Page 44 of Vincenzo's Promise
“Do you think I’m stupid?” She frantically shook her head. “I know that if I do that, then I’m as good as dead.”
“That’s not true, Daniella. We need to talk about us.”
I lied. There was no fucking us, and she was absolutely right. She was as good as dead. Tonight would be her last day on earth, just as soon as I got Bella out of harm’s way.
“Vincenzo, remember the last day I was in this office and bared my soul to you right after swallowing your come? You told me you would never love me, and it was the first time I actually believed you when you said it.” She chuckled, wiping her tears from her face as I took one more step closer. “Do you remember what I told you?”
I remained silent. I couldn’t remember anything from that day other than meeting Isabella and how I couldn’t wait to marry her. Everything else from that day was a complete blur.
“Well, do you?” she yelled.
“Daniella, we spoke about a lot that day,” I said, taking another step closer, now a few steps behind Bella. Just a few more steps, and I could get between her and the gun. “I said, when you find the woman you love, Vincenzo De Maio, I hoped you experience pain like I felt then. Well, that time has come.”
I moved quicker than I’d ever moved in my life, pushing Bella out of the way just as the gun sounded. Screams echoed off the walls of the huge study as another gunshot went off and Daniella’s body crumbled to the floor. Searing pain shot through my body as I hit the hardwood floor.
“Shit!” I yelled, my hands instantly going towards the searing hot pain.
“Zo! Zo!” Isabella yelled as she kneeled over me, moving my hands out of the way and placing her hands on my stomach and pushing down.
“Motherfucker!” I groaned. The pain was excruciating. It almost caused me to pass out.
“I know, Zo. It’s going to hurt, but I got to stop the bleeding. Damn it! Cheryl, I need something to stop the bleeding.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “You’re going to be all right, baby. Just hold on. You’re going to be fine.”
“Here, Bella.” Cheryl tossed a handful of white towels to Bella. “Ambulance is on the way.”
“Okay, Zo, I’m going to apply more pressure,” Bella said, pressing down harder with the white bath towels. “God damn it, Cheryl, he’s losing air through the wound. It nicked his lung.”
“Aww,” I moaned, my head falling to the side.
“Angelo! Get everyone out of here now, so I can concentrate,” Bella yelled.
I heard Angelo cursing. A crowd must have gathered after the gunshot, but I could only focus on the pain. It felt as though my insides were being burned, then ripped from the inside of my stomach. I’d been shot before, but it had only been a shoulder wound. A simple entry and exit. It was nothing like this shit.
I groaned when the searing, unbearable pain increased. There wasn’t too much more I could take. There was too much pain. I needed to tell her how much I loved her before it was too late. I was so grateful I’d experienced love for the first time with her. I’d never believed it to be possible, but I had. I loved her more than life itself.
“Bella,” I murmured. “I’m tired.”
“I know you are, sweetie, but I need for you to keep your eyes open, Zo. Let me see those beautiful grays, baby.”
She always said she loved the color of my eyes.
“How long, Cheryl? He’s losing a lot of blood,” she said, without looking away from me. If it was my time to go, I wanted her face to be the last thing I saw. I knew I wouldn’t see her on the other side because I most definitely would be taking the journey to hell instead, but I wanted to imprint her in my mind.
“My beautiful, Bella,” I mumbled.
“ETA, fifteen minutes,” Cheryl said.
Angelo cursed again.
“We don’t have fifteen minutes,” Bella responded. I felt fingers against my neck. “Don’t try to talk, baby. Save your energy.”
“I kept my promise, Bella. I’d die for you,” I mumbled, despite how much pain it was to talk. I wanted her to know I’d remembered the promise I made to her. I wanted her to remember that I would always keep my promises to her.
“You are not going to die, Zo. Don’t talk like that.”
“I love you, Bella.”
“Stay with me, Zo! Open your eyes, baby. Please,” she begged, but I couldn’t. My eyelids were so heavy. I was so tired of fighting the inevitable. I could feel the life leaving me. This was it. “I love you, too, Zo. Stay with me! Where is the damn EMS!”
She loves me, too. Now I can die in peace.
