Promised For Truce

Chapter 23

The Irish didn't pull back their punches and brought war into the homes of the Italians. Not even the deceased were left alone.

The families sought cover behind the many mausoleums at breakneck speed from the bullets. Doing what he did best, Bartolomeo acted as a shield for Nina and had his gun drawn as his eyes searched for the enemy.

Nina was crouched down, her hand against the stone of the tombs, and looked around for Luciano. She found him. He was still out in the open causing fear to pulsate through her veins. Frightened to see his body be riddled with lead. A phone slipped out of his hand, a gun taking its place and he sprinted toward her.

The round of fire came to a stop.

"Don't move. Are you okay?" Luciano said, his gaze checking if Nina had any injuries. There were none.

"Yes." The word was almost stuck in her throat. "You?" she asked to which he gave a curt nod.

"Stay here." Carlos held Nina by the arm and could feel her trembling. "Where is your mother?"

"I don't kn-"

Another round of fire reached everyone's ears. Hopeless terror engulfed the youngest of minds present at the shoot-out. Fresh blood coated the cemetery grounds. The onslaught seemed to last forever in Nina's mind even though it happened in a matter of seconds in real-time.

When the roar of a car's engine sounded, Luciano looked carefully around the corner of the mausoleum while Carlos and Bartolomeo checked the other side. Banion's men left and the chase would begin.

Luciano made eye contact with Bartolomeo, the experienced soldier ready to take orders. "Take Nina to the mansion!"

"Wait! Don't go, they are long gon-"

Nina was cut off by Luciano giving her a hasty, yet intense last kiss. Too high on adrenaline and too much in a state of shock, she did not register any pain as he grabbed her roughly by the face. All of it felt numb. She only got a brief look of the terrifying rage flashing across her husband's face before he went after The Irish with Arturo and Giorgio.

Don Galasso barked orders that every man bring their wife and children to safety and hunt the enemy afterward.

There wasn't any time to process what was happening. It was one thing after another. Now, it was Nina's mother. She had been hit in the arm.

"Papà, come!" Nina ran toward her mother. "Put pressure on it, Mamma." She unknotted the silk scarf from her neck and wrapped it tightly around her mother's arm to put pressure on it so the blood would clot.

"Do something," Evelyn breathed out and held onto her daughter.

The firm grip on her arm was released when Carlos lifted her mother in his arms and got told to call their private doctor. Once they reached the car and got inside, Nina dialled the doctor. With her father trying to calm her panicking mother down, Bartolomeo took hold of the wheel and drove the family back to their mansion. Even though Nina didn't see a single scratch on her aunt and cousin, she still called them to check up on them and to her relief, they got away with only a scratch or two.

* * *

There were a handful of doctors The New Orleans Family had direct access to. Luckily, it didn't take long for Dr Sartini to arrive at the Sciacca mansion.

"I'm going to remove a small fragment but I can't do anything if you keep moving away. I need you to stay still. Can you do that, Mrs Sciacca?" Dr Sartini said, the professional tone of his voice having a calming effect on Evelyn.

Whenever a child of a mafioso excelled in a certain subject at school their father would push them to pursue a career in that field. Some became doctors, others lawyers, and some politicians – all of them eventually benefitting The Family in one way or another. Dr Sartini was once such a child.