★LUCIANO★

★THE NEXT MORNING★

The doorbell rang, startling us all. I immediately cocked a pistol and tossed it to Glenn, then signaled him to find out who was at the door. Meanwhile, Gerald and I held onto our guns as we took our hiding position, ready to shoot if need be.

"It's Romano!" Glenn announced before opening the door.

Almost at once, Romano's voice filled the whole lounge.

"Where is the Boss?" I heard his worried tone demand then I rolled out my wheelchair, so he could see me.

As soon as his eyes landed on me, his jaw dropped, and his face paled shortly.

With trembling lips, he took a few calculated steps towards me then paused when he was three feet away.

"What the hell happened to you, Luciano?"

"I got shot," I responded as if it didn't mean anything.

"Of course, I can see that. Look at the bandages around your arms and legs, yet you didn't deem it fit to discuss it with me over the phone?" His voice sounded more hurt than worried.

"You are here now. You found out about this, what is the fuss about?" I queried distastefully.

"What is the fuss about?" Romano snorted in disgust. "Coming to meet my best friend in such a dreadful state and you are asking me what the fuss is about? I don't have the right to be mad over this?"

I inhaled sharply.

Getting aggravated because Romano was merely expressing his concerns for me, wasn't appropriate.

So I lowered my head and managed a small. "Apologies. I should have informed you over the phone and I accept my blame."

Romano clenched and unclenched his fist, burning with seething rage. "That son of a bitch, Luigi did this right?"

I issued him an affirmative nod and Romano began cussing aloud.

"That motherfucking piece of shit! I will make sure he goes extinct from the surface of the earth without any traces. He has to die for trying to mess with you!" He sneered.

"He is also the one that killed my mother," I added.

At that moment, Romano almost went crazy. "Oh fuck me!" I watched him jab his fist angrily in the air. "How the fuck did he do that?"

"Well...he found out the hospital my mother was admitted in, went over there, removed her oxygen mask, and choked her to death." I finished explaining, prompting Romano to stomp his right foot violently on the floor.

"Just don't worry, Boss. I will handle Luigi alone. Me alongside those four men I brought would finish him off." Romano said to me, grasping the pistol from Glenn's hand, before surveying it.

"I am going with you."

"No no no." Romano shook his head vehemently. "That's not possible with your condition. I just need you to rest and get well, while the rest of us take them on."

"I can't rest," I interjected. "Knowing that Luigi is still somewhere, alive messes with my mind. I want him dead as soon as possible." I hardened my jaw then bit down on my lower lip to suppress the fury coursing through my veins.

Romano walked over to me, then took my hand in his. "Luciano. We need to calmly strategize the plan to attack because any wrong move can lead to a drastic turn. You being in this condition makes the situation worse if you go with us." He tried to convince me. Yet I was unyielding.

Thinking of the state Janie might be in at this moment, riled me up pretty much. I didn't want to sit here doing nothing, while the Innocent girl suffered unjustly.

"We have no time to strategize a plan. I want Luigi gunned down and Janie, rescued. It's that simple." I bellowed. "And yes, I'm going with you. I only have some gunshot wounds, I am not disabled."

Romano let out a small frustrated sigh, after realizing that there was no point arguing with me.

Just as I was about to utter something else, my cell phone beeped and I instantly shoved my fingers into my pocket to retrieve it. Alas, when the screen popped on, a notification stated Janie's phone had been turned on and we could track her location.

I felt the heavy burden on my chest lifted a bit and a satisfied smirk crept to the corner of my lips.

Romano cast me a questioning look. Perhaps, wondering why I was smiling when the situation at hand called for extreme solemnity.

"Turns out the motherfucker can't be hiding for too long." showing him the phone's screen, I added. "I have found his location."

"No way, Boss!" Glenn chimed.

"That's a start!" Gerald added.

Romano hurriedly took the phone from me then survey the beeping light and the map, before raising his head to look back at me.

"Give us your order, Boss."

★★★SEVERAL HOURS LATER★★★ With the plans in mind, night crept upon us more quickly than expected. Maybe because we spent several hours, re-strategizing our options over and over again.

I watched how every one of my men picked up their backup pistol and shoved it in their belt strap, before grabbing the riffles.

Romano slung the bag of the remaining guns over his shoulder and we kickstart our plan.

