"You will lose someone you can't live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news.

They live forever in your broken heart that doesn't seal back up."

~~

Dread snaked its way into my chest, squeezing at my lungs. Making every breath I took excruciating.

Lucian's shoulders shook with unconstrained rage as he pointed the gun in our direction. His livid gaze jumped from me to Sebastian. "Did you think I would let you get away that easily? After what you did!"

"Lucian." Sebastian's quiet voice suddenly interrupted. "Calm down."

Lucian chuckled coldly. "Calm down? Calm down?! After what you've done! You killed Uncle! Your own flesh and blood, the man who raised us, the man who was like a father to us!"

Sebastian stepped towards Lucian and my breath hitched.

My eyes suddenly focused on Sebastian's lower back, at the glinting handle of the gun safely tucked in the waistband of Sebastian's jeans peeking out from under the shirt. The same pistol Sebastian had shot Lorenzo with. I started reaching for it, but before I could Sebastian's eyes collided with mine and he shook his head slightly, stopping me.

It was too risky.

"Fratello (Brother)." Sebastian spoke softly as if he were speaking to a frightened child. "Uncle didn't raise us, he used us. He used us to do his dirty work for him. Everything he told us was a lie. What we do here, this life, it's not right. You are young, Lucian, you can still turn your life around. You are my brother, I will not fight you. I will not hurt you. I'm leaving this life behind once and for all. Stop this madness brother, per favore (please), and do the right thing.

I held my breath. One wrong move and I was ready to reach for that pistol.

Lucian's expressions wavered. I could see the indecisiveness in his eyes. The gun in his hands started trembling.

A minute of silence

And then everything suddenly turned to chaos.

The first thing I noticed was how Sebastian's shoulders seemed to tense suddenly.

And then I acknowledged the sudden noise around us.

What is going on?

The sounds of police sirens and helicopters pierced the air.

An unfamiliar masculine voice cut through the noise, "Questa è l'applicazione della legge. Ti abbiamo circondato. (This is the Law Enforcement. We have you surrounded.)"

I gasped in shock. My eyes shot to Lucian who was looking at me with pure unfiltered hatred. "You bitch! You ratted us out to the authorities." His whole body trembled with rage, his black eyes were manic. "You will pay for this. You will pay for everything you have taken from me." He trained the gun in my direction.

  "No Lucian it wasn't her-" Sebastian's desperate voice bellowed but Lucian was too far gone in his rage to listen.

Everything happened in slow motion.

"No!" An agonized scream left my lips.

Lucian pulled the trigger, the sound of the gunshot resonating.

Sebastian's body lunged in front of me just as I grabbed the gun tucked against Sebastian's back and fired at Lucian, my whole body shook.

For a moment everything was completely still, silent.

Lucian's eyes widened in horror as he screamed in agony, clutching at his bleeding chest. The gun dropped from his hand.

Sebastian's body stiffened. His eyes flitted to me briefly, apologetic.

The breath squeezed out of my lungs as dread consumed me.

Sebastian swayed on his feet and I reached for him just as his body started to crash to the ground.

"No. No. No. This is not happening." I whispered as I sank to the ground with Sebastian. My arms wrapped around him I lifted his head so that he was cradled gently in my lap.

His grey eyes were soft as they looked up at me. "Angelica." He murmured my name so sadly.

Tears pricked my eyes but I refused to let them fall. "You're going to be okay." My voice cracked.

He's going to be okay.

He has to be okay.

The red stain at the front of his shirt kept growing.

It wouldn't stop no matter how much pressure I put on it.

"It's okay, mia cara, you will be okay." His voice was strained but his lips curled into a gentle smile. "I guess we are even now. You took a bullet for me once, this time I took one for you."

A sob wracked my body as I leaned my forehead against his. "I wish you hadn't."

"I'm glad I did." His hand wiped away the tear rolling down my cheek.

"I won't let you die," I said frantically. My head around, looking for someone who could help, anyone. The sounds of gunshots and shouts sounded from a distance but the area around us remained completely deserted.

I didn't have it in me to leave him alone in this state, even to go look for help. I couldn't leave him alone.

I ran my thumb over his cheek affectionately. My tears rained down, blinding me. "It can't end like this." I sobbed. "You are supposed to get your happy ending."

