Garden of Roses ✔️

Chapter 4

Zara

        "Hello? Zara?" Bianca waves her hand in front of my face. I haven't listened to a word she said for the last minute. It just sounded like a murmur in the distance as my mind went back to the last time I left the shadows and came out of the bunker.

It was several weeks ago. I just got a lead on a man who led the attack on my family. Emiliano Marchese. He was Bonifacio's right hand back when Bonifacio was still alive. He was also not an easy man to find, which is why I've dealt with the rest of my targets first and left him for last. Well, Dante is going to be the last, but he's a whole other story.

Emiliano was spotted near a warehouse not far from our complex. Gabi caught him on a nearby road security camera. I suppose the warehouse was his destination. He must've come here to trade some weapons. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get to finish the job this time. My team and I had everything on standby and we were ready at any moment for Gabi to get a notification on her laptop. When she did, there wasn't anything much to do except put some clothes on and start the car.

When we got to the warehouse, before stepping out of the car, I put on my black veil. It was short, covering my eyes and the majority of my nose. I couldn't afford my enemies figuring out who I was, so I always wore it outside of the complex. It's been years since Bonifacio came for me and my family. I didn't know if anyone was still looking for me, but I couldn't risk it.

Alex and Luca tried to snatch Emiliano while Bianca and I took care of several of his people. Someone was already in the warehouse. When they heard the fuss outside, they came out, guns blazing. By the time they did that, Bianca and I had already eliminated Emiliano's people so now we could've given our full attention to taking care of the rest. We took cover behind the car and waited for them to run out of bullets and have to reload. Then we started shooting, successfully managing to hit them one by one and the last one was Emiliano.

It wasn't my plan to kill him right away. As I heard multiple cars in the distance approaching the warehouse, I had to act fast. I put the bullet in his chest while Luca started the car.

As I was standing there above his body, looking at him while he took his last breaths, I took my veil off so he could finally look at my face. There was no harm in a dead man knowing who I was. I wanted him to see me. Emiliano was confused at first. When I leaned down to where he lay on the floor and whispered my name to him, the old man's eyes grew wide in shock.

"Come on, we have to go!" Luca practically screamed as the enemy cars got even closer, but I couldn't leave until Emiliano had stopped breathing. It took him just a few more seconds. His eyes became blank as his head turned slowly to the side. He was gone. Only then did I get in the car quickly, and we drove off, leaving an ugly bloody scene behind us.

"Sorry, what did you say?" I ask Bianca, admitting that I haven't heard a word she said. The flashback of the hit on Emiliano flooded my mind for a minute and blocked me from registering any outside noises.

"Well, I was talking for like two minutes, but never mind that. Anyway, what are we doing?" She didn't even sound annoyed, but rather excited to hear what actions we were taking regarding the whole Dante situation.

"Right." I zone back in, gathering my thoughts and trying to focus on the present. "Where is he staying?"

"Penthouse at the Palace Hotel. And he's not alone," Gabi responds, quickly typing something on her computer. "I see he brought his sister and another three men with him. They're all staying together at the penthouse."