To Love and To Hate

10 years ago The tranquil night was the perfect atmosphere for lovers in Venice, most couples held themselves hand in hand and strolled down the pier where the yachts were docked, the moonlight casting a glow on the water reflecting shadows. Suddenly, a loud noise shattered the peaceful atmosphere, a motorcycle came revving round a sharp turn, chased by black Mercedes cars that came screeching from around the corner, the men in it were dressed in sharp black suit as dark as the night. The men came out of the window and started shooting at the couple racing away on the motorcycle. The crowd of people on the streets scattered immediately, each finding a spot to hide their heads from the flying bullets richocheting around, hitting vehicles and buildings around them. "Please save us," the woman behind the man on the motorcycle begged the rider but her voice was lost in the noise. The rider couldn't hear her coherently because of the helmet above his head, he felt her squeeze his midsection through the jacket. He lost concentration for a moment and a bullet whizzed past his head and hit one of the couple. He got jerked into reality at the screams that reverberated the air. "If only I had handled this better, there really shouldn't be any casualty, now someone is hurt," the bottled emotions of the bloody quarrel that had been going on for weeks bubbled to the surface and he lost control of his emotions. The tears filled his eyes and blurred his vision, and he was unable to see the danger in front of him. One of the chasers had taken a detour and laid in wait for him ahead, they spread the spikes in front of the road as he neared them. Blinded with tears, he couldn't avoid the spikes early enough and he pulled on the brakes sharply to bust a turn in the alleyway. The bike couldn't stand the sharp momentum and crashed heavily against a concrete pillar, the woman behind him flew from the jerk of the bike and crashed heavily on the ground. The man slipped in and out of consciousness but was vaguely aware of the woman beside him, "Rose," he called her name and reached out his arm to hold her, "please stay with me babe, we'll get through this together." The other chasers had now reached the spot and got down from their vehicles. "Dispose of the woman and make this look like an accident before the cops get here, one of the men in suit commanded." Working swiftly they got hold of Rose and disposed her off into the sea to drown. "What should we do about him, sir?", another suited man asked their ring leader. The ring leader said no word but dragged a bat behind him to where the rider lay. He raised it and brought it heavily on his head, "That's what you get for messing with us, Dominic." They got into their cars and sped off, leaving him there to die. *** "Emergency, someone help us please," With echoes of help reverberating through the hospital's hallway, the ambulance loaded in victims of the eventful night. A woman rushed inside, her body drenched and soaked with blood, please help my husband" she pleaded. "I'll do anything, just save him." The medical team took over the case immediately and rushed the man into the emergency room. Suddenly a loud siren broke the peaceful atmosphere. The police cruisers screeched in, hooting loudly. They stopped by the emergency building, and parked their vehicles against the curb. They were dressed in SWAT armed with heavy guns, a couple of them jumped out and set themselves inside disrupting the hospital. "This is the police, we need to conduct a search here, we heard that a gang member was brought here injured." A team of doctors rushed out to address the situation, a middle-aged man spoke up among them. "I'm the chief here, however you are disrupting the hospital and making the victims scared," he said, pointing his fingers at the victims now cowering in fear at the sight of guns." "Are you trying to stop us from doing our job?" The SWAT team leader snarled at the chief doctor. "Ofcourse not, officer, however there are proper protocols set in place," the doctor replied. "It seems to me that you are preventing us from raiding a search here, you can be charged with assault against an officer and preventing the law from taking action", the officer retorted back. "Can I atleast see your warrant? You can't search us without that." "There was no time for a warrant, doctor. Time is of the essence here." "This is Italy, officers, we put a call through to the local police because of the evidence of bullets, why do we have Americans dressed in SWAT in Italy?" The SWAT officers exchange looks among themselves and the emergency room started to fill in with curious onlookers. The SWAT leader moved closer to the doctor and stared at him closely, leaving an inch between their faces. "We are Americans, sir and this matter is an international crime. We have Intel about a criminal involved in tonight's shootout was here. We have been chasing members of a gang." The doctor sighed deeply, he was at a loss on what to say. Before he could act, the SWAT team pushed past him looking for the man. They found him lying on a bed in the emergency room, an helmet still secured on his head. "Who brought this man here, officer?" the SWAT leader asked. "It was a woman, however she's nowhere to be found" the doctor responded. "We'll be taking him with us." "You