48 - ACHILLES | iBookHub

Vienna

Saturday had arrived faster than I thought. Granted, I spent Thursday and Friday in bed, but I still wasn't ready. I have to watch Stefano get stabbed tonight and hope his and Angelo's friend can kill Dario before anything else happens.

As the day went on, I started to have a bad feeling about this whole plan. I know Angelo and Stefano are going to have Hank, Vito, and three other men there, but it isn't enough. From what I've learned in the past few weeks is that Dario is always one step ahead of us. He some how always knows.

The traitor.

I looked over at Angelo to see him glaring at his phone, cursing out Candy Crush. I rolled my eyes before throwing a pen at him.

"What?" He asked, looking up.

"Does Stefano know about the traitor?" I asked.

Angelo nodded, "I told him about her."

"Her?"

He bit his lip, "She was a....friend with benefits for him. Not Lexi, she's my girl now. Her name is Cecilia, she's a girl from Italy."

"How did he find a girl from Italy?"

"He traveled one year."

I nodded, "Did he have feelings for her?"

"Despite the fact she was stunning, Stefano never fell in love with her. She had tried, but he eventually kicked her out of his life. She then found herself with Dario in bed."

My eyes widened, "Dario cheated on Sylvia?"

"Yeah, Cecilia isn't the only mistress." Angelo sighed.

"I don't understand why he married Sylvia when he was only going to screw other women. There's no point."

I shrugged, "Men and women tend to do that. Sometimes they just drift apart because of work or there isn't enough sex and the one partner decides to find it somewhere else. I mean, the smart thing to do would be to talk to their partner. But people don't think that far. They don't think about how it'll hurt the one they're supposed to love."

He frowned, "You seem to have experience."

"An ex of mine cheated on me with some waitress. My revenge was nice though." I smirked.

"What did you do?"

"Got a pin and poked holes in all of his condoms. She ended up pregnant and now he's stuck paying child support. I mean, she wanted to get pregnant anyway, but he didn't."

"Damn, Satan."

I chuckled, "Thank you."

He laughed before smiling, "I shouldn't tell you this, but...Stefano uh...he likes you more than a friend."

I blinked, "What?"

"He's terrified of letting people in, but he does try. He does love you. He just doesn't let himself believe that other people are capable of loving him in return."

"How come?"

"He shut everyone out for years. He never dated and his self hate grew." He explained sadly.

"All thanks to me. You know, my mom is worried sick about him. She only shunned him so it'll force him to leave. To get away from Dario." He blurted out.

I bit my lip, "After this is all over, I think Stefano needs therapy and...his family."

"That would help him, hopefully. But he's scared of me. He talks to me, but flinches whenever I raise my hand."

"He just needs to trust you again, it'll happen." I smiled.

Angelo nodded, "I hope. I don't want to lose my brother again."

"Let's go, I want to get this done and over with." Dario growled.

I flashed him a glare, "My ankle isn't working, so, I have to limp. Get over it."

He narrowed his eyes, but before he could do anything, Angelo stepped between us. He quickly sat beside me in the car, refusing to let Dario get close to me.

Throughout the ride, my heart was racing. The dread only grew as thoughts of Dario killing Angelo or Stefano filled my head.

I know Angelo has done a lot of horrible things, but he's trying to make up for it. He was fooled and now he knows that, now that anger is thrown towards the bastard who started all of this. Dario.

"We're here." The driver announced.

Angelo helped me out of the car and gave my hand a reassuring sqeeuze. I looked up to see Stefano, Lexi, Hank, Vito, and three other men, standing before us. I was alarmed by how pale he seemed and tired. However, his eyes immediately lit up when he saw me, causing me to smile.

"Now, we all know the deal." Dario smirked as he walked further ahead.

Angelo protectively stood before me, his arms folded across his chest. Stefano glanced at his brother and nodded slightly.

"So, you give me the money I want and I'll let you and this lovely jem, live." Dario grinned, motioning towards me.

I winced as my ankle hurt even further, I leaned my weight against Angelo. He glanced at me and wrapped his arm around me, trying to take most of the weight off my ankle.

"Very well." Stefano replied as he walked towards us.

Angelo took a deep breath as he took out the small knife.

"I can't do this." He whispered, his voice shaking with concern.

I frowned, "Can you fake it?"

"How? Dario always makes sure they're...you know..."

"Got it."

As soon as Stefano handed Dario the, apparently, fake cash, Angelo grabbed him. Dario only laughed as the two men began to struggle.

My heart was pounding against my chest as I watched the two men struggle. Fear snatched all of my common sense away, paralyzing me.

My eyes didn't leave the fight, I was too focused on him. He was protecting me and it felt so wrong. I did something so cruel to someone like him, why isn't he leaving me to endure the pain?

I wanted to scream for them to stop, for him to stop. The man he was fighting was so much stronger than him, but he didn't back down. The fire of rage burned within his silver colored eyes.

I swear my heart stopped three times in the past fifteen minutes. Neither one of them seemed tired and ready to submit.

He dodged each of the man's hits with swiftness. His own hits were carefully thought out and delivered obvious pain.

"You're a fool, boy." The larger man growled.

He didn't break eye contact, "I believe you're the fool here, Angelo."

The man's eyes flashed as he suddenly grabbed him by the throat. I snapped my attention to the ally as two men walked out. I let out a noise before the one covered my mouth.

He didn't have time to defend himself before the second man snatched him by the throat and slammes him onto the ground.

Aneglo smirked at him as he stood before him. He spit out some blood and climbed to his feet.

Angelo chuckled, "It's a shame you left the family business, little brother. Such a shame."

Tears pooled into my eyes as Angelo pulled out a knife and shoved it into his stomach.

He coughed up blood as he doubled over. His grey eyes found mine as a small smile appeared on his face.

"I-I guess I s-screwed th-this up...huh?"

I was forced to watch as he fell to the ground.

"Stefano!"

Dario continued to laugh and pulled out his gun, pointing it at Angelo. We all froze, our eyes wide.

"I know about your plan, you two are stupid. Just like Antonio." He smirked.

"And so are you, dad."

Dario clenched his jaw as I stared at the man behind him. I couldn't believe it, he's alive. My brother is alive.

"Vincent..." I whispered.

He glanced at me and smiled, "Hey, sis."

"You bastards!" Dario suddenly shouted as he fired the gun.

Three shots went off and three bodies fell, I screamed as Stefano took the first bullet for Angelo. I screamed even more as Angelo quickly grabbed his brother and shielded him as Dario fired the second. The bullet went into his back, causing the shirt to become red almost immediately.

The final body was Dario, his eyes wide as he fell onto the ground. The men let go of me, causing me to stumble a bit.

"I got you, sis." Vincent whispered as he grabbed me.

Tears ran down my cheeks as Angelo tried getting up to check Stefano. Lexi sprinted over and cradled him against her.

"I already called the ambulance." Hank yelled.

Vincent nodded and helped me walk over to Stefano. I knelt beside him, gently resting his head in my lap. His eyed were filled with fear and pain.

"I-I'm s-sorry...." he murmured.

I placed a soft kiss on his forehead, "Don't apologize, just live. Please."

He smiled weakly, "Y-you're o-okay."

"Yeah, I'm fine. You and Angelo saved me."

"I-I-I....p-please don't h-hate me."

Tears formed in his eyes and I immediately hugged him closer. I could hear the sirens in the distance growing closer.

"I could never hate you, Stefano. I love you too much." I whispered.