Charged (29 page)

Mario may seem the calm and collective one of the pair, but the only thing is his insanity and depravity runs deeper than Gianfranco’s. He’s the muscle. If there’s dirty work to be done, he’s the one to get the mess started and cleaned up. 

Putting my hands on my head, I look to Georgia. I know she’s smart as fuck and she’ll be doing the same as I if she has any sense of preservation. Carlo may have been her handler for the past twenty years — and he’s trying his damnedest to protect us — but this situation is dire. The Lusi’ only think of themselves, and she
will be
in the crossfire. 

I back up two steps, putting distance between Mario and I, looking over at Georgia where she still hasn’t dropped her gun. 

“On the ground now!” Punk ass still isn’t getting it. I’m clearly not the threat, but I do as I’m told and start towards the floor. As I move, it seems like the agents have the upper hand. I know better. Even though Mario has a gun trained on him and CJ is moving in from the side, the standoff between Gianfranco and his daughter is still something that can go terribly wrong. 

Motioning for GI Joe to take care of me while he stays on Georgia, I watch the interaction between Carlo and Gianfranco. 

GI Joe locks the cuffs on me then moves on to Mario, barking commands and waving his gun like a rookie. I’m behind him now and out of view of the facial commands and tells of the Lusi brothers. They’re known for their silent communication; the unspoken words that, if you didn’t know better, would seem like an eyebrow raise or a wink. But I know. I’ve seen it enough to know that as Joe stows his gun in the holster — which is a stupid fucking move — that you should never unarm yourself near either of the Lusi’s. 

Mario raises his hands behind his back, awaiting the agent to add his new jewelry. 

“You know, I’m impressed,” Gianfranco says to Georgia.

“And why is that?” Her response is cold. She’s not about to give him an edge.  

“I think if your whore of a mother, God rest her soul, hadn’t taken you from me, we would have been close. You're just like me, you know. Strong, resilient, adaptable, cunning and deadly. I can see it, we’re alike you and I.” He’s taunting her, drawing her in. He knows if he pushes her, she’ll fuck up and get too close, giving him the opportunity to disarm her or worse, kill her. 

“I am
nothing
like you. Nothing at all. I have morals, compassion, and the capacity to love. The word love is a weakness to you. You never loved me. You possessed me, and the only reason you and I are even having this conversation is because I can’t shoot you right now. See, these lovely men would fucking shoot me if I did.
Though
I’d be doing the world a favour, I can’t because I deserve to live.” She doesn’t falter, she doesn’t move. She won’t look away from Gianfranco as she’s transfixed on taking her vengeance. 

“You know, maybe I should just get it over with and kill you. They’ll shoot me and the legacy of the Lusi family will be destroyed. I understand the dynamics. With you gone, Mario takes over, wouldn’t you uncle Mario? Like the perfect little lap dog, you’ll do your brothers good work when he’s gone.” She changes her aim then shoots at the floor in front of Mario. He falls back a step, clearly stunned by the turn of events. As Carlo raises his hand, telling his guys to hold their positions I watch in slow motion as things unfold horribly. 

“See, just like me. Fucking proud, I tell ya’. Killer instincts are hard to come by, Georgia.” Gianfranco still hasn’t moved from his spot, as he’s biding his time. He’s waiting for her to give up, or for the Federal Agents to fuck up. Either way she’s still in a heap of shit if he isn’t shot dead soon. She may have been hiding with WITSEC for all those years, but now there’ll be no hiding. She went from on the lamb to target number one. Nothing will stop them. 

Georgia takes a step forward, placing the barrel of the gun to Gianfranco’s forehead, pressing it tightly against his face. I’m sure it’s still warm but he doesn’t let on at all. Mario sits beside me watching, waiting his turn to attack. GI Joe, was so worried about keeping Mario safe that he left the rest of us vulnerable to a shit-show. He never attached the cuffs and I doubt he even realizes the mistake.  

“I want so badly to kill you. I want to see you rot in hell, not in a jail. Jail is too good for you.” Grinding out the words, you can feel the disgust, the pain, and the satisfaction of ending it all in her voice. She speaks to him and no one else. 

“At first I was sad. I wanted you to come and get me and tell me that everything was a mistake — a dream, that I’d wake up from it and find us being a happy family. I woke up though, after the first man who was supposed to take care of me raped me in a cupboard. Then, I woke up again after the second one told me to dress up for the camera. And I sure as fuck woke up when I caught wind of one of your tails, after I was old enough to be on my own. I should have been a little girl. Do you understand what you took from me? I lost that chance to be a child when you took what was mine.” 

Moving forward slowly and methodically towards Georgia, Carlo would be able to see she’s about to collapse. The pain is pressing down on her frail body and she’s about to kill him and wreck their whole operation. There’s an even higher chance she’ll become just another body on the floor. 

Stepping up beside her, placing his hand on the gun she grips so tightly, Carlo tries to talk to her. “Let it go, darlin’. He’s not worth life in prison.” 

She blinks, then nods her head, relinquishing the gun to Carlo. He clicks the safety and motions for agent two to cuff Gianfranco. The agents think this is over. Myself, I know better than to think this is over. The fight has only just begun.