can't do that, he's our patient and he's in a lot of pain." The SWAT team leader stared at the doctor, the tension palpable in the air. The other team had failed to carry out his orders properly, now he was left to clean up their mess before the police finds out. There was too many witnesses and casualties already, now, if he failed to retrieve Dominic, the Don would be furious. The only option left was to use force, however, the matter would escalate and the police would be onto the case before daybreak. He needed to act fast. A tap on his shoulder jerked him out of his thoughts, "you have a call from The Don, the voice behind him said. He took the phone and stepped away to receive the call. The voice on the other end spoke: "Leave your brother, Dominic and come home son, the police are on their way already." *** "Father, father, where are you", a voice called out. "I'm here, son,", an old man's voice boomed from where he was sitting. At 70 years of age, it was time he retired as the the boss of the Moretti family. His sons were more than capable of continuing the family's legacy. His eldest child, Dominic had been attacked tonight alongside his wife and Laura was nowhere to be found. Witnesses had said she drowned in the sea. However, he wondered who was the woman in question that took his son to the hospital. He ran his fingers through his gray hair, his Italian heritage made his features look sharper despite his graying features. He sighed, wondering the next step of action. "How is Dominic, Sean?, he asked the man standing in front of him." "I was unable to retrieve my brother, father. However, he is in good hands at the hospital, i have a feeling Rose might still be alive, however all traces of her had disappeared along with her little stepchildren Lorenzo and Maria," Sean responded. Don Moretti clutched at his chest, "In just a night, my son has been wounded, his wife left to die and my grandchildren are missing." He stood up clutching at his cane, " I'll teach the Rossi gang not to mess with us again. This rivalry started because of a sour deal that went bad. We both lost huge sums of money but I'll run them down, they'll have to scrap at the ground to feed themselves." He turned to face Sean, "I was going to suggest another deal to cover up our losses, but instead they turned to war, and now they've swung their blade at my family and drew blood." "Father...,"Sean started. "Don't father me," Don Moretti shouted angrily. "By the time I am done with the Rossi family for what they have done tonight, they would regret messing with me. They have shed my son's blood. I will destroy their lineage, all their generations to come would fear me and tremble at the Moretti's name. Don Moretti moved closer to the decanter table and poured himself a shot of whisky, he swirled it around and downed in one gulp. He took deep breaths to calm himself down. "Now, Sean, is your intel right about the Rossi family being the one behind the hit we've been getting lately?" Don Moretti asked his son. "Yes father, my contacts have never failed, Rossi sent their son tonight to attack my brother." They stalked him from where he went on a date with his wife and opened fire on him, he was able to escape on his bike with Rose but they caught up to him later." Sean responded. Don Moretti squinted his eyes in deep thought, "why would they attack their daughter Rose Rossi barely a week after her wedding with my son, something is not right here." Sean moved closer to Don and spoke into his ears, "Father, I heard she blew the whistle on the business deal, now her family is out of her blood." Don Moretti walked towards the windows and allowed the air to blow against him, he spoke to his son and gave him orders, "You'll lead my men, Sean, and raid the entire Rossi family tonight. Before the country wakes up tomorrow, I want the Rossi name to be vanished upon the face of the planet." "Yes father," Sean responded, "but let us teach them slowly on what it means to hurt our family. Let us draw out our revenge slowly over the years." "I don't want slow revenge, Sean. I want it quickly served and done with once and for all. I would not give them a chance to retaliate and strike back." "You will go now, at once tonight and strike our full force at them, when Italy wakes up tomorrow. There would be only powerful gang left, and that would be the Moretti family." *** The country went into a whirlwind the next day, all the news company and media outlets were broadcasting the same information, "one of the most powerful gangs in Italy have been brought down." The government had found them guilty of different offences, money laundering, drug dealing and the use of firearms on the innocent public. Their bank accounts have been frozen and all the gang members have been arrested and locked in prison for their crimes. There was a buzz of activity and excitement in the air, with everyone asking the same question, "who was the anonymous tip, that destroyed the Rossi gang in one night?". "Where is the Moretti family?". All fingers and evidence were pointing to the Moretti family because of the gang war that has been happening the past few weeks. As fast as the Rossi gang went up in flames, the Moretti family had disappeared underground like they never existed. "Wherever you see the name, 'Rossi,' kill the namebearer." ~ Don Moretti