A lone tear escaped his eye. "Before you, I was trapped in a life filled with only regret, you gave me something I thought I could never have- atonement." His hand grasped the back of my neck bringing my lips down to brush against his lightly. I tasted my tears on his lips.

When I lifted my head, his eyes met mine again. "You already gave me my happy ending Angelica." His voice was getting weaker. His eyelids drooped. "Now it's time you find yours."

"Please don't leave me." My words were frantic, my hands clutched him desperately.

His eyes fluttered shut. "I will always be with you, cuore mio (My heart)."

"I love you." I whispered, but he didn't move. I pressed my lips against his forehead. "I love you."

"That bullet was meant for you." My shoulders stiffened at Lucian's shaky voice. "I shot my own brother. I betrayed Sangue prima di tutto (Blood before all)."

He sat on the ground a few feet away from us his eyes completely vacant as he eyed Sebastian's motionless body in my arms. His shoulder was bleeding from the bullet I had fired. He eyed the gun lying beside me on the ground.

"Kill me, per favore (please). I have nothing left in this world, no reason to live." His voice pleaded with me. "Shoot me and have your revenge."

Anger coursed through my veins, the need for vengeance consuming me.

I wanted to kill him.

My hand reached for the gun.

My eyes settled on Sebastian's peaceful face.

He hadn't chosen vengeance.

"Do it now. Kill me." Lucian's voice broke in.

I clenched my teeth.

"I refuse to become one of you." I hissed.

My eyes met Lucian's black ones. "I won't kill you. Death is a mercy you do not deserve. You will spend the rest of your pathetic life with the knowledge that the only reason you're alive is because a Vitale, someone you considered your mortal enemy, spared your life."

His body slumped in defeat. His head hung low. A dead soul trapped in a living body.

I turned my back to him not bothering to give him another glance.

I rocked Sebastian in my arms gently, my eyes moving across his beautiful face.

"I love you." I whispered over and over again between sobs.

I barely registered when two uniformed men handcuffed Lucian and took him away.

"Angelica?" A familiar voice called out but I refused to look away from Sebastian.

A hand reached forward towards us. "Don't touch him!" I snarled as I clutched Sebastian's body to my chest protectively.

"Angelica, calm down. He's a paramedic, he can help."

I finally recognized the voice.

Warren.

My shoulders sagged in relief.

Finally, someone who would help us.

"He won't move." I choked out pathetically. I loosened my hold from around Sebastian's body.

"Please help him," I begged the man in uniform in front of me.

I tried to control the panic that consumed me as the paramedic removed Sebastian from my arms and laid him on the ground next to his briefcase, checking for his vitals.

I kept my gaze focused on Sebastian's face.

He looked so peaceful.

Like he was asleep.

Minutes passed. Maybe hours. I couldn't tell.

The paramedic finally stepped away from him.

He looked at Warren first and then turned his kind eyes towards me.

My heart stopped beating in my chest.

No.

"I'm sorry. There was nothing I could do, he was already gone."

"No!" I shrieked. My voice broke with utter agony. "You're lying! It's not true!"

I desperately reached for Sebastian but an arm around my waist stopped me.

"He's gone. There's nothing you can do." Warren's voice was gentle.

I struggled in his hold. "Let go of me!" But his hold on me only tightened.

"Sebastian!" I screamed as I clawed at Warren's arm. "Sebastian!"

My throat was raw. My cheeks were wet.

My eyes focused on Sebastian.

No.

My Sebastian couldn't be dead.

He couldn't.

He looked so lonely lying there. So cold.

"Please let me go to him," I begged. "I need to go to him."

The paramedic started covering Sebastian with a white sheet. That's when I became hysterical.

"No! What are you doing?!"  I screeched. "Get away from him!"

I thrashed against Warren. Fighting with everything I had.

"I'm sorry." I heard Warren murmur. "But I have to keep my promise to him."

Something pricked my neck. My body suddenly felt heavy in Warren's hold.

"He was supposed to be my happy ending," I whispered.

My eyes closed.

~~

A/N:

Confession: This chapter was so hard to write. I couldn't stop crying.

There was a part where I was crying so hard that I actually had to take a break before continuing.

How do you guys feel right now?

Just a few more chapters to go till this story ends.