Mafia Marriage

XXXI

"Are you alright? Answer me Giuliana!" Giovanni demanded, as glass shattered all around them. "Giuliana, baby, are you hurt?"

"Are my parents okay?" She questioned, as she lay pinned underneath Giovanni's strong form.

"They're fine," he said even though he had no idea whether that was true or not. The last thing he wanted was for her to become hysterical and put herself in more danger than she was already in. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Salvatore covering Donatella with his own body, his weapon drawn.

"What about Laura, and my brothers?" Giuliana's voice had taken on a slight tremor.

"They're okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he easily lied.

A few more shots rang out and then several seconds of silence followed. Gio lifted his head and looked around, keeping a protective hand to hold her down.

"Stay here," Giovanni ordered his wife. He didn't wait for a response as he stood up and went in search of his brothers. There were Graziano Family members with their guns drawn, already some were heading outside to search the area while others awaited orders from their future Boss.

"Search the perimeter," Gio barked out. "The rest of you search the back rooms and the kitchen. I want all of the staff and security questioned." The men nodded and rushed in various directions.

"Nick!" Gio yelled.

"Yes, Boss." The Graziano driver emerged from the crowd.

"Stay with my wife."

Nick nodded and went to were Giuliana had perched herself on a bar stool, next to her mother. Laura had made her way over, to sit with her cousin and aunt. The men were on edge, and the tension was mounting in the casino. Vinnie came to stand next to Gio, he had been keeping his distance from the Bellucci's and was at the roulette table at the time of the shooting.

"Do you know who the target was?" Vinnie asked.

Gio gave a solemn nod, "Giulia, I pushed her onto the ground but other than that she's fine."

"Shit," Vinnie muttered. "Was anyone else injured?"

Gio knew what Vinnie really meant, was Laura injured. "No," he shook his head. "She's fine."

Salvatore Bellucci and his sons came up and joined Gio and Vinnie, Salvatore looked grim. "Was my daughter the target?"

The last thing Gio wanted to do was give Salvatore more reason to doubt his ability to keep his daughter safe, but judging by the older man's expression he was already there.

"I believe that she was," Gio responded. "I saw a laser pointed at her chest."

Salvatore nodded, deep in thought.

"We should bring Giuliana and Laura back home," Marco said. "They'll be better protected with us."

"I agree," Joe joined the conversation.

"Giovanni got her out of the way," Vinnie argued on behalf of his brother.

"This time, but what if he's not around the next time something like this happens," Joe pushed back. "We're not going to let the Graziano's gamble with our sister's life."

"We've been patient long enough, too long." Marco gave his father a sideways glance, "Giuliana needs to be with her family."

"It would be temporary of course," Joe added in. "After this war has ended then she would go back to you. But for the mean time it would be best if she came back home."