Chapter 34: Chapter 34

There was absolute dead silence for a moment and, afraid that Gino would kill someone again because of me, I immediately put my trembling hands gently on his cheeks, forcing him to look deep into my eyes as I started to tremble more and more .

"It's all good, tesoro! Let's just go upstairs," I whispered soothingly, hearing my voice cracking several times with excitement, but Gino seemed completely unresponsive and turned his face away from my hands to turn to the guy. I too looked at him with bated breath and only now did I notice that he was taller than Gino and I watched wide-eyed as the guy recognized my fiancé.

"Ohhh, the big Mancini. Didn't know you'd sunk this far and been banging your own hookers."

Without replying, Gino slapped him so hard in the face that the guy immediately groaned and clutched his nose, but he quickly got back into attacking stance and rolled up the sleeves of his thin white sweater while glaring at Gino.

"Come on, repeat yourself again," my fiancé demanded with a coldness in his voice that made my blood run cold at the sound.

I followed what was happening as if spellbound, but I would have preferred to get the bouncer or someone else who could help to tell the two apart, but I didn't have the courage to leave Gino alone now.

"Hooker," the guy repeated, grinning, and when Gino wanted to hit him again, the stranger dodged him and punched Gino so hard in the side that I took a step toward them both in panic. It was as if his pain became mine and I didn't care about anything else at that moment, as long as Gino wouldn't get hurt again.

It was almost insane how worried I was about him.

"Bastardo," Gino cursed, lashing out at the guy in a rage, while I now felt my heart beating so hard it was terrifying me that I might go into cardiac arrest. I blamed myself for all of this and reflexively wanted to pull the guy away from Gino, but I only got hold of his arm and immediately he elbowed me in the face so hard that I fell backwards to the ground and my head snapped in pain immediately began to roar.

"Ouch," I whispered weakly and briefly closed my eyes until a bitter thought suddenly came to me.

Provocation.

Nunzio said that this cop would probably set his sights on putting Gino in a position where he could get rid of him with impunity. So what if this guy was just a trap. What if this lunatic cop waiting around the next corner to shoot Gino in the head?

I quickly opened my eyes again and looked straight up at Gino's dark irises, who was eyeing me with concern. Only when I slowly got up and he knew that everything was okay with me, he suddenly drew his gun and turned back to the man, who was now standing with his back to the wall.

"Open your fucking mouth!" he yelled at him and the guy followed his instructions with a smile, which only made me realize that this all had to be a ruse. Who else would provoke like that and almost challenge death.

"Gino," I breathed, more soberly than ever, finally getting to my feet to put my hand over my pounding head and quickly run to my fiancé, then put my other hand on his shoulder.

But he paid no attention to me.

With a hateful expression and body shaking with anger, he fixed the guy who was about to open his mouth and stuck his gun inside, but I immediately yanked hard on his arm, feeling like I was choking with fear.

"Put down the gun! Please," I begged loudly, glancing at the guy who suddenly started grinning stupidly. Was he actually tired of life?

"Gino! The gun-"

"Anatra! Just go!" Gino suddenly yelled at me and just gave me a quick, warning look before he cocked the safety and stared at the guy again. "You hit on the wrong woman you bastard!"

"Then pull the trigger!" mumbled the guy with the gun in his mouth, but all of a sudden I could only see Gino's grave in front of my eyes, which made me do this one shitty action that I couldn't understand myself since it was happening in affect. ..

Before Gino could blow the guy's brains out and endanger himself, I quickly grabbed the gun and pulled it towards me, earning a confused look from both of them.

I raised the gun, trembling, and Gino immediately took a step to the side, startled, while the guy raised his hands in the air, slightly surrendered.

"Anatra! The weapon is not safe!"

Gino tried to calm me down, but he didn't understand at all that I was doing it all just for him! I didn't want to hold a gun myself. Didn't intend to shoot anyone either. I just wanted to prevent worse.

"I know," I said bravely, but my tense posture betrayed how insecure I felt. "I just want us to go home immediately!"

"Anything you want, baby. But put the gun down," Gino replied immediately in a calm voice and wanted to take a slow step towards me, but I suddenly noticed out of the corner of my eye that the guy next to me pulled something out of his pants pocket.

