Page 97 of Luciano

Fear rattled my bones. I had never felt so scared before. Not when my parents died, not when my husband pointed the gun to my head, not when Ella and I ran away in the dead of the night with nothing but the clothes on our back, fake passports, and ten thousand dollars in cash.

These men, my grandmother planned to hand us over to, would not be kind to Ella and I. They waited four long years for us, stocking their anger and thirst for vengeance. A shiver ran down my spine with fear of their plans. I had no doubt their plans for us were to inflict pain. Hit, beat, brand, rape… death would be more merciful than this.

“Get a move on,puttanas,” one of the guards snapped as he shoved both Ella and I forward.

My grandmother’s laugh chilled me to the bone.

“Don’t mind him, girls,” she chatted, in her raspy voice. Result of years of smoking. “Marco King is eager to have you, Grace. And Ella should fetch a nice price too.”

“Luciano Vitale will destroy you.” Ella hissed. “You nor Marco King were able to find us. Grace’s husband did. He will find her and kill-.”

Her threats were cut off by a slap on her face and a mocking laughter. I wrapped my arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me.

“That wasn’t necessary,” I scolded my grandmother. “I’d think you would want us to look our best for your human auction.”

“Move faster,” one of the guards barked.

I didn’t bother looking behind me to see who it was. It didn’t really matter. We started walking, or risked one of us getting another slap. I snaked my free hand under the slit of my dress to reach for the gun I tucked under there. Ella hid my movement with her body. Every inch and each second ticked loud in my ears, bringing us closer to the doom.

Suddenly, without a warning, I halted my step, Ella following my lead. I whipped around and met my grandmother’s gaze head on. The cruel, dark eyes on me without an ounce of regret for what she was about to do.

Can I end a life?My hand with the small gun hid behind me, pressed against the tall bush.

Above me, stars flickered over the horizon of the night sky. The moon shone over the dark sky, giving me a clear view of what I had to do.

She took two steps towards me. Her small frame shouldn’t have been threatening, but years of her dishing punishments, made my body instinctively stagger backwards.

“Stop delaying the inevitable, Grace. You’ll be put up for auction to the highest mobster bidder and Marco King will outbid them all. He has been waiting for you for a long time.”

Three.

Two.

One.

From the back, I brought my arm forward and raised it with a firm grip on the gun. Just like I was taught in our class.

Don’t hesitate.

Keep a firm handle.

Shoot.

Without delay or another thought, I pulled the trigger.

Click.

My grandmother’s piercing scream colored the night and she swayed, tumbling down onto her side; her face planted into the dirt.Very metaphorical!Before I could ponder on the morality of my actions, I pulled the trigger again, this time hitting one of the guards. And again.

I’ll think later about the fact I hurt someone.Right now, I was thirsty for revenge and driven by the need to survive.

I felt an arm wrap around me from behind. My eyes widened, panic surged through me, and I started kicking. I saw Ella doing the same from the corner of my eye, but I couldn’t twist my body enough to elbow kick him before I felt a prick in my neck.

My whole world turned black.

* * *

The silenceand pitch blackness were the only thing that registered. My eyelids were stone heavy. I kept them shut, focusing on my breathing and listening for any other noise I could possibly zero in on. I felt weak, like I had been run over by a car.