# 2 — Chapter 32
Arabella
Carmelo stops dead in his tracks only halfway across the beach. His body tenses and I turn to look at him to see a man pressing a gun against his head. Carmelo swallows hard and I hear the man say, “No one’s going anywhere.”
“What do you want with us?” My voice waivers.
“Put her down,” he commands Carmelo and ignores me.
I watch as Carmelo’s jaw clenches and his arms instinctively tense and tighten around me. I know he doesn’t want to let me go and I don’t want him too either, but he does. He sets me down on my feet and the man stands in front of us, pointing the gun back and forth between Carmelo and I.
“I’ve come all this way,” I notice his accent is American. “I’ve come all this way, to kill you,” he points the gun at me.
“Me?” I jerk my head back. “I’m sure Gaetano would want to kill me himself.”
His eyebrows press together and he shakes his head. “This is rich, she doesn’t even know who I am. I’m going to have so much fun killing you.”
Carmelo says, “It’s Samuel.”
Of course I am going to die in the most stupidest way possible. Of course it isn’t one of the mafiosi seeking vengeance for their Consigliere, but it is a Man of Honor who worked for my despicable Father-in-law. I thought it was all over, thought I had something new to worry about, but no. I’m going to die because Marco had done terrible things and made promises that died when he did.
Luca must be laughing in his grave. I can almost hear him say, “The bitch is getting what she deserves.”
Who was I to actually believe that I could have everlasting happiness? Now Greece just feels like a dream instead of reality. Spending my life with Carmelo is not an option, having the cat and dog is no longer seeable. Every hope and dream I collected since escaping my third wedding is now gone.
“Leave her alone, she won’t cause any problems for you,” Carmelo stands in front of me.
What is he doing? I told him not to sacrifice himself for me.
“She is the reason Marco is dead and the reason I lost all my money, my job, my life!” He spits through gritted teeth.
“Arabella did not kill Marco. She’s innocent. If you let us go, you will never see us again,” Carmelo holds his hands up as Samuel’s finger twitches on the trigger.
“She is still a Moretti!”
“No, she’s not,” he says quickly shaking his head. “Can’t you see what we’re wearing? We got married. She’s now a Basila. She’s Arabella Basila-my wife.”
Samuel blinks and from the craziness of his eyes and the copious amount of sweat running down his forehead, I’d say he’s drunk or high off of some powerful drugs.
“We went against the family, against Antonio’s wishes to marry each other. We are forbidden to ever return to Chicago. So, if you leave us, you won’t ever see us again,” Carmelo lies so calmly.
“Fuck!” Samuel squeezes his eyes shut and begins to pace, making me more nervous. “I am here to kill her!” He yells at Carmelo.
“I understand that. She is no threat to you.”
“I-I have to do this,” he starts to cry.
Carmelo shakes his head. “You don’t. You can still get your revenge. Arabella had nothing to do with Marco’s death. Take her off your list.”
“Shut up!” He screams. “Just shut your fucking mouth!” He points the gun at Carmelo. “One more word and I will shoot you.”
Samuel starts muttering to himself and bashing his hand against his head muttering repeatedly, “Think… Think… Think…”
Carmelo starts inching closer and Samuel doesn’t even notice. I grab his arm to stop him from making any sudden movements but in doing so, it startles Samuel.
The gun fire goes off once. It hits Carmelo in the shoulder. He grunts and presses his hand against the wound. Blood comes away on his hand.
“No!” I shout and before I can grab onto Carmelo the gun goes off again.
I look down at the red spot now forming at my lower stomach. I must be in shock because it doesn’t hurt. I look up to see Carmelo’s face white as a ghost. His mouth is open and he’s screaming, but I don’t hear anything but a high-pitched ringing. Everything seems slowed down and distorted.C0ntent © 2024 (N/ô)velDrama.Org.
My body jerks back again and I know I was shot again. Where? I have no idea. I sink to my knees and suddenly I don’t feel so good. Maybe I should nap, I’m just so tired all of a sudden. I watch as Carmelo charges at Samuel, but that’s all I see before my vision goes completely black.