Shoot me

Halo's account

I shut my eyes, ready to die. I would never betray my father. Opening them again, I grabbed Jokel's gun and fixed it between my brows. "Shoot me," I said, with no hesitation or fear in my voice.

For a heartbeat, something flickered in Jokel's eyes, the man I once knew, buried beneath his rage. He ground his jaw, tightening his grip on the gun. "I will shoot you, I swear, on everything I hold dear."

"Pull the trigger, Jokel. I dare you."

I didn't know where the confidence came from, but with Jokel's finger on the trigger, I was seconds away from death. A single tear dropped from my eye as I accepted my fate. At least I got to see him one last time…

"Jokel, stop this right now or make an enemy of me," a familiar voice cut through the tension, powerful enough to make the entire crowd gasp and holster their guns. Those bastards.

But Jokel tried to remain unfazed, pressing the gun to my head, though his finger was away from the trigger. "Don Giovanni, I beg you to let me do this. You promised not to get involved. You promised to let me have my revenge."

The Don, dressed in an all-white suit and spinning a gold pocket watch, approached us. "Put down the gun, Jokel. Halo is not the one you want."

"But he knows where he is," Jokel snapped. "He knows where he has been hiding all these years!"

"Jokel!" Don Giovanni cautioned.

Realizing what he had just done, Jokel bowed to the Don, finally moving his gun from my head. "I apologize for the disrespect, Don."

"And I accept, but you must be punished…" His gaze shifted from Jokel to me. "Both of you have disrupted this summit with your petty squabbles. I am disappointed; you are bloody kings of regions."

I gritted my teeth but held back the impulse to defer. Unlike Jokel, who allowed his rage to guide him, I knew better. In the mafia community, we had hierarchies, and Don was at the top of the pyramid. He was one of the four lords who ruled the continent, feared and powerful. Jokel sure had some guts yelling at him; even my father, who was also at the top of the pyramid, never dared to disrespect Don.

"Don, he started it," I argued.

"Leave now. Your first punishment is missing your very first summit," Don said dismissively.

Jokel bowed slightly before storming out of the gala, almost as if he expected it all. In my case, I turned slowly, my gaze sweeping over the cowards who dared raise a gun at me, the heir to the Riven empire. Some flinched under my gaze. Others went pale. I smirked, savoring their fear. "The Rivens never forget a deed."

I stepped out into the cool air of the night. My guards followed six feet behind. The echoes of the summit noise finally faded away. The quiet felt strange after all the tension. The streets were dimly lit, and the shadows of tall buildings stretched along the pavement. I could still feel the anger from the betrayal by those cowards who dared to challenge me.

At that moment, I turned, and there he was—Jokel, leaning against a pillar, his face still twisted with rage as he chewed on a cigar. Upon looking back at me, his fist clenched at his side.

"You think your father is safe, right, little bitch?" he growled, pushing off the wall and stepping toward me. "Well, you are wrong. For years, I tried, but now that you are here in his place, I know he is weak, and I can't wait to end him."

I raised a brow, amused. "For years, you say." I stepped forward, my face inches from his. He was a head taller, so I could see the sharp edges of his jaw that seemed to have become more defined with age.

I locked eyes with him, leaning closer, enjoying the rage simmering just beneath his skin. "Tell me the truth, Luciano. It was me you wanted all along, right? Tell me; I won't judge you."

Jokel's eyes widened, and then he pushed me, his eyes burning with rage that I enjoyed. "Fuck you."

I winked. "You already did; it was fun."

Jokel stopped, his jaw tightening. "You better shut your mouth, Halo. I might kill you here, and that will be a whole different story."

He was bluffing… I hoped. But for a moment, he looked like he would charge at me. The streets were empty; both our guards seemed more interested in staring at themselves than us—no Don to intervene. Just Jokel and me and years of bad blood.

I smiled, stepping closer until we were face to face. "Is that so? Then I dare you to pull the trigger now."

But before Jokel could respond, the low rumble of an engine caught our attention. The SUV slowed to a stop in front of us, the tires skidding slightly on the asphalt. I glanced at Jokel. He frowned, his anger momentarily replaced with confusion.

"Friends of yours?" I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

Jokel shook his head, his eyes narrowing on the vehicle. "That is not L'Ordine Nero."

My gut twisted. Something wasn't right. I reached for my blade, but before I could draw it, the SUV doors flew open. Masked men with machine guns flooded out, guns blazing.

"Get down!" one of them barked, and that was the only warning we got before they started shooting at our guards, forcing us to go down.

I barely had time to reach for my gun before they grabbed my hands, twisting them behind me with brutal force. Jokel threw a punch at one of the men, knocking him down, but he was quickly overpowered as they swarmed us.

"Get off me," I snarled, thrashing against their grip, but it was useless. They moved with precision like they had done this over a hundred times. A sharp pain pricked my neck. A needle.

I felt my strength fading, the world going blurry around the edges. I caught a last glimpse of Jokel fighting them off before he got injected, and then they dragged us both to the waiting SUV.