Mafia Kings: Massimo: Dark Mafia Romance Series #3

BLAM!

The shotgun went off in a blast of yellow light.

Lucia jerked backwards, the force of the recoil slamming through her body –

And the camouflaged man’s head turned into a bloody mask of raw meat.

At 20 feet away, Lucia was far enough that the shotgun blast didn’t take off the man’s head –

But what it did do was horrific.

I watched as his body keeled over with a thud –

And then I looked at Lucia.

She had recovered from the recoil and was standing absolutely still. She held the shotgun pointing down, the smoking barrel touching the ground…

And she was staring at the man she had just killed.

If her scream before had been frightening, what I saw in her eyes was terrifying.

She…

She just wasn’t there.

The woman I knew wasn’t behind those eyes.

They were just… empty. Blank.

“Lucia,” I said as I rushed around the edge of the feed bin.

She didn’t look at me. She just stared at the man on the ground with unblinking eyes.

My heart swelled with gratitude and grief as I gently grabbed her shoulders.

Gratitude that she had saved me –

And grief for what she’d had to do.

“Baby, thank you,” I whispered as I pulled her to my chest and hugged her. “You saved my life.”

She didn’t make a sound…

But the shotgun slipped from her limp hand and clattered on the concrete.

Clack!

I pulled away from her, cupped her face in my hands, and made her look at me.

She just stared right through me.

I was worried, but I thought I knew what she was feeling.

The first time you kill a person is traumatizing – even if it’s to save someone you love.

“Baby, it wasn’t your fault,” I whispered. “You had to do it – you saved me.”

Suddenly, there was a gurgle behind me.

I let go of Lucia and turned around on high alert.

The man in camouflage was still alive.

He hadn’t moved from where he’d fallen…

But he wasn’t dead.

I grabbed the shotgun off the floor and angled the butt downwards, ready to bash in what remained of his skull –

But when I got to him, I could see it was pointless.

His ruined throat gave one final death rattle before he finally went silent.

I kicked the gun out of his limp hand and turned back to Lucia –

But now she was sitting on the ground.

Her black-clad knees were bent, and her arms were wrapped around her legs as she hugged them to her chest.

Not only were her eyes staring straight ahead in vacant horror –

But she was rocking back and forth a little, like an inmate in an insane asylum.

Shit –

This was bad. This was really bad.

I crouched down next to her.

“Baby – you didn’t have any other choice. He would have killed me. You did the right thing.”

She didn’t look at me, and she didn’t make a sound.

“Lucia… we have to go… others are coming right now… Lucia, please, you’re scaring me…”

No response.

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This wasn’t just someone traumatized by killing another human being –

This was something else.

She was catatonic – probably in shock – and I didn’t know what to do.

What I did know was that I had to get her out of there.

So I gathered her up in my arms and carried her like a child towards the house.

I stepped over the other dead man – the one I’d killed with the ax – and moved as quickly and carefully as I could.

I could feel her wet hair, still damp from the shower, pressing against my neck as I carried her.

Please God, I prayed silently, please don’t take out my failure on her – PLEASE –

Once inside the house, I set Lucia down on the floor.

She didn’t react; she didn’t make a sound. She just kept rocking back and forth.

I had to move quickly. There was no telling when the other teams would get there.

I threw a couple dozen cans of food into my backpack, then wrapped the bottle of brandy in a hand towel and shoved it in. I figured I could use the alcohol to bring her around when we got to safety.

I found my lighter and can opener and stuffed them in with the food.

I saw my phone and was about to grab it –

Then I thought, What if that was how they found us? What if they tracked it somehow?

So I left it behind.

I ran to the bedroom and grabbed a few of Lucia’s clothes – especially her jacket – and a few of mine.

I looked for the Sig Sauer pistol I’d given her but couldn’t find it –

So I just grabbed my hunting rifle from the corner and ran back to the kitchen.

Lucia hadn’t moved.

I stuffed the clothes in the top of the backpack, slung the rifle over my arm, and put the backpack on over it.

I thought about bringing the five-gallon water canisters but decided against it. I had to move fast, and carrying extra dead weight didn’t make sense. Plus, this house had running water; I could keep going until I found another cabin that had it, too.

I did, however, grab our canteens, fill them at the kitchen sink, and sling them around my neck on their straps.

Finally, I bent down and picked Lucia up.

I was terrified for her.

I went out the back door and carried her far enough away that she wouldn’t see what I was about to do.

I set her down in the pine needles, then went back inside the barn.

I grabbed the first dead man’s pistol, a Beretta M9.

I searched his hunting jacket, found a couple of magazines full of bullets, and shoved them in my backpack.

Then I went to the other dead man and tried to ignore the bloody ruin that had once been his face.

His Glock was ten feet away where I’d kicked it. I grabbed it, searched him, and added a few more magazines to my backpack.

I thought about taking my shotgun, too…

But I was afraid that the sight of it might traumatize Lucia further once she finally came around.

Plus, I’d forgotten the shotgun shells inside, and I didn’t want to waste more time retrieving them. The two dead men’s compatriots were probably getting closer by the second.

I put the Glock in my jeans and held the Beretta in my right hand…

Went back outside the barn and scooped Lucia up in my arms…

And I ran.