Marcellius Fierri [Book #1]

Chapter 28

He doesn't move. He just stands there, watching me tremble in fear. Forcing myself to move, I scramble back out the door and towards Dante. He's still lying in a pool of his blood. It seeps into the cracks in the pavement, staining the ground.

The color from his face is drained and his eyes are closed. I pull him into my arms, straddling him close. "Dante, wake up." I check his pulse by pressing two fingers up to his neck. His heartbeat feels weak, and his breathing is faint.

"Dante please..." I cry out, teary-eyed.

He shifts, opening his eyes as a soft groan leaves his lips. "Mia...you have to...go," he says through choppy, labored breaths.

"I'm not leaving you," I protest.

"I'll be right behind you," he mumbles with a smile. He's lying to make me feel better. He knows he's not going to make it. Lifting up his blood covered hand, he presses it against my stomach. "Go, for your unborn child." I'm not certain there's even a baby inside me.

It could just as well be symptoms that my menstrual cycle's about to start. Dante drops his hand, a bloody hand-print now on my sweatshirt. He closes his eyes, the weight of his body much heavier than before as it goes limp in my arms.

"No! You're not leaving me!" I'm sobbing uncontrollably in disbelief.

No, no, no!

I keep telling myself that this isn't real and Dante can't be dead. I may not have been close to Dante, but it didn't make the pain hurt any less. He lost his life because he considered my life to be more important than it is. I didn't want to leave him here.

He deserved to be buried near his family. I attempt to pick him up, but he's too heavy, so I lay him back down. Releasing a frustrated scream, I grab my phone and call Marcellius.

He picks up on the first ring. "Hey. I'm on my way home. I just had a meeting with Sinisi. We've learned that the people who attacked the safe house are part of a Russian Mafia. And we've come up with a plan to take them down for good, and get our stolen information back in the process."

That explains the clerk, the phone call, and the accent he had. He's a part of it, which means he knew we were coming. "We finally have a plan to-" He stops talking when he realizes I haven't said a word. "Mia? Are you okay? Is something wrong?" I don't even know where to begin. Once again, a person was dead because of me. "Answer me Mia!"

"Dante's dead," I finally say, sniffling into the phone.

Marcellius grows silent. I explained to him what happened, leaving out the fact that I bought a pregnancy test. He's surprisingly very calm about the whole ordeal. I hate when he gets quiet like this. It always scares me. I can't see his face, and I don't know what he's thinking. "I need you to burn Dante's body."

"You want me to do what? What about the guy inside?"

"You aren't the enemy, so he won't hurt you. Cesare and Luciano are on their way to you." I found some relief in knowing that, but I was still scared. I was always taught never to play with fire or you'll get burned.

"Marcel, I can't do this."

"It's okay tesoro(darling). I'm right here." His soft voice calms me down. Bending down, I grab Dante by his arms and drag him over to the burning car. It's a bit of a struggle, but I manage to get him close enough to the flames. I gasp when his entire body becomes engulfed in the orange-red flames.

Watching him burn felt like I was losing a part of me. I was starting to understand the pain and anger that the guys feel when they lose one of their own. It hurts. It feels like someone has stabbed you with a knife, and won't stop twisting and turning it inside you. "Talk to me Mia."