Guns & Roses

Dimitri

Letting my men handle the chaos that was in the ballroom, I grabbed the bartender by his collar and dragged him towards the staff’s quarters.

Before we could even make it half way, three men were already blocking our way.

“Guarda chi abbiamo qui ragazzi” the man in the middle said.

Look who we have here boys

“Long time no see Dimitri. You sure have grown up”

I glared at the man in front of me. He was Giuseppe Rossi, and for as long as I remember, he was a thorn on our side. Even before Arturo was an issue, he had his fair share of mischiefs with the family.

“I suggest get out of my fucking way” I seethed.

The two men by his side sported unsure looks but Giuseppe was not bothered by my tone. He was smirking at me.

“You know I can’t do that. I have to buy Arturo more time with her” he said as he laughed maniacally.

The hidden meaning behind his statement made my blood boil more than it already was. I’m going to kill him.

Letting go of the kid, I marched forward ready to kill the bastard. His men came forward trying to land a punch but I easily grabbed hold of their fisted hand and twisted their arm painfully as I knocked the breath out of them.

More men came my way as Giuseppe watched with interest. Soon enough, some of my men came to my aid as Boris stood beside me.

“I’ll handle him” he said.

Nodding at him, I looked around to see the boy almost getting killed but Viktor thankfully killed his attacker.

“Escape again and I’ll be the one to kill you” I said as I dragged him towards our destination.

Taking out my gun, I shot everyone who came in my way. I was in no mood for fighting, I needed to find Tatiana even if it meant killing them in cold blood. I didn’t give a fuck.

Opening the doors, I shoved the boy inside and surveyed my surroundings. Everything looked normal. Too normal.

“Where is it kid?” I asked the bartender.

“I’m not a kid. And I have a name, it’s Liam” he snapped.

I raised a brow at his act. I pushed him towards the bricked wall with a thud and held him there. He gulped in horror as I cocked my gun towards his temple.

“Use that tone on me again kid and I’ll make sure nobody gets to call your name again” I threatened.

“I-I’m s-sorry” he said stuttering. He was sweating and shaking in horror which satisfied me. Nobody disrespects me like that.

“Tell me where the passage is”

“Um. I’m not exactly s-sure where” he said.

“Well I suggest you fucking find it”

“R-right sir. Of course sir” he answered while he quickly went on all fours and started looking for the door that may lead to the basement.

Placing my gun on my back pocket, I went around the fairly large room. Going towards the back, my steps faltered when I saw a large painting of Tatiana.

Looking closely, I realized it wasn’t Tatiana, it was her mother. The resemblance was so uncanny. I could see where Tatiana got her beauty from. Even though I knew her parents and both of our families were close, I was young at the time and barely remembered their faces.

Reaching out to touch the painting, the first thing I noticed, more like felt was the hollowness. Scrunching my brows in confusion, I fisted my hands and tried knocking on the painting only to hear the absence of a sound.

Gripping the wooden frame, I pulled it open to reveal a dark passage way that I was sure lead to the underground basement.

Pulling my gun out, I entered the tunnel like passage and remained silent. Going down two floors, I reached the third one as heavy footfalls echoed throughout.

Hiding on the corner, I reached the man and covered his mouth with my hand while I placed my arm around his neck.

“Is she inside?” I asked.

The man swayed his head in disagreement as I tightened my hold on his neck. He was thrashing around and was trying to break loose of my hold.

“Is she inside?” I repeated as I aimed my gun at his head.

The man finally nodded in agreement. He stopped thrashing around expecting me to release him but I simply snapped his neck and let the lifeless body fall to the ground.

Kicking the door open, I instantly saw Tatiana’s slouched figure on the floor, her wrists shackled with chains and. Arturo’s retreating figure as he was walking away.

I saw red. “I’ll fucking kill you” I seethed.

Releasing the safety of my gun, the click echoing the walls, Arturo stopped in his tracks and raised both of his hands in surrender. He laughed loudly as he turned his back and faced me.

“Ciao Dimitri! It’s been too long” he smiled.

“What did you do to her” I wasn’t asking, I was demanding answers.

“Oh. Her?” He said pointing to Tatiana. “She’s just beat after all the fun we had” he said smirking.

“Go to hell” I pointed my gun at his face but then he only grinned like a cheshire cat.

“You can’t possibly kill me Dimitri”

“I beg to differ”

“But you see... She’ll die without an antidote and I’m the only one who knows where it is” he said as he threw the syringe on my direction.

The room suddenly felt cold as I stared at the empty syringe that rolled in front of me. I glanced at Tatiana and saw she was barely breathing. Her face lost color and for once I was actually scared of the situation I’m in.

Masking my fear, I turned to Arturo and lowered my gun to my side.

“What do you want Arturo” I asked.

“Hmm.. now we’re talking” he said as he walked towards Tatiana and crouched down to her level.

I was gripping my gun so hard, restraining myself to just shoot this bastard on the head.

“First, let the gun go” he said.

I did what I was told and kicked it far away from me.

“Good boy” he said with a satisfied grin as his eyes held an evil glint. Arturo’s hand landed on Tatiana’s thigh as it went up higher.

