Finding Her

C H A P T E R - T W E N T Y - S E V E N

That Crimson Color

V A L E R I U S ' P O V :

When the alert goes out that something is wrong at the Don's house, everyone in the mafia gets an alert. By everyone, that includes extended family like my bisnonna and all the way to the newest soldiers in training.

The closest group to me would be my papà and a few of my brothers, only living fifteen-twenty minutes away. Or the warehouse that is thirty minutes away.

That still leaves too big of a grey area that I need to stall. I have no idea how many of my people are dead. I do know though, by the sounds of the shots and the thrashing that there are already people in my house.

"Ellie. I need you to be as quiet as you can be." She nods, peering to me nervously. "I need you to tell me you'll be quiet." My eyes are on hers. She's scared. I can tell.

"I'll be quiet." I squeeze her hand.

"Good girl."

With a hand holding Ellie's shaking one from behind, I peer out of my room to see the hall empty. John and Leon must be down the stairs trying to stop people from getting up to us. I catch a flash of a movement coming out from Ellie's room down the hall and my gun quickly goes off. A bullet lands in his forehead.

I wonder just how many Russians are in my fucking house.

I slam the door back shut and pick Ellie up so her head is down on my shoulder. I don't want her seeing me murder people, I can o my imagine what that would do to her. My hand stays protectively over the back of her head.

"Ellie no matter what. You are not going to pick your head up, sì? Your eyes stay closed."

"Sì." She whispers to me, her voice cracking with nerves. She hugs her arms around me tighter. "I love you papà." I feel how she shivers with nerves.

My only goal is to get down to the basement and into my safe room so Ellie is safe. I don't give a shit about anything else.

"I love you so much, Eleonora." I whisper hurriedly before slamming the door open and immediately pulling out my gun.

A bullet flies from my gun with someone trying to get upstairs. Ellie's body jolts with shock. I push her head back down to my shoulder when I feel her try to pick it up. I don't want her to look, to witness. I feel my shirt start to get wet with her tears. The noise is loud, I don't blame her.

Down the stairs I get a view of at least five dead bodies, one being my front guard standing at my door. The front door is wide open, I see Leon down by the door while John is to the right: at the end of the stairs, fighting. Blood covers the floors. Footprints are left everywhere, smears of the crimson color.

I fire at a guy trying to snipe John from behind. Shots are being fired so quickly that I can't process where they're coming from. They're flinging at me from all sides. There's at least twenty people in the house shooting at the three guards I have actively protecting us near by.

I get behind a wall just in time for a bullet to fly right where I was before. Ellie's crying hysterically now but I knew that was going to happen. She's just a child, she shouldn't be hearing this.