The Don and His Angel

Chapter 20

"Alright you giovani stronzi," Antonio calls out to the room with a clap of his hands before turning to me, "and lady."
(Young fuckers)

I roll my eyes but smile nonetheless. The young soldiers that I am standing with look horrified. Their faces make me wonder what kind of reputation Antonio holds in their world.

"We aren't doing gun safety," he continues, "if you don't know that shit by now, you're more useful as a human fucking shield."

"Real simple shit today," Gio reminds the room. He seems to even out Antonio's intensity.

"We're doing target practice starting at 25 meters and will work up to 100," Antonio announces, "I don't expect too many of you to have perfect aim but you should at least be able to hit the target."

"And use good form," Gio reminds them.

With that the men unholster their handguns. The shooting range is simple and large. There's enough stalls for at least a hundred people and the markers are very clear. I turn to Antonio and hold out my hand expectantly.

"Why don't you have your own?" He questions me with furrowed brows.

"Ask Luca," I retort, "cause I have the same question."

"He's so fucking annoying," he huffs before handing me his gun.

I smile at him brightly and walk over to a stall. Every man I pass is standing stiff, it's going to fuck with their aim.

"First set going out now," Antonio calls out before the targets shoot out to 25 meters.

Marco taught me how to shoot when we were kids. Almost every night we would sneak out into the woods and fire our fathers guns. He's good, but I've always been better.

I shoot in calculated, well timed shots. Every bullet hits dead center, forcing the target to rip. I keep shooting until my clip is empty.

"See," Gio comes behind me and claps my shoulder, "you just needed luck."

I roll my eyes and he steps back to where Antonio is observing. They send out the next set of targets and I reload the gun.

"Don't forget to use two hands," Antonio reminds me, despite all of the men being able to shoot otherwise.

Out of nothing more than stubbornness, I aim with one hand. I empty my clip in the target and turn to face him with a smug grin.

"You can shoot," Antonio states in full seriousness.

"I can," I remark, still grinning. He narrows his eyes at me and turns away.

"75 meters," Antonio calls out to the room. He sends out the 75 meter targets.

I reload the gun and take aim. I squint at the silhouette in concentration. I'm going to hit all three bullseyes, even the unmarked one, I decide.

Two bullets to the chest. Two to the head. Two to the dick.

"What the fuck?" Antonio breathes out, looking over my shoulder at the target.

"What?" I ask him, feigning innocence.

Instead of answering me, he calls out, "final set, 100 meters."

The targets shoot out as I reload the gun. Should I show off? I mean, there's no harm in being cocky about something you're good at. Fuck it.

I raise the gun with my non-dominant hand and take aim. Once again, I hit the three targets on the silhouette in precise shots.

Gio looks over my shoulder and whistles lowly. In his state of distraction, I take one of the guns from his hip. I aim again, this time with my good arm, and hit the target in the exact same places.

"That's mine!" Gio exclaims when I empty the clip. I smile and hand him back the gun.

"That's mine," I retort as I point at the target. I look down the gallery at the other targets and none are even close to mine.

"Siete inutili figli di puttana!" Antonio yells.
(You useless motherfuckers)

The excited side chatter of the new soldiers ceases immediately. I look up at Gio who is still standing next to me but he puts a finger to his lips.

"You are fucking soldiers!" he continues to yell, "how the fuck is it possible that a fucking girl shoots better than any of you?"

"Hey!" I pipe up, despite it definitely not being the right time.

"Sorry Victoria," he says to me before he turns back to the men, "get your fucking shit together! Ci ritroviamo qui domani 6am sharp!"
(Meet back here tomorrow)

The young men loudly leave the shooting range, each holding their targets and guns. With a huff, Antonio snatches my targets and his gun from me. He carefully looks over each target before looking at me again.

"You could have killed me that night," he states. I just nod in response.

"Why didn't you?" he asks, handing me my targets.

"One of your goons took my gun," I remind him.

"Oh yeah," Antonio chuckles, "I forgot about that."

"Don't be an upset I'm a better shot than you Antonio," I tease, sticking out my bottom lip in a fake pout.

"If he didn't take your gun would you have killed us?" Antonio asks.

I take a step back. In that moment, I would have killed them without hesitation. I didn't know the truth when I got there.

I didn't know that Marco sold out the family and offered for me to be killed in his place. I didn't know that Antonio is only an asshole as a show. I didn't know that Luca would practically save me. All I knew was my brother was in danger and there were men in my home.

"Probably," I tell him honestly.

Antonio looks away and nods slowly, "you would have protected your brother."

"Just like you would," I remind him.

"You're right," Antonio smiles, "I can't be a hypocrite."

"Siete entrambi così strani," Gio mumbles which makes both Antonio and I laugh.
(You're both so fucking odd)

"Wait where's Vinny?" Antonio questions.

"Yeah, isn't he supposed to be guarding you right now?" Gio asks as well.

"He probably isn't feeling too well," I tell him while holding in a laugh.

"He never gets sick," Gio says quietly, almost talking to himself.

"Never said he was sick," I tell them.

Both men look at me with furrowed brows but I just shrug and walk away. I venture through the halls looking for anything to entertain myself. Maybe I'll try to find the library again, Luca has an amazing collection.

A voice I haven't heard in years calls out behind me.

"I thought that was you Victoria."