I glanced at my watch, wondering how long it would take for Frankie to do his part. I couldn’t move until he did, but the idiota was taking his sweet time with our distraction. Knowing him, he’d be waiting for the part where the priest asked if anyone here had any objections. He always did have a flare for the dramatic.
I snagged my phone from my pocket and shot a text to the group chat.
Rocco:
Stop stalling and get moving.
Frankie:
Keep your panties on, I’ve had a wiring issue.
Enzo:
My ass is numb and my muscles are twitching. If you don’t hurry up, I’m gonna burst out of here, bodyguards or not.
Rocco:
Calm down stronzo, Frankie’s about to stop fucking around. Aren’t you?
Frankie:
Thirty seconds, hold on to your asses…
I pocketed my phone, a dark smile pulling at my lips as expectation burned through my limbs.
I began counting down the seconds just as Giuseppe reached out and drew Sloan’s veil off of her face. He blocked my view of her, kissing her cheeks and releasing a hearty laugh as he took her hand and passed it into Nicoli’s.
Giuseppe stepped back, moving away to take a seat on a pew at the front of the congregation. My gaze slid from him, landing on his daughter.
Four years had changed Sloan Calabresi beyond recognition. The terrified girl I’d spared in that car had grown into a woman whose dark features and wide eyes had a breath catching in the back of my throat.
Full lips painted red turned down ever so slightly at the corners like she wasn’t satisfied with her lot in life and those same big, brown eyes were filled with secrets I wished to tease from her mouth.
I pursed my lips, anger trickling through me as I looked upon the face of the girl who had caused me so many problems.
One moment of weakness where I’d chosen to spare her life had haunted me daily ever since. Our father had been furious. He’d accused me of being incompetent. Failing. And he didn’t even know that I’d done it on purpose. That was a secret I’d take to the grave. He merely thought I’d failed to finish her properly. If he knew I’d chosen to let her live, I’d have paid for it in blood.
Still, the shame of that failure had followed me like a shadow and the name Sloan Calabresi had become a weapon my brothers used to taunt me time and again. If ever I had the chance to rob Giuseppe of his child once more, I wouldn’t hesitate. Her death would come at my hands, and my name would be wiped of the shame of that failure.
As my heated gaze burned into the side of Sloan’s perfect features, she turned her head. Her gaze fell on the confessional and I stilled. She couldn’t see me hidden in the shadows, but for a moment it was like she had sensed the heat of my hatred pouring over her and turned to face it. Her chin raised defiantly, her jaw set with determination like she was marching into battle, not about to marry the man of her dreams. If mindless pawns even had dreams…
BOOM!
The sound of the explosion tore through the church, echoing off of the vaulted ceiling and drawing terrified screams from the congregation. Everyone was on their feet in moments and adrenaline spilled through me as I held myself back through sheer force of will.
Just a few more seconds…
The bodyguards ran straight for the doors at the far end of the church led by Royce Belmonte, heading out front to see what the hell had happened and to defend the family they were paid to protect.
The wedding cars would be flaming towards the heavens right about now and Frankie should be well on his way to the back of the church with our getaway vehicle.
I bit the inside of my cheek as Nicoli failed to follow them, standing protectively by his bride-to-be instead and blocking my route to Giuseppe.
Looks like I’ll be spilling his blood after all.
The moment the bodyguards pulled the doors open and rushed outside, I sprang into action. My boot collided with the confessional door so hard that the whole thing flew off of its hinges.
People were screaming, some of them looking our way as Enzo burst from beneath the altar, up-ending it and sending the huge, golden cross crashing to the floor by my feet.
Nicoli turned to face me, his gaze ramming into mine and a roar ripping from his lips as he dove at me.
A wide smile captured my mouth and I raced to meet him, jumping from the raised dais as I collided with him.
Nicoli cursed as my weight sent us crashing to the ground and I threw punches into his jaw with all the force of my muscles behind them.
Blood flew but he gave as good as he got, his knuckles hammering into my sides, battering my ribs and sending pain splintering through me at the impact.
I swung my fist back again just as a foot slammed into my side, knocking me off of him.
I rolled away, scrambling up and glaring at Sloan goddamn Calabresi as Nicoli leapt to his feet between us. Her fucking stiletto had made me bleed and my white T-shirt was stained with the evidence of her attack.
Enzo had grabbed the large bronze pitcher which had fallen from the altar and was swinging it at Giuseppe’s head again and again as he fought to keep his arms up between them to defend himself. A howl of rage escaped my brother as he fought to batter the life from our sworn enemy.
Cries of panic rang out as the women and children in the congregation all tried to run for the exit while the bodyguards and mobsters fought their way closer to us.
The echoing bang of a gunshot rang out and Enzo fell back, a torrent of curses pouring from his lips as I spotted Carlo Fabrini, Giuseppe’s right hand man, battling to line up a second shot through the chaos.
A snarl of rage left my lips as my brother crawled back towards me, blood pouring from his bicep as he clutched the wound.
Giuseppe scrambled back too, moving out of reach and sending rage shuddering through me.
