Sergio's soulless body sank to the ground with a thud. His eyes were wide open with terror pouring out of them along with tears. His mouth spilled blood, and so does the multiple places on his body. Blood pooled around his body as the shooters took in a deep breath.

Leonardo steps out of the large green monster bushes. He kept staring at Sergio's body with keen abhorrence.

Matteo, Rocco, Marco, and Alexander sped toward the pale and limp bodies of their siblings. "Shit," Matteo swore. "Leonardo, we have to leave immediately. They both have been shot." He shouted.

Leonardo snapped his head in their direction as Matteo, Rocco and Alexander carried Antonio's body. His eyes caught Marco carrying the bloodied and almost lifeless body of Allegra. Blood dripped down from her back to the ground.

Everyone scurried inside the black SUV and managed to somehow bandage Antonio who gained consciousness but slightly. "Alle-g-ra-"

"Don't talk. We are almost at the hospital." Leonardo orders. Fortunately, Sergio's building was near a hospital which the boys noticed while arriving there.

Once inside the hospital, Antonio and Allegra were hurried inside the operating theater. As an old doctor was about to enter the room, Marco grabbed him by his collar and threatened him. "I want both of them fit and fine. Or the next person in that room would be you, just without any doctor. Battling your fucking life."

Sweat ran down the doctor's forehead as he nodded hastily. Quickly shuffling inside the room, he started his work.

"Fuck!" Alessandro roared and slammed his fist into the metal gate of the storeroom. The metal dented under the pressure as the skin around his knuckles cracked.

"We were so fucking late. So fucking late." Matteo muttered under his breath as he swiped his hands through his hair. "If we had arrived earlier, this wouldn't have happened."

Leonardo stood rigged beside them, not spewing out any word. Marco and Rocco kept pacing outside the room.

"We need A- and O- blood. If any of you have the same blood group please follow me in the blood donation center." One of the nurses came out of the OT and explained hesitantly. Leonardo and Alexander left with the nurse after nodding at the rest.

Half an hour later, the door of the OT opened, and a stretcher with an unconscious Antonio rolled out. "He is out of danger. We are shifting him to ICU to keep an eye on him for a few hours, though the bullet just grazed his arm, there has been a lot of blood loss."

As the other nurses wheeled Antonio to the ICU, Leonardo stopped one of them. "What about Allegra?"

The nurse stepped back hesitantly, almost fearfully. His dark, angry eyes and furious expression scared her further. "S-she is still in the O-OT-"

"We fucking know that. How is she?" Alessandro's furious gaze and loud voice made the nurse flinch.

"Alessandro." Leonardo warned. "She is still in there, Mr Valentino. I can't say much about her situation." Said the nurse after gathering some courage.

Leonardo nodded, and the nurse ran away. Every milli-second was like an hour for the boys who waited and paced outside the OT.

Images of the dreading event swirled through their minds.

Just as Leonardo and the boys stepped out of the SUV, they heard a gun going off. Their panicked gazes met with Leonardo, who quickly ran towards the large bushes.

Leonardo pushed the bushes away from his sight and saw Sergio pointing his gun at Allegra. They were close enough to see the smoke coming out of the gun. Allegra's groan was barely heard over the psychotic chuckles of Sergio.

Sergio's babbles were muted as the blood roared in the ears of the boys. Guns loaded and pointed directly in the direction of Sergio.

Leonardo instructed Alessandro to sit back inside the car and start the engine.

Five men, five guns, pointed at Sergio.

Matteo told Rocco to call the hospital in advance.

Four men, four guns pointed.

Just as Leonardo's gun went off for the first time, his brothers followed soon after him.

Six bullets from Leonardo's gun.

Six bullets from Matteo's gun.

One bullet from Marco's gun.

One bullet from Alexander's gun.

All of the fourteen bullets settled inside Sergio's body in multiple places. Just as his body dropped to the ground, the boys along with Rocco rushed toward Antonio and Allegra.

The light outside the OT room turned green, and the doctor came out fearfully. His gaze met with Alessandro's who was burning up with pent-up rage.

"Mr. Valentino." The doctor sighed. "The-the operation was successful." He stammered. "We have taken out the bullet from her body."

"The bullet though didn't damage any vital organ but-" the doctor was in the chokehold by Alessandro, whose patience was running thin. "Fucking spit it out." Antonio's blood across his shirt and somewhat on his face gave him a maddening look.

"Since the bullet was on the lower back, it slightly grazed her spine. We are afraid that she might never walk again." He rushed out everything in one breath.

The boys stilled as a strangled 'what' escaped Matteo's lips. Alessandro's hands dropped from the doctor's neck and went limp on his side.

Rocco and Alexander kept staring at the place where once the doctor stood who by taking the chance ran away from the Valentinos.

Marco kept staring at his hands which were full of Allegra's blood. The dried blood kept mocking him about the situation. The lump in his throat grew to the point that it hurt.

Leonardo was in no better position. All of their eyes went towards the stretcher on which Allegra was being rolled out of the OT and into the ICU.

The same doctor rushed towards them and hesitated. "One more thing."

Nobody paid him any attention, so he continued. "She might not be completely disabled. From what we have gathered, it can be just temporary. Maybe surgery and some physiotherapy will help."

Leonardo's eyes snapped up to the doctor. "What?"

"Yes. But for that she needs to be conscious. We can't perform the surgery if she is not conscious."The doctor added. "Antonio's recovery is good. But Allegra is weak. Very weak. It may take her alot of time to gain consciousness."

Leonardo nodded. For the very first time, Leonardo Valentino felt helpless. He can't do anything. Everything is messed up. His sister is barely alive, his brother is shot, and the rest of the siblings are falling apart. He is falling apart. For the very first time.

Matteo sat on the bench as he rested his head back on the stone-cold wall. Closing his eyes, he swiped his palm roughly through his face. Just as the hands drop, his tears soon followed. He tried to keep it together for the sake of his brothers, but everything and everyone was falling apart.

Marco kept gaping at his hands since he arrived at the hospital and deposited Allegra on the stretcher. The blood glistened darkly as Marco's tears drop on his hands. This was not how I wanted to hold her.

Rocco felt the need to peek inside the operation theater. His longing gaze searched for Allegra in the room but couldn't find her. His mind reflected the image of Allegra's smiley face. He flinches when his focus went to his reflection on the glass at the OT door. His red teary eyes followed the tear which slipped down his chin.

Alexander wanted his legs to work up their way to where Allegra is. And take her place. Be it him, on the death bed. Be it him, who may be disabled. Be it him, who never smiles the brightest ever again.

Alessandro was numb and mum at the beginning. But after a few moments, he was angry. Like never before. He felt the need to destroy everything in his sight and pour hundred fucking thousands of bullets into Sergio's body all over again. He turned towards Leonardo with an angry roar. "You stopped me from killing that Sergio. I would have killed him much more brutally." He slammed the frozen Leonardo into the wall behind him.

Leonardo's own cold and furious gaze burned further. "I would have torn him apart for even thinking of killing Allegra or Antonio. You did it on purpose. I couldn't even hurt a single hair on his body, Leonardo." Alessandro's roars turned into sobs as he hugged Leonardo tightly. "I could have taken the taken revenge for what he did to Mom, to Rosa. And now to Antonio and Allegra."

Leonardo tightened his arm around Alessandro, whose sobs tore through his body almost painfully. Three tears escaped Leonardo's eyes as they got soaked in Alessandro's shirt.

One for Rosa.

One for Aurora.

One for Allegra.

He couldn't protect the three most important women in his life.

___________________.

•|Happy Reading|•

I cried while writing this chapter. Especially the last scene.