Top of my list

Anger is my partner in crime. I always have this shoot-first-ask-questions-later attitude. Even though I appear calm on the outside, I'm a fucking mess on the inside. The voices in my head are getting louder and louder.

I view things negatively and anger is the only way to solve issues that become too much for my brain to handle. Never gotten into trouble before because I got Killian cleaning my shit up. Though I didn't ask him. Jerk of a brother says I'm spoiling his image.

Currently, I don't care. I don't fucking care. I'm going to ruin this wedding if they think they have a hold on me. Jeanne is forced to marry this Vito bastard. Every night before the wedding, I stand outside her door and hear her sobs. Dad's worrying while hiding his pain behind a straight face. I can't keep this up. No, my insides feel like they are tied up in a ball and entangled.

"Hey, you can't go—"

Too late. I punch him in the guts. Another comes at me. Swinging my bat, I knock him in the face and he flops down on the pavement like a dead fish. I smash my way in, hitting their kneecaps and stomachs but not hard enough to kill them. I can't afford to take lives and have that fucking Vito asking for compensation. Not my priority.

I kick open the door to the wedding hall. Eyes scan me as I march up the aisle, my lips curling into a smirk.

A woman stands not far from me, her white wedding dress something out of a fairytale. My sister. There she is, standing beside the very man who demanded the marriage alliance. She's controlling herself from crying, slapping on a fake smile.

I shifted my gaze to my sister's soon-to-be husband. Well, not so soon. He looks at me, those deep dark eyes assessing me. He looks calm and composed as if he was expecting my arrival. Angular jaws, high nose, and sharp cheekbones. Fuck, he's attractive. But underneath that striking face is a monster I can't afford to let my sister marry.

How did I know he is a monster?

It's because his eyes are lifeless. Dead. Empty. There's no light in there. It's like he's not even here. And he's definitely not interested in this wedding.

"Cass?" Jeanne regards me with wide eyes. I shoot her a wink.

The very man whose eyes I'm glaring at curls his lips into a dangerous yet charming smirk. Cold. Calculative. Ruthless.

I know Jeanne would suffer. I can't let her, not after what I promised Mom.

So I lash out. I grab the pair of rings from the priest right in front of fucking Vito. Then I let them drop to the ground. Our eyes connect and I grin, pulling out the gun hidden in my jacket. Jeanne gasps. The hall breaks out in chatter and murmurs.

The man standing behind Vito the motherfucker panics and pulls his own gun. He points at me, protecting his boss, but I don't give a damn. Vito isn't my target. The ring is.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four shots. Four perfect holes in the rings. Two for each. The metal dents to the point it looks like scrap.

"Let's go," I take her hand and pull her away from the monster.

"I can't, Cass," she pleads with those eyes that are so similar to Mom's when she was on her deathbed. It has a hold over me. I would do anything if she gives me that look. But not this time.

"I can't leave. This is our fault. Please go. I'm okay," she says.

No, she's not okay. I'm not either. I never will be if my precious sister gets her life ruined by some jerk.

"This has nothing to do with you. It's Fabio's, not yours," I snap.

Jeanne has the tendency to put the blame on herself. It happened back in school when a young girl got bullied near her. Then the girl committed suicide and Jeanne blamed herself for it. Killian wanted to snap the necks of the bullies but Dad interfered, trying to make Jeanne strong.

I don't want to admit it, but I do have that tendency too.

Jeanne isn't like us. She's a Mafia princess but has a heart of gold. Sometimes I think she's too innocent for this world, our fucked up world.

Dad's eyes widen in horror. He turns to me, snapping.

"What did you do?! Get back here, now!" Dad looks at the motherfucker, trembling. 

Was Vito that scary? I don't give a fuck when it comes to protecting my loved ones.

"This marriage," I say, locking eyes with Vito, "is over. Don't even think about marrying her."

"Who are you? Her lover?" Vito doesn't flinch. 

In fact, he looks calm and I get this sinking feeling like I have walked myself into some kind of trap.

"Yes and no. Does it matter?" I sneer.

The motherfucker tips his head back and laughs, throwing me into a surprise. His eyes seem to have more light in them now.

"It does," he smiles, but it doesn't meet his eyes. Fake. Cruel. Ruthless. His eyes land on the bat in my left hand.

Am I imagining things if I think he's impressed?

"Congratulations. You're on the top of my list," Vito says, or more like warns.

"Thank you. Just keep your fucking disgusting perverted hands off her," I flash my middle finger at him and pull Jeanne down the aisle to the door, without looking back. 

I'm tempted to carry her instead because she nearly tumbles over in that ugly white dress. But I can't carry her because that would mean going out of this fucking place without a weapon.

"You answer for this, Cesare," behind us, Vito warns my dad. I could feel Dad glaring at my back like he couldn't wait to twist my neck.

"I'll give you a satisfactory answer," Dad placates.

I ruined the wedding and now Alessio fucking Vito probably has me on his death list.