XXIV

"So you have finally had enough and decided to punish me for my betrayal from five years ago?" I ask as I dig my nails into my thigh and notice his eyes follow.

"He went after my family. Seeing my territories burn, my people die, it shifted something inside of me." He explains.

"But my decision was only made when I saw you plotting against me with that fucking cop." He adds. His voice is glacial, strange and full of hatred. A tear rolls down my cheek, but I wipe it off quickly, not letting my guard down.

"Shoot me then." I challenge, my blood pounding in my veins with a mix of lividity and angst. "I fucking dare you."

"I will." He replies. Keeping my eyes fixed on his cold, unforgiving face, I take a step towards him. Two steps. Three steps.

His arm doesn't falter.

"Pull the fucking trigger, Marco." I blurt, observing him carefully. "Milana-"

"Do it!" I yell.

His arm starts trembling around the gun when I rest my forehead against the barrel.

This is so fucked up.

The moment my skin makes contact with the cold metal, he jerks the weapon away. A wave of conscience flashes on his face. "You are fucking insane." He yells, his weakness seeping through his words.

"And you're a coward." I say through tightly gritted teeth. He mutters to himself while tucking his gun in his holster, avoiding my gaze at all costs. "Why can't you kill me, Marco?" I ask.

He won't look at me, but I'm not letting him get away with it!

"Do you have any idea how angry you've made me?!" I ask, feeling my nails now digging into my hands. With my hands balled into fists, and my teeth clenching, I fight the urge to scream, kick, kill him.

"Tell me, you bastard. Tell me why you can't kill me!" I shout. He pauses for a moment before answering. "I couldn't live with myself." He answers.

"What?" I question.

"My family would hate me, and yours." He adds.

He finally meets my gaze and my body goes numb under his heated look. "I was so fucking angry when you left, bella. But, when you came back, it was different." He exclaims.

"You don't mean that." I reply, turning away from him and looking out into the distance. "Hate me, Marco. It's better for both of us." I spit.

"How do you expect me to hate you when you look at me with those goddamn eyes of yours." He shouts as he balls his fists. I snap my head up a little bit and meet eyes with his. "I don't know what you're on about." I reply innocently. He lowers his head a little so he is closer to me. "Yes you do."

"Now tell me you hate me, so I don't feel guilty anymore." He demands.

"I hate you more than you know. Especially now that you've turned on me." I explain as I raise my hand, my eyes falling on my ring. I reach for it and wiggle it off of my finger, holding it out in my palm for him to see. Marco snaps back into reality and tosses the ring out into the night.

"Now don't be a child and get over it." He snaps.

I won't admit it, but this hurt me.

I open my mouth to say something, but Marco winces in pain, and I quickly scan his body for injuries. A wave of panic washes over me when I notice a gunshot wound in Marco's right thigh.

"When did that happen?" I question. He sits down in a pile of sacks, and I kneel in front of him to inspect his wound up-close.

"Give it to me straight." He demands.

"It doesn't look good, Marco." I say. "Leave it. Look at me." He says, tilting my chin up. "Don't touch me." I spit, pushing his hand away.

"Listen. We have a war to win tonight and that's all I care about for now." I explain. He nods and there is a dark glimmer in his eyes.

"Fine. Then let's at least kill some of these fuckers." He voices riotously. Marco lets out a soft groan and pushes his hand through his hair. "We will. But, first, we have to do something about your leg." I demand. "There's no time. I'm fine." He says, unconvincingly.

Marco gets up and I notice a slight limp in his walk. We walk away from the dock with fierce determination. "We have to find Luca." I explain.

Having yet to recover from the whirlwind of emotions, I walk silently through the blazing city. I only halt when Marco's knees give in, and he collapses into the doorway of a closed store.

"I told you to let me look at your leg." I say, growing more and more concerned. He tries to pull himself up, but he falls back against the door, his breathing even more ragged than before.

"No. I told you that I'm fine." He reports as he leans back in pain. I fold my arms and roll my eyes at him, still pissed at his previous actions.

"Well you are clearly not fine, Marco. You don't listen!" I yell. He clenches his jaw and sits up, pushing his body upright with his elbow. "You need to keep going, I'm only slowing you down. I'm fine." He reassures. I press my sweaty palms flat against my thigh as I look down at him, noticing him breathing heavily. "Don't be stupid, you're not fine at all." I snap.

I kneel to inspect the wound and when I see it close up, I immediately realise it is more serious than I thought. "I need to stop the bleeding." I whisper to him. "Be gentle with me." He mutters teasingly. I shoot him a resentful glare. "I'd rather be effective." I reply, moving the material of his trousers away from the bloody wound.

I tear the bottom of my shirt to use it as a dressing and wrap it around the wound in a haste. "Bite down on this." I order, handing him a thick leather pad. "This will hurt like a bitch." I add with a suspicious smile. I press down on the wound, with more force than needed. His teeth sink into the leather pad but he does not flinch once. I slow down and knot the cloth with careful and soft moves, feeling Marco's gaze burn into me.

"The blood flow seems to have stopped." I say, leaving closer to the wound and inspecting it. "Good. You can get off your knees now." He says.

I roll my eyes dramatically and stand up from the ground, motioning him to get up. I help him up, staggering a little under his weight, but I don't let him go, not for one instant. He tightens his arm around me, and I rest my head on his chest.

"Just because I saved your ass, doesn't mean I will trust you like I used to." I speak. "I know." He replies. He inhales deeply, almost as if he's trying to memorise my scent.

We bore into each others eyes for a moment before I force myself to look away. I stroll over to Luca Martínez's cafe, making sure Marco staggers closely behind me. The first rays of sunlight hit the streets of New York by the time we close in on Luca's cafe. Marco leans against the wall and starts panting heavily. His shirt settles tightly on his chest and his hair is messy, shadowing the top of his head.

His limping has got considerably worse.

"I don't know how much longer I can go." He says through harsh panting. "Oh don't be a big baby." I reply, leaning against the wall besides him. "Im serious, Milana. You need to continue this alone. Tell Luca you killed me." He orders. He adjusts his step so his arm is right besides mine.

"Fine." I reply, trying to come across as unbothered. "Tell him my family works for you now. Show him you're merciless. Show him why you're Don." He demands.

"I will. Stay hidden in the shadows, ok? This plan goes to hell if anyone finds you." I snap.

"I won't compromise you, bella." He replies, running a hand through his slightly damp hair. "Chances are, one of us won't make it." He adds.

"You're being an idiot again." I reply, raising my left eyebrow in annoyance. I stare past him into the empty street as he leans his head back so it connects with the wall behind. "No, listen, the odds aren't exactly in my favour." He comments, looking down at his patched up wound for a moment.

I shake my head furiously, and he grabs my hand and waits for me to make eye contact. "I regret what I did." He announces. I pull my hand away from his and shake my head slowly. "I don't care." I reply. "But you wont die on me, right?" I ask. He stares at me for a few moments, taking in every little detail of my darkest nights. "No. I wont." He eventually replies.

"Good." I snap, walking away towards Luca's front door. From the other side of the street, I see the dock workers closing in, carrying heavy metal tools. "Thank you for coming to help." I call out in appreciation. "Anything to get rid of this Martínez scum. Where do you need us?" A worker asks.

"I need you all to have my back and come in with me." I command. They all nod in unison and draw in closer, surrounding the building. "You can count on us, Ms Levine." Two more workers say together.

I nod, then make my way into my enemy's den.

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