š Nicole
I'm going to die.
I expected to die.
That was my first thought, that I was dead.
The sound of Leonardo's gunshot cracked through the restaurant and I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain, the burn, the collapse.
But nothing hits me.
Insteadā¦ a heavy thud lands behind me.
My eyes snap open and I whipped my head around, the gunman who was just threatening to blow my brains out slumped to the floor, with a hole through his forehead.
He shot the gunman. Not me.
My focus snapped back to Leonardo. He kept his eyes fixed on me as he lowered his gun. He had pulled the most insane, terrifying bluff pointing his gun at me, using the threat of my death to distract and neutralize the real threat. Even I didn't see it coming.
I felt my heart still, I wanted to smile at him but before I could even process the rush of relief and do that, the room erupted. Tables crashed, glass shattered, and the silence was replaced by the deafening, chaotic roar of a dozen unsilenced guns.
More gunmen, their backup poured in from the kitchen entrance. It was a full-scale ambush, a slaughterhouse disguised as a final dinner.
Leonardo yells "Everyone Get down."
But hell I'm still standing there like an idiot not knowing what to do, until a strong arm slams into me.
Leonardo crashes into me, knocking me to the ground.
He was heavy and we were too close. His chest was pressed against my back, his breath ragged against my ear, but he wasn't looking at me. He was scanning the place, his gun raised high. I could feel every tense muscle, every twitch of alertness but somehow I felt super safe.
I focus my eyes on him, even in the chaos I still thought he looked so good. He smelled even better. Like smoke, gunpowder, Jasmine tea. Like warm vanilla and sandalwood after a summer rain.
His hand clamps around my wrist as he lifts his gun with the other.
A shot.
Another.
Another.
Then he drags me with him, pulling me toward a fallen table.
My knees scrape against the floor, but he doesn't loosen his grip. He only drags faster, curses under his breath, and shoves me behind the table with him.
"Stay down," he growls.
His voice vibrates through me.
I peek over the table. Papa is across the room, half-hidden behind a booth, shielding Grace with his body. When he spots me, he gestures urgent, desperate for me to crawl to him.
I look back at Leonardo.
He's not paying attention to me at all. He's focused on the gunmen, firing at them.
This was my chance. While he was still distracted. I would get to Papa, who was my actual protection.
I started to crawl out from under the table, heading for the middle of the room.
I swallow hard as I crawl. I just had to get to Papa fast and I would be fine.
One inch.
Two.
Three..
A shot cracks.
I freeze.
It's aimed at me.
I see the muzzle flash bright, deadly and everything slows. My breath stops.
But before I can scream, something moves.
Him.
Leonardo barrels toward me, slamming into my side, pushing me behind him. He twists, shielding me with his entire body.
And the bullet hits him.
He didn't scream. He didn't even grunt.
Then another shot hits.
Then another.
Three bullets.
Three.
He still doesn't fall. Or make any sound of pain.
He fires back, the bullet hits the gunman in the chest and the man drops instantly.
I was paralyzed, staring at the rapidly blooming crimson stains on his shirt, the pure white turning to sickening, dark red. His blood, soaking the cotton.
""Leonardoā" I reach for him, hands shaking, suddenly unable to breathe.
He jerks away.
Tears instantly blurred my vision, the adrenaline turning into sheer panic. I reached out a shaking hand to touch the blood again, not caring about the fact that he didn't just let me touch him. "Leo! You're shot, you'reā"
He didn't even look down. He was reloading. His eyes were focused, cold, and utterly terrifying.
"Get back to the table!" he snapped, his voice a low, raw snarl. There was no pain, just absolute fury at my distraction.
"No, you're.....you're bleeding..."
"GET THE FUCK BACK TO THE TABLE!"
His roar slices through me.
I flinch.
And I scrambled backward, shaking, crawling back beneath the relative safety of the table. I curl in on myself, heart slamming against my ribs, eyes blurring with tears.
He took a bullet for me. He took a bullet for me.
I don't know if that makes him stupidā¦ or something unbelievably crazy but I just knew I suddenly felt a thousand emotions towards him all at once.
Suddenly he's beside me, slumping behind the table. He's breathing hard, jaw clenched, eyes dark with pain he's trying to pretend doesn't exist.
We're inches apart.
Too close.
I feel his heat, his blood, his breath brushing my cheek.
He won't look at me.
Backup finally storms in, the Italians. I suddenly remember him whispering something to his father at the table. Was this what he asked for? Did he already know about the ambush?
It felt like forever, but eventually, the shooting stopped. Sirens wailed outside, the distinct, terrifying sound of an ambulance cutting through the silence.
I turned to check on my family. My head snaps toward Grace just as Papa lifts her limp body into his arms. Blood covers her dress. She's unconscious.
"No....Grace!" I shoot up, forgetting everything else, running to her.
The paramedics rush in. They take her from Papa. Mama immediately shoves me aside and climbs into the ambulance with Grace.
"Waitā" I start.
But the doors slam shut.
She's gone.
I stand there looking at Papa who gave me a look I couldn't place my hand on.
Pity at Mama's behavior? Tiredness? I didn't know what it was but I didn't have the time to think about it properly because I finally remembered the man who had taken three bullets for me.
"Nicole..." Papa calls opening his arms to me but I whirl around, heart lurching into my throat and I find Leonardo standing a few meters away, bracing himself on Marco's shoulder, The blood on his shirt darker than before. He's staring at me.
Not angry.
Not annoyed.
Something else entirely.
Something unreadable. Devastating.
H moves away from Marco and walks towards me but then he staggers.
"Leonardo!"
I run toward him just as Marco does, not caring that Papa stood right behind me. That all his family members were there too. I was closer so my arms catch him first.
His weight collapses onto me, heavy and warm and terrifying in my arms, we both half fall together.
Up close, the blood looks even worse. Too much. So much that my stomach twists.
"Stupi...d idiot," he mutters through clenched teeth. "I told you to stay down."
I choke on a sob.
"You took a bullet for me!"
He tries to smirk but winces instead.
"Of course I did," he says quietly, voice fading, like he was saying it to himself but I caught it.
"Because you're always always doing the exact opposite of what I tell you."
His knees buckle.
"Leonardo!" I scream.
He slumps,
Right into me.
And the world spirals again.