My Only Redemption ✔️ [COMPLETE]

Chapter 20

Glenn

My insides were contracting, leaving me with a heart that was ready to explode from the inside out.

And the words that play in my head are from my father: "If in life your heart acts like a gun, the person you face is a monster."

I wasn't expecting my dad to come here and not with that serpent, this is very bad timing.

That was Vincenzo Gianni, he was my father's advisor and right-hand man. He ejects a Royal Courtesan Cigar from his thick lips as he leans heavily to the side and gradually slides into a slump.

He is a vicious man, able to manipulate the outcome so that it falls in his favor.

No, with him, he can hide his true intentions behind a flow of words so smooth and clear like pure water. His appearance gives off the impression of an average guy who means well but his ability to make shit into a white diamond was no joke.

His beady eyes crawl towards Serenity with tarantula-like movement and my body is armored next to her.

Her eyes refused to meet theirs and I knew she was nervous. I twine between hers, giving them a comforting squeeze.

My voice drops to a hushed whisper.

"The man with the thorned rose tattooed on his wrist is my father."

She smiles, staying close.

Cassimo and Faust were in a crouched position, one at the left and the other at the right.

Both were wearing masks, Cassimo veiled his face as Sock and the daring Faust, Buskin. The Sock and Buskin are two ancient symbols of comedy and tragedy in ancient Greek. They were both fearsome assassins and have taken the lives of many by order.

An unsettling feeling began welling inside me. There was something wrong in the room but I couldn't quite tell what it was. I felt as though I had entered a house with the gas stove left on, the atmosphere was dense and strange, though invisible to my eyes.

Vangolio sensed it too. I could tell by the way that he caresses the straps of the gun holster on his waist.

My heart was pounding at an increasingly rapid pace.

Confirming our nerve-wracking curiosity, Ludovic waddles in the room, his plump body rotating as he walks. That wretched man owns black market stocks all over the states, from heavy artillery weapons to drugs junkies would die for.

He was the boss of the Bovine family, they were ruthless, inconsiderate bastards.

His thick, wavy black hair gracefully falls to his lumpy shoulders when he extends a fleshy hand to my father.

Vangolio's eyes narrowed to slits with uncompromising intelligence, monitoring Ludovic's every movement.

This was not the kind of environment I wanted Serenity to be a part of.

Father gestured for everyone to leave the room except Vincenzo and Vangolio offered to take the rest to a conference facility, away from the beach house.

She was quiet as a mouse though her hand was in mine, there's a gentleness that lives beneath her skin, softly awaiting my respondent petition.

"Father, I wasn't expecting you," I spoke, diffusing the uncomfortable silence.

".. sorry about the short notice, so she must be Serenity." he articulated, taking a chair from Vincenzo.

"Marcy told me about your love interest," he added, this time taking a bit more time to admonish her.

"She isn't just a love interest, she's my everything and I don't want another."

That Marcy and her big mouth! I warned her not to inform their father about Serenity and that I would be the one to inform him.

He was intrigued by my words as my hand was cemented at her waist.

"As my heir, it's very crucial that the female you take," his piercing eyes fell on her tummy like a hunter's target, "Is fit to preserve the bloodline and with honorable qualities of a woman."

My Stomach contracts into a tight ball at his merciless assault of direct expectations.

Shaking sweat from my hand, I could feel my muscles going into shock. A slight headache came upon me and needles danced their way across my forehead.

I wanted to tell Serenity about my lineage, and my family background but I just didn't know how to go bring it across. This was something that scared me more than anything.

She glanced at my father, her posture, exudes confidence through her knees hugging each other shakily.

"Mr. Giornno, I am more than qualified to be at his side, to give him strength and impartial wisdom."

She spoke very clearly and her voice adapts strong authority, a side to her that I never thought I'd see.

"I am impressed but," he gave her a once over, especially paying attention to her hips, "I can't accept you."

"You do not tell me who's fit to be a part of my life father!" I roared punching a hole into the wall, my knuckles bled through the cracks.

I breathed like a man who had his chest seized with a boulder and my eyelids were burning.

Vincenzo's penetrating eyes soaked in her shriveling body as fresh tears painted her pale cheek silver, her heart was splintering, I could hear it.

She got up, unable to contain her pain anymore, she burst out crying and fled the room.

"Serenity!" I cried and chucked Vincenzo out of the way to go after her.

Escaping my hurricane of thoughts, I ran down the stairs as my eyes flick from side to side, looking for the nearest exit.

But my legs seemed foreign and unwilling to work properly, please be okay Serenity.

Time slows and the gravity of the situation weighs me down.

My hands twitched spastically, trying to push my nerves into obedience.

Desperation etched its way into every crease. I wanted to surprise her with the acceptance of her first-choice college since I managed to get some documents and referrals checked by the institution.

Before I could reach her, a gunshot echoed.

Tripping into the sand, my heart stopped and I cried out.

She had a gunshot wound to the stomach, her fingers were bloody and her soft green eyes glisten as if bidding one last farewell before falling to the ground.

The sand slowly drinks the crimson flow, pouring from her side.

My skin lost all color, becoming chalk white.

She spoke in a suffocated whisper, "Help.. please."