The Mafia Leaders Son (Mafia Series #1)

Is He Dead? Are They Dead?

Song: Dancing With Your Ghost by Sasha Sloan

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"Katrina. Victor. I wish you were here with us. I'm so sorry for everything that happened to you both. Jacob is doing amazing as the Don. He shouldn't be in that position yet, though. But he's amazing. He's a born leader, and he makes one hell of a boss to his men. You would be so proud of him," I whisper my words, as I sit in front of the Cantelli's headstone at the cemetery. Jake is leaning against a headstone behind me, giving me a minute to talk to them alone. I look back at Jake, and motion him forwards.

He brought me here for the first time a couple of months ago, and I've been coming here fairly often. This is the first time in two months that I've gotten Jake to come with me. The one year anniversary of his moms death is in a few weeks and I know he's having a hard time with that.

"Ma, pops. I know it's been a while since I've been here. It's been business as usual, but that's no excuse for going a couple months without visiting. To be honest, I was ashamed of myself. Especially for what I had done to Emma. You guys accepted her as your own, and I disappointed you both. Pops, if you were here, you would have kicked my ass into next year for what I did," Jake says, softly laughing.

"You did disappoint them," a deep familiar voice says. Jake and I both look towards the sound, and see Monte, Jake's trainer, standing a few feet from us.

"Monte? Why are you here?" Jake asks, looking confused and angry. He hates Monte.

Without even a second to react, Monte pulls out a gun from behind his back, and shoots Jake. It's like it's slow-motion now. Jake is frozen, his wide eyes lowering to his stomach, where blood is pooling in his shirt. He slowly drops to his knees, before landing on his back.

I run to him, and without hesitation, I pull his gun from the holster I know is on his leg, and aim it at Monte. Monte freezes, but I don't. I shoot him, hitting him in the chest. I drop the gun, and quickly apply pressure to Jake's wound, as he stares up at me.

"Don't you fucking die on me, Jacob Anthony Cantelli," I sob, grabbing my phone with one hand, holding pressure with the other. I dial 911, and tell them to hurry with an ambulance, and that I think Monte is dead. Then I call Ollie, putting it on speaker so I have both hands free.

"Emma? What's up?" Ollie answers, and I start to sob all over again.

"Jake! He's been shot!" I sob out, and I can hear Ollie take in a sharp breath of air.

"What?! Where are you?!" he yells into the phone, and I hear a lot of noise through the phone.

"The cemetery," I choke out, my eyes connecting with Jake's. They're dull, and look like they're about to close. "Stay awake, Jake!"

"Tell me everything that happened, I'm on my way," Ollie says, and I start to explain.

"We were at the cemetery, talking to his parents, and Monte showed up. Monte shot Jake! And I... I.. Ollie, I shot Monte. I think he's dead," I sob, quickly taking my coat off to help soak up the blood coming from Jake's stomach.

"I'm almost there," he tells me, remaining on the phone. Ollie quickly grew into someone I trusted, like the brother I never had but always wanted. I'm not as close with Q, but we're still good friends.

The ambulance and two police cars pull into the cemetery, and quickly drive over to where I am. Soon after, Ollie pulls up in his black SUV, and he and Q jump out of the vehicle.

"Emma? Emma! What happened?" I look up and see my uncle Trent, or officer Trent Swayze, standing over me.

"Uncle Trent," I sob, as he kneels down and hugs me. The paramedics surround Jake, getting him stable to go to the hospital.

"Tell me everything, Emma," Trent whispers, and I nod, once again going into the story of what happened less than 30 minutes ago.

"Is he dead? Are they dead?" My eyes never leave Jake, but my uncle knows what I'm trying to ask.

"Yes, Monte Jackson is dead, Emma. It was self defense. You won't get in any trouble for it. Jake is stable now, but he's not in good shape," he explains to me. "I have to go, but call me. Please." I nod, and he walks away. Ollie and Q are finally able to run over to me, and they load Jake into the ambulance.

"Emma," Ollie breathes, as they both pull me into a hug.

"Are you okay?" Q asks, when they break the hug.

"Physically, I'm fine. Mentally and emotionally, far from it," I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "Can we go to the hospital? Jake's car is parked over there."

"Yeah, I'll take my car, Q will you drive Jake's car and take Emma to the hospital? I'll meet you guys there," Ollie says, and Q nods.

"Let's go," Q whispers, draping an arm over my shoulder, and directing me towards Jake's Mustang. Guess it's good he gave me the keys earlier.

I get into the passenger seat, while Q is in the driver seat. Ollie pulls out behind the ambulance, and we follow closely behind him. The shock of everything that happened finally sets in, and I let out a gasp.

"I killed someone." Q glances at me in the mirror, a sad smile on his face.

"I know," he responds softly.

"I... Quinton. Quinton, I killed a man. I killed a man!" I'm hysterical at this point, and a sobbing mess. Q pulls off to the side of the road, and within seconds, Ollie is turned around and parked in front of us.

Ollie pulls my door open, and I immediately rip my seatbelt off, and crumbling to the ground, pulling Ollie with me and hugging him tightly.

"What the hell is happening?" Ollie asks Q, completely shocked.

"I killed a man, and Jake could die!" I sob uncontrollably, at the start of a panic attack. My breathing becomes shallow and it's hard to take a deep breath in. "I can't. I can't breathe."

"Hey, sit down. Pull your knees up to your chest, and put your head between your knees. Deep breaths in and out. Slowly. Take my hand," Ollie is instructing me, and I'm doing as he says. I take deep breaths in, my grip on his hand probably almost painful.

After a few minutes, I've mostly calmed down. I let go of Ollie's hand, and look up at the two worried guys in front of me. "Let's get to the hospital," I whisper.

"Q, take my car. I'll drive the stang," Ollie tells Quinton. Quinton nods and goes to the running SUV in front of the Mustang. Ollie helps me back into the car, and we slowly head off in the direction of the hospital.

I killed a man.

And Jake could die.