“Do not fucking touch her” I gritted.

“Oh come on Dimitri. You didn’t want to share your sister now you don’t want to share Tatiana too?” He pouted as he stood up.

“You don’t have the right to talk about her" I stated loudly.

“And why not? Remember Dimitri, she was the one who came to me, took pity on me and well let’s not forget, warmed my bed”

“Shut the fuck up Arturo or I’ll make you” I threatened.

“And how is that? Remember, our sleeping beauty right here might just end up asleep forever” he said as he made his way behind Tatiana and placed his hand on her bare shoulder taunting me.

I was fisting my hands so tight and I was so frustrated that I couldn’t do anything. Tatiana’s safety was top priority and I couldn’t do anything reckless.

“Stop hiding behind a shield Arturo. I might just think you’re scared of me”

Seeing a vein tick on his temple, he merely raised a brow at me and smiled wickedly.

“Shield? Her?” He asked me referring to Tatiana. “Well, she is irresistable.. and I’m a fan of being behind” he said as he licked Tatiana’s bare shoulder all the while maintaining eye contact with me.

“Fucking touch her again Arturo and I’ll make sure you rot in hell” I shouted angrily. I was so close to just bang this fucker on the wall.

My hands felt something warm and wet when it dawned on me that it was blood from my nails digging hard in my palm.

“Alright alright! Calm down boy” he said as he stood a reasonable space from Tatiana and that was all I needed.

Letting all of my pent up fury take control, I charged towards Arturo throwing punches left and right ruthlessly. He blocks off my attacks but it wasn’t enough for him to control his balance as I cornered him. He threw his own punch at me but it was useless as I brought my arm up to block it off.

I was breathing heavily but it didn’t stop my rage. I punched him and let my knee meet with his abdomen as he threw fits of cough.

Blood was already dripping from the side of his mouth. He spat out the blood and smiled maniacally at me with blood staining his front teeth.

The sight leaving me unfazed. Hearing commotion from the back door, I glanced toward it momentarily as Arturo took the chance and threw a punch at my face. Falling back a bit, he proceeded on attacking me and I put out both my arms in a defensive stance.

I was loosing time. The poison might have spread inside Tatiana and I needed to get that antidote. With renowned fervor, I swung my right hand forcefully meeting Arturo’s jaw as he stumbled. Not letting the chance escape, I followed it with an uppercut as he fell down unconscious.

My fists were burning and I knew some of my knuckles were bruised or cut open.

The commotion on the door was still present and I wasn’t sure if it was the enemy. Hurrying over to Tatiana, I knelt down in front of her and gently took her face in my bloodied hand.

“Baby wake up. Please wake up”

“Damnit” I tried tapping her face gently but she remained unconscious. Looking at the cuffs, I had no choice but to shoot it. Reaching for my gun, I unlocked the safety and aimed my gun.

Sensing movement from behind me, I turned around and shot Arturo in his chest as I saw Viktor barged through the door looking shocked.

“This isn’t over” Arturo whispered as he fell down.

“It already is” I said as I looked down and saw blood pooling around Arturo.

Turning my back around, I ripped open my white button down and placed it around Tatiana. I noticed a huge slash on her back and a lot of cuts and bruises on her body and face. I grinded my jaw in frustration and anger at what the bastard did.

“Viktor, hold Tatiana” I instructed as I aimed for the chains.

One by one, the chains broke off as Tatiana fell to Viktor’s arms. Putting my gun back, I carried Tatiana in my arms and just the sight of her made my blood boil.

“Call Dr. Moore. Tatiana’s been poisoned”

While Viktor called for backup, we started going towards the stairs. My mind drifted to what just happened.

It’s over. It’s over. He’s dead.

We were walking at a fast phase while Viktor filled me in.

“A few of his men escaped boss, Giuseppe’s one of them” he said.

I only nodded in response. What’s important right now is Tatiana’s safety. I could feel her temperature go down as I held her closer to my naked chest.

When we reached the ground floor, I see some of my men tending to the others who were fatally wounded. Dead bodies lied on the marbled floor, some of them my men but most are from Arturo’s.

Going outside, the chopper was landing on the grass fields just in front of the building.

Dr. Moore was rushing with a few from his paramedic team. I laid Tatiana’s unconscious form on the stretcher as we boarded the chopper.

They inserted the IV and checked for her pulse. The monitor showed how weak her heart was and I was clutching Tatiana’s hand as they checked up on her.

“Her pulse is weak Dimitri, we need to get her to the clinic asap. For now I’ve injected something that may fight off the poison for a while”

I nodded in response. I wanted to bang somebody’s face in frustration as I looked down at Tatiana’s sleeping form but I couldn’t do anything.

We reached the estate in no time and Dr. Moore and her team went inside the operating room. A few minutes into the operation, Viktor was by my side and so was everybody else.

I stayed rooted in my place afraid that I might lash out if someone pissed me off.

A hand landed on my shoulder and I didn’t bother looking up.

“She’ll make it” Boris said as he took a seat on the bench.

“She has to” was all I said as I made my way out.