All Chapters of Five Shots and I Was Done with the Don: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I went back to the estate.While packing in the bedroom, a dust-covered CD fell from the top of the wardrobe.My father had left it behind.I stared at it for two seconds, then slowly slid it into the player.On the screen was the moment Salvatore first proposed to me.In front of the family chapel, surrounded by white doves, he knelt on one knee before me, his smile deep and burning with passion.My father, Salvatore's chief bodyguard, had for once dropped his stoic guard-duty expression and stood there smiling, raising his camera to capture the moment.I had believed all that happiness was frozen in time forever.During a massive FBI raid on the Santoros, the Family issued an emergency alert: sixteen-year-old Caterina had gone missing.My father found her hours later, her clothes torn and disheveled. The Family she was betrothed to immediately broke off the engagement, and Caterina accused my father of raping her.Then she stood before the Commission of the Five Families and pointed

The next day, I wheeled my suitcase to the front gate, only to find that the security scanner no longer recognized my fingerprint.Nearby, servants stopped and whispered, pointing in my direction."The security system runs on the highest Family clearance. The new Donna just updated it and deleted all unauthorized prints...""So Mrs. Rizzo has been cast out of the Family?""She brought it on herself. If she hadn't crossed the Don, he never would have turned his back on her."I took a deep breath and turned toward the secret passage, but Caterina appeared with a wine glass in hand.She walked closer, step by step, and her gaze lingered on my midsection."Julia... is that a bump? Are you pregnant too?"I ignored her and kept walking, but she went on without waiting for a reply."What a shame. Salvatore still had a shred of affection left for you, but you were too stupid and threw away your last card."She flashed a victor's smile and rubbed her own belly."All you can do is watch my child

Three days later, the whole city was buzzing.The Don of the Rizzo Family had lost his mind. He was carrying a six-day-old corpse through the streets, plastering bounty notices on every telephone pole.Someone whispered behind his back, "She's dead. What's the point of looking?"Someone else sneered, "Doesn't his new woman already have a baby on the way? She dies and suddenly he's the devoted husband."Salvatore heard none of it.He carried the body into a hospital and demanded an immediate DNA test.But before the results came back, a question occurred to him that made his blood run cold.If she was really dead, then what about her father?He raced out of the hospital, jumped into his car, and drove at full speed to the funeral home.Inside the vault, the shelf where the urn should have been was empty.Even her father's photograph and every record on file had been wiped clean.It was as if the man had never existed.Salvatore grabbed the attendant by the collar, fingers digging into f

"You arranged the attack on her." Every word ground through his teeth. "You nearly got her killed at the estate!"The force on her jaw made Caterina's tears burst out instantly, but she didn't struggle."And you?" Caterina laughed through her tears. "Are you any better? You think you're some kind of saint? You're the one who pushed her out there!"Salvatore released her.He staggered back two steps, like a cornered animal, and took two heaving breaths before heading for the door."Guards." He stopped in the doorway, his voice lethal. "Lock her up. No one lets her out without my say-so!"The door shut behind him.Caterina's screams came from inside, each one sharper than the last.But Salvatore didn't look back.He walked to the end of the hallway and leaned against the wall.Blood from his knuckles dripped onto the floor. One drop. Two.He suddenly remembered the moment he had ripped the silver crest from Julia and told her she could have it back "when she'd come to her senses."He rem

His mouth opened. His throat worked, hard."What about the baby?"The question came suddenly, barely above a whisper.I stopped.A long silence."Gone."The color drained from his face. His lips trembled, unable to form words.I watched his expression and felt something die a little inside me too, but I no longer had the strength to hurt over it."How?"He asked."You don't need to know."I turned and walked away.On the fifth evening, I had just returned from a reconnaissance mission.Then I heard the sound.I jerked my head up.Caterina charged out from behind an abandoned pickup truck off to the side.She was gaunt, her hair tangled and yellowed, her face streaked with grime, but her eyes were blazing, terrifyingly bright.The look of someone pushed past the edge of madness.She had a gun in her hand.I recognized it.It was the pistol Salvatore kept in his study.Her finger was already on the trigger, the barrel aimed at my chest.Time slowed.I could see her finger tightening on t