Page 92 of Mafia Scars

When Victor fired more shots our way, I sprang into action.

He was standing in the doorframe, now waving his gun at me and laughing.

I propelled myself forward and fired at him, missing when he jumped out of the way.

“Too slow, mobster boy, or should I call you Raphael’s lapdog?”

I was mindful of the time. That bomb would go off any minute now. Any minute. Either I had to end him now or let the bomb do it.

“Fuck you. Come and face me like a man and stop this shit.”

“With pleasure. I’ll come and face you with pleasure,” Victor snarled.

He’d killed Henry and Lydia. God, if only I’d gotten here sooner, I could have saved them. I couldn’t believe the horror of what I was facing. And the kids. What was I going to tell them? I wasn’t going to be a hero and fight him like the man I challenged him to be. I had the kids to worry about. I had to get them out of here and to the nearest hospital.

As soon as Victor took his next step, I whipped out my gun and shot him several times right in his chest. The bullets knocked him back and caused him to fall back inside the building. At the same time, the bomb went off. Just like I’d hoped. The blast was so strong it swallowed up the area where Victor had fallen, and fire bellowed all around it like an inferno.

I’d jumped back managing to shield myself from it all, but the heat burned my skin.

I looked back at the rumble of walls falling and crumbling around the fire but wasted no more time looking. The kids. I had to get to them. I ran back to where I’d left them, thanking God I’d managed to get them to safety. I couldn’t even grieve for Henry or Lydia. Couldn’t think about what had happened not even five minutes ago.

I held back on my thanks to God, however, when I saw Jack had slumped, seeming lifeless.

And… there was froth at his mouth.

“Jack.” When I touched him, his body was clammy and cold. And there was no pulse.

Susanna was whimpering, and then she passed out.

Fuck, it had to be poison. Victor gave my kids poison.

“Jack, Susanna.” I cried, grabbing them both, but they were lost to me.

I tried everything to revive them, but to no avail. Even after Claudius came with the boys, I still tried.

Paramedics came with an ambulance, confirming their deaths, and even then, I wouldn’t believe it. I refused.

It couldn’t be that I lost them. Just like that, they were gone. A whole family that were like my own.

A whole family that I loved. Each and every one of them.

Henry, his wife, and his babies.

My babies.

It left a hole inside my soul that changed me forever.

Chapter 19

Amelia

* * *

My nerves…

My nerves and my heart stilled.

Luc told me. He told me what had happened the night Henry and his family were murdered by Victor.