Entering into the black SUV with Glenn, and two of the men Romano came with. Darius and Jonathan. We decided to follow the trail from Romano's black Chevrolet.

The ingenious aspect of our plan was to attack without being noticed. So we carefully followed the trail on the map, until it eventually led us to a gargantuan-sized gate situated in the middle of nowhere.

"You have the dynamite right?" I asked Darius and he showed it to me at once.

"Yes, Boss."

"Good. Just as planned, throw it in the back and create a distraction while we storm through the front gate."

"Okay, Boss." He scurried off to do my bidding and some seconds later, a loud explosion erupted in the atmosphere, prompting the men on duty to be distracted for a moment.

Taking that as a cue to strike, we drove through the gate and opened fire on anyone we found walking.

As far as they worked for Luigi, they don't deserve to live.

Killing Luigi's brother several years ago wasn't because I wanted to. His brother, Marcelo was vile, disruptive, and very manipulative.

He committed several atrocities and I couldn't let him slide when he raped a virgin fourteen-year-old girl mercilessly. The poor girl lost so much blood as a result of force and all medical attention proved abortive because she died three days later.

That girl was my cousin.

With absolute promptness, I hauled the wheelchair out of the black SUV, grasping my gun firmly between my fist.

"Everybody, disperse, I only need two people alive tonight. Janie, and that bastard, Luigi."

"What about Mia?" Glenn inquired and I shrugged.

"She is not a big deal, but if she's still alive, rescue her too."

"Will you be fine on your own though?" Jonathan queried, looking at me as if I were a sort of pitiful broken puppy.

"I am Luciano. Don't forget that." I directed at him between gritted teeth before whirling my wheelchair away from them, further into the dark.

As expected, the battle was fierce. Several houses were already burnt down and corpses were laying around on the ground. Quietly, I slipped through a corridor, that provided entrance to a long passageway. Then, I saw a figure running toward me.

Aiming my gun in that direction, I intended to shoot. And just as I was about to press the trigger, my victim's loud squeaky voice pierced through the atmosphere.

"Please I am innocent. Don't kill me!" Her desperate cry made me pause for a moment.

"Mia?" I uttered in an almost whisper.

She got to where I was, and I couldn't help but notice the tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Thank Goodness you came to save me, Luciano. I saw Romano on the other side and he asked me to run towards here."

"Where is Janie?" That was the only question that kept reoccurring in my head at the moment.

"Ahem...I don't. Janie is —" she fumbled with her words, prompting panic to surge through my spine.

Not wanting to think the worse just yet, I clutched onto the arm of my wheelchair before demanding again.

"Where the fuck is she?!"

"I don't know if she is still there, but let me take you to where I last saw her."

I motioned for her to lead the way, while I followed right behind her until we eventually got to a steel door at the right end of the passageway.

Forcing it open, I quickly pulled myself into the dark, cold room only to find Janie curled up in a corner with her hands and legs tied up.

My stomach tightened into a knot.

Without wasting time, I got closer to her and placed my hand on her left shoulder and she almost jumped.

"Please no, you can't do this to me. I am still a virgin and I don't want to go through such trauma!" She cried out.

Her mentioning the word 'virgin' somewhat brought up a sweet sensation that strengthened my resolve. However, I tossed that feeling aside and focused on her.

"Shhhh." My fingers combed through her hair. "It's me. It's me."

"Lu-Luciano." Her lips quivered as she squinted her eyes at me.

Suddenly her pale face brightened up with a small smile as she said. "I am so glad you are here."

"Untie her immediately!" I commanded Glenn the moment he entered the room. And he instantly did as instructed.

After untying her, he tried to pull her up to her feet, but she ended up collapsing on my body, spurring a small discomforting grunt to escape my lips.

I cupped her small face between my large hands then manage a weak smile. "You will be alright. I promise not to let anything happen to you again."

She returned the smile. Tilted her head upward a bit and claimed my lips, and I was left speechless.

Butterflies erupted in my stomach and the feeling seemed weird and new, but I liked it.

Shoving my fingers deep into her hair, I kissed her back as if my life depended on it.

But everything went to a halt all of a sudden.

Janie's body went limp on my body and my breath shook terribly as I called out to her.

"Janie!" Tapping her cheek softly, I called again. "Janie! Janie!"

Yet, there was no response.