The End, and a New Beginning

The sounds of gunfire echoed through the night. Flying projectiles collided with brick and metal. A man in a fine black suit and neatly combed black hair hid behind a car with a gun in his hand. He broke cover for a moment to release two rounds at the group targeting him and the woman beside him.

“Do you think they kept our reservation, Rosa?” the man remarked. “The best restaurant in Palermo? Those tables go fast, my love.”

“This is no time for jokes, Vito. Chris and the others are still a few minutes away,” Rosa warned him, fear evident on her otherwise attractive face.

“Yeah, this was planned. Someone knew what route we were taking and when we’d be alone. There’s a traitor in the family,” Vito surmised. Another hail of bullets made him duck down lower beside their car. He looked to the corner of the brick wall beside them.

“Come out, Vito! We might even let that girl walk away!” One of the shooters called out to him.

Vito quickly shot the man as his head peered around the corner. “Guys, please, your aim is terrible. Maybe it’s time to pack it up for the night,” he mocked them. “It’s cold, and I’m hungry. Get lost before the full weight of the DeCapio Family crushes you and your family.”

Rosa handed Vito another magazine to replenish his ammunition. “I wore my best dress, too. It came from my favorite seamstress from Sicily,” she commented, angrily looking at the dirt stains on her white satin dress.

“Honey, you still look amazing,” Vito complimented her as he broke cover to shoot another enemy. A text alert drew his attention for a moment. “What did Chris say?”

“It’s not Chris, it’s your father. He’ll be here in a few minutes with backup.”

“Father never lets us down,” Vito warily looked over the hood of his car and saw one of their attackers get ready to throw something. A dark object was thrown into the night sky. Vito caught a glimpse of it when it passed the pale moon. He squeezed off a shot and destroyed a grenade.

Vito ducked behind the car to avoid the shrapnel. He turned to Rosa to ensure her safety. Besides her braid coming undone and letting her dark, wavy hair spill around her shoulders, she was fine. His heart froze in his chest when she placed her hands over her stomach.

“Did they get you, Rosa?” His voice was dark and venomous.

“No, you did,” a weak smile formed on her red painted lips.

It took a moment for her meaning to make sense. Vito’s scowl turned into a smile. “Oh my god,” he breathed, tears welling in his eyes.

Rosa began to shed tears of joy as well. “I haven’t even thought of names yet.”

Vito broke cover and pulled the trigger. He broke a flaming bottle in mid-air, causing his enemies to scatter and avoid the raining flames. “How about Giovanni, after my father, if it’s a boy, and Maria, after your mother, if it’s a girl.”

Rosa smiled and rubbed her stomach. “Yes, those are perfect. We just have to get out of here and give our little one time to grow.”

“Or ones,” he added while he changed the magazine in his gun to fire suppressing rounds at the enemies attempting to draw closer to them. Rosa thought about having multiple children with Vito and smiled.

A man wielding a rapier deflected and cut the bullets Vito fired at him as he rushed toward their car. Vito moved back and tossed his gun to Rosa when the swordsman slid across the hood of their car.

Vito drew a knife and engaged the swordsman in armed combat. A malevolent grin stretched across the man’s face as he swung his sword. It was clear he felt he had the advantage. Vito parried his wild slashes with a confident grin to frustrate his opponent. He easily predicted his opponent’s moves. He avoided a wide strike and stabbed his opponent in the abdomen. Rosa fired off two rounds to finish him off.

The swordsman fell to the ground. Vito put his knife away and retrieved his gun from his lovely fiancée. “Nicely done, my love.”

“I’ve had practice,” she bragged. Rosa’s joy quickly turned to horror. Vito followed her gaze and saw three men rushing toward them from behind. He placed himself between Rosa and the three gunmen and opened fire.

Pain radiated throughout Vito’s body as bullets pierced him. His black suit was quickly stained red as he summoned what strength he had left to pull the trigger three final times to take them down.

Rosa caught Vito as he fell. She cradled his head on her lap and called out to him. “Vito! Hang on, please!” Anguished tears rolled down her cheeks.

He kept a brave face on even as he tasted blood in his mouth. “It’ll…be fine, Rosa…” he breathed. “You and our child…you’ll be fine.” The pain was more than he could bear, but he never let it show.

Vito heard more cars pull up. “Kill them all!” A man’s ferocious voice boomed over the battlefield. “Vito! Rosa!” Giovanni DeCapio called his son and future daughter-in-law.

“We’re here! Vito, he’s…!” Rosa called out for help with a shaking voice.

Giovanni and two of his men ran to them. “Vito!” He saw his son on the ground, blood pooling out of him. Years of experience on the battlefield betrayed him and told him his son’s fate. He kept a strong front as he joined his son on one knee.

“You did well, my son,” he tried to praise his son and offer some hope. “I saw those bodies out there. You did a fine job. We’ll finish them off and find out who they’re working for. We’ll find the rats and put them down,” Giovanni promised while fighting back tears. He held his son’s almost lifeless right hand, his thumb grazing the knife-shaped birthmark. “You were born with a knife already in your hand. You were born a fighter, just like the rest of us.”

Vito looked at Rosa’s stomach. Giovanni followed his gaze and realized what his son was trying to tell him. “Rosa is already family. She and your child will be fine. You have my word. Everything’s going to be fine.”

Vito’s older brother, Chris, ran up to them. His face showed a mixture of anguish and rage. “Vito!” He grit his teeth and bit back tears. “I’ll kill them all. I swear it.” This man was known for his temper.

Vito offered a small smile to his brother. He turned his gaze to Rosa, her blue eyes always reminding him of a boundless ocean again. Vito used the last of his strength and reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek. His arm then fell as his strength left him. The last thing he heard was Rosa begging him to stay with her.