Their Rivalry

37

There's always that one stupid mistake that changes everything.

Moscow, Russia ~ 3rd Person's POV

Miguel stumbled into the centre of the bloody mess. Henry and Isabella had gotten off the balcony on Alessandro's command. Frederick had ordered Eli and Camilla to be ready to kill if anything happened. The ballroom was thick with tension as everyone awaited Don Leonardo's final decision.

Sasha and Ellie run back into the ballroom, hot on Miguel's trail. Sasha was the first to notice Nikita's body on the marble floors and moved in that direction. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw her best friend barely holding on to her side; blood oozed out from her wound. Ellie arrived next to the two and offered to help get Nikita to a medical professional.

When Miguel realized what Ellie was doing, he run to help. Leonardo would be fine; the others were all there for him.

"I'm not leaving without my wife." Leonardo was annoyed now.

Vladimir put his hands in his pockets and flexed his back muscles, "Then you won't leave at all."

Tired of the back and forth, Ava broke out of Leo's grip and stood in between both men again. She'd already made her choice.

"I have a say in this." She said with no room for objections, "I'll leave with Leonardo." She said this while she'd locked gazes with Vladimir.

Leo cracked a smile and Vlad only smirked cryptically. He shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, "Fine then." He said, and then turned in the opposite direction to descend the stairs.

Ava turned to Leo and took his arm. After they'd gotten off the balcony, she left Leo to go speak with her family. Her father had a lot of explaining to do.

The tension had cleared and everything was alright for now. Vladimir had given the green light for them to leave without any problems. He'd been the only known threat and he'd been neutralized. Most had let their guards down, exhausted as they were.

Emilio took this as the perfect opportunity to take the shot. Literally. When everyone had been distracted watching Leo and Vlad come to a compromise, he'd sneaked unto the balcony where Markus' dead body lay.

His heart was filled with hatred and he yearned to avenge his wife's death. Killing Vladimir II hadn't been enough to satiate his thirst for blood. He wanted Vlad to feel what he felt with the loss of his love. He was going to kill Ava. Leo could get with Nikita.

He positioned his rifle and zoomed in on Ava. "It's not personal, it's just business." He whispered right before he pressed the trigger. The sound of a gunshot echoed in the ballroom.

Ava had almost gotten to her father when she was violently pushed aside. Vladimir run towards her and caught her before she kissed the floor, pulling her behind him.

The others rushed to Leo who had fallen with a bullet in his back. Cami stared in utter shock at the balcony where the shot had come from. Her papá gave her a blank stare for a split second then turned to take another shot at Ava.

Eli noticed this and turned his rifle in the old man's direction. Camilla placed her hand over Eli's. Tears had welled up in her eyes as she shook her head violently at him. "Christopher please, don't. That's my papá."

"Yes, and he's about to kill your Doña." Eli reasoned, hesitating to push her away and end the man.

Cami had no reply. She was finding it difficult to understand why her papá would betray the mafia like this. Sure, his loyalty had been pledged to Vittoria and not Ava but that didn't give him the right to kill her for whatever reason.