Page 38 of Bullet for My Good Girl

"No, you didn't but Stella did. Think of it as good karma." Giancarlo says with a slight chuckle in his voice. "Besides, you needed to get up north. Babbo is ready to make his announcement."

My stomach clenches and I reach over without thinking and squeeze Stella's knee. I think of her as mine but I don't know how she feels about me or how she'll feel about me when she finds out that I'm going to have to marry someone else simply because my father orders me to do so.

"What announcement?" Stella asks but I don't answer. Family business isn't supposed to be shared with anyone that's not a Bianucci.

Instead, I lean as far as I can toward Chance and make sure that he's okay. His face is pink and full. He looks up at me even as he continues to drink from his bottle and I'm lost in the little boy's eyes.

I don't think I've ever had anyone look at me with such acceptance. I don't have to prove I'm worthy to Chance. I don't have to fight for him to believe in me, he just does. I can see it in his eyes. He trusts me and I'll do whatever I need to do in order to make sure I don't ever lose it.

"Shit, this can't be good." Giancarlo grumbles and I feel the truck lurch forward as he picks up more speed.

"What's going on?" Stella asks leaning forward a bit.

I shake my head and look up into the rearview mirror where my oldest brother's eyes keep jumping up to. There's a dark sedan following behind us. They're coming up fast. "Stay in the right lane." I order finally shaking out the last of my grogginess.

"I know what the fuck I'm doing Vitto." Giancarlo snaps back.

"I don't care what you might think you know. My son is in this car, I'll throw your ass out of a moving car before I let you do anything that'll put him or Stella in danger." Family is most important to me because that's what I've always been taught. Before my family only included my immediate family, now I've got someone else to think about.

"Talk about a change of heart." Xander mumbles and leans down in his seat.

"Stay to the right side. " I say again to Giancarlo. This time he doesn't argue. The dark sedan gets even closer to me and my adrenaline pumps hard in my veins.

"Give me a weapon." I reach over to Xander who quickly hands me a pistol.

"Oh my god. What is going on?" Stella asks again. The panic is clear in her voice and it takes everything in me not to tend to her. I'm already used to putting her needs first.

"Crouch as low as you can and stay behind me," I order her and focus my attention on the car coming up fast.

I peek out the window and the second I do, bullets start flying in my direction. A heavy hum descends on me as I duck into cover and put the very edge of the pistol out of the window.

"What the fuck are you doing? Shoot back!" Xander yells but I'm not worried about him. My brothers can take care of themselves. I know what I'm doing and I know a shoot-out right now isn't going to get the job done. I need to wait for my shot.

More bullets pepper the side of the car and Giancarlo swerves slightly.

"Motherfucker! Kill that bitch!" He yells at me. Still, I don't take the shot.

The car behind us pulls up even further and I can see exactly who is in the driver seat. Menace. Another assassin I've come across in my time.

I sigh in disappointment. He's a good contractor. I've even gotten some information from him before. We've got a good working relationship but right now he's my enemy. I hate to have to kill him but he isn't giving me a choice. He's putting my family in danger and that means he has to die.

"Vittore!" Giancarlo yells at me and I can feel the car slowing down. One of the bullets must have damaged something in the car. We're going to be sitting ducks in a minute.

I take a breath and aim the weapon at Menace. He swerves his car exactly like I expect him to do. I've already corrected for that. I squeeze the trigger and release my breath as the recoil from the small pistol jerks my hand.

A splash of blood covers the windshield of Menace's car. I watch as it swerves dangerously to the side before it fishtails to the other side and continues into a highspeed roll. I shoot a few more times as I catch a good glimpse of the undercarriage and a large fireball shoots up. The explosion is so loud that it rattles the windows of our car.

Gian continues to drive though at a much slower pace and I swear I can hear someone screaming. Xander turns in his seat as we both watch my opposition being burned alive.

"Holy shit, talk about going out with a bang." Xander jokes.

I sit back in my seat and turn to look at Stella and Chance, the both of them crying but what really bothers me is the way she's looking at me. She's looking at me like I'm the devil. I'm fine with that. If I have to be the monster in her story to keep her safe then I've got no problem showing her a little taste of hell.

Twenty-Two

Stella

Twelve hours.

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