Update day! Read the author's note at the end for a surprise ;) Happy reading!

Chapter 24

Tatiana

They all jumped up at once, alert.

"An attack?" Her mother asked, stunned. "Here, of all places while Lorenzo Castellano is in attendance?"

Verratti nodded, walking quickly towards his desk and grabbing two silver handguns. "Possibly. My men are ready for this but we don't know at what magnitude the attack is scaling. We need to move." He said, tucking one handgun into his suit jacket and checking the mag of the other that he held in his hand.

"Are you all equipped?" Verratti asked, looking at each of them. Everyone except her mother pulled out a handgun of varying models in response.

Tatiana moved the slit of her dress aside and pulled her small gun and knife from the strap around her thigh. "Here, mama." She said, handing her mother the gun.

She was better with a knife anyway, she thought as she held up her silver gleaming dagger. It was her favorite weapon.

"Ladies, stay back. Wouldn't want my favorite girls getting hurt." Verratti said lightheartedly to them, spearheading their small group as they left the office doors.

She scoffed at that but stayed back next to her mother, Zeke right in front of them.

The party was in pandemonium. Some of the noncriminal associated guests were screaming, hiding behind tables or rushing out of the door. Their other guests who were used to situations like this, however, held fast and were gunning down some of the men shooting.

When they arrived, a man who she recognized earlier as Leonid, approached along with a man she only caught a glimpse of earlier.

"Don Verratti, they suddenly came out from the main doorway and we have already suffered some casualties." Leonid said, gesturing behind him where a few soldiers lay either injured or dead.

Verratti only nodded. "Find Angelica and get her out of here." He turned to the other man. "Raymond, find Vasiliev's family and see to it that they're all right." He ordered to the two men. They bowed in acknowledgement before scattering away.

Beside them, Pavel nodded his thanks to him before all hell broke loose as Verratti, the Vasilievs, and her mother began shooting at the people shooting back.

Anyone with their gun pointed at you, you shoot down were her mother's words to her ever since she was a small child.

Zeke grabbed her arm, pushing her behind him as he continued shooting down men with their guns pointed at them, making sure that he would block all bullets that might be aimed to her. Some of the men who were shooting at them looked familiar. She saw them in the shadows of the main party, always talking among themselves and staying in the dark.

Next to the hallway where they emerged, were two double doors that led to some other part of the mansion. A man holding a gun stepped out and she quickly ran to him, hoisting herself up to reach his tall height from behind him and slashing his throat.

Blood ran down his suit and onto the floor as the life drained out of him. Tatiana pushed him away before his weight overwhelmed her and wiped a bit of the blood that had sprayed onto her arms.

She looked up and found Zeke looking at her with approval, pride shining in his eyes. However, a few moments later, the expression died and he pointed the gun to her.

Her heart pounded in her chest as a shot rang through the room. She heard a body thud down to the floor and turned around to confirm that there was a dead body behind her, a gun held in his hand.

"Thank you." She murmured to him as he hauled her into his arms, hugging her tight before letting go and continuing to gun down the rest.

Their side suffered few casualties, most of the other mob families holding their own or having only a few scratches.

It all ended too quickly as the last man standing was shot down by her mother.

"Well, that was an interesting turn of events." Ivanov said, approaching them from somewhere to the side, covered in blood. "I was just about to get laid too." He added and she cringed at his brazen announcement.

"Something doesn't feel right." Zeke said to her as he checked the mag of his gun.

"That attack was all too sudden." A man in his late fifties approached them, blood seeping through the shoulder of his grey suit jacket.

"Are you all right, godfather?" Francesco asked as he approached, concerned.

So this was Lorenzo Castellano, Tatiana thought as the godfather waved off Francesco's concern and proceeded to speak to the other Dons.

"The men who attacked were too few." Lorenzo continued, shrugging his jacket off when one of his associates brought a bandage for his wound. "This is an upscale party, it would be foolish to bring too small a force to an event like this. Especially with so many families in attendance."

"I agree." Verratti said, tossing his handgun to the side when he ran out of bullets and taking out the spare he had hidden in his coat. "We should prepare for another assault--"

Just then a loud boom reverberated through the mansion, shaking down the building so much that she almost tripped in her heels from the force before Zeke caught her. Glass from the windows shattered, paintings fell to the floor, and the guests who remained screamed anew, their terrified exclamations ringing in her ears.

Zeke held onto her, making sure she was not in danger when suddenly doors across the room slammed open, revealing men with heavy artillery in their hands.

"Get down!" Pavel shouted over the noise, pushing her mother and Francesco down. Zeke reacted immediately, pulling her with him behind the marble bar as more bullets rained down on them.

As she leaned on the marble side of the bar, she felt the powerful force of the bullets as they shot in their direction.

"They have a M134 model and M60 machine gun with them." Tatiana relayed loudly over the boom of rapid gunfire to Zeke next to her as the rest of the guests began running or taking cover.

He looked back at her confused before peeking at the side to check on the new enemies before quickly retreating back when a bullet flew past him.

"How did you know?" He asked her, pulling her closer to make sure that no part of her would be exposed to the men shooting at them.

She shrugged, moving closer as the two breathed hard, the situation dire.

"Zeke!" Someone called from the side. They both turned to find Verratti behind a table that he had turned over to serve as a shield. In his hand, he held a phone while the other was on his leg, covering a wound where a bullet had pierce through his skin.

"Don Verratti." Zeke said slowly, eyes widening at the wound while she gasped, covering her mouth in horror.

There was so much blood.

"Your uncle Vincent is outside, take her to France." Verratti said, gritting his teeth in pain.

"No, papa--" Tatiana started, wanting to go to him but Zeke pulled her back as bullets continued to fly across the space that separated them.

"We have to go." Zeke said to her urgently.

"I'll be fine, don't you worry about me." Her father said, giving her a small smile despite the pain. "You have to go." He urged them.

"Mon ange," Zeke spoke to her quietly, a hand on her chin to turn her face towards him. "Breathe." He reminded her. "As soon as they reload, we have to move."

"No," She shook her head. "We can't leave him."

"Get her out of here, now!" Her father shouted as another boom crashed to the ground, making the floor shake.

He pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry, mon ange, but we have to leave. They're probably after you and I'm not losing you." He whispered to her. "Not when I was finally able to be with you."

She didn't want to, but a part of her felt--no, a part of her knew that they were after her. And it was selfish of her, but she didn't want to be separated from Zeke either, not when they could finally be together.

She closed her eyes, fighting herself. "Okay." She finally said to him, nodding. He only smiled back in reply, relief clear as day that she no longer argued.

When the loud roars of the machine guns faded, Zeke looked back at her.

"Let's go." He said, wrapping an arm around her and using his body as a shield while they were still under cover.

She turned back to look at her father. "Papa--" She started but he only shook his head, giving her a small smile.

"I'll see you again." He said in a tone that left no room for discussion. "I love you."

She froze, shocked by what he said. Just as she was about to reply, Zeke lurched forward while she was in his tight grip, ducking down when gunshots began following in their wake.

They weren't the only ones who thought to leave as soon as the artillery stopped. Other small groups of people began running, scattering in different directions to escape and it was thanks to them that they were able to leave the room unscathed.

As they closed in on the exit, she turned back and caught one last glimpse of her father before they disappeared into the night.

Translations:

mon ange - my angel (French)

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