SEBASTIAN's POV

"Now, the choice is yours. I want to leave here this instant with Janie or the van blows up and your girl alongside your right-hand man dies."

The moment those threats left my lips, my heart jammed painfully into my chest and I did not know the reason why.

Maybe because standing in front of Luciano after all these years brought back some nostalgia or because I wanted to see him cave in. I want to see him through defense. I want him to be broken up until the extent of going on his knees to beg for my mercy.

But fucking Luciano seemed to remain unwavering despite being in a distressful situation. With a gunshot wound on his arm oozing out blood and running in fine lines down his arms and cascading in droplets to the ground, he still stood as though he had the whole situation under control.

Fucking hell...I mean that's what I have always admired in the man. All those times I worked alongside him, I wanted to be him so bad. However, when I realized I'd never measured up to him, I decided to become my own person. My own boss.

"Don't be stupid, Luciano!" I barked, "I don't have all the time in the world and you don't want the cops to get here right now with these dead bodies lying on the floor. Use. Your. Head." I said, gritting my teeth.

The truth is— I did not call any cop. That's just a clickbait I hope he'd buy.

Still, Luciano stood there without saying a word. His expression remained blank and unreadable. His lips were tightly pressed as though he was suppressing himself from saying anything. Whilst, his piercing dark eyes bore into mine as though they were about to rip out my soul from my body.

A chill surged down my spine. Yet, I managed to act fearless.

Swallowing down the hard lump that had begun to form in my throat since Luciano started a damn staring contest, I bellowed for the umpteenth time.

"You really think I have all day, uhn? Do you think I came here to play? This is your last chance!" I threatened with my sole attention on him. "In five... four... three..."

I raised my right hand, aimed my gun in his direction, and then slowly clicked on the trigger. "Two... one"

Before I could completely press down on the trigger and shoot, I felt a hard jab at the back of my neck, forcing me to momentarily lose my balance, and the gun was snatched from my hand before I could even recover. But not without a bullet releasing from the muzzle and a loud noise erupted in the atmosphere.

In the cause of all this, a strong, bulging arm was already wrapped around my neck from behind and the not-so-cold steel was pressed against the base of my skull.

My breath hitched.

"Fuck." I hissed between my teeth, wondering how I let this happen.

Luciano was still standing in his spot, unmoved. So it was not him. That was when I realized Romano was the one holding me in his grasp.

He must have secretly gotten out of the van through the other door whilst I was focusing on Luciano.

Oh, fuck me! Why didn't I figure the van had two doors?

I should have remembered that I was dealing with two sneaky bastards.

"Romano," I tried to negotiate while he cut me off rudely.

"Tell your pussies to fucking stand down!"

"Romano, relax and—"

"Are you deaf? Tell your scarecrows to stand down this instant or I'm going to blow your head off!"

Deep down, I knew Romano would make do with his threat. He has always been one heartless bastard since I knew him with Luciano. Romano does not think twice before killing unlike Luciano, who might want to give you a few minutes to say your last prayer. Romano is always ready to sacrifice everything for Luciano and I guess in this situation, it wouldn't be any different. I mean, the idiot breathes for Luciano.

Not wanting to, but because I had no choice, I slowly muttered to my men. "Lower your weapons."

They were reluctant at first but when I barked at them for the second time, they instantly dropped their gun on the floor.

"Luciano, take his van instead," Romano instructed and I watched Luciano issue him a curt nod before going toward his own van. He stretched his one good hand and his whore took it before stepping out.

Goodness! She's beautiful. I have seen several photos of her while I was digging on Luciano. Plus, the brief moment at the florist shop, but seeing her up close made me realize why Luciano must have fallen for this girl.

Her face was pale white but still had some colors hidden beneath. Her hair scattered messily, framing her little head and the scared look on her face made her even more attractive.

Possessively wrapping his good arm around her, he guided her past me and they occupied my van.

I dismissed myself from admiring the beauty and then let the admiration switch back into anger. My mind was a raging storm.

How did I let this get out of control so fast? I queried myself but Romano's thunderous voice made me lose my thought.

"Will your arm permit you to drive?" I heard him ask Luciano.

I did not know the response Luciano gave because my back was turned from the van, but at that moment, the engine raved to life, giving me the answer.

Knowing Romano was going to kill me if I did not act fast, I motioned at two of my men to pick up their guns and rescue the day. They followed my silent instruction and immediately bullets started flying in the air toward the van.

"Stop!" Romano roared, backing up with me still in his grasp. "I said stop or I'd fucking blow his head off. Don't test me." He yelled but I signaled them to continue.

When Romano saw that they weren't backing up, he screamed at Luciano. "Go! Drive off!" But Luciano responded with "I'm not leaving you!"

I kissed my teeth in admiration, laughing.

"I said go, Boss. Please just listen."

Immediately, the van began to reverse, drifting further and further away. My rage instantly consumed me and it was at that moment I plunged my elbow into Romano's torso, causing him to lose his balance and I swiftly took the gun from him.

Once he saw me with the gun, he raised his hands in surrender and went on his knees. Unfortunately, he was going to bear the brunt of his actions. He would pay for making me lose what I came here for today.

As I glared at the van speeding off in the distance, I vengefully pulled the trigger.