flow.

“I know, but you need to leave Vixen. I need to know that you're safe. You have to protect yourself and our baby,” he gritted out and grabbed my now bloody hands from where I'd been putting pressure. His blue eyes stared at me with an intensity that shook me, and my heart broke.

“I will see you again, Vixen,” he swore, then nodded at one of the guys behind me.

“Take her.” Strong hands wrapped around me, pulling me away from him.

“No, let me go, please let me go,” I screamed!

“Someone hand me a gun,” he said.

“Here, you can use the gun Andrea stole from me, nice trick, Bella,” Lorenzo said with a sad smile. I was too busy crying to be embarrassed that he'd known what I was doing back then.

“Now go, we'll cover you, Crow, you'll go with Andrea, protect her.” Casio nodded.

“Alessio, take care of her, promise me.”

“No fucker, you better be alive and come take care of her. That's your job, brother,” Nicklaus replied, his face hard, his dark eyes shining with emotion. Then we were moving; someone lifted me up and ran with me. While Lorenzo, Logan, and Alessandro gave us cover from the soldiers firing at us.

“Alessandro? No, I love you, I don't want to go, please,” I screamed, sobbing hard, through my tears, blurry eyes, and the sounds of gunshots. I saw his lips move and his deep voice in my ears.

“I love you too, Vixen.”