Carlo pulls out a knife and moves it toward Ruby’s throat. The woman is fucking insane, because she doesn’t blink. She just slides her eyes to the woman in front of her and nods her head. It all happens so fast—with the feminine-clad figure rushing at Carlo and being thrown aside with ease. She scampers away as Carlo glares down at her and spits out something in Italian that I don’t understand.
Behind me, I can hear more men approaching and being shot down by our guys. I don’t let it unsettle me that shots are being fired behind me. The shots are fewer and further between, with Mancuso’s men rushing at our guys and our guys taking them to the ground. I turn to check my back only to see my man with his boot to some guy’s neck. I turn away right as the guy takes a bullet to the skull. Just as I do, I see it. The plan I didn’t know about, the one that was so perfectly executed I can barely believe they pulled it off without most of us not knowing. The woman who rode on the back of Diesel’s bike throws her helmet off, revealing herself to be Alex. She stomps forward, her face red, with her gun raised. In a matter of seconds, both Michael and Leo are free from their shackles and drawing their guns on the men at our backs.
“I love you, Mom,” she says firmly as she fires off one round after another at her father’s head. She misses, but it’s enough. Carlo is so struck by the turn of events that he’s frozen for a moment too long. Ian and Ryan rush at him, Alex ceases fire, and Ruby scampers away. Jim descends upon Carlo and throws himself onto the man, slamming his fists into the Italian’s face again and again. Duke has his gun at Emilio’s head. A loud shot rings off before Emilio crumples to the ground. More shots ring out as grown men cry out in agony. I don’t give myself the freedom of looking back to make sure my man is okay. Instead, I move forward, toward Gloria and the situation that nobody seems to be addressing.
Tony has his mother by the throat. Her face is purple, and he’s not letting up. I rush toward them, trying to avoid the chaos around me. The woman might be in poor physical shape, but she’s a scrapper and manages to fight him long enough to push him off. He dives for a gun that’s on the ground. I figure it must be the one Gloria had before I lost sight of her. She’s standing there defenseless, with her own fucking son raising a gun to her head. He doesn’t have time, though, and I fire off a few shots that barely graze his chest and one to the leg that has to hurt like a bitch. Like the fucking pussy he is, he stumbles toward the edge of the dock and throws himself over. I stand there, in shock, as I watch him disappear into the water.
When I turn around, it’s eerily quiet. There are bodies everywhere, some moving and some not. Bear is down, but the rest of our guys seem fine. I want to go check on him, but I don’t have the luxury. Carlo is holding on to Alex, a large knife to her throat. His eyes are crazy, and he’s dripping with sweat.
“You would let them kill your own father?” Carlo asks, his question obviously for Alex.
“No,” Alex says softly. “I’ll give you the same respect you gave me. I’ll just turn my back while I let you die. At least I know you earned your fate.”
Ian gulps as Carlo presses the knife in enough to draw blood. Alex cries out in pain, and my stomach lurches at the sound. Ryan’s finger twitches on the trigger of his gun. Wyatt joins me at my side, shouting “You’re not getting out of this.”
“I don’t plan on getting out, but I can give your whore something to remember me by,” Carlo says with a twisted smile on his face. He pulls the knife away from his own daughter’s throat and drags the blade up her face. He presses it into the side of her mouth and smirks as he drags the blade from the corner of her mouth, slowly back to her ear. My mind flashes with Ian’s face and the scar he bears from a scene all too similar to this. We could shoot Carlo, but the damage is already done. Blood pours from Alex’s face and down her neck as she cries out in pain. Tears push at my eyes, threatening to fall down my cheeks. I feel so helpless in this situation. Like there’s something I should be able to do to stop it. If we shoot, we risk missing and losing Alex. If that happens, then everything we’ve lose and all we’ve suffered is for nothing. All the pain we’ve endured is for naught if Alex dies.
“Stop it, Mike,” Ruby cries out, a mother’s love and fear evident in her voice. Abandoning reason, she rushes toward him, but he only digs into Alex’s flesh further. She’s losing too much blood. She can’t take much more of this. When Carlo gets to her ear, he drags the knife back over her flesh toward her eye. Ruby makes it halfway to Carlo before Jim flies into action. He shoves her out of the way at the last minute and throws himself at Carlo.