Chapter 22: In Front of the Gun

Teo's POV

I had stood on a corner once while a man died.

I did not think about that when I moved.

I did not think about anything.

Benny's finger tightened on the trigger, and my body went forward on its own.

I got between the barrel and my wife.

The shot was louder than I remembered.

Something hit me high in the chest, hard, and my legs went out from under me.

I fell against Mara and took her down with me.

The table was above us.

I could see the ceiling, and the plaster flaking off a water stain, and the underside of the green ledger on the edge of the wood.

"Teo!"

Her hands were on my face.

"I'm here," I said. My mouth tasted like pennies. "You all right?"

"Don't talk."

"Are you hit?"

"No. You are. You idiot, you're..."

She pressed both palms against my chest, and the pain went white.

I heard shouting, and chairs.

Benny's voice rose over it, high and happy.

"Look at that! Look at the great Don, bleeding for a Bellandi!"

His shoes came around the end of the table.

He was walking, not hurrying.

He wanted to finish what he had missed.

I tried to roll over and cover her, and my arm would not work.

"Mara," I said. "Stay down."

"No."

"Please."

"No," she said, and I felt her hands leave my chest.

I turned my head.

She was on her knees, looking across the floor at Fausto.

The old man had unscrewed the top of his cane.

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