Page 90 of Sexting My Ex's Dad
“Make me pay?” Elio repeats. “What are you talking about?”
“You never found out the man your wife, Margot, was having an affair with, did you?” He takes a step closer, gun pointed at Elio. “It was me.”
Elio breathes in sharply. “You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am.” He laughs like a mad man. “In fact, I’d arranged for the raid, myself, so the two of us could run away together, but you’d gotten in the way… things got messy and then the man that I hired had to protect himself. He should have shot you – you should have gotten in front of Margot but you didn’t. Youlether die.”
I replay Massimo’s story in my head, but it sounds like it’s more his fault than Elio’s. Still, Elio seems to take it hard anyways, teeth gritted and hands balled into fists.
“Since you took Margot from me, Lombardi. And now, I’m taking Stella. An eye for an eye. Then you’ll see how I feel.”
“You know, I never quite liked you,” Elio admits harshly. “To think that you’d blame me for the death of my wife that you’d had an affair with…you’re a fucking joke. I’ll kill you if you don’t leave Stella out of this.” Elio’s voice is dangerous low, a tone I’ve never heard it before. He shifts slightly, trying to place himself between the gunman and me. “This is between you and me. If you want to fight me then man up.”
“Wrong,” the man spits. “She’s part of it now. Just like Margot was.”
My heart feels like it’s about to burst from my chest as fear courses through me. The cold metal of the gun is now pointed directly at my face, and I can’t tear my eyes away from it. I can now officially say I’ve faced a gun head on before.
“Please,” I whisper, praying that my voice will reach some shred of humanity within this man. “You don’t have to kill me to prove a point.”
But my words fall on deaf ears. “Shut up!” he barks, and my breath catches in my throat. “I’m going to kill you, and then me and Elio will finally be fair.”
I look at Owen. His face is twisted with anger, but he hesitates, clearly torn between his resentment and the desire to save me. Our eyes lock for a moment, and something seems to shift within him.
“Get away from her!” Owen roars, suddenly springing into action. He lunges at the intruder, knocking him off balance just as the gun fires.
The sound echoes through the room, and an intense pain erupts in my side. I look down in horror to see blood soaking through my shirt. My hand trembles as I touch the wound, feeling the warm, sticky liquid coating my fingers.
“Stella!” Elio calls out, rushing toward me.
“Owen,” I gasp, the pain intensifying with each beat of my heart. He’d tried to save me…even after everything that happened today, he’d tried to save my life. “Thank you.”
Maybe he really isn’t the selfish man I’d once known.
Owen has Massimo on the ground, and Elio grabs me just as I fall to the ground. “You’re okay, you hear me?” Elio says over and over again. “You’re going to be fine.
My vision begins to blur, but I cling to Eli’s words, holding onto hope even as darkness threatens to consume me.
The world tilts, spinning like a whirlwind as pain sears through my side. Elio’s blue eyes are the last thing I see, filled with fear and resolution, before I close my eyes, losing the strength to open them back up.
“Stella, stay with us!” his voice pleads somewhere in the distance.
“Get her on the couch,” Owen barks, taking charge of the situation. I feel hands lifting me, cradling me gently as they lower me onto something soft. The pain intensifies, making me want to scream, but all that escapes is a gasp.
I don’t even have the energy to scream.
“Where’s your first aid kit?” Owen snaps, urgency lacing his tone.
“Kitchen cupboard, next to the sink,” Elio answers, his voice wavering for a moment. The sound of footsteps hurrying away fills my ears.
I struggle to make sense of what’s happening, to regain control over my fading consciousness. The bullet... It tore through me, didn’t it?
I’m going to die.
“Stay with me, Stella,” Owen murmurs, rushing to my side and gripping my hand tightly. I wonder what he did to Massimo.He’s not dead too, is he? “Damn it, Dad, we have to stop the bleeding!” Owen’s frustration is palpable, and for a moment, I wish I could offer him some comfort.
“I’m trying!” Elio snaps.”Press this against the wound, Owen.”
I feel more pain in my side, but this time I can’t even gasp. I can feel the life draining from me.
