𝚂𝙾𝙱𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚃𝚈 𝚆𝙾𝙽𝚃 𝚃𝙴𝙰𝙲𝙷 𝙺𝙸𝙳𝚂 𝚃𝙾 𝙳𝙰𝙽𝙲𝙴 ,, j. b routledge

23 | italian mobster shoots a lobster

Chapter Twenty - Three

The Magnificent Seven ( The Clash )

"italian mobster shoots a lobster"

The Four Swans Marina was home to the most expensive watercraft on the entirety of Kildare, owned only by the richest of the families in the Outer Banks, so it was only fitting that Sangue Nero would pick this particular marina to store their yacht, the Belladonna.

As we entered the marina, tensions were high. The Tommy Hilfiger bag sat by our sneaker-clad feet, each person engaging with their own nervous ticks. Kiara was braiding her hair. JJ's leg was bouncing a mile a minute. Vittoria was playing with the sleeves of her sweater,unable to sit still. John B tightened his grip on my hand to the point where I worried he might crush it.

Up until now, our plan was purely hypothetical.

There was no going back.

"This is it." Vittoria said, reaching for my hand. "We're gonna get through this." She turned to me, her blue eyes boring into mine. We had never looked much like sisters, but we once had the rest of the world fooled, the way we acted. "I'd die before I let anything happen to you, Sienna."

I nodded, squeezing her hand before I let it go. "You know I'd do the same. Let's go get them back."

JJ and Vit took the duffel bag, setting off along the jetty towards the front of the yacht. Vittoria was weary of the lack of security, and anxiety JJ shared. To the two blondes, something felt off. They didn't question it, marching right up to the door of the boat and knocking on it.

"Open up! We have your goddamn money!" She screamed before repeating the words in Italian.

The door opened slowly, two men in suits with thick Italian accents coming outside. JJ passed them the duffel bag, the taller man bursting out into laughter.

"Didn't you hear?" He snickered "The price doubled when we took your little nerd friend."

Scoffing, Vittoria reached into the waistband of her shorts, pulling out an old revolver. "And didn't you hear that we didn't give a shit?"

In the seconds that it took for JJ to pull out his own handgun, the two found themselves surrounded, guns pointed at them from all angles.

"Well shit."

Around the back of the boat, we steered the small skiff towards the edge of the yacht, the part intended for diving off.

"You would have thought they'd have better security here." I said quietly, looking out at the empty deck as Kiara climbed up. "I don't like this."

"Me neither." The Carerra girl said. "But luck seems to be in our favour so let's not jinx it."

I followed Kiara onto the million-dollar boat, John B close behind. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Our ill-fated treasure hunt the previous summer had nothing on goign up against the Italian mob, and I was worried we were in over out heads, even with the fronted money from the Camerons.

We crept inside the yacht, my eyes bulging at the expensive marble tile everywhere. Figures. We Italians love our luxuries.

"Should we take our shoes off?" John B suggested half-heartedly. "We probably shouldn't track anything through here, they'd literally have our heads."

"I don't plan on sticking around long enough for them to find out." I murmured back, turning down a hallway, padding softly and trying not to track anything from the soles of my shoes "I've seen enough movies to know they're probably below deck. Look for a service stairwell or something."

The three of us split up to look down all ends of the nearby hallways, Kiara shouting excitedly when she found it.

"Through here!"

Unable to contain our excitement, we ran down the marble-lined stairwell, throwing open doors without a care when we reached the bottom.

"Pope!"

"Favio!"

I was beginning to lose hope when we found ourselves halfway down the hallway and still hadn't found Favio or Pope, but had been met with cupboards full of drugs, guns and counterfeit cash.

Soon there was just one door left. A door that refused to open. "This has to be it." John B proclaimed. "Stand back, ladies. John Booker Routledge has got this."

Confused, Kiara and I stepped to the side as John B backed up a few paces, setting off at a run and slamming his shoulder into the thick wooden door before dropping to the ground, clutching his shoulder in pain.

"Amateur." Kiara scoffed, pulling a bobby pin out of her hair and jamming it into the lock.

The door clicked open, and we could hear muffled cries deep inside the nondescript, dark room. It was poorly furnished compared to the rest of the yacht, the only furniture being two folding camp chairs in the middle of a cold tile floor. The two occupants had bags over their heads, but we didn't need to take them off to know that we'd found exactly who we had come for.

"Pope." Kiara breathed when she pulled the black bag off form the nerdy boys head, hastily ripping the gag from his mouth and kissing him before he had a chance to say anything.

Me on the other hand? As soon as I got the bag off his head, I slapped Favio so hard that the gag came out of his mouth when his head snapped to the side.

"Sienna Franca, what the hell was that for!" He shouted

"For getting us in hot water with gangsters." I frowned, reaching to undo the braided rope around his wrists. "But I'm not a monster, I won't leave you here to die."

John B was still standing awkwardly by the door, clutching his arm. "Hello Mr. Antonelli." He said sheepishly

Minutes passed by all too fast as we freed Sangue's captives and prepared to dive back into our skiff. Every second that passed, I grew more and more paranoid that we would be discovered.

"Let's get out of here." Pope said weakly, leaning on Kiara for balance

"I couldn't agree more." I said, reaching for the door handle.

A loud crack stopped us all in our tracks, the unmistakable wail of a gunshot amid sirens. There was one thought running through my mind as I took off like Usain Bolt down the long marble hallway.

Vittoria.

NOTES

one more chapter then an epilogue!