Georgia

M
y legs are barely holding me up. I’m teetering on the edge of consciousness, barely afloat, barely able to put together coherent thoughts beyond the likes of
kill him
. Kill him and kill Mario and be done with it. 

CJ’d removed the gun from my hands and I feel naked. Vulnerable and exposed. I’d relinquished my line of defense that was keeping my adrenaline pumping, and now I’m ready to collapse. 

The look in GF’s eyes when I’d placed that gun to his head was magical. I felt a power over him that I’ve never had before. I was in charge. I had a choice in my destiny. Only problem with that was, is this the destiny I want? Do I want to follow in the footsteps of a killer? Do I want to be someone who shoots an unarmed man? 

Sure, if he had a gun in his hand too, then I guess I wouldn’t have felt so bad, but with him just standing there — looking proud, it was unnerving. 

True, Mario did save my ass from Clit, but he also shot and killed three men in cold blood right outside the door I was held captive in. Do I think he did it out of the goodness of his
black as fuck heart?
No. I don’t think so. He was doing it for his brother. He didn’t want GF to see me as a plaything. He wanted me to seem pristine and angelic when presented to the head of the family. Funny part is, with the blood on my face and chest, I look more like an avenging angel than a saint. 

“Georgia, you need to sit. It’s over.” As if stars filter through my vision, I try to look at CJ. He’s close enough that I should see him clearly, but all I see are constellations; tiny flashes of light blocking my sight. This is a sure sign of dehydration and starvation. Soon I’ll be on my ass, whether I like it or not. 

I nod lightly and turn to sit on the rolling stool that sits close by. I pull it up, relaxing my stinging legs and take a deep breath. 

That was until it was stolen. 

I can’t say for sure that I heard the shot. I don’t think I felt it either. My body was in shock long before the shot was fired. I didn’t process the fact that I had a bullet coursing through my chest, but it felt warm. I felt warm and tingly all over. It was relaxing. In the far away distance of my mind I heard the ringing of further shots, but it didn’t register. I was falling down a deep hole and it felt good. 

As I lay there and take in the comfort, in the liberation of soul and body separating I pass out.

Ryker

A
ll hell broke loose. 

Stupid move on the rookie. He never cuffed Mario. He was so fucking occupied with keeping him alive that he forgot to worry about his own life, or mine. 

I’m now sprawled across the floor trying to hide behind a dead Chevy motor, squirming like a fucking worm to untangle my arms from the back. Squishing my body in half, I pull one leg then the other out through my arms to get my arms in front. At least then I can grab my bloody gun back up and make a dent in these fuckers.

Georgia is only feet away, but it seems like a football field in distance. It was a miracle that when GF pulled that Ruger from inside his jacket, that he didn’t hit her in the head. If Carlo wasn’t in the middle of them when she took a seat, it could have been way worse. 

Like there’s a worse? 

She’s been beaten by Jack, almost raped by him, fucked with by Clit, Hans and Jerry, and now shot by her estranged father. Georgia didn’t even see it coming. I don’t know how she managed to stay upright as long as she had after all of the abuse. I gotta give her kudos. That’s if she lives. 

Fanned out on the floor with her ugly ass dye job matted, it mixes with the blood of her would be attackers. She lays motionless in a pool of total destruction. The clothes she’s wearing are torn and dirty, the blood from her shot to the chest is seeping into the corner of my tee and she's barely holding on. 

When that shot went off, she hit the floor and I dove for the guns I’d tossed earlier. Stretching out, I was able to grab my gun and get to safety. Not so for the others. 

Fed one — the douche — he went straight to Gianfranco, taking a shot to the head point blank. I guess he’d hoped to stop the foray, but he became another statistic. GI Joe on the other hand, he was smart. Pulling back, hiding in the midst of car panels — the rat rod parts I might add — he had a vantage point of sorts. He was able to see and react to the gunfire, that for the past ten minutes both Lusi’ have rained down on him and Carlo. 

I gotta hand it to him — Carlo, my father, dick who left me behind — whatever he should be called, he tried to take cover and pull Georgia to safety. After all these years, I guess he really cared for her. I can understand why. She’s pretty amazing. 

I guess I always thought the weak minded, cheap women were the best ones to occupy my time. I had no attachments, no commitments, no failures. Now, I think differently. Hard headed, stubborn, opinionated, foul mouthed, whiskey guzzling women are way better. 

Pulling my head into the game, I concentrate on the task at hand. Living. I was able to grab my gun, and even from here I can see the brothers, but just barely. Gianfranco is out of range. Even a crack shot would have a hard time making that hit. His whole body is tucked behind a purple El Camino bed that’s standing upright in the corner. 

Mario though, he’s a better target. As I take a shot, the first one misses. It’s hard with these bracelets to get a good aim on, but I try again. The second time it's’ a winner. Knocking him back on his ass, he takes one to the shoulder right above his heart. If he has one that is. He stills on the floor as the gun falls away. 

One Lusi down, one to go. 

Feeling pretty damn good with myself, I peek around from my tiny ass hiding spot to look for GI Joe and Carlo. GI is pinned down by Gianfranco. Even hidden behind the rat rod components, he has no opportunity to take a good shot of his own. He’s cornered.