Dreading The Mafia

Part 37

Part 37

Turning around I saw Malia trying to sit up, pain twisting her face. "Pl—Please Sa—Sadie."

What was going on? I thought Malia was dead since she had not uttered a sound when I was talking to Natasha. What should I do? Should I listen to her? I mean, I had listened to Natasha even though I should've just killed her and gotten it over with. So I guess I could do Malia a favor and listen to her, since she had been kind enough not to kill me.

Giving Renzo's hand a reassuring squeeze to let him know that I had this under control and he better not let his Mafia gang interfere, I let go and bent down until I was close to Malia.

"What is it?" The bullet had hit her thigh and blood would not be spurting out. Guilt would've hit me if she had been kind to Renzo, but she had been provoking him continuously and I could not forgive her for it.

"Sa—Sadie? Th—Thank you for lis—listening to me," Malia said.

"Consider it payback for not killing me when you had me." I told her, not recognizing my own tone of voice. I never thought I could be this...cold to another person. And could I even blame Renzo for this? No, I could not. This was all on me. Shooting these three women had changed me. It seemed I'd lost a part of myself which I would never get back.

Malia smiled a brittle smile. "Th—Thank you." She took a deep, painful breath. "Sa—Sadie, I have a fa—favor to ask y—you."

Favor? This woman was injured, possibly dying, and she wanted me to ask for a favor? What was going through her mind to reach out to me like this? And since her request boggled my mind, I found it the perfect reason to ask her about what she wanted from me.

"What is it?" I asked her, eager to know what she wanted to tell me.

"I need you to pro—promise me som—something," she answered. Why couldn't she just cut to the chase and tell me what she wanted.

"Go on, Malia. Tell me what you want." I told her.

"Sadie, pl—please take care of Re—Renzo. He is my li—little brother. Please, I beg you, please keep him safe and take care of him. The Ma—Mafia is not an easy world, but you need to stay strong and help Renzo. Do not le—leave him, Sadie. He is my little brother," Malia said, with tears in her eyes.

My heart clenched painfully at her words. I thought this woman was Renzo's enemy, but she might be the only one who genuinely cared about him. I knew she was not lying because concern and love for Renzo shimmered in her eyes. Out of all the people, it was Renzo's step-sister who cared about him. And when there was someone who cared about Renzo, I had to listen to that person and do as she said.

"Sugarplum?" I looked up to see Renzo standing with a frown on his face. He had been alone all his life because his father left him at an early age and the rest of his family was out to destroy him so they could take over the power which was rightfully his. And there was this one woman who genuinely cared about him, and I could not watch her die because of revenge which I vowed upon his entire family.

"We need to get her help, Renzo. I don't know much about gunshot wounds but you do know. Please help her," I said to him. With a soft smile at Malia, I stood up and linked my hand with Renzo's.

"What are you talking about, sugarplum? You do know that Malia is the enemy right. You know all that she tried to do to me; you were there!" He said, looking bewildered. However, I understood Malia's behavior when I first met her and it made sense to me now. She had been concerned even then and that was why she kept on telling Renzo to come back home. But for some reason she had to mask her true feelings and pretend she was doing all that in order to destroy him.