Hundred & Ninety-Two (Edited)

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & NINETY-TWO: 

Gianpaolo's POV:

I watched with great satisfaction as blood oozed from the spot where I stuck my knife into Carlo's side and I twisted the weapon once more for the fun of it. My eyes flicked up to his face just in time to see that smug looking face crumple with pain and in the same second, a loud crash bounced of the walls of the building.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?!” I heard Alessandro hiss just as I turned my attention to Carlo's whore who was now on the floor, still trapped in a chair. 

So she wasn't just a whore but a nuisance too? Great. “Alessandro, get that bitch in order!” I ordered and he quickly moved to obey. 

 I watched him lift her up and she snarled at him, “Traitor!” 

“Shut your mouth or this could end very quickly for you!” 

“Don't you dare lay a hand on her!” Carlo growled and I was surprised at how much strength he still had despite the fact that I stick had my knife in his guts.

This motherfucker must really care for his whore. Interesting….

An amused smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.  “Very romantic my friend, very romantic,” I mocked, relishing the way those once friendly eyes glared back at me with so much hatred.

Well, the feeling was very much mutual.

I'd spent years plotting, years waiting for when I'd have this asshole like this and at my mercy. But I never couldn't, not until now and I was going to make the most of it, making this bastard pay for every fucking thing he'd done to hurt me and my family. Once upon a time, we'd been inseparable, people called us brothers and maybe I'd had a stupid teenage boy crush on the bastard which may have later morphed to utmost respect as we grew older but that was before he betrayed me. Something I'd have never ever done to him. Friends don't betray friends. Ever. 

I'd been there for him when his asshole father had made life hell for him and how did he repay me? A fucking knife to my back—

My train of thoughts came to a halt as my eye caught a shiny little object about a foot away from me. “What is that?” I asked absent-mindedly as I squinted at the gold ring, a feeling of unease coiling in my guts.

Carlo's whore thrashed in the chair, glaring daggers at me. “It's mine!” She yelled but I ignored her, every fiber of my being extremely aware of the shiny object.

“A ring,” Alessandro stated the obvious as he grabbed the ring off the floor. He walked over to me, holding the ring up. “Nothing of any importance, just something that belongs to Natalia like she said.” 

My breath hitched as warning bells set off at the back of my head and my hand fell off the knife I'd had piercing into Carlo's skin and I immediately grabbed the round, gold shiny object from Alessandro, smearing his hand with Carlo's blood in the process.

I knew it before my eyes found it that it would be there—the initials carved into the shiny metal.

My blood-stained hand trembled around the ring, my heart raced, sweat formed at the top of my lip as I stood dumbstruck, staring at the initials as if that would make it go away and maybe it would be confirmed that I was seeing things.

But it was still there.

Clear as day. Clear as it had been all those years.

‘Sofia P. R.’

“Impossibile!” The sound of my voice reached my ears before I knew it. 

“Gianpaolo?” Alessandro said cautiously. “What the fuck is going on?” 

I didn't have time to answer his question, my feet were already moving, taking my toward the girl. In a split second, my disbelief turned into anger—old wound disguised as anger but who cares? 

“Where did you get this?!” I asked in a low growl, my voice dark and cold as I fixed my burning gaze on her, watching her brows draw together in confusion? Apprehension? It could be both.

But she kept her lips shut, grating on my last nerve and believe me, I was on my very last fucking straw as I took her chin in a hard, painful grip. My fingers dug into her soft flesh, bruising the skin as she let out a soft, painful gasp.

From my peripheral view, I could see Carlo struggling to fight of the three burly men that held him place which was stupid. He didn't stand a chance not when he's wounded and outnumbered.

“You better fucking speak if you don't want to lose your tongue!” I spat angrily. 

“She said her dead father, Antonio gave it to her—” 

The words died on Alessandro's lips as I fixed him with a warning glare. “Non ti ho chiesto di parlare pee lei!” 

He raised his hands in a mock surrender, stepping away. 

“He's… he's telling the truth,” Natalia croaked, dragging my attention back to her and something about those tear glistened blue eyes felt oddly familiar. “My father—adoptive father, I suppose. He gave me this ring and a letter. I—” She paused suddenly, eyes narrowing suspiciously as my nails dug deeper into her chin.

Antonio…. Who the fuck was he? I've known many Antonios in this life and why in God's name does he have Sofia's ring?! 

My heart pounded loudly in my ears, I was hyper aware of every single beat my pulse made, every drop of sweat that trailed down my spine and temples. 

Mio Dio.

This was fucking with me. 

What does this mean? 

I couldn't jump into conclusions. It could be a coincidence. 

“Why are you asking all these questions?” She asked in a small wary voice. “Do you know the owner?” 

She mentioned a letter…. “I want to see the letter he gave you—” 

“You can't just ask me that!” She said defiantly despite the pain I was inflicting on her. I could see her cheeks turning red already. “That letter is personal!”

I ignored her stubborn pride. “The letter,” I gritted through clenched teeth. “I need it. Now.” 

“Fuck y—” 

“Finish that sentence and I'll make sure to feed you your fingers after I rip them off your hands.” 

“Paolo!” Carlo's voice reached my ears and my eyes darted to him. He'd successfully elbowed one of the guys in the nose but that's about that, he couldn't get far. It should be satisfying seeing that smug bastard this defenseless and weak, but something else had my attention entirely. “You have me, let her go!  She's not the one you want! It's me and I'm right fucking here! She has nothing to do with any of this!”

Any other time, I would have had a comeback remark for him but not now and he was wrong, she has everything to do with this. 

When my eyes found Natalia's again, I realized my patience had worn thin. She was holding an important piece of information and had the effrontery to be 

My hand fell from her chin as quickly as I grabbed a shotgun from the guard behind me. My hands curled around the metal object as I aimed it at Carlo's head, the fearful gasp from her let me know I've gotten her where I wanted. “You better start talking or I turn your lover into a brainless corpse.” 

“Fine!” Her voice shook and I didn't need to look at her to see the tears rolling down her cheeks. “This… this is stupid,” she whispered and then cleared her throat. “Antonio said in his letter that his brother brought me home during a gang war and all he said was…was…” 

Every hair on my body stood, the pit in my stomach deepening as she trailed off, and I turned to find her tear filled eyes fixed on Carlo. They were expressive, filled with a lot of emotions yet I couldn't tell what was going on in her head. 

“Speak!” I growled, unwilling to acknowledge to myself that I was in fact nervous. “Don't tempt me, girl. I will really blow his brains out!” 

Her throat worked as the swallowed, fresh tears trailing down her reddened cheeks. “He said, ‘Don't let Carlo take her.’” 

‘Don't let Carlo take her?’  It didn't ring a bell, but suddenly… The name ‘Antonio’ did… My father definitely had an ‘Antonio’ working under him…

At the rate my heart was beating, I could suffer a heart attack, my chest felt impossibly tight and painful. 

But she wasn't done, her next words turned my blood cold and had my knees buckling.

“...And he said my mother owns that ring.” 

No.

Ma Dai!

I was vaguely aware of the shotgun falling from my hands, I could feel my eyes burn as my vision grew blurry.

It couldn't be…