Save Me

Chapter 14

Placing my now cleaned gun back into the safe in my closet, I hear Lucca hollering from his bed, so I fast walk into his bedroom to slide the mesh bed railing aside, so he can climb down from his bed.

"How was your nap, bubba?" I softly ask, picking him up, and resting him on my right hip with a gentle smile.

He rubs his right eye with his little fist with a wide, soft yawn, mumbling; "Goo'. Sna'?"

"I'm glad you had a good nap, and yes, you can have a snack after we change your diaper, okay?" I answer, walking us over to the changing table, and quickly change him into a clean diaper before heading downstairs into the kitchen for a snack.

While Lucca's sitting in his highchair that's attached to one of the table chairs, Papa and Da enter the room with us, and both look beyond stressed.

"Hey, I hate to do this, but you need to get vested, armed, and ready to go get back a drug shipment with Romeo, Alexi, and many of the henchmen," Papa states, pinching the bridge of his nose with a frustrated sigh at the end.

Papa hates sending me on runs like this because he doesn't like taking the chance that I'll be injured, or worse, die, but I'm one of the better fighters. When we get new recruits, I'm using right there with Matteo, our head trainer in fighting techniques, and doing the training.

"I've got Lucca, don't worry, Milan," Da adds with a tight-lipped smile toward me before giving his grandson a beaming smile, and crossing eyes, causing Lucca to giggle with a huge smile of his own.

Silently nodding, I rush from the room to the upstairs, so I can change and get my gun and filled ammo clips. Stripping from my clothes, leaving these in a scattered pile on the floor, I grab a pair of black workout leggings designed for men (and honestly, any gender could wear these and be happy with how these feel, and the flexibility), a white tank top, a black long sleeve, a black pair of calf socks, and my black combat boots. Slipping these on before grabbing my BPV (Bullet Proof Vest), and situating myself into this contraption before grabbing my gun from the safe, along with two filled ammo clips and my holster.

Slipping the gun into the holster along with the clips, I decide on grabbing my four knives and the strap holsters for these, and strapping them onto myself. One on each of my upper thighs, and the remaining two on my upper arms. Leaving the bedroom for the kitchen, I bring my BPV with me because I want Papa to make sure it's tight on me like it should be.

"Come here, son," Papa requests with a pull of his finger toward me, and I stand in front of him, and pull the BPV on, and let him tighten it to his standard.

Do I let my parents "baby" me? Yes, sometimes. Do I mind this treatment as long as they don't overdo this? Nope. Should I stop this? Absolutely.

Papa tugs one last time on the straps on the side to make sure the vest is tight enough, and he gives me a grunt of approval before giving me a pat on the shoulder with a tight smile. He turns his tight smile on my brother, Alexi, Matteo, and Archer (he's the head of the henchmen). Da has Lucca up in his and Papa's bedroom as he does this every time I need to leave on a mission as a way to distract my son, so he doesn't freak out when I leave.

"Alright men, the stolen drug shipment has been located to the shipping yard off Main, so I expect the shipment to be brought back, and all of you returning alive," Papa clearly states, his voice firm, yet you can clearly hear the anger in his tone. "Take four of the SUV's, and split up among the vehicles, and keep in contact with each other through the ear pieces, and check in with me every so often."

We nod in understanding and agreement, and head out of the house. My nerves are high as I'm sure is everyone's nerves. Climbing in the front seat of the SUV that Matteo is driving, but Alexi tells him that I'm riding with him for this mission. Matteo glances at me, looking for my consent to Alexi's request. Shrugging my shoulders, letting him know that I don't care, even though I don't want to ride with Alexi there and back, but I don't want to cause a problem before the mission.

They switch locations, and Alexi settles in the driver's seat with a thankful smile, and I weakly return his smile. He starts the engine, buckles himself into the seat, and pulls the gear shifter into drive, and follows Romeo's SUV out of the driveway, and the other two SUV's follow behind us.

"Hey, can we talk until we arrive at the shipping yard?" he softly asks, and he sounds hopeful.

Shaking my head as I double check my handgun; "Sorry, no, I don't want to be distracted while we're on our mission. You can understand this, right?"

Arriving at the shipping yard twenty minutes later, we park away from the shipping containers, and it doesn't take long for us to locate ours. The large container is dark blue in paint with the family crest stamped in the lower right hand corner of the container. Quietly climbing out the SUV along with the others, the henchmen make a perimeter, and Archer, Matteo, Romeo, Alexi and I make our way over to the shipping container. I'm supposed to open the container, and check the contents to make sure everything is accounted for.

Starting to open the shipping container door, a bullet dings the other door right next to me, right next to my head. Dropping to my knees as fire begins to pelt around us, and I inhale sharply at the action that's happening around us.