Chapter 18: Chapter 18

Taking his hands down. "Guns are for big girls you know. Tell me, do you know how to use a gun?" Firing a straight shot to the head of the man beside him.

"Perfectly." It cause a ruckus amongst his men who raised voices about to fire their arms.

"Don't fire! Don't fire!" They look at him crazy, eyes flitting between Leandro and I not sure if to obey him or fire away. Me, I wasn't here to play games and Leandro can see it creating a smirk to his face. "I said don't fire, she is worth more to me alive than dead." Looking at the cold dead body covered with blood. "That was my best shooter Sonia."

"But boss she..." In a flash his gun is out shooting the man who raise a defiant tone making it two of his men dead in a couple of minutes.

"Anyone else wants to question me." They all shift uneasy lowering their guns. "Good." He smiles. "Now back to you."

"Where the fuck is she?" Titling his head to the side making a quick nod. One among the remaining five men goes to one of the black cars opens the door and pulls her out forcefully. She screams and struggles with him till he got her beside Leandro.

"Nia!" Though bound on her hands she tries to run to me, Leandro seized her nudging her head with his gun.

"Ella!" He grins.

"You let her go right now or..."

"No! You come to me and end this madness." His voice hard and firm telling me how serious he is, all of a sudden a daunting smile came to his face. "I learnt a little secret from a little bird." His slimy lips connects to her wet cheeks as he looks at me fuming, rendered helpless and tortured to watch him molest my friend. He grips her neck tight trailing the nuzzle to her lips and her heaving chest dipping it inside her cloth to her breasts. She cries softly closing her eyes.

"There is another living Vatore. Bloody Lucien right? And he has a claim on this little friend of yours." Nibbling her earlobe. The odds are really against me here. Not wanting to shed a tear but to prove to him I'm no longer the little girl he once knew. To tell him I am ready to take him down with me.

"What if I kill her." Turning her swiftly to look into his eyes. "On a scale of one to ten how will he react? Well I'm sure he is also looking for me so why not hit where it hurts most. Right Sonia?" She cries harder. Taking his eyes off her to me shaking in fear and mostly anger then it dissipates feeling vulnerable. I can't let him hurt her. Slowly my gun lowers.

"Leandro, please, let her come to me. You got what you want. I gave you my word that I will come to you for her freedom without the Russian. She doesn't belong here, please." I beg not wanting to sob when all I want to do is ball my eyes out.

"Convincing but no. You lied." Motioning his head to the oncoming motorbike coming behind me at a high speed. Before any of us could comprehend what happened, the biker takes out his gun firing five perfect shots behind me. I blink watching him come closer but in my head I'm screaming aloud; heart racing, blood pumping. How did he find me?

No. No. No. No. No. Fuck!

The bike stops a short distance away from me, matching the brakes he gets down, arms in

position walking towards me. "What are you doing Nia? Get back here or I will..."

I scream. "He has Ella dammit."

That takes his eyes off me to Leandro and I follow suite praying he didn't kill her during his shooting. Sighing in relief seeing the bodyguards lying on the floor, dead. I wanted to be ecstatic but I am not. I became more terrified because it is Elijah we are talking about here. One wrong move and either he or I lives with the regret to the aftermath.

"Welcome to the club Vladimir. Now it will be wise if you kindly put your gun down or your woman, your baby or either her friend will wind up dead."

"Fucker." I hear him curse lowering his gun.

"Now come to me Nia." Ella steps hard on his foot causing him to grunt from the pain inflicted as she make a run for it but he grips her hair yanking her back to him hitting her on the head with his gun, hard. She falls to the ground loosing consciousness.

"Ella!" I cry.

"Stupid puttana." (whore.) "It is just us three now, why don't we make it more interesting shall we?" Pointing the gun to me and Elijah pointing his gun to him and my gun to Leandro. A triangle forms, though on our favor but at what cost? By the look on Leandro's eyes he is not retreating his stance knowing he is bent on causing Elijah and I pains before the dawn of the day. Elijah has no option but to play cautious even if he hates it, wants to pluck out Leandro's eyes out of his sockets. He can't.

"Princess come to me dammit." Elijah yells but you can still hear the vulnerability in his voice. He is scared. Everything screams Deja Vu to me remembering the boat explosion but this time we stood against Leandro who is bent on taking my life and my baby.

Smirking. "Oh by all means run to the Russian, disgrace the Vatore's name and scorn the Italian mafia and see where it gets you to. Nowhere!" He screams the last part, sense of guilt

washing over me, eating me from the inside. Am I truly disgrace to the Italian mafia when I slept with a Russian? Have I shamed my family but falling for the Russian King and carrying his baby. Will my family accept me once they find out about my treachery? Is this what they all see when I come to take over my father's empire?

"So run, run into the arms of the man who murdered your family." What? My breath seized, my heart stops, my leg wobbles, my brain went off in a blaring noise. My eyes dilates tears gathering massively but I didn't blink.

He looks at me sceptically before bursting out in laughter. "You do not know, little Sonny do not know of Mr dark, sexy and handsome deepest secret. Tut. Tut. Tut. You have being a bad girl Sonia Vatore. Flirting with the enemy and see where it got you to, a baby for the murderer of your family. Funny, hilarious."

Mindlessly, I turn to Elijah looking at him but his eyes trains on Leandro.

"What are you playing at Leandro?" His voice held an obvious edge, a fear.

"Elijah...Is it true?" It is true that the eyes are the window to the soul; Elijah's eyes is full of regret, cloud with fear. My heart sinks deeper letting out a painful wail. It burns, it hurts, so bad. Various alarm went off in my head, my heart squeeze out every life force it holds. I cried harder.

"Princess." Hearing feet move to me.

"Answer me. Tell me he is lying Papi." Eyes meeting his pained look.

"Sonia..." He can't even say the words to me, even as a lie. Red glistening eyes looks at him brokenhearted.

"See Sonia! He cannot even defend himself. He..."

"Shut the fuck up Leandro!" I scream aloud losing my sanity. The dizzy spell came back, hyperventilating about to pass out I blink feeling pains in my abdomen. I bend seeing my feet appear double in my eyes. The hurt becoming unbearable for me.

"Nia!" Elijah yells rushing to me.

"Don't come close to me Vladimir." Stopping him at gunpoint, saying his name with hatred. He looks at me like I shot him in the heart.

"Do not call me that Nia. Do not call me by that name." He frowns causing me to laugh like a crazy woman. Humorless.

"Why? Because it is your name last I checked." I am crazed. The love of my life murdered my family. Tears didn't seem to escape my eyes as it made my face its bestie.

"Nia please. Drop the gun and come to me." He says.

"Why didn't you finish me off when you found out who I am? Has this been a ploy toying with my heart?" My hands shaking as my eyes gets blurry.

"No. No. Please drop the gun. You are thinking irrational."

"Why?" Standing back up looking dead in his eyes.

"I didn't...I don't,"

"You don't know how to redeem yourself. I poured my heart to you Elijah, I confided in you. Stupidly caught in your web, I fell in love with you. I fell in love with the man who murdered my family." Crying yet laughing like a mad woman.

Am I losing my sanity? Am I hurt? Is my heart crushing into a billion pieces? Am I falling over

the edge? Yes!!

"Don't you fucking come to me." Crying, anguish taking over.

My reality suddenly becomes a joke all along. Was he mocking me? Trying to hurt me? And for what? The pains in my abdomen intensifies, my heart dead, my heart screaming an I told you so which I blindly buried away. I was dying slowly. I knew it.

"I warned you Elijah. I told you, I begged you to come clean with me several times but this...this I didn't see coming." Sniffing, wiping my eyes that won't stop flowing with tears.

His eyes is red and wet, this time it wasn't out of anger but hurt and pained filled with regret. Deep regret. "I'm sorry princess. I never meant to hurt you." Voice soft like never before, broken and also hurt but I made a promise, swearing on my family name.

"So am I Papi."

Bang* Bang* Bang*

Three loud shots went off my barrel hitting Elijah in his chest; his face registered shock, hurt and love. Tears cascades down my face seeing blood seeping out of the holes I created, his eyes flutter close falling off the bridge and into the water hearing a loud splash.

What have I done? Looking at my quivering hands which held the gun. What have I done? I killed my baby's father. What have I done?

The sound of rearing car has my attention on Leandro's escape. In anger, I stood up running after the car shooting at it until my gun gives no more bullet watching the car speed off. I screamed and yelled falling to the ground.

Anger, pain, hurt, regret takes over my emotions wailing and crying deeply alone surrounded by dead bodies and my unconscious friend. I may have avenge my family's murderer and

killed my baby's father, all these making me a lost woman without a cause. Crouching lower, I cried harder in deep pains upon realising...

I killed Elijah and now my heart is gone. 21

Broken.

The best word to define the person I am sitting dejectedly on the road watching as the dawn breaks through the dew of the morning. Soon cars will be up on the road but I made no effort to stand up or even make an escape. I am cold, so cold my bones rattles; but it isn't the cold of the day or the slight chill slapping my skin. No. It is the cold of emptiness. The pains of the bottomless pit setting a space in my heart. My tears seized maybe hours, minutes or seconds ago; I can't tell how long I have been here. I didn't care. All I want to do is die but the little pains in my abdomen tells me I can't, that I have someone to live for. The realisation that Elijah is no more with me shatters my soul beyond saving.

You know something peculiar about life itself; when you skin breaks, it can be fixed. When your heart falls apart, it can be redeemed but when your soul is being ripped out, taken, dragged or like mine shattered, life can never be the same no more. Everything changes after that iffy moment. You seem lost, dead, like the zombies we see in movies. Elijah wasn't my body, no; neither was he my heart, definitely not. That man is...was my soul, and not he is gone with it.

I took my own soul away.

I want to cry, bawl my eyes out but unluckily for me my eyes gave no tear, nothing. I just breath slowly and painfully hoping to give up the ghost but it did not come. My eyes takes me to movement at the corner.

"Ugh, my head." Ella groans sitting up. On any other day I would have rushed to her side but not today, today I mourn for my soul. Her eyes meets mine gazing at her empty. Panicked, she runs to me falling beside me checking for any harm catching me clutch my abdomen. Fright overshadow her worried eyes shaking me.

"Nia! Nia! Is the baby okay? Talk to me please." I want to. I really do want to but I can't, I lost my vocals just looking at her. Her heads shifts from me looking about the bridge saying the one question that crushed the only thing I have left after losing my soul. My heart.

"Where is the Russian? Where is Elijah?" My lips wobbles, my hands comes to my face trying to wipe my dry face. "Where is he Nia?" She looks at me afraid. Taking my eyes away, I look at the place he fell over the bridge which hers follows mine. A certain knowing look crosses her face pulling me in for a tight hug, I needed it whimpering on her neck.

"Look at me, we have to leave here before anyone sees us." Hastily, she ran to the dead bodies searching grinning when she finds a phone on one of them dialling someone.

"Lucien? Yeah it's me. I'm fine. Track this phone. Please be fast." She says quickly ending the call.

"Someone is coming okay, it's Lucien." I nod letting a soft smile looking away. Inhaling deeply, I exhale wishing all of this was just a bad dream. A very bad dream.

You haven't seen or understand the slightest meaning of the word broken until you feel your soul no more. Your heart do not give that feeling neither do your body, just your soul. That is the way I look into her eyes telling her my life has officially can be labeled as finished because I am a gone girl. I did this to myself and now I have to live with it.

I thought I couldn't live with the fact I didn't kill the mastermind to my family's death. I was wrong. So wrong. What I couldn't live with is the fact that Elijah is dead. My sanity gone.

***

Leaning on her body for mental support with her arms wrapped around me I fight against looking at the rearview mirror where Lucien's eyes stays locked on mine in worry as we speed out of the bridge. His phone went off.

"Is it done? No evidence left behind? Good." He ends the call glancing at us in the back seat.

"Sonia, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Not now Lucien. She is not herself can't you see that. She is not fine." Ella soft voice chastises making me sit up with a grieving heart.

"I am fine. Give me your tablet." He passes it to me, eyes on the road while Ella looks at me crazy.

"What are you doing?" She questions.

"Erasing the footage off their mainstream? We can't have international law on us or worse, their eyes." She nods in understanding. Meeting Lucien's eyes I muse. "We have to leave Berlin."

"What about the other Russian? The rest of them. What do we do?" She probs. They need to know what I did. That I killed my baby's father which is why we need to leave Berlin because I can't face the Russian psycho after shooting his brother. That is not a war I wish to start when Leandro is still out on the loose.

"That's why we must leave tonight." Breathing deeply. "I killed Elijah." Their both eyes snaps to me, Lucien's expressionless, Ella's shocked like she can't believe after all I went with that man I will one day kill him. Sniffing. "I found out about our family murderer." Lucien nods looking back ahead but the ever caring Ella ask cautiously causing me to smile.

"Are you okay?"

"I don't know." Truthfully. Leaning back on the seat letting a painful groan looking out the tinted window. The pains came back in my abdomen fear gripping me, my gaze shifts to my stomach as I say a short prayer.

"Per favore, piccola, rimani in momma. Non posso perdere te e PA oggi. Per favore." Whispering very softly my eyes close. (Please baby, stay in for momma. I can't loose you and

Pa today. Please.) Like a drug, the pains stop seconds after creating a smile on my face.

Meeting my brother's eyes again. "Ti parlerò sull'aereo." He nods. I can never be grateful for having him with me. Always on the save and ready to protect me. (I will tell you about it on the plane.)

"Questo è Lucien Vatore e ho bisogno che tu voli il jet a Berlino." He looks at me. "È fatto." (This is Lucien Vatore and I need you to fly the jet to Berlin. It is done.)

"Lucien? Abbiamo bisogno di evocare gli anziani. Gli eredi di Vatore sono tornati a rivendicare il trono." (Lucien? We need to summon the elders. The Vatore heirs are back to claim the throne.)

"It's going to be a hell of a revealing night." For the first time since the car ride a taunting grin came to his face as we drive out of the bridge and into the city of Berlin.