⚠️TW: Descriptions of violence ⚠️

Time stands still as havoc wreaks on either side. The doors burst open and I don't need to look to know they're not friends.

Elio shoots first, hitting straight between the first guy's eyes and he falls with a dull thud. His companions don't get the chance to even raise their guns as Elio shoots both of them.

"Stay there," Elio orders without glancing at me as he carefully treads to the men he killed. He grabs their guns, tucking his pistole behind himself, and securing one of theirs to his belt while gripping the third one.

Just as he stands up, bullets clash against the door. He jumps away and positions himself against the wall; swiftly he cracks the door open, and pulls the trigger.

Straightening himself, he tabs on his earpiece. "Li hai sbarazzati?" [Did you get rid of them?] he pauses for a moment before muttering something under his breath. 

He slowly opens the door. My body trembles with fear as he surveys the place.

"Come, hurry." He stretches out his arm to me and I sprint to him. Just as I reach him, the backdoor flies open. Elio instantly shields me behind himself, firing at the first and second men.

But it's like a dam of men has broken, because they keep barrelling inside, no matter how many Elio manages to put bullets in their heads.

Five of them hide behind the other ends of the cabinets. Elio drags me to the back of a counter and pulls me down into a sitting position. The bullets fly past us, hitting the walls, and metallic cabinets breaking and shattering anything in their wake.

Trembling from head to toe, I cover my ears with my palms. My stomach twists and knots from terror.

Elio pulls the trigger one more time before the pistol in his hand runs out of bullets. He curses and throws it away, pulling out the other one he picked from those dead men.

At last, he hits one of them. The guy's agonized cry churns my stomach, curdles my blood.

Five more shots are fired until everything falls silent.

A corner of Elio's mouth lifts in a smug smirk. Slowly, he rises to his feet.

Horrified, I watch him, holding my breath.

In that instant a man from the other end jumps up, shouting something indecipherable. He's quickly quieted with Elio's bullet. He hits the floor, his blood splattering as a slow crimson puddle forms around his head.

Gingerly, I glance up. None of the remaining four men dares to come out from their hiding spots.

"Codardi," Elio taunts. [Cowards]

Another second stretches into infinity before a guy stands and hurls a knife with his unwounded arm. As Elio dodges the knife, the guy picks up another knife but before he can do anything, Elio shoots him, the first shot misses but the second pierces through him.

The other two snatch the opportunity to find the closest item to them that can be used as a weapon. One opts for a cleaver and the other one picks up a chef's knife.

Elio holds out his pistol, but when he pulls the trigger, nothing happens.

My eyes widen with fear, heart hammering in my chest, as he curses and throws it aside.

The guy with the chef's knife is closer, and he launches at Elio. I bite the side of my cheek to hold back a scream.

Just as the guy reaches striking distance and raises his arm, Elio moves, grabbing the arm with the knife as he punches the guy just above his stomach. The guy staggers but still doesn't give up trying to bring down the knife on Elio.

The guy with the cleaver rounds the cabinet, entering the aisle, Elio is occupied with the knife guy. Oblivious to the guy approaching, Elio knees the knife dude, making him grunt in pain.

"On your left!" I shout.

On time, he dodges the blow of the cleaver guy, hauling the knife guy in front of himself while pulling down the chef's knife. Elio stabs the guy's stomach and pushes him backward.

He falls on the guy with the cleaver, causing him to lose his balance momentarily, but long enough for Elio to snatch a pan.

Just as the guy throws the stabbed one to the floor, Elio crashes the pan against his face.

"Stronzo," [Asshole] the guy spits as he almost topples over the bleeding dude lying on the floor with the knife jutting out of his chest. The cleaver slips from his hand and Elio throws the pan aside. It clanks loudly as it hits the metallic countertop.

I wince at the sound, the tips of my icy fingers clutch the countertop. Cold sweat dots my forehead and one slides down the back of my neck as I razor my bottom lip.

The guy spins to charge back, but Elio's quicker to whirl and throw a high kick, landing his leg right on the guy's neck, knocking the breath out of him.

He crashes to the floor and Elio picks up the cleaver and slams it down on his back.

I gasp and lose my balance, falling on my butt on the cool marble floor. My eyes land on the two dead men he killed first, and a chill runs down my spine. The walls swim around my eyes. No matter how many times I blink, I can't push the sight of Elio cutting someone with a cleaver out of my head.

The double doors open and I jump back. Four men walk in but halt in their tracks. From their disheveled appearances, it's evident they were in a tough fight, too.

One of them looks straight at me while the other three fix on Elio.

My eyes burn with gathering tears, as I desperately try to get up. He prowls to me. I grab the edge of the countertop and pull myself to my feet, retreating without looking at my back.

The other three move to Elio. From the corner of my eye, I glimpse Elio holding the cleaver in one hand while standing his ground.

