Page 89 of Mafia Star

Thank God for our size. Carmine and I lift the table from the bottom. Our left shoulder goes against it as we raise it high enough to shield our heads. Our guns remain in our right hands. I feel Beth tuck her hand into my belt while the other grasps my suit coat. We barrel forward, Carmine and I both knowing to steer toward Pauly, so he can get behind our soon-to-be battering ram.

“I’m good.”

Pauly’s panting, so the woman must have put up some fight. But I’m certain she’s dead. He wouldn’t leave her alive. We’re not looking to take anyone with us. We just need to get to the door before any of them can get out their masks and smoke canisters. The moment those go off, we can count ourselves as taken. We won’t be able to see or breathe, so being outnumbered truly will put us at a disadvantage.

“Beth, reach around to my buckle. Under the prong is a tiny bump. Press it.”

I feel her fumble, but then the buckle shifts away from my stomach.

“I think I got it.”

Rounds are fired from the kitchen, but I can’t tell if that’s Mikey and his staff or someone who came in from the alley. I’m not taking the time to look around. I just need to get Beth outside. We plow into someone and knock them over.

“Watch your feet, Beth.”

She scrambles, but I feel her trip. I glance back as she stumbles over the person; she grabs the woman’s gun. She pries it from the stunned mercenary’s hand and shoots. My girlfriend puts a bullet in the woman straight between the eyes. She spins back to me and darts forward until she can grab my belt again. I can tell when she turns because her back bumps into mine. She’s still reaching back to hold on to me, but I know she’s now protecting my back.

“Steve, right.”

She calls out to her brother who’s moved around Carmine to help carry the table. I turn my head just long enough to see him drive his fist into a man’s face as he yanks the gun from his opponent. He shoots the guy in the abdomen. It’s not a kill shot unless the guy bleeds out. I’m about to shift my attention when Beth twists and puts a bullet through the guy’s throat.

When her brother yells “cannister,” this time he shoots to kill. But it’s too late. The bullet goes through the masked attacker’s shirt, but they’d already pulled the pin. I realize— just as Steve does —that there’s a bulletproof vest that prevented his round from penetrating. His next round goes into the person’s throat just like Beth’s.

Most people aren’t wired to shoot with ease, even when put in situations like this. They freeze. They run. They refuse. I don’t know if their parents played some type of subliminal message to each of them during infancy or it’s genetic. But Chelle, Steve, and Beth have no qualms about killing to protect their family. Their oldest brother served in the military. Love, loyalty, and duty are the bedrock of their family, too. Beth’s not just marrying into mine. I’m marrying into hers. I’m fucking proud and fucking reassured.

The smoke bomb lands, and soon it fills the dining room with heavy clouds of tear gas. The coughing is nearly immediate. The impulse to rub your eyes almost consumes you.

“Beth, leave the gun. Pull your shirt over your eyes. Let me lead you.”

Each word is a struggle to get out as another canister explodes. It’s too much. We can’t orient ourselves as the mercenaries move around us. We can’t breathe or see. We drop the table, and I move to curl around Beth, shielding her from the smoke as best I can. But I know it’s no use. I’m more likely to smother her. I pull her to the floor and wrap my body over hers as Carmine, Pauly, and Steve continue to shoot.

It’s a lost battle. Hands grab my arms and try to yank me to my feet. I use my dead weight to remain with Beth until I see the barrel of a rifle almost touching her head. I try to jerk forward, but the two sets of hands drag me back. Beth’s head pops up. The attacker doesn’t expect Beth to swat the muzzle away or that Beth still has a gun. She pulls the trigger, catching the person through the side of their skull.

But the moment they’re gone, three more replace them. They pry the gun from her just as they’ve done to me. I can’t see well enough to know what’s happening to Carmine, Steve, and Pauly. I have no idea what’s happening in the kitchen. Where are our reinforcements?

It’s getting hard to think as I cough and splutter, my eyes feeling like they’re on fire. I relent and don’t resist once they have Beth on her feet. I’m not giving them an extra reason to shoot me, so I wind up leaving Beth alone. We’re shuffled into the kitchen where I see Mikey with blood pouring from his shoulder as he presses his hand to his wound. Three people corner the rest of the staff. Mikey nods as I go past. He and the members of his staff who are soldati will take care of those three once we’re safely past them.

My lungs suck in the fresh air as I’m shoved through the door and into the alley. Beth’s coughing so hard she’s weaving with each step. I drive an elbow into whoever is behind me on the right. I reach for my girlfriend, but a hand wraps around my wrist.

“Get the fuck off me.”

I wrap my arm around the man’s and break the hold. We box, and we grapple to train. There are few holds we can’t get out of. It’s a matter of timing and good judgement as to whether you fight or cooperate. Right now, it’s the latter, so I sling my arm around Beth’s waist and pull her against me.

“How touching. Halfway to dead, and you still have some chivalry left.”

“Fanculo.” Fuck off.

I splutter the word, so it doesn’t quite have the bite I would like. But Simms can suck it. He’s not wheezing because he had a mask.

“Drop your phones.”

I notice Beth doesn’t have hers anymore, but the rest of us do. We toss them together on the ground just before Beth screams.

“Steve!”

Beth tries to rip herself from my hold as someone pistol whips her brother, sending him crashing to the ground. She fights me to get to her sibling, and I can’t fault her. Her strength and determination don’t surprise me. But there’s nothing she can do. As long as they don’t kill him, he’s better off left behind.

“What the fuck? Now we have dead weight to toss in the truck.”

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