Nicoli charged straight for me again, his eyes wild and their family’s motto spilling from his lips. “Il sole sorgerà domani!”
I rolled away, getting to my hands and knees, my fingers brushing something cold and hard.
I spared a moment of my attention for the thing I’d touched and a manic laugh spilled from me as I snatched it into my hands.
I swung the heavy, golden cross with all of my strength and the metal end of it hit Nicoli in the side as he leapt straight for me.
Blood flew, my muscles strained and Nicoli fell back with a cry of rage and pain.
I followed him, swinging the cross again and again, blood speckling my arms as my muscles burned with the pressure of wielding the heavy thing and I battered his huge frame with it.
On the fourth strike, I caught his temple and Nicoli collapsed. For a moment, the only thing I could hear was the silence that followed his fall.
I gave myself a second of triumph, looking down at him before my head snapped up and took in the room again. Giuseppe had disappeared into the crowd, the throng of bodyguards and mobsters were making it past the panicking congregation and Carlo was aiming his gun my way. Our momentary advantage was up and we’d fucking failed.
I leapt aside as Carlo fired, turning away from him and the rest of the Calabresis as I ran for the back of the church.
Enzo had made it to the stained glass window and his fingers fumbled the catch as blood poured freely down his arm.
I sprinted straight for him, swinging the cross as I went and throwing it at the window with all my might.
The sound of glass shattering filled the air and Enzo ducked aside as it rained down all around him.
I reached him, cupping my hands to help him up and he fell through the window to safety on the other side.
His curses called back to me as he fell on his injured shoulder and a growl of rage left me, knowing these assholes had hurt my kin.
I gripped the frame just as the third bullet hit the stone window ledge beside me, my heart pounding a frantic beat that begged for me to escape this mess before I paid for this failure with my own
life.
I hauled myself up, but before I could pull myself outside, something heavy collided with the back of my head.
I spun around, teeth bared and fists clenched just as Sloan Calabresi hefted the bronze pitcher in her arms again.
Her white dress was stained with Nicoli’s blood, her brown eyes wild with rage. Those same eyes that had watched me fail before.
A snarl of hatred tore from my throat as I glared at her and her family charged towards us, crying out for her to move aside.
She swung the pitcher at me again but I reached out and caught it, absorbing the strength of her blow before yanking the thing right out of her hands and tossing it aside.
I could just hear my brothers and father now, taunting me over failing because of this girl yet again.
I should kill her.
My fingers flexed and I lunged for her. But as I caught her wrists in my grasp, those brown eyes widened in fear and a better idea occurred to me.
“Your papa’s gonna have to rearrange the wedding, Principessa,” I taunted, yanking her towards me and lifting her into my arms.
Sloan screamed as I threw her towards the window, her arms flailing as she fought to catch herself before she fell, her fingers snatching hold of my wrist.
I laughed cruelly, prising them from my flesh and shoving her hard so that she fell outside with a cry of panic.
I leapt up a moment later, Carlo’s gun ringing out again as I dove out of the church, rolling across the glass and concrete outside with a hiss of pain.
Frankie was blasting the horn at the far end of the street and Enzo was staring at me with wild eyes from the back seat of the black BMW as he gripped his bleeding shoulder.
Sloan was on her feet, her veil whipping off of her head as she ran as fast as she could, desperately trying to get away from me.
A savage smile pulled at my lips as I charged after her, quickly gaining on her as she fought against the swathes of material that made up her wedding dress.
I collided with her, catching her around the waist as she screamed bloody murder and I threw her over my shoulder.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Frankie yelled, his window down and eyes wide as I raced for the car.
“Pop the trunk!” I commanded, ignoring his question as the sounds of pursuit came from behind me.
There wasn’t any more gunfire though. Not while I held their precious Sloan.
Enzo started laughing like this was the funniest fucking thing in the world and I ran even faster as the trunk sprang open.
Sloan was screaming, cursing, scratching and even biting me in an attempt to make me release her. But that wasn’t gonna happen.
We may not have succeeded in killing her father, but I’d just come up with the best plan B in the history of the world. Because if we had his precious daughter then we held his empire in our hands. We could bend him over a barrel and make him dance to whatever goddamn tune we wanted.
“Let me go you fucking psycho!” Sloan screamed as I hoisted her back over my shoulder and threw her straight into the trunk.
Her lips parted, eyes wide and full of panic for half a second before I slammed the trunk door and blocked her out.
I leapt into the passenger seat and Frankie hit the gas as the car tore away from the crowd of screaming gangsters who were racing after us.
I watched them until we turned a corner and then threw my head back against the headrest with a bark of laughter.
“What the fuck was that about?” Frankie demanded as Sloan’s screams filled the car.
“I’ve decided to branch out into hostage taking,” I said with a victorious smile. “And I think I’m gonna be really damn good at it.”
A hand crashed into my cheek and blinding pain splintered through my skull as I blinked my eyes open.
“Svegliati! Wake up, Nicoli!” Giuseppe’s voice came at me in a harsh snarl as he slapped me again.
