"Weapons, on the ground. Now." Pavlovski demanded as he stared at Angelo. 

Angelo grit his teeth for a moment before reluctantly obliging. He slowly held his gun up to the side before placing it on the ground in front of him and kicking towards the center of the room. I looked over towards Dante before my eyes were drawn to his all black gun a few yards away from him. I stayed silent with my hands slightly raised, grateful that I tucked the knife Angelo gave me discretely in my waistband.

"All of them." Pavlovski commanded as he glared at Angelo. 

Angelo scoffed as he removed the knife from his belt. He glared at him while he bent down, touched the knife to the floor, the shoved it away from him and near Pavlovski. 

"I'm going to make you regret the day you were ever born." Dante growled through his teeth. His body shook as he held onto one of his best friends, who's limp body laid lifelessly in his arms. Blood pooled beneath them, gradually soaking most of Dante's clothes. 

"Please." Pavlovski scoffed before his lips morphed into a scowl. "Your family has tried, and look how well it turned out for most of them." He sneered evilly as he lifted his chin slightly. Pavlovski's face held nothing but disgust as he stared down at Dante. 

"You have the audacity to speak about our family." Angelo scoffed as his eyes stayed trained on Pavlovski. "You've been the one who started this entire war. You're the reason for all of this, you fuck." Angelo stated, his temper beginning to make itself apparent with each word that left his mouth. 

"Oh, on the contrary, you fuck." Pavlovski mocked as he walked over to my mother, his gun still aimed at Dante. 

"Your family, your lovely father, was the one who dismantled my life." He seethed, hatred emphasizing every word. With his eyes still trained on Dante, he bent down and roughly grasped my mothers jaw, squeezing so her cheeks pressed against his palm. 

The man beside my mother now had his gun aimed directly at Dante as Pavlovski focused his full attention on the battered woman in front of him. My mother quickly moved her chin down, refusing to meet his glare. 

"Don't fucking touch her." I growled at him as I took a step forward, causing the Russian member standing behind Angelo to grab me by the back of the neck. I heard Dante practically growl from his corner as the man forcefully pulled me back. 

The piercing silence only accentuated the lethal tension in the room. I watched helplessly as my mother slowly opened her eyes while letting a soft whimper escape her lips. 

"Oh, my darling. I'll never forget that day in the diner. I was captivated the second I laid my eyes upon you." Pavlovski said somewhat softly as his thumb stroked my mothers cheek, wiping away a stray tear that escaped. 

"When I saw the way your boss was looking at you... touching you... I couldn't help myself." He said calmly as he squeezed my mothers face between his fingers, making her wince in pain. Pavlovski looked down for a moment as if recalling the events of that day. 

"I took care of you. I taught you everything you know. I even loved you.... you still left me." Pavlovski said before his head quickly shot up. He was now staring at my mother with a cold and deadly expression plastered on his face. He squeezed her jaw even harder, causing the veins in his hand to become more pronounced. 

"Pavlovski, I swear to God if you don't let her go I'll fucking kill you!" I yelled desperately, thrashing against the man who held me back by my neck, but to no avail. 

"Oh, my dear Rebel." Pavlovski sneered coldly. 

"Is that anyway to talk to your father?" He said as he slowly looked over at me. 

"My fathers dead." I stated coldly as I stared at him. 

"No, I'm not." He stated before he turned his attention back to my mother, who now had tears streaming down her face. 

"You see, when I found out that Angie was pregnant with my child, and was trying to run away with that motherfucker Johnny, I went ballistic." Pavlovski started, his words cold and precise.  

"But my twin brother, promised me, guaranteed he'd take care of it for me. He even convinced me to spare your life." Pavlovski said as he tilted my mothers head and examined her. 

"I trusted him to do it too. After all, he was the fearless Don of the Russian Mafia, and I was just his disowned brother abandoning the family to be a petty criminal." Pavlovski said as his eyes narrowed. 

"So the night you and your precious lover Johnny ran, my brother followed you." He said as he tilted his head and scowled at my mother before looking over at Dante with disgust in his eyes. 

"And your father, ended up killing Xavier Pavlovski in cold blood." He said in a deadly calm tone. 

"Cobra... please." She gasped, just barely over a whisper.

"So you're really Luka, aren't you." I breathed as I pieced together his story. 

"Yes." Pavlovski said as he stared at me, my mothers face still gripped between his fingers. "That day, I didn't just lose a brother. But I also lost the woman I loved and the child I never knew I wanted." He explained as a scowl appeared on his face. 

"And I vowed to get revenge on the family that ruined my life." Pavlovski explained as he slowly switched his gaze to Dante. 

"But my father despised me, and made it known by all that I would never inherit the Mafia he gave his life to build. So I posed as my perfect twin brother, and went underground as I plotted my revenge." Pavlovski said as a small smile escaped his lips. 

