Loving Marcello

Chapter Twenty Two

Marcello's eyes widen as he observes the scene in front him.

"What's going on?" He asks, staring from my face to the gun planted firmly in my hand.

"Oh, uh. They were looking for me, then found me, and I, uh..." I glance guiltily to the three men in the closet, then to the one next to me, still lying on the ground unconscious.

"You did th-"

Before he can finish his sentence, I catch movement from the corner of my eye, and without thinking, I pull the trigger.

I whip around to see that I've planted a bullet in the leg of the man that I had taken the gun from.

"Don't move, you egg head!" I huff, sending him a dirty look as he grips his leg and shouts in pain.

I turn back to Marcello and blow a piece of hair from my face, smiling brightly. "Is Marie okay?"

Marcello stares at me, a weird look in his eyes, as if he doesn't recognize me.

"Hellooo." I get his attention, "Is Marie okay?"

"Oh, yeah." He shakes his thoughts away as his eyes refocus back to me, "She just had quite a scare."

"Thank goodness." I sigh in relief, deciding that since Marcello's here, the situation is in control.

I walk towards him, handing him the gun. "I think you know how to handle this a bit better than me." I admit.

He takes the heavy object from my hand and slips it in his back pocket with a nod in agreement. "Go find Marie and stay with her until I deal with this."

I nod, waving to him and the wounded man gripping his leg, "Dueces."

I skip down the hall in the direction of Marie's room, hoping she'll be in there.

My suspicions are correct as I hear not only Marie, but Antonio, Grier, and Lucy as well. I perk up a bit as I get closer.

Once I catch sight of them, I stop, "Where's Dante?"

Four heads shoot up in the direction I'm standing and I see multiple emotions pass through each of their faces.

Sad, angry, surprised, scared.

"Are you guys okay?" I ask instead, hoping Dante is just off helping Marcello or something.

"Yeah, we're all fine." Antonio declares, and I awkwardly nod, not knowing what to say.

I'm still a little sad from the last time I saw them all huddled in a group, refusing to share with me as to what they were discussing. But seeing the situation, I guess I can forgive them for a bit while everything gets back to normal.

"Sooo...what happened?" 
I finally say, breaking the tension-filled silence.

"An attack." Marie informs, causing me to roll my eyes.

"That much is obvious, but why? And who?" I continue to question curiously.

Marie bites her lip anxiously, "I don't know if I should tell you..."

"Just tell her." Grier pipes up, and I mouth a thank you to him.

"Are you sure..?" Marie asks in uncertainty, "Boss may like to tell her himself."

Before I can say anything I'll regret, Grier cuts in, "If you don't tell her, then I will."

I sigh, looking at Marie, starting to question our friendship. It's obvious she has things she'd rather not share with me. But aren't friends supposed to tell eachother things?

"It was Dante." Marie finally says. "He was working with Marcello's rival, telling him everything. That's why they were after you. They think that if they get you, they can get Marcello to hand over his position." She continues to explain.