Blood for my Rose |• Crimson Rose series✔️

Chapter 34

"That's enough family reunion for one night, let's get back to the business of the day!" Rocco barked.

"So what is your plan with all of this? 'cause I'm getting bored of you now," it was Romero who had the balls and challenged him back.

Rocco's slanted gaze locked on Romero's immediately. He held a fist above his head, the gesture was to instruct his men that were out of sight. If he opened his palm from the strong fist, then it was an order to shoot the person he'd pronounce his name. "Bored, you say-"

"Yes, I'm bored as fu-" Romero's words hadn't made it out of his throat completely when the sound of a fired shot stopped him.

Rose cringe, shutting her eyes on the world, but momentarily. She opened it back because she wanted to know who fired. She saw Rocco's hand still over his head, though it was no longer fisted, it was now something like a high-five gesture. But there was a thought that never crossed Rose's mine. Who was fired at?

Even though she looked at Rocco's hand lowering, the thought didn't still spring to her mind. It was until she turned and saw Romero's body on the ground that she realized Rocco fucking ordered someone from inside to shoot him. And the poor guy now had a bullet inside his skull. He wasn't moving, by no means, because he was dead. Probably died before Rose even shut her eyes.

Seeing his blood streaming out and down the tiny bullet hole on his forehead, Rose, amid other grief-stricken shriek, screamed so loud and she pulled forward. "Romero!" Her grated voice called out in a scream. She started running towards the body, her heart speeding up fast.

A bullet cannot kill him. A bullet shouldn't kill him. Her words of reassurance were unseemly, even though she hoped they were not, but they soon stopped ringing in her head. Not because she'd discovered and accepted the tragedy, but the bullet that went into the ground near her feet, spreading dust around her legs, was no subtle threat. The next one was to be shot at her if she moved and inch further. Rocco wasn't playing games anymore, and Rose saw that look on his face when she faced him.

"Walk back," he stoned at her with a monotonous voice. "And I'll not repeat myself."

It wasn't even up to two seconds after she stopped running that she realized she wasn't safe to be standing in the middle of two angry rivals that were now shooting incessantly at themselves, shedding blood.

Bewilderment swept over Rose, seeing Mauricio sidestep behind walls as he tried to hide. Faster than he could fall in line with another wall, someone shot his shoulder, and he growled.

Fearing the worst, Rose bellowed and found a safer spot to run into, though it was already occupied by Riley. She didn't see it when it happened, but Riley was also injured. Everything had happened so fast, she'd missed the part where he was fleeing for his life and was mistakenly shot by Enzo, who missed his target—Rocco.

Angled safely away from the gunfight, all the both of them could hear were ceaseless blasting of different kinds of firearm. Rose wanted to check Riley's wounded leg, but he waved it off.

"I'm fine," he said, not maliciously anyway, but rose took it that he was mad at her.

She could still feel the house vibrating as it protested against the atrocity going on outside, she ignored it all and wanted to start crying as the image of Romero's dead body raided her memory. She had to be strong to get through a night like this one. The longest night of her life. "Is Sergio going to make it?" She asked Riley, and it immediately occurred to him that he'd left Sergio out there.

"Fuck," he groaned. "I really can't say, but he'd not make it if another bullet out there meets him."

Regarding Riley's wound again and concluding it was not fatal, she crawled towards him cautiously and met him where he was seated on the ground. It was a struggle drawing out the gun from Riley's holster because of the cuffs restricting her.