Episode 16

It was a Glock G43X 9mm, with a magazine with a capacity for ten rounds, one in the chamber. A modern, beautiful, and potentially lethal pistol.

"Don't you dare put anything but your hand out there or they'll hit you," he warned, turning another corner.

"Breathe, Carmen... breathe..." he murmured, trying to calm me down.

I was nervous about the situation, but not about what I was about to do. It was fortunate that Dominique couldn't realize that. To him, I was just a scared little girl who wanted to run back to her father's house.

"It's going to be alright, I'm fine..." I whispered, nodding.

I jumped into the back seat of the car and got ready to shoot. The SUV was following us closely, accelerating to try to keep up with Dominique's pace.

We turned another corner, coming out onto a dirt road with no traffic. I realized that this was Dominique's intention from the start: to take the focus off the busy streets and prevent any civilians from being hit by the ensuing war.

"Get ready, Carmen," he instructed.

Dominique turned the car right onto the road, putting my window in the SUV's sights. It was my only chance to try to hit the driver. If the glass was bulletproof, it would withstand ten rounds from the 9mm pistol before the last bullet hit the driver's brain.

Without thinking twice, I lowered the glass and put my hand out, looking right at the man's face. With the other windows of the car open, I had an idea where he was from the reflection of the light.

"Damn it, what are you doing? Are you crazy, girl?" Dominique shouted.

One.

Two.

Three. Four. Five shots.

The glass cracked, the place where the bullets hit sank, and they started shooting at our car with all the power they had.

Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten shots.

The glass cracked, weakened, losing its security power. After making it fragile, there was nothing left but a small sheet of glass, which prevented me from hitting who I wanted so badly.

I pulled the trigger, the round in the chamber being my only chance. The last shot went off, whipping through the air, hitting the small sheet of glass and turning it into thousands of pieces, before piercing the driver's throat and splattering blood everywhere. Their car skidded out of control and rolled over.

I smiled in relief and accomplishment at having had my first kill. There wasn't a single shred of guilt in me. I felt... light, and wanting to do it again.

"My God, woman! How did you do that?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath, taking in all the satisfaction just for myself. I retracted my hand, closed the window, and leaned back in my seat, eyes wide and lips parted. "I... I killed him?" I swallowed hard.

Dominique laughed.

"I think you killed them all."

I brought my hands to my mouth and filled my eyes with tears that would never fall, for they were not real.

"My God, I'm a monster," I whimpered, sobbing to make it seem real.

"What have I done?"

He braked sharply, stopping the car in the middle of the street, and looked at me through the mirror.

"How did you do that?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"I don't know... I just kept shooting and shooting, like you told me to."

"And hit the driver right?" he countered.

"I guess it was beginner's luck." I feigned indifference.

It wouldn't be hard to believe. Maybe the pinpoint accuracy of the shots would complicate the story I was trying to tell a bit, but with the glass in pieces, he would never realize it. Startled, I aimed and unintentionally hit.

Dominique looked at me, every pore of him betraying suspicion, his eyes deep and expressive, as if trying to unravel all my lies, to remove each of my layers. I let nothing show, keeping the mask of an innocent and helpless young woman.

His cell phone rang, vibrating in his pocket, forcing him to break eye contact.

"Venturelli," he answered, listening to what was said on the other end of the line.

"Send men to the location. Some of them may be alive inside the vehicle."

He looked at me, checking, looking for any sign of injury. "Tell Enrico to calm down, she's fine and untouched."

More silence.

"I managed to get a shot at the driver, that made them lose control," he lied, his eyes never leaving mine.

He was trying to protect me. I was a girl traumatized by having blood on my hands, a young mafia daughter who would be judged and condemned by the other women if they found out what I had done.

"Come soon. Hell is loose and more of them may appear," Dominique said before hanging up the phone.

"What did you mean by that?"

Sighing, he tossed the phone onto the passenger seat.

"They're invading our territory more and more, Carmen, and today they've crossed all boundaries. Balbino knows about our marriage and is making his displeasure with the union obvious. You're not safe anymore, not even at home," he stated, his lips pursed.

"And now?" I asked, bending my knees and resting my chin on top of them as if I felt scared.

Let them come, every single one of those damn bastards. I would kill them one by one until there was no one left, until the rumor about the untouchable princess spread and no other coward had the courage to approach me.

"We're going to get married as soon as possible. I won't risk your life again," he said, convinced.

"I feel for you if your plan was to plan a big party, but that won't be possible."

I wasn't planning anything, I was just hoping I could spend more time at my dad's house and live my real life a little longer.

Before I could answer, we heard the creak of the overturned vehicle's door, Dominique craned his neck to peek over the seats. His eyes changed in a split second, from soft to menacing.

"Stay here," he warned, taking the gun.

He removed the magazine and put in a new cartridge before holstering and uncocking it.

"Don't get out of the car for anything."

Obviously, I wouldn't keep my promise if he was in danger, so I just nodded.

He got out of the car and walked up to the overturned vehicle with the gun in his hand. As he got closer, he crouched down to get a better look at the situation. A man crawled out. Dominique observed him for a few seconds before raising his hand with the gun and firing three shots into the middle of his head. Then he went back to the car and stopped on the other side.

The more time I spent with him, the better I understood why they called him insane. He turned into another person when he was about to kill, but not because he was scared. It was because he seemed to love it.

I watched carefully every movement he made, looking around suspiciously for someone to pop out of nowhere and hurt him, but the men, now fallen, seemed to prefer death to facing the psychopathic Venturelli.

Leaning towards the vehicle, he pulled a man out of the passenger seat, dragging him out. His arm was in an atypical position, very strange, and he was screaming, but Dominique didn't seem to care. He threw him into the middle of the road and spat in his face before firing a shot into his right shoulder. The man thrashed around, screaming in pain.

I did nothing, just sat there watching.

I had come too close to revealing my secret, I wouldn't risk it again. And besides, I was enjoying the scene too much.

Dominique didn't scare me, he attracted me.

***This work has been signed with NovelToon, and piracy such as reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited.***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***