I growled a curse, rolling onto my hands and knees as blood poured from the side of my head where that Romero bastard had struck me with the fucking cross from the altar.
“That piece of shit is kidnapping your bride!” Giuseppe snarled and somehow that one small piece of information slipped through the agony and confusion of my battered skull and lit a fire of rage burning in my soul.
“Where?” I demanded, getting to my feet and ripping my jacket off, throwing it to the ground.
“He took her out of the window!” Giuseppe cried and I was running before he could get another word out.
The broken window at the back of the church let in the howling winter air, the cold biting at the wound which gaped open on the side of my head.
Blood poured along my cheek and dripped all over my once pristine white shirt and I snarled in rage at the scum who had ruined one of the first things I’d ever truly been able to call my own. This wedding should have bound me to the Calabresi name in every way possible. The sons Sloan and I would have were the future of this city and I refused to accept the idea that someone was trying to steal that fate from me.
I dove out of the window, landing on the frozen ground outside and rolling across broken glass which cut and bit at my flesh, adding to the wounds the Romero scum had given me.
I was on my feet a moment later, my gaze zeroing in on the black BMW at the far side of the wide green where Rocco fucking Romero was forcing my bride into the trunk.
Her screams pierced the air and tore at my heart and I bellowed my rage as I ran for her.
I’m coming, Sloan. I will rip the world in two to save you!
More members of the Calabresi fold were racing across the grass already, shouting curses as they tried to get to her. But my pace outmatched them all because none of them could match my rage. She was my destiny and I’d die before I let her slip through my fingers.
“Romero!” I bellowed, a challenge and a demand. “Stand and face me like a man!”
My feet pounded across the hard earth as I tore up the distance between us, but that filthy-blooded asshole was already leaping into the car and the engine growled hungrily as it was thrown into gear.
“No!” I cried. “Will you run from this fight like the cowards you are!?”
A high pitched yip yip yip came from somewhere beside me and I glanced down, spotting Sloan’s little white dog, Coco, running at my side, his rage meeting mine as those fucking assholes stole her away from us.
The car sped off down the street and Carlo fired his gun once behind me.
“Don’t shoot at her!” I roared, challenging him to defy me without once looking back.
My gaze was fixed on that fucking car. My life lay in there. My bride. My inheritance. The one true claim I was to have on this empire I’d given my life to.
I was a boy plucked from nothing and groomed to fill the shoes of the greatest mobster this city had ever seen. Giuseppe Calabresi had taken me into his home as a kid and I’d repaid that debt every single day of my life since then. I worked tirelessly to be the best I could be. For him. The closest thing to a father I’d ever known. And he’d entrusted me with the responsibility of taking care of his most prised possession. Once I married Sloan, I would be a Calabresi in every single sense of the word. She was my reward for every foul and dangerous thing I’d done for him. He’d chosen me. Given her to me.
She was mine.
And I’d chase these assholes to the ends of the earth to return her to her rightful place at my side.
“Sloan!” I bellowed, charging down the street as fast as I could in my dress shoes.
My head spun dizzily, blood dripping into my eyes. I swiped it away with a white sleeve which was quickly stained red as I refused to slow, ignoring the protests of my battered body.
Coco still ran at my side, barking his love for the girl in that car.
One of the Romero assholes leaned out of their window and started firing on me.
I didn’t slow, my arms pumping, legs pounding as I ran on. Only a bullet would stop me and even then it would
have to hit me square between the eyes.
But as they accelerated further, the distance between me and my destiny only grew.
“Come back!” I demanded, my voice tearing as I roared my fury to the heavens.
The BMW took a corner at speed, bullets hitting the concrete around me and gouging up lumps of grit to pelt my legs. I only ran faster but as they sped beyond a building, my heart sank and a ringing started up in my ears.
I raced on with Coco at my side while the rest of the Calabresis fell too far behind to even hear anymore.
But it didn’t matter. If I caught the Romero brothers, I’d tear them apart with my bare hands. Their lives were marked, their deaths belonged to me.
No one stole from Nicoli Vitoli. I was going to be the heir to the Calabresi name. Everyone in this city feared me. And the Romeros would soon find out exactly why that was.
I raced around the corner, my heart falling as I failed to spot the BMW anywhere.
“Cowards!” I screamed at the sky, still running despite the fact that they were gone.
I couldn’t give up. I wouldn’t. Sloan was counting on me.
To have and to hold.
To honour and protect.
She was mine.
And I’d get her back, no matter the cost.
I ran down street after street, taking turns on instinct but never catching sight of the BMW again.
My heart was pounding so hard that the only sound I could hear was my own pulse in my ears.
My footsteps faltered.
My will shattered.
She was gone.
I doubled over, hands on my knees as I gasped for breath in a desperate bid to recover from my run.
Coco fell panting at my feet, his eyes frantic with concern as he swung his head back and forth like she might somehow spring from the shadows.
Beautiful Carnage: A Dark Mafia Bully Romance (The Boys of Sinners Bay Book 1) Page 3