Heir’s Redemption

Chapter 27

THIRD PERSON POV

The tension in the penthouse apartment was deadly. To a stranger, they would run far away from this place if possible, but to the two woman inside, it was a bloody showdown.

Caterina clutched the pistol in her hand as if it was her life force. Her knuckles had turned white a while ago as she waited for Rámon to finally show up.

Caterina wasn’t her regular self—she was cold and devoid of any emotion. That spark of life she once had was gone.

Her soul that used to be thriving, was now a gaping black hole that was looking to consume everything whole and cause chaos all around.

She wanted vengeance.

She wanted blood.

Nobody had no idea what she was capable of—not even herself.

Then there was Veronica—she had a stoic expression on her overly powdered face. She tried to keep an aura of poise about her but internally she was panicking.

She knew she went too far.

Staring at the gun in Caterina’s hands as Caterina looked devoid of any life, absolutely frightened her.

She wasn’t gonna give up though—not when her future riches were right around the corner. She’s worked too hard to drop everything and run. Not when Rámon was already wrapped around her slimy fingers.

Or so she thought.

“Why can’t you just be a woman and talk about this?” Veronica questioned, trying to sound authoritative but her voice wavered, showing every ounce of fear she was feeling.

Caterina smirked, loving every ounce of fear she had. Her soul consumed her fear, letting it feed the unhinged rage that was bubbling underneath the surface of her cold flesh.

If Caterina was a beast, she would eat Veronica alive. She would take pride in consuming her whole as she pleaded for mercy and screamed out to the unknown deity in the heavens.

That thought alone pleased Caterina.

It helped her not act out of character and shoot her in cold blood. If anything, she was waiting for Rámon to get here to make her next move.

She needed his testimony to act.

She needed to hear his side of things, even though she already made up her mind. Somebody would get hurt tonight, but it wasn’t gonna be her.

“Get rid of the gun Caterina.” Veronica scoffed, “This isn’t gonna end well for you.”

Caterina laughed—a cold and unhinged laugh that was filled with darkness that made Veronica’s heart race.

She’s never seen this side of Caterina before and she honestly wasn’t liking it.

“Do you really think you have any say in this situation?” Caterina questioned with dominance lacing her voice, “If anything, you should be begging the heavens to hurry Rámon up before I lose my cool and shoot you in the f*****g head.”

Veronica’s eyes widened in shock as she processed her confession.

“Oh how I would love to put a bullet in your pretty little head.” Caterina sang, sounding fully unhinged and psychotic.

Veronica nervously shifted in her seat, not knowing what to do.

Before she could say or do anything, the sound of the door opening made her release a sigh of relief.

Rámon walked through the door, carrying bags of take-out. He was in his own mind with a smile on his face as he awaited the presence of the love of his life.

He’s missed her all day.

“Rámon!” Veronica cried out, making him snap his head over towards the sound, as if he was hearing things.

His eyes connected with Veronica before they bulged out of his head. He blinked a couple of times, trying to make sure he was really seeing Veronica in his living room, but this wasn’t a dream at all.

She was really here.

Then he looked over and saw Caterina siting across from her with a pistol in her lap.

His pistol.

The expression on her face was terrifying—she had this cold smirk on her face but her eyes were devoid of any emotions, nothing like they used to hold.

His heart sank in his chest, knowing the cat was finally out of the bag—but it was worse because he wasn’t the one to tell her.

It was Veronica.

The same skank b***h that got him in this mess in the first place.

The take-out bags dropped to the floor as his body froze in place. He tried to move or even speak, but he was so petrified that he couldn’t even find the strength to do anything.

He knew in this moment that he would lose the love of his life.

By the way she looked, he may even lose his life.

“Caterina.” He finally breathed out, “Let me explain.”

Caterina laughed out—a chilling laugh that brought unpleasant shivers down his spine.

“Explain?” She scoffed, “Explain what Rámon?!”

Her voice raised with deadly venom as her eyes narrowed at him.

“I messed up.” He explained, “I know i messed up but let me just explain.”

His explanation made her angrier.

He had the nerve to say he messed up but not even apologize for messing up, or lying for that matter.

Her grip on the pistol tightened as she itched to pull the trigger at both of these pieces of s**t.

Her rage was in the drivers seat, but she still couldn’t lie to herself with the fact that she still loved him.

Looking at him and how handsome he was, hurt her. She saw the love he had for her, but it was all ruined.

He ruined them.

He ruined her.

“Rámon!” Veronica yelled out with ugly tears running down her face, “She threatened to kill us! She said she would kill our child!”

“Damn right I did!” Caterina yelled back as she jumped to her feet and pointed the gun at Veronica, “Your lucky I haven’t f*****g killed you yet!”

Caterina’s body shook with rage as her heart dwindled away inside of