96 -GUNSHOTS

KYLE’S POV

“Here’s spider” I called in a dramatic tone and entering the scene right on time from where I had watched it all unfold. My chest still tightened and a surge of anger rush through my veins when I saw Aria’s hands saely tucked in that guys hold. I didn’t really know who he was but apparently he owned the restaurant Aria worked in, how convenient was it? Even when I had walked in to the ceremony and seen him pull her protectively to his side, his suddenly meeting mine and smirking at the obvious annoyance that struck across my face. I could smack him, fly to him with my fist itching to push his proud jaw but I managed to hold myself back. I knew why I was here and it wasn’t for a bloody fundraiser, I wasn’t even invited but this was the only chance I had to save her – the love of my life from what Mr. Venza and my father were planning.

How did I find out? It was an easy sunny day and I had decided it was a good day to finally accept my father’s invitation to the gold club. I had never been there, and I never really planned on but that afternoon I buzzed with restlessness in my house, stuck watching a boring game and yet still rightfully annoyed of Aria kissing that guy in my front. Yes, she was doing it to spite me and yes, I knew I deserved it but still, it didn’t make it feel any better, in fact it stung more at the reality of why she was doing. I couldn’t get the mental picture out of my hand, one hand seamlessly placed around her waist and the other gently cupping her face and her body naturally gravitating towards him and at some point, I saw her eyes flutter open and she fixed them on me. That was it, that was the height I could take. I deserved it, I walked away.

Quickly, I dressed up in a polo and some shorts, throwing my overgrown hair into a baseball cap and I grabbed my car keys from the desk and I drove straight to the club. I pulled into the club’s parking lot, my car gliding to a stop on the pristine asphalt. The main clubhouse loomed ahead, its whitewashed facade and grand columns evoking an old-world elegance. Of course this was the kind of place where my father would feel the most at home, surrounded by his fellow cohorts that indulged in mattered I dared not even think about. But he had promised to talk about the merger and that was the only thing I cared about – taking my company globally.

As I stepped out of the car, the scent of freshly cut grass filled the air, mingling with the faint aroma of saltwater from the nearby coast. The sound of laughter and the clinking of glasses drifted from the open patio doors, as I walked in some nodding their heads at me and the others not even realizing my presence.

My father usually sat in a private lounge after taking his rounds playing golf, noticing the fields were empty, I suspected that he would be inside and maybe I could surprise him with my presence.

As I approached the entrance to the lounge, I paused, catching sight of my father through the crack in the door. He stood with his back to me, engaged in a heated discussion with Mr. Venza. Their voices were low, but the tension in the room was unmistakable. I paused, froze, my brain racking suddenly; how do they know each other? What was my father up to again?

Curiosity and a sense of foreboding compelled me to stay hidden, listening intently to their conversation.

“I want her gone – maybe not dead exactly but gone and away from my son, she’s trouble lurking in the corner and I trust Kyle enough to keep it secret from her” I heard my father say while my heart thumped loudly in my chest.

“What secret?” Venza echoed back.

“Remember the bastard Peter Thorne that was my partner a few years ago, bastard was against using the company to clean the drug money, he was such a pussy I couldn’t have it. Sent him to jail for a few years to shut him up”

“Oh that guy, I remember him. You killed him, didn’t you?”

My father nodded, taking his glass of sipping whiskey to his mouth and took a sip “Well that happened, but that’s not it, my son is in love with his daughter. Stupid karma had to think of the most stupid way to bite me in the ass”

Venzo laughed, sipping his own drink. I couldn’t exactly see their expressions as they were backing me but I was more concentrated on their conversation than what they looked like.

“Well I could have taken her out a long time ago, but your son somehow keeps getting in the way. He kidnapped my bodyguard, I’m still holding that grudge”

“Then revenge, take her out and get revenge for your body guard” my father advised and a sweat broke out on my forehead. My heart pounded in my chest as I processed his words.

“Hmmm” Mr. Venza’s thick voice floated through my already rowdy brain

“The fundraiser is going to be perfect opportunity – clean and easy, no mistakes. I’ll send you a nice sum to carry it out as clean as possibl. I’m sure I can trust you Mr. Venza”

Venza’s laugh was a chilling sound “As long as your son doesn’t get in the way again – ”

I felt a course of anger surge through me, and I backed away from the door. But in that moment, I knew one thing – I was going to attend that fundraiser and yes I was going to get in the way again.
***
Venza’s eyes widened at the sight of walking in with Spider, and me holding a gun to his head. But the surprise lasted exactly one second before his lips stretched out into an evil smile that only excited me. I was buzzing liquor and I was pissed. There was one thing I knew, anger and alcohol didn’t go so well together. I was a devil when I needed to be, and when it came to Aria, I would go through any lengths to protect and in that topic, I didn’t mind blowing the heads of everyone that stood against her.

I saw her eyes flicker to me, and the slightest that moved through them but satisfaction to my stomach. I would protect her with my life and she knew it.

“If it isn’t a pleasure” Venza said and I stood where I was, tightening my hold on the gun in my hands.

“You want spider, here’s spider and then we call it a truce” I said to him while.

“We can hardly call it a truce, there’s too much between us to call it a truce” he said to me in that same mocking tone that matched the look on his face.

My entire body buzzed from the liquor and I badly wanted to shoot his head off and get my girl from the unneeded hold of that man

“You know what I wanted”he said and truly I knew but it was a hard no.

“She’s not an option, and she never was - I don’t care what kind of sick game you’re up to but she’s not getting out of my sight” I said, purposely avoiding the topic that he was only carrying my father’s orders, I didn’t want Aria to know about that because it would only make her curious.

“Fine” he agreed but I know it was a ploy and only a matter of time before I know what he truly had planned. “Then send Spider to me – alone and the moment he passes where Miss Aria stands, she’s free to go. How does it feel Aria? To have two men vying to protect you, I’m jealous”

It was a gamble, but I was ready to take it so I pulled my gun away from his head and I pushed him forward. He walked slowly, his face hard with convictions but I doubt he was hardly scared, he was lucky I kept him alive till now and finally sending him back to his boss.

I watched him count his steps, my breath seizing for a moment when he finally passed Aria and the moment he did, I saw Aria pull her hands away from that guy’s hold and attempting to run back to where I stood but then – it all happened too fast.

She was just about to run into my hands, when I heard Venza mutter “Now” to the nearest man next to him and in a flash, I heard the gunshots – loud and rang in my ears like a siren and Aria froze just as I felt warm wet liquid splash on my face and in that moment my reflexes were quicker than a cat. Just before she collapsed on me, I pointed my gun at Mr. Venza and I fired in a second, aiming at his head but getting his shoulder instead before turning the trigger to the next man behind him, firing once and getting him on his chest – the one that fired the gun.

I still hadn’t processed it, not until Aria collapsed on my body in short breaths and blood spouting out of her left shoulder.

*I died – I died a million times in that moment.

I hope I killed him