Book 2✔️ Between The Mafias

7. The one with The Italian Protection

I looked into Leonardo's eyes. I could see determination and confidence. But I went pale straight away. He took my cold hands trying to assure me that everything would be okay.

But my gut feeling says otherwise.

"Max is still not reachable. But I think I know his whereabouts. We will go to him once it's safe. The last time we spoke, he already got Anischka. She got badly hurt and he was keeping her safe with Nikko. His men are still looking for her kidnappers. He will gun me down if anything happens to you tonight. So for the sake of my life, you need to stay alive, okay?"

He was making a joke, trying to comfort me. My eyes were teary but I was holding it in.

Damn hormones.

Half an hour later, we were on our way. Papa was not happy that I had to leave immediately. It was late and dark and my Papa was not happy at all. I still didn't know how Leonardo managed it, but the man had assured my Papa with great confidence that everything would be just fine.

Leonardo was keeping me close to his side, his arm wrapped around my shoulder. I gladly took in his protective strides since I was cold. So cold on the inside.

"Hey, you need to rest. The baby needs you to rest. You cannot stress yourself, okay?" He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. I still felt cold. I was not sure how I was going to rid of the dreadful feeling inside me.

Our car was in the middle. Our entourage, the other two vehicles joined us at the intersection. Both cars were guarding our back and front. The cars were speeding fast and steady. Leonardo talked to his men upfront in Italian and cursed a couple of times. He still kept me close to his side and still stroking my hair.

"Leonardo, is everything okay?"

"Ssh... Emilie, everything will be okay. No more worries for you and the baby."

Then I heard it. The gunshots, the cars, and the screeching tires.

"Shit!! Get down, Emilie! Put your head down! The cars are bulletproof, but we still need to get out of their way. Hold on!"

"Matteo, the roof!" Leonardo opened the compartments and handed out the guns to his guy sitting in the passenger seat up front. Suddenly he got the biggest gun and fitted himself through the roof. Matteo swiftly opened his side of the window and started shooting the other cars that were quickly closing in on us. The driver sitting beside Matteo was keeping the car fast and steady for the shootout.

Leonardo got one car to swerve when he shot one of their tires, making it slide down the road and hit the curve. Three people ran out of the burning car, gun blazing, shooting at our cars. The other car had crashed when one of  Leonardo's men from the front vehicle shot the driver.

I heard Leonardo cursed, and I knew that he had just been shot. I tried to pull him down back into the car, but the man was too stubborn. He was finally back in his seat when Matteo shot the last of them, and our car smoothly sped away from the scene.

"It's done boss, we're out of here," Matteo reported before calling the other cars that sandwiched ours and spoke to them in Italian.

Leonardo hissed and cursed. I was shocked for a couple of seconds when I saw his blood seeping through his crisp white shirt and his khaki jacket. Matteo quickly gave him the first aid kit.

"Leonardo, your arm! Give me that, Matteo. I got it. Damn it! We need to get you to the hospital."

"My jacket, you need to help me take it off." His voice was hard and stern. His jaw clenched like he was holding back his pain. His movement was practiced like he had done it too many times, and I did not like what I saw. This was Max all over again when he got shot.

"I'm good, baby. I've been shot before. It's just my arm. I'll survive. I've been  through worse."

I didn't even comment on his word of endearment. My hands were trembling, trying to get his jacket off without scraping his wound. Meanwhile, he busied himself talking in Italian with Matteo. Their conversation got heated until he winced, looking at my teary eyes.

I finally got his jacket off.

"Hey, Emilie. You need to stop crying and patch me up, or I'll bleed to death." His words stunned me until I squinted my eyes, and the man laughed. I knew he was trying to make light of his bloody arm, but I hated it.

"You're mocking me!" I pouted while I got the first aid kit opened and started putting pressure on his wound. He instructed me on how to handle his bleeding arm like was a pro at fixing gunshot wounds.

He eventually smiled when he saw me stop crying. I was done bandaging his wound.

"There, no more crying. See... I survived. Anyway, we're almost at Max's hideout." He took the first-aid kit from my hand and retrieved a package of tissue wipes from one of the hidden compartments. He gave it to me to clean his bloody mess from my hands. I wonder what else he has in there.

"Emilie, we're here. Come let's get you to Max." I was up instantly. The anticipation of the meeting was making my blood rush from the excitement of seeing Max again. I was blushing and Leonardo definitely noticed. He gently took my stray hair and put it behind my ear. Then he smiled.

"I wish someday, someone would adore me as you adore that Russian wannabe doctor." He kissed the top of my head and took my hand in his. I shook my head and smiled back at him. We walked towards the medium-sized brick house hidden deep behind the long driveway of the property.

We were about to knock on the door when I saw them. Max was on top of her. She had her hand on his hair. His face was inches from hers. My eyes were getting blurry as my heart shattered, but I could still see them through the window that he conveniently left open. He was probably too busy to draw the curtains.

I couldn't speak. Hot tears were rolling down my cheeks. Leonardo was furious. He didn't bother to knock. The man slammed the door open. They were surprised to see us. "Leo! What the fuck! Shit! Em, baby, this is not what it looks like. I love you, baby. Let me explain."

He looked at me with devastation in his eyes. She was horrified. I could see her bruises, her wounds. She did get hurt. Badly.

But I was broken way before he spoke. From the first moment, I saw him on top of Anischka and watched the way he looked at her. That was exactly what it looked like. I threw his engagement ring. My hands were on my belly when I looked straight into his eyes. Our baby.

My tears were falling freely now. I begged Leonardo to take me away from him.

"Fucking hell, Max! How could you! Don't come near her. Ever again! I will take care of her. I will take care of both of them. You go tend to your real fiance. Emilie is DONE with you!"

"Fuck you, Leo! She's mine! Em, my love. Let me explain. She's been hurting. It's not what it seems. I love you, Emilie. We're going to be a family."

I couldn't reply to him, suddenly I felt the worst nausea ever. I was holding onto my belly and my mouth. Max was reaching out to me. But Leonardo got to me first. He finally carried me back to the car as I sobbed on his chest. We drove away from Max's safe house. My phone rang repeatedly, and Leonardo turned it off. 

*****

Celia: Ohh... Emilie, I'm so sorry 😭

Angelica: KEN! How could you? 😤😤

Jack: I'm going to kill that man! 😡