"You'll never know how much joy it brought me. It was so satisfying to kill your precious family off one by one." Pavlovski stated, emphasizing each word as he stared at Dante with a sick and twisted smile stretching across his lips before he aimed his gun directly at Dante. 

"But this kill, ending your pitiful life, will be the most satisfying one of all." Pavlovski said evilly as his finger rested on the trigger of his handgun. 

Before Pavlovski had the chance to react, my mother shot her head forward, headbutting him hard enough for him to lose his balance and fall backwards. She quickly grabbed his wrist with her left hand before slamming her free hand into his wrist, causing the gun to fly out of his hands and slide across the damp floor. 

While Pavlovski's men were distracted by the sudden disturbance in the room, I seized this opportunity and twisted my torso slight. The man behind me was still gripping my neck while I reached under his arm and grabbed his belt with the arm closest to me. I dropped my chest, throwing him over my crouched body and sending him crashing towards the cement floor before Angelo lunged for his gun a few yards away. 

Before the man hit the floor, I quickly reached for my knife in my waistband and swiftly brought the blade down and into the side of his neck. I looked up to see Dante reaching for his own belt as the Russian member next to my mother brought his other hand to his gun, aiming his weapon directly at the love of my life. My eyes moved to Pavlovski, who was now reaching for Angelo's knife on the floor. 

In breakneck speed, Dante pulled out the knife I gave him from his belt and swiftly extended his arm before he rolled forward, tossing the knife and lodging it into the head of the Russian member near Pavlovski. Mid-roll, he grabbed his gun from the floor before aiming it directly at Pavlovski, who was now standing and holding my mother roughly by her hair. 

He positioned my mother directly in front of him, using her as a human shield as he pressed Angelo's knife against her throat. Pavlovski quickly backed himself against the wall as Angelo lifted his gun up, aiming it directly at the bastard. 

"Fuck. I don't have a clear shot." Angelo stated as he took a cautious step towards Pavlovski. 

"Neither do I." Dante scowled before he let out a growl of frustration. 

"Might want to consider your next moves carefully." Pavlovski said as he pulled my mothers hair tighter, causing a whimper of pain to escape her lips as he held her upright. 

I watched as my mother opened her swollen and bruised eyes, making my breathing hitch as her brown irises stared directly at me. 

"Rebel," My mother called out, her voice coarse and weak from the torment she had to endure. 

"You were right, everything you said...I'm sorry you had to grow up with a weak mother." She said genuinely, her voice shaking as tears began to stream down her face. 

Guilt struck through my heart like lighting as I recalled the conversation we had a few months ago:

Why? Why didn't you take me and leave then? If he wasn't my real dad, why the fuck did we stay? You knew. You know all the fucked up things he did to me, the fucked up things he did you you- yet you still chose to keep yourself and your child there. Why?

Because I wasn't strong enough, Rebel! I was weak. I still am. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. 

"Mom...." I uttered as I stared back at her, tears starting to form in my eyes. "Don't say that, you did everything you could. You're the greatest mother I could have ever asked for." I said as I took a small step towards her, causing Pavlovski to dig the blade deeper into her neck as his lips transformed into a deep scowl. I instantly froze as tears began to pool in my eyes. 

My jaw clenched in anger as I saw a trickle of blood emerge from underneath the knife, dripping down her neck and onto her collarbone. 

"I was scared. Scared that... Cobra... that Luka would find us." My mother said as her eyebrows furrowed. "You are my greatest blessing Rebel. The light of my life. I'm so sorry you had to endure everything that you did." My mother said quickly as yet another tear streamed down her face.

"Pavlovski, take me instead!" I yelled as I took yet another step closer to him, making him look at me with my eyebrow raised. 

"That promise you made to me on the day we met," My mother gasped weakly as her eyes moved from to me Dante.

"Did you mean it?" My mother said as her eyebrows furrowed slightly. 

"Yes." Dante answer immediately as he continued to stare at Pavlovski. "Always." He said as he glanced at my mother. My mother let out a small sign as she closed her eyes. 

"Good. Good." She breathed as a small smile graced her lips. 

"I'll come willing, just let her go! I'll do whatever you want!" I screamed as I tears began to flow down my cheeks, causing Pavlovski to smirk victoriously. Just as he was about to say something, my mothers words cut him off. 

"Don't you dare give into this monster, Rebel!" She screamed, causing Pavlovski to tighten the grip he had on her short hair. 

"Rebel, I wasn't able to protect you back then, but I'll be damned if I can't protect you now." My mother spoke out quickly as she lifted her chin up and firmly gripped Pavlovski's wrist, making him tense and look down at her. 

"Mom NO!" I screamed as realization slammed into every fiber of my being. 

"I love you Rebel." She breathed just before she closed her eyes. Tears flowed down her face as she quickly moved her head to the side while holding onto Pavlovski's wrist, slicing her own throat against the blade. 

"NO!" I screamed just before her body fell to the side, leaving Pavlovski defenseless against the bullet Dante lodged into his temple.