Amore pericoloso

Chapter 2

Lorenzo

    Control. Many people don't understand the basics of the word, however, if you are me, I live by it. My whole life has been laid out for me. From what to eat to how to act, I have grown up with constant eyes overlooking my every move. While as a child I found it rather annoying, I have come to appreciate it as an adult.

    When life around you is in chaos, I find peace in the control I ensue. This is what keeps us safe. We are smart and we are in control of everything that happens around us. Until that day, when everything went wrong.

    Everything was supposed to go smoothly. We had planned for weeks, going over every single detail, and preparing every single person who was going to be involved. When we arrived, all the pieces were falling into place just as we had anticipated. Just how I had planned, and the control in me sang with approval. This was our time.

    Our mission was simple. Find the target and take them down. This life is risky, one wrong move and you could end up dead, or worse, you could end up in prison. But we all knew how dangerous this was before we began. We knew what this life could mean and we went head first into battle, because that is what family does. A legacy that has been passed down generation to generation in secret. While our oath to the cause may be the things that people believe binds us, it is not. Its family. We live and die by this because we do it for one reason and one reason alone. We have to protect and care for those we care about.

    Our target was a female, average build with dark hair. Normally, killing women is not our style, however, our boss had made an exception after he had been double crossed by this woman. She had betrayed our family, disgraced our code, and now she had to suffer the consequences. She had to die. I had been born into this life. Trained to fight and with weapons since the time I was able to walk. With a target this intense, this important, my team and I were the natural choice.

    "Gio, are you in position?" I asked quietly into the mic on my black leather jacket. I saw him nod, ever so slightly, and I let out a sigh. This was going to be too easy. We had been observing this block for weeks, learning the patterns of our target. Now it was time. Everything under control going according to plan.

    "Boss, the target is within sight." Gio said, matter of fact, though the mic. "Waiting on the order."

    "If you are clear, take the shot. I want to be on a plane home sooner rather than later."

    BANG.

    "Target is down."

    "Go get the body. I want to go home." I barked, and pinched the bridge of my nose.Something didn't feel right about this situation. It was too easy. In situations like these, we are told to trust our instincts. Right now, the control I had seemed to have faded. But why?

    "Dannazione!" I heard Gio curse. "Boss, we have a problem."

    "What do you mean we have a problem? What the hell happened?" I demanded reaching for my gun. I looked over to see Gio standing over the body of the girl. Protect the family. Protect the team. My eyes search for any and all danger that could be looming, waiting to strike.

    "I hit the wrong girl. This isn't Roza, it is some random girl." he said quietly. I let out a curse. How could we have been so careless? "She's still alive, boss."

    I let out another curse. How did this happen? We are never sloppy, we make sure our tracks are covered and we do our research beforehand. "Did she see you before you shot her?" I yelled, angry not only at him, but myself for this careless mistake. I am the team leader. His mistakes are mine.

    "I am not sure, Boss. She may have." he confessed, only angering me further. I pinched the bridge of my nose. This is a mess.

    "Just kill her." I wanted to be done with this mistake.

    "She's just a girl, Boss. She hasn't done anything wrong."

    I curse again. He is right. We don't kill the innocent. As far as we know, this girl is as innocent as they come. "Bring her with us. We'll figure the details out later."

**************************************************************************************************************************************************

    Irony. When I awoke this morning in my hotel room, I would have guessed that I would have been home in my own bed by now. I would have my naked body on the silk sheets as a girl rode me for my pleasure. Now, here I am in the back of our van, holding pressure on a girl I don't even know as Gio drives the van. How the control of this day has slipped through my fingers.

    "Get us to the damn safe house!" I yelled as I pushed my hands harder on the girl's chest. She is bleeding profusely and her breaths are getting more shallow with each passing minute. Her hair has covered most of her face and was matted with blood. What an odd color. Definitely American. I took my black leather jacket off so I could slip out of my black t-shirt. I ball up the shirt and put it over her wound in her chest and press hard. I take a deep breath. She's not going to make it.

    "I'm trying! This traffic is terrible!" he called back, swerving between cars. "Destination is ten minutes away!"   

    This girl didn't have ten minutes. She maybe had five, and that was being very generous. "Pull the damn car over. Grab my bag and come back here."

    "You can not be serious." he whined, but did as he was told. "This is a bad idea Lo. We are going to kill her."

    "No," I argued, "we are going to save her life." At least I hoped we would. "Give me my knife, I have to get this bullet out." Ever so gently, I began to pry the bullet out of her chest. We trained for this. In the line of work we are in, we can't exactly go to a hospital every time someone is hurt. I'm glad I grabbed my med kit. I didn't think we'd need it on this job.

    Her body was panicking. She began to move and trash around and Gio held her still. "Give me something for her pain." Gio handed me a syringe full of clear liquid and I slammed it into her arm. Her body began to slow, slightly, and I went back to her chest. The bullet came out  in pieces, and I feared there may still be some in her chest. If any of those pieces stayed in it could kill her. Then we would have innocent blood on our hands, Gio and I.

    I put a compress back on her chest and said a silent prayer. If she was going to make it through the night, she needed all the prayers she could get. "Her bleeding has slowed. Get us to the safe house." I ordered. The van moved forward again and I closed my eyes. This was going to be a very long night.