Loving Marcello

Chapter Twenty One

Marcello takes action quick as he shoots from the bed.

"Stay in here and lock the door." He shouts as he leaves, but pops his head back in, "Hide."

With those words, he's off sprinting down the hall in the direction of the racket.

I bite my lip, wanting to go after him and see what's going on and if everyone's okay, or stay in here to do as he says.

If I go, I'll probably be a distraction and provide no help. If I stay, it'll be easier for Marcello to get the problem taken care of, and I'll be safe - hopefully.

I hear footsteps running down the hall, and that's when I make the decision to slam the door shut, lock it, and dive into his giant closet. Voices approach the room, causing me to freeze in fear.

The voices are muffled, so I can't make out what they say, but find that it doesn't matter when the banging on the door starts.

It sounds like they're trying to break the door down.

I keep myself from screaming as the banging gets louder, followed by the sound of the wood of the door splintering.

The voices become clear as the men successfully get into the room. My heart pounds painfully against my chest as I cower further into the dark corner of the closet, hiding behind a big, long coat.

"The gaurd said she was in here." One of them mutters, followed by a few other men murmuring in agreement.

"Then find her." Another voice says, this one sounding more confident and holding more power.

"Yes, sir." With that, it seems that everyone begins to search, by the shuffling of feet and grunts as stuff crashes to the ground.

I put a hand over my mouth, my breathing increasing as the door to the closet opens. One man comes in, glancing around.

His eyes skim over me, not noticing my shaking form, and I'm about to breathe in relief, but then another man comes in and makes eye contact with me.

"She's in here!" He calls over his shoulder, causing two more men to enter the closet, one of them stepping forward and tugs me to my feet, rather roughly, might I add.

Then I remember that I'm not completely helpless. Thinking back to all the times my uncle had given me boxing lessons, I grin, feeling a bit proud of myself for remembering.

Without any warning, I kick the man's thigh, causing his knee to lock and make a popping sound, and once I'm free, I sprint to the other guys blocking the doorway.

I think I got the element of surprise as I find it particularly easy to get down another two, leaving only one left.

He's a lot taller than me, and looks pretty buff, which immediately fills my mind with doubt. I don't think I'll be able to get this one down.

He makes a move to right hook me, but I duck a dodge and manage to get a jab at his ribs.

He's clearly not expecting that as he pauses for a second to blink away surprise. I take this opportunity to headbutt him as hard as I can, and kick his feet out from underneath him.

Right as I'm about to get my foot buried into his stomach, he grabs my foot, causing me to fall.

On my way down, I accidentally elbow him in the throat really hard, causing him to make a weird sound and start coughing.

"Oh my goodness, are you okay?!" I find myself asking, but then I remember the situation. "Wait, what?" I ask myself.

Oh, yeah. This guy is trying to beat me up, so it's good that I elbowed his throat.

I proceed to climb on top of him, putting his hands under my knees as I pound my fist into his face. Once he seems to be in a daze, I wrap my hands around his throat.

I'm not trying to kill him, I just want him to pass out.

"Please refrain from killing my best man." A voice says, seemingly more humored than offended.

A cold metal presses against my temple, and I glance to the side to recognize that a gun is being pressed against my head.

Yay.

No, not yay, I'm absolutely terrified. I really don't wanna die. I'm too young, I have a whole life ahead of me.

I gulp, releasing the throat of the man I'm currently holding down, but he already seems to be unconscious, so he's no longer a problem.

"I'm genuinely surprised that you managed to take down four of my men. I didn't know you would put up a fight." The man's says, his voice laced with amusement.

"Ha! That's funny. Did you expect me to not fight a bunch of scary men that seem to want me hurt?" I ask innocently.

"That's not what I had in mind, no. But I should've expected it. Of course Marcello would go for a woman who can take care of herself." He muses.

I decide not to reply, finding it wise to keep my mouth shut.

Maybe I could grab the gun before he shoots me? I mean, he obviously has the intention to kill me, so maybe I should take the risk of getting myself killed if I might die in the end anyway.

Before I even come to a decision, my hand moves of it own accord and wraps around the gun, averting it away from me. At least if he shoots now, it won't be at my head.

The sound of the gun firing rings in my ears, and I may or may not have damaged my ears, but I continue in my attempt to wrestle the gun from his hands.

I grunt in success as I pull the gun into my grasp, putting my hand around it and pointing it at the man.

"Woah, woah." His eyes widens and he immediately raises his hands in surrender.

"Doesn't feel so nice to have a gun pointed at you, huh?" I ask, blinking innocently.

Just then, a familiar figure emerges from the hall and into the room.

"You're here!" I chirp happily.