Page 44 of Always Meant To Be

"Fuck, I didn't know Antonio was using explosives; if I did, I would have begged to be on his team," Gio, Ray's adoptive brother, complains, and I smirk, shooting three more fuckers.

"Focus, fucker. I don't want to explain to Papa why you got your ass shot," Ray snaps before running over to a group of men, pointing his gun at them.

"Fuck, he's lucky he's my brother, and I love him," Gio mutters, running straight ahead, and I sigh, wondering why I allowed brothers to be in the same group.

Looking around the fighting and stray bullets, I try to find the person I want, the person I know will try and run to save his own ass. I spot Adams trying to make a break for it out a side door, and I grin wide, running toward him. Just as his hand touches the exit bar, I shoot, hitting his arm, and making him shout and drop like the pussy he is.

When we make eye contact, he growls, grabbing his gun, but I shoot again, hitting him in the middle of his forehead, his body dropping. I feel a presence to my left and turn, ready to kill whoever it is, when I feel something sharp go into my side, making me grunt. Growling, I come face to face with a cocky bald fucker. His grin shows his cracked black teeth as he pulls the knife out, but I don't flinch. Instead, I lift my rifle and slam the end into his head, making him fall before I shoot him.

Heaving heavily, I look down and notice the tear in my shirt where the knife went in, the material sticking to me, and I silently curse, doing my jacket up so no one can fucking notice.

If Ray loses those brownies, he's going to be pissed. Rihanna, his wife, loves them, and she's ready to pop, and not one to piss off.

Sighing, I turn and take in the carnage, then run into the middle of it, ready to end this shit, preferably before I bleed out….

It takes us forty minutes to kill every motherfucker.

Several men are injured, but we haven't lost anyone, thank fuck. Antonio, Ray, and I ensure all our men are out of the building before we set up several explosives to hide the evidenceof the carnage inside. As soon as we're at a safe distance, Antonio sets it off, causing the men in the truck to all cheer, and I sigh, pressing my hand against my wound to stop the bleeding, lightheadedness filling me.

An hour later, I try to be quiet as I walk into the house. Everything is dark and quiet; the men have all gone to their homes, happy after I've given them all a few days off to rest before they go back to their jobs within the organization, all of them none the wiser to my predicament.

I sigh as I get to the top of the stairs and see the door to the guest room furthest from our room is shut.

"I guess tonight won't be so bad," I mumble to myself, going to our room.

I head to the bathroom, not looking at the bed as I remove my jacket, wincing at the pull of the wound before I unbutton my black shirt and remove it, the side of it soaked with my blood.

I grab a towel and press it hard against my body to slow the bleeding, before reaching for the cabinet where I keep the needle and thread.

I know I could call our doctor, but honestly, I can't be bothered, and I don't want El waking and seeing this.

I grab the sterilizing solution and gauze before removing the towel, wincing at the size of the wound.

Fuck, how am I going to explain this to El?

Grumbling under my breath, trying to figure out how to keep this quiet, I soak the gauze in the solution, and then wipe over the cut.

It stings like a bitch, but I ignore it, wiping around the fucker. I throw the blood-soaked gauze on the counter and grab another one.

"Oh my God!" a panicked gasp echoes, and I still.

Fuck….

I turn to see El standing in the doorway, her hair up in a messy bun, her hands covering her mouth, tears coating her cheeks, and wearing nothing but one of my shirts.

"Farfalla," I rasp with pain, hating seeing her tears.

She shakes her head and rushes over to me, grabbing the gauze from my hand, her other hand going to my side as she sobs silently.

It's right about now that I see it…the love she has for me. It's right now her guard is down, and she's showing me exactly what I mean to her, and it's something I'll never fucking lose.

This woman is my heaven while I live in hell. She's my light, and I won't lose her.

Fifteen

Elena

I can’t stopmy tears as I wipe around the deep wound on Romeo’s side, blood oozing from it.