8. BRING HER

I brought the one on the roof down, his body slumping heavily as the echo of the gunshot faded into the chaos. Bojana, positioned behind the overturned table, sighted another one and gunned him down without hesitation. The air was thick with the acrid scent of gunpowder, and the whole house was covered with bullets raining from every angle. We were totally surrounded, but Matteo was untouched, seated like a king overseeing a battlefield, his glass of whiskey clutched lazily in his fingers.

I could hear his laughter. It was annoyingly low, guttural, and laced with amusement, as I fought for my life, trying to hold the line while also covering Bojana until the requested backup arrived. Every second felt stretched, my heartbeat drumming in my ears, my breath coming in short bursts as I aimed for another target.

I turned sharply to my right, attempting to shoot one of his men, but my arms wouldn’t lift. A numbness spread through my limbs like wildfire. Panic gripped me instantly, my body was betraying me in a way it never had before. My fingers trembled around the grip of my gun, and it slipped from my hold, clattering to the floor.

A slow, terrible realization dawned on me. I glanced at Matteo, then at his drink, then back at him. The smirk he wore told me everything I wanted to know. The bastard had poisoned me. My stomach clenched in anger, and my vision swayed as the full weight of the drug began to settle in.

"Don’t stress yourself, Rocco," Matteo’s voice slithered across the room like a serpent. "It’ll only get worse. And more painful." He let out another mocking laugh, the kind that made my blood boil even as I struggled to remain upright.

Bojana, ever sharp, noticed the change in me. She shifted closer, keeping her gun raised and ready, but her eyes darted toward me, searching for an answer. I clenched my jaw and forced my legs to stay steady, but they felt like lead. My vision blurred for a moment, and a cold sweat formed on my brow.

Bojana did her best to cover both of us until, at last, the backup arrived. In mere seconds, the tide of the battle shifted. Our men stormed in, their gunfire were swift and merciless. One by one, Matteo’s men fell, their bodies hitting the ground in sharp, final thuds.

With a final sweep of the room, silence settled in everywhere like a thick fog.

I turned my head toward Matteo, my fury was like a raging inferno in my chest. "You are so mannerless while doing business, you shouldn’t have done this," I growled, my voice laced with venom.

Matteo, ever the arrogant bastard, simply shrugged from the far end of the room, still seated comfortably as if this was just another boardroom meeting. "Well, it's just a warning from the owners of the Southern region. Don't get greedy, Rocco. Stay in your turf and you will be fine."

The way he cackled almost drove me mad. My hands twitched, wanting to wrap around his throat, but I barely had the strength to move them. This betrayal cut deeper than I had intended. I had always been prepared, careful, and one step ahead. And yet, this bastard had outmaneuvered me in a way I hadn’t anticipated. I had been in for a clean business deal, but Matteo had just openly declared that he wanted war. He would pay for it dearly. And I never forgive, that he must have known or heard.

Bojana, seeing my rage, made a sudden move toward him, but I grabbed her arm before she could charge. As I turned to shield her, a sharp, searing pain shot through my right arm. A bullet lodged itself deep into my flesh, and a strangled grunt left my lips. Without hesitation, I raised my left hand and fired blindly in the direction of the shot. It took everything in me to fire back and of course, I didn’t miss. A loud thud followed outside the building. My aim was still perfect, despite my condition.

"Matteo, ti pentirai di ciò che hai fatto ("Matteo, you will regret what you have done.")," I roared, my voice echoing through the now silent room.

Seeing how the situation had turned, Matteo’s smirk faltered. He bolted, disappearing through a hidden passage before I could get another shot at him.

Bojana cursed under her breath. "Coward. Let me go after him!"

"Don’t," I snapped, gripping her wrist even though my strength was failing. "We have to keep him alive. I want him to realize just how foolish his decision was. I will not forget today."

She hesitated before yanking off the right sleeve of her blouse, pressing it against my wound to stop the bleeding. Her touch was firm, yet there was an edge of urgency.

"It's okay, I won't die," I murmured, trying to sound casual. But the look she shot me was anything but amused and I swallowed whatever I had left.

"We promised each other not to get hurt. What is this mess?" she mumbled, tying the cloth tightly around my arm.

I exhaled sharply. "I promised never to let you get hurt. I had to stick to my word."

That earned me a deadly glare. "Did I tell you to die for me? How could you jump in like that? Look at you now. You’re a mess."

Richy, one of my best men, approached swiftly. "All men down. They were identified as part of the Southern region’s gangs. Matteo must have tipped them off about your move. You were lucky you called us in time."

"That bastard!" Bojana hissed. "Why is a real estate CEO involved with gangs? We shouldn’t have trusted him."

"Let’s go," I ordered, my voice cold.

As we exited the bloodied battlefield of a house, I climbed into the car, my body weighed down with both pain and fury. The betrayal sank deeper than the bullet wound, every passing minute. My mind whirred, cycling through countless ways to make Matteo suffer. I wanted him to drown in regret, to see everything he had built crumble before his very eyes.

Then, a memory surfaced, it was the warning of the woman I had met days before. "Be careful who you trust," she had said. "Some deals are worth more than a price tag."

I had dismissed her at the time. But now, I was glad I had called for backup. If I hadn't, Bojana and I might have been dead.

The poison coursing through my system made my limbs feel like dead weights. My breath was shallow. Matteo had known. He had known I alone was enough of a threat to ruin him, and so he had resorted to a cheap trick.

The more I thought about it, the madder I became. With a loud grunt, I forced my hands up, slamming them repeatedly against the seat in front of me.

"That son of a gun!" I cursed, my voice raw with rage.

Bojana placed a hand on my good arm. "We will make him pay. Don’t worry about that and reserve your strength till we get a doctor. You are losing so much blood"

Her words were meant to calm me, but I was too far gone. Too livid. Too consumed with the need for vengeance.

"Get me that girl! Bring her to me immediately!" I ordered, my voice ringing with finality.

Before I could hear a response, darkness enveloped me, and my body slumped forward as the effect of the treatment took hold.

This was far from over. Matteo had made an enemy he would regret for the rest of his miserable life.