I retreat another shaky step. The back of my leg hits something fleshy, and I lose my balance. My hands clutch the countertops on both sides of me as I warily watch the guy inching at me. A quick glance behind my shoulder makes bile rise to the back of my throat. The back of my foot hit the dead guy.

One of the three men on the other side of the long aisle of counters storms to Elio, his bulky form is frightening, but Elio is quick to strike the cleaver right through the guy's neck.

The second man doesn't give a moment of break to Elio, and launches at him. Elio blocks his strikes and punches him straight in his nose.

I turn back to the guy who's smugly nearing me. I grab the closest knife and hold it out to him. "Don't," I warn him in a wavering voice, sounding way too pathetic to come off intimidating. My arm trembles and I grip the knife tighter.

The mocking smile twisting the guy's mouth tells enough.

I want to call out for help, but Elio's too busy and I can't risk distracting him.

Again, I glance at him. He grabs the guy's head and slams it to the sharp edge of the countertop before throwing him to the floor.

The guy nears me and in one move latches my wrist so tightly a cry of pain escapes me as he takes the knife from me, and yanks me to himself.

I squeeze my eyes shut and cry out, "Elio!"

But it's useless. The guy drags me to the door while Elio keeps dodging the third guy's punches. His eyes constantly dart between me and his opponent.

Just as the guy opens the door, Elio punches the third guy on the side of his head, hard enough he staggers and punches the base of the guy's throat.

He drops to the ground and Elio's furious gaze lands on the guy pulling me away.

"Lasciala andare, o sarai il prossimo," [Let her go, or you'll be next] he darkly says, reaching behind himself.

"Fai un'altra mossa e lei è morta," [Make another move and she's dead] the guy gripping my upper arm mutters and pulls me in front of himself.

Elio brings out his firearm, the guy presses the sharp edge of the knife to my neck. I forget to breathe from sheer fear and refuse to imagine how painful my neck being sliced open can possibly be.

"Mettilo via," [Put it away] the guy snarls, pushing the tip of the knife to my skin.

My heart thunders in my chest as I watch Elio. If looks could kill, the guy holding me would be six feet under.

"Lasciala. Andare," [Let her. Go] Elio growls, directing the pistol in our way.

The guy pushes the knife further, breaking my skin. Warm blood slides down my neck.

Fury flashes in Elio's eyes and he pulls the trigger. The sound of a gunshot echoes in the now-empty kitchen.

I wince, squeezing my eyes shut, half expecting the bullet to hit me instead of the guy.

But I sense the shock rippling through the guy's body as he's thrown back from the force. The knife lightly drags past my neck and his hold on my upper arm almost takes me down with him. His grip loosens on time, leaving me upright, trembling from head to toe. I don't dare to open my eyes long after hearing him hit the floor with a sickening thud.

"Cerise," Elio calls, and my eyes fly open as his hands reach for me. I flinch away from him before he can touch my skin.

"Please," he softly says, trying to creep closer to me, but I shake my head. I don't know how he crossed the space so quickly, but right now, I need him to be as far away from me as possible.

My vision gets blurry from the forming tears. I force my stiff legs to take a step back, but my foot hits the guy and I lose my balance.

Elio catches me instantly and pulls me to his chest.

I try to push him off, but it's useless. A sob tears through my parched lips. "Let me go," I quaver, but give up pushing him away. Instead, I lean to him, letting the tears trickle down my face freely as I close my eyes and inhale the woody cologne scent overpowering the sweat's and the god-awful blood's scents and hoping it'll stop me from shaking.

Elio's arms tighten around me. "I'm sorry you had to see that," he murmurs, holding me in his embrace for a moment longer before pulling away.

He bends to inspect the wound on my neck, his gloved fingertips lightly graze my skin. Quickly, he scans the place and leans past me, opening a drawer and pulling out a towel. Gently, he dabs it on my neck.

I silently watch him, unable to move a single muscle. My brain slips into autopilot mode.

"It's not deep," he mumbles. "But we'll call the doctor to check once we get back." He searches for my eyes, but I refuse to meet him. Heaving a sigh, he throws the towel aside and grabs my hand. "Let's go," he softly says, wrapping his arm around my shoulder and leading me to the backdoor.

❈ ☯︎ ❈

Do you guys think Cerise will be able to see him the way she did before? Or what she saw will lead her to pull her guards higher up?

I hope you guys don't hate Elio and don't find him too vicious, but he's a mob boss, so... 🤷🏻‍♀️... also any and all feedbacks will be appreciated, because this is the first time I'm writing a fight scene, so sorry if it sucks.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter [vote if you did!]

Thank you so much for reading, I appreciate every single one of you ♡

Stay safe, lots of love, happy reading ♡♡♡