Beautiful Mistake

Chapter 45 - He's Gone

Elena's POV

Taking one last glance over the ordeals happening in the foyer, I forced myself to sit up. I began shuffling my seated ass across the kitchen floor, peering through the archway with each movement to make certain Adrian was still distracted. Both Angelo and my brother noticed my actions, both pairs of eyes jumping between me and Adrian.

I managed to place myself directly beneath the firearm just as Angelo locked eyes with me. His forehead scrunched as his brows furrowed together followed by a slow shake of the head. He was begging me to not try anything. I could see the panic in his eyes. I could sense his fear.

I inhaled a deep breath before breaking eye contact and reaching up. I began pulling on the straps around the firearm, trying to release it as quietly as possible.

"You son of a bitch, when I get my hands on you, I'll -" My father began.

"You'll do what, old man?" Adrian tauntingly cut him off. There was a silence before Adrian's shouting caused me to jerk and pull away from the firearm.

"What are you going to do!?" He screamed, pointing the barrel of his gun towards my father. "You have absolutely no advantage here, what so ever!"

Adrian started pacing the floor, his gun jumping to each man as he went. My body shivered as it felt like I was watching some twisted game of Russian roulette where that gun could go off on whoever it landed upon if Adrian has a final psychotic break.

"You know when I came to America, I had one thing in mind. An eye for an eye. Then I saw Elena. I saw just how much she meant to you and the family. I saw the way she held a special place in everyone's heart. Especially yours, Dominic, and I thought to myself, there would be nothing better than to take away one of the most loved women in your world. A woman I had easy access to." Adrian began, swinging the gun around as he spoke.

"All it took was that first family lunch to realize just how important she was to you all and it was then that I made the decision. Taking an eye for an eye would be too easy. I wanted a challenge and I wanted a challenge that would make you suffer in the worst way possible. So, I began."

I proceeded with trying to loosen the firearm beneath the counter as Adrian continued with his rambling.

"I began gaining her trust little by little, slowly gaining yours too. I conformed to all your rules. I did everything your way to make you unsuspecting of me. You wanted supervised dates, you got it. You wanted supervised visits, you got it. You wanted to tap into my phone, watch my every move, bug my apartment and I allowed it. You wanted a scrutinized look into my business, I gave it to you. At least, I gave you what I wanted you to see. A simple IT consultant living a plain civilian life." He erupted with a conceited chuckle.

"But then you had to go be a fool, stupid enough to allow her to leave the country. She spends 6 weeks on another continent and returns acting like some disrespectful whore!" He yelled as I paused with my hands on the velcro straps.

"Watch your mouth, Rossi!" My father spat.

"Or what!? What are you going to do?" Adrian stalked over to him, pressing the gun to Papà's temple so hard that it caused him to take a step back. Adrian reacted quickly in swiping Papà's gun from the back of his pants. For fuck's sake, Dad, just let him enjoy his moment of bullshit maunder.

Adrian walked away from my father, permitting me to release the breath I had been holding in as I watched his lunacy unfold.

"As I was saying, your daughter came back a different person and I realized what had happened overseas. You happened." Adrian stopped in front of Angelo, waving the gun carelessly in front of his face.