CHAPTER 5: DOOM

Marianna

The deafening sound from the gun had me wondering who was shot again. I swiftly turned around and I saw my father, still standing with the gun pointed at Alceo. He had fallen with his back to my father's feet.

I raced down from the step, in twos, trying to get to the last landing quickly.

"Nooooo, Al," I shouted on top of my voice, running towards him, not caring about the commotion that was happening at that point.

I reached his body and met the beautiful blue eyes that I had always fallen in love with, sealed shut.

"Al, please don't do this to me. I love you, please wake up. I believe everything you say," I took his face in my hand and immersed my pajamas in a pool of his blood. At intervals, I kept tapping his face, pleading with him to wake up.

I zoned out from the room, my tears made a huge mess on Alceo's face, the flying bullets and gunshots made no difference to me. I buried my face in his body and sobbed loudly, begging him to wake up if it was a dream. In less than 48 hours, the only man I had wanted to spend my life with was lying dead on my lap. A pair of hands grabbed me from where I sat, I struggled with whoever was carrying me, begging them to let me die with my lover. The person hid us behind the couch, talking in hushed tones.

"Marianna, get out of your reverie. We need to get out of here, it's becoming messy," Javier held me tightly, his shirt was stained with blood. I looked at where my father once occupied and saw it empty.

Santo Del Vecchio was lying on the floor with a bullet to his skull, same as Isiak Romanov.

The man who Alceo had called his brother was still busy shooting at my father's guards blindly, with rage in every shot he was firing.

Javier made reference to him. "That man would kill you Marianna, he wouldn't care if you are in love with his brother. To him, you are the enemy, the enemy's daughter, nothing more."

His words sounded like the truth, it was convincing. I hiccuped and looked at him, clamping his hands together in mine.

"Please, let's take Alceo with us. He's not dead yet."

"Marianna, I need you to accept your losses and move on. Alceo is gone," he stated more firmly and I bursted into another set of tears.

More of our reinforcement came in through the back door and we escaped through the kitchen door. That way it led us to the exit and Javier threw me over the fence with the help of a few guards. He did the same and I noticed that he had prepared a car for us to escape.

As soon as he started the car, speeding through the front of the house, Alceo's brother rushed out with Alceo's in his arms, covered in blood. The last look I registered on his face was nothing compared to the hate he harbored for our family.

"This was all my fault," I palmed my face in my hands, sobbing repeatedly and tapping my feet in disorganized intervals.

Javier refused to say a word and stepped on the gas, driving to God knows where.

"Where are we going Javier?" I finally summoned every courage in me and asked.

"To a place where no one knows, for the meantime until everything settles."

"We can't just leave my father's body there. The Russians would find a way to pick their dead bodies and bury them."

At the mention of dead bodies, my heart clenched tightly, knowing that I was referring to Al as a dead body too.

"I'll notify the house to help us figure that part out. You can't go back, Marianna. They would always seek your head in return and besides you need to understand the fact that you are now a married woman. Married to me."

His pupil dilated and the tone of his voice was not the normal Javier that I know. It felt like he was in control of me, dominating and cold.

"What does that even mean?" I asked. "This marriage was all my father's choice, not mine. Once we are done with all this mess, I'm getting a divorce."

"We'll see about that, spoilt little brat," he said, eyeing me and leaving me widen my eyes and my jaw.

"You better mind the language you use on me," I fired back, trying to be fierce but instead my voice came out shaking like a lost puppy.

After a long ride, he swerved the car to a lonely road path, trailing the road down. My heart kept skipping beats, various questions logged into my head.

Was he going to kill me? Oh dear father, what grave mistake you have made.

After what seemed like forever, he parked in front of a bungalow and helped himself down.

He came to my side of the door and grabbed my arm painfully, making me let out a painful cry.

"You are hurting me Javier," he refused to say a word and just kept shoving me forward.

The door to the house opened and he pushed me to the wooden floor.

By now I was scared for my life, no one knew where I was or what was going on and Javier didn't exactly behave like the gentle guy who came to pick a wife or the caring Javier who helped me out of the house.

"What's going on Javier? Please talk to me," I had to make enquiries on his new manic behavior.

"Right now you are my prisoner and everything Santo Del Vecchio once owned will be mine, including his beautiful prized daughter," I saw the look of lust in his eyes as his eyes roamed my body.

"Santo always behaved like he was the most powerful, the only one who couldn't be touched. All we needed was a weakness and even you wasn't his weakness. I had men put on you and it didn't take so much time for them to find your affair. All we didn't know was that he was a Russian. I could have crippled your father with it at that point," he said, threateningly.

"And how is that my problem? My father was the one you had issues with, please face him."

As soon as the words flew out of my mouth, he stepped in my space and gave me a slap.

"You are mine forever Marianna, no one is coming to save you. It's just me here," he reclined to my level and stared into my eyes.

I knew for sure that I was in trouble with a deranged person.