I wanted to turn and aim at him, afraid he would pull out a gun, but just as I was facing him, the heavy pistol fired in my shaking hand and my eyes widened in disbelief .

"Oh Shit!"

"Fuck, I've never been so proud in my life!" I heard Gino next to me, but I couldn't take my panicked eyes off the guy I'd accidentally shot in the balls.

I stood in shock, hearing only the echo of the shot and my own heart beating so hard I almost passed out.

As the guy collapsed in front of me, his hands on his bleeding crotch and swearing loudly, I was dazed when Gino wrapped his warm hands very carefully around mine.

I flinched from his touch, looked through the veil of tears into his dark eyes and felt how very slowly and carefully he took the gun from my trembling hands.

It wasn't until he had secured and tucked them away that he took my face in his hands and looked deep into my eyes.

"Everything's fine. The bastard didn't deserve anything else," he whispered soothingly and behind him I suddenly saw several people coming down the aisle, all of whom ran past us to the exit. No one stayed longer than necessary. no one said anything and completely overwhelmed I wanted to flee into Gino's arms, but he suddenly kept me at a distance.

"Ibo will take you home. I'll follow you," he explained and removed his hands from my face, but I immediately grabbed his arm and didn't even think about being separated from him now. For the first time in my life, I had actually harmed someone. For the first time, I had used a weapon. Now was definitely not the right time to let myself be alone with my feelings.

"I'll stay with you!" I immediately protested loudly and was almost knocked over by some half-naked women who scurried past us with panicked expressions on their faces.

"No!" Gino said sternly, looking down at the guy who was moaning in pain, whom I only glanced at briefly, as the mere smell of his blood made me slightly nauseous.

"Yes!" I explained when I had my eyes on Gino again, but he didn't answer me anymore, but calmly took his mobile phone and his cigarettes out of his trouser pocket.

"Gino? I-"

When I suddenly felt someone grab my arm, I turned around in shock and looked straight into the eyes of the bouncer Ibo, who wanted to pull me with him, but I immediately pulled myself away from him to walk resolutely towards Gino.

Ibo grabbed my arm again and this time his grip was so strong that I couldn't free myself and lashed out wildly. I didn't understand why Gino wanted to leave me alone now! Didn't understand what he was up to! And least of all I understood what I had done in the first place. Was he mad at me?

Disappointed?

Shocked? Or really proud?

"Anatra," Gino finally turned to me and I was breathing so hard that I only calmed down when he smiled at me. "Wait at home, amore mio. You don't want to see what follows after something like that."

"What follows?!"

He nodded to the bouncer behind me, who suddenly just pulled me along with him, not allowing me to hope for an answer from Gino, so instead I asked him my questions, which rippled through my mind like turbulent waves.

"What did he mean by that? What is he planning to do with the guy?" I wanted to know in disarray and looked up at him questioningly, but he didn't give me any answers either, instead pulling me along with him until we reached the wide double doors of the Arrived at the entrance where all the people had fled before.

Just as he held the door open for me and I recognized Nunzio in the dark parking lot in front of me, two loud shots rang out from the corridor behind me, all of which took hold of me and made it impossible for me to move. I stood frozen in the doorway, holding my breath as Nunzio suddenly stood close in front of me, eyeing me with concern.

"What happened?" he asked, but I just shook my head and glanced at the bouncer, who was staring blankly at me.

"I-" I stuttered, looking back and forth between the two while warm tears rolled down my cheeks, which couldn't remotely express how deep black I looked right now. "I just want to see Gino."

My words were low and sounded painful, but they were probably loud enough that Nunzio eyed me thoughtfully for a while and then turned to the bouncer.

"Take her to Gino's car. I'll talk to him for a minute."

Nunzio disappeared in past me while Ibo grabbed my arm and led me across the gloomy parking lot. Cars drove everywhere, probably the people who had fled in fear of the shots.

It felt like forever, standing in the dark just waiting for someone to hug me. I wasn't a mafia boss, not a brutal killer and yet it felt like I had just personally taken a life, even though Gino had finished it off.

Asking if the guy had kids made me feel so bad that I had to pull myself together not to hyperventilate. Then asked if I was going to face any consequences. What if the cop really did would appear. Was it a trap? Was it a stupid coincidence?

When suddenly Ibo's cell phone rang, I stared at him curiously and heard him say in Italian that he would take me home safely. So Gino wouldn't come. Not even briefly to inquire about my well-being.

I angrily stomped past Ibo and wanted to ride home alone on the bike that was still parked next to the entrance, but after a few steps Ibo caught up with me again and put his hand on my back to guide me to a white van lead, who stood not far away from us.

"You can only follow orders, right?!", I wanted to know with a biting undertone, but he didn't speak a word to me. Just silently held the door of his car open for me, which I got into furiously and after he closed the door, I started crying bitterly and couldn't control myself at all.

Not because of the guy, but because of Gino. I was so angry and sad at the same time. Even if he had killed it and now had to bury it in the woods, he could have taken me with him! It was the first time I had done something like this. Was it too much to ask for someone to walk me through the chaos in my head?

Ibo got in beside me, gave me a quick look and started the van to drive me through the darkness to the villa. I stared blankly at the road ahead, remembering how free I felt a few hours ago and how broken I felt now. That was absurd.

When I arrived at the villa, I immediately got out of the car and quickly made my way to the front door, without even giving Ibo an ounce of my attention. I was surprised that there were no security guards at the door, but I didn't care until I realized I didn't even have a key.

"This is all a shitty joke," I cursed madly at my bad luck, kicking the door hard once, then wiping away my ever-running tears.

"Ludovica?" I suddenly heard Dario's voice and looked up hesitantly to look straight into his blue eyes, which looked at me in bewilderment.

He continued to hold the door open for me, looked past me at the van just disappearing back down the driveway, then slammed the door behind us to face me again.

"What happened?" he wanted to know and I glanced at his black sweatpants and white shirt before our eyes met again.

"I shot someone in the tail," I whispered and my eyes widened when Dario suddenly put on a stupid grin. Did he still have them all to find the whole thing funny too?

"Please tell me it was Gino," he said amused and I immediately glared at him angrily, briefly not knowing if I should shoot him next as well.

"Dario," I admonished quietly, glancing around the entrance hall, which was only lit by the chandelier. When I realized that we really were alone here, I turned my tear-stained eyes back to him. "Of course not Gino! There was a guy who provoked him and called me a whore. and. I don't know either," I started to explain, wiping the tears off my face over and over again. "They got into a fight because of me. Then everything happened so quickly and suddenly I had this stupid gun in my hand. The shot," I sobbed, avoiding his eyes to take a deep breath. "It came loose and now the man is dead. Because of me."

"Sounds like he deserved it," Dario said completely calmly and raised an eyebrow. Was everyone here really crazy except me? After all, who deserved to die?

"Ludovica", Dario continued and took a step towards me to lift my chin and examine me curiously. "It's your first time using a weapon. It's perfectly normal to feel overwhelmed. You know, you never forget your first time."

Surprised at how determined he had chosen his words, I looked deep into his eyes and didn't know anymore whether he was really still talking about the shot or about us, but no matter what he meant, I immediately held my hands covering my face and trying to avoid more tears until I felt Dario unexpectedly pull me into such a tight hug that I stopped breathing for a moment.

He rubbed my back soothingly, which instantly stopped shaking at his touch, while I rested my head on his chest and listened to the heartbeat, which I had never heard before and yet it felt familiar, just like his smell, which had the gift of making me smile despite everything.

"You see, little one. You only need a moment's rest and you can take a deep breath and sort your thoughts," Dario whispered soothingly and although I was really grateful to him for knowing how to tame me in this raging moment, I was more than just disappointed it wasn't Gino who caught me.

I hesitantly broke away from his warm body and looked up at him with a smile. I had no idea why he suddenly allowed so much physical contact. Was he doing it for himself and his conscience, or was he selfless enough to do it for me and my well-being?

Whatever it was, I gave him a grateful smile and after he removed his hands from my body, I took a deep breath and took my eyes off him to look at the stairs behind me.

"I think I should go to sleep and process it all," I breathed and after looking at him again, he nodded in agreement before I turned my back and disappeared up the stairs.

What a night..