"Keep your eyes and ears open for clues, got it?" Dominic said and Ellise nodded.
"There are two main doors here, I suggest we split" Dmitri said.
"Dmitri, Xanthis, Marcello, you guys are coming with me" Dominic said.
"Ellise, Son, you're okay to come with me?" Alessio asked and Xanthis nodded.
Nolan, Wyatt who were part of the team came with us too. "This place reeks of weed and alcohol" Xanthis said, his face scrunching up with disgust.
"Valentino has to be around here somewhere" Nolan said.
Ellise halted as soon as she heard movements.
"Ellise, what's wrong?" Alessio asked.
"I think someone or some people are here with us" she responded.
A figure jumped out of the shadows to attack Alessio from behind. Without looking at whosoever it was, Alessio shot him dead. "Yeah, you shouldn't be surprised, my dear. It's what happens after many years of being a mafia boss" he said to a surprised Ellise.
Another gunshot rang out.
"They're closing in on us. Watch out and stay steady" Wyatt said as they all took discreet positions along the passage way.
....
"Did you hear that? They are here" Valentino said, his grip around his gun tightening.
"Don't you dare make a sound. Don't you dare" he ordered, pressing the gun to Dre's forehead.
He let out a humorless laughter.
"The fact that you're telling me not to make a sound is quite ironic. A while ago, you were practically begging me to scream" Dre said.
Valentino glared at him.
"Here I thought that I was the crazy one, but here you are, trying to crack a joke with the nozzle of a gun to your forehead. Are you kidding me?"
Dre shrugged nonchalantly.
"For me, old habits never die" he said. There was a loud thud upstairs and Valentino dragged him to his feet, quickly pushing him up the stairs.
"I cherish my privacy a lot, but your people are ruining it" he stated as he led an exhausted Dre upper still.
"Where are we going?" Dre asked, panting slightly as he felt bursts of pain on his chest.
"To the top floor" Valentino replied.
"Whatcha gonna do?" Dre asked and he grinned, his eyes glinting mischievous.
"Kill me?" Dre said.
Valentino scoffed.
"Nah, that's going to be too easy" he said.
"Then, what?" Dre said.
Valentino smirked, pushing a knife into his stomach. Dre groaned, his knees buckling as a new pain flared through his body.
"I'm going to blackmail your father." He said.
"Valentino, I know you're hurt because you think you were rejected. You don't have to do this" Dre rasped. He chuckled.
"You're crazy"
"Let's negotiate. I know what this means for you, but I want you to think. You want happiness, don't you? You want love. You want to have a family" Dre said.
Valentino stared at him, his hard facade faltering.
Dre coughed up blood, gasping for breath.
"You don't have to do this to get all that. This is not you. You just have to be yourself, Val. If you do this, you will never find happiness, joy or love because our family will hate you. There will be no way to escape the excruciating guilt and self hatred" Dre said, falling to his knees as he tried to stop the blood flowing out of his wound.
"What are you trying to do? Get into my head?" Valentino said, clenching his jaw.
"So? Is it working?" Dre said.
"I hate to admit it. But, yes. It is. The thing is, why should I listen to you? Do you know what it feels like?"
"Do you know what it felt like to be treated like trash? As a child I got mixed with the wrong people, typical Oliver Twist story except this time, I suffered more and it stripped me of every bit of innocence. I was adopted by an old woman who took charge over my education. But guess what, nature hated me so badly too, she took her away from me two years after I'd finally begun to adjust to new situations of life! I got into juvie at age Fourteen, lost my virginity at thirteen to a woman old enough to be my grandmother! I was starved, beaten, tortured, whipped, burned, dragged through hell...."
His voice trailed off when he saw the look in Dre's eyes.
Of course, Dre had always thought that he knew what it meant to suffer. But, this was worse. He felt sorry for him.
"No, I don't need no damn pity" Valentino growled angrily, yanking at Dre's hair, hard. Dre sighed wearily.
"I'm sorry"
Angry tears filled Valentino's green eyes as he smashed Dre's head against the steel post. Dre was barely conscious at this point. Everything hurt so much.
His hands were tied firmly behind him and he had no means of defending himself.
"I'm going to text them with your damn phone and we're going to end this deal right here right now" Valentino said and Dre stared at him with half closed eyes as blood poured down his face, nearly blinding him.
....
Ellise's phone beeped and she opened the new message displayed on the screen. It was from Dre's phone.
Come outside with the rest of you, let's negotiate.
Alessio led the way as they made their way towards the exit. "Is that.." Ellise's voice trailed off at the sight of Dre's hoodie stained with blood. Unable to bear the thought of her Alexandre getting badly injured, she ran out of the building. The others were there already.
Valentino had a gun pointing at Dre's forehead, with his free hand yanking Dre's hair backwards. They were both on the rooftop. Dre's eyes met Ellise's and her heart broke when she saw the pain in his eyes. "Dre!" She cried.
"Now, let's make a deal, Alessio" Valentino said.
"Please stop hurting my Alexandre!" Ellise cried, trying to get to the ladder that was situated a few metres away.
Dominic held her back as she thrashed around.
"If you sign the first paper, I'll descend with your beloved son. It will go on like that until the last floor, but if you decide to play smart, I'll push him from this height" Valentino said, smirking.
"Don't do it" Dre said. Valentino growled, yanking Dre's hair harder.
"Come on, do it!"
"Don't listen to him" Dre croaked.
Alessio grabbed the papers and signed on the first one.
Smirking, Valentino dragged Dre to the next floor below.
It went on like that until only one floor was left. Alessio's pained gaze met Dre's and he could see how much he was desperate to avoid Valentino getting what he wanted.
"I can't" Alessio breathed, tearing the paper into shreds.
Dominic shot at Valentino, the bullet piercing through his upper arm right before he pushed Xandre over the top. "Dre!" Ellise screamed.
She ran as fast as she could, her knees roughly sinking to the ground as soon as she got to him.
He was bleeding from virtually everywhere. Blood gushed out of his head ceaselessly.
"Call an ambulance!" Dominic yelled. "Dre, please stay with me.... Keep breathing with me" Ellise cried. He reached out a bloody hand to cup her cheek, his eyes slipping close a bit more.
"My Ellise" he gasped.
"I know, I love you so much. Don't you dare leave me. We're going to get married remember?" She said, holding him close to her chest. He groaned weakly.
"I.... love you too, baby" he said with a dazed smile, his eyes falling close.
"Ma'am please move aside, let's do our job" the paramedics said.
"Please, don't let him die" she cried.
"He's going to be fine, miss"
Ellise got into the ambulance, entwining her fingers with Dre's cold ones as the paramedics worked on him on the way to the hospital. She pressed a kiss to his bloodied knuckles, trying not to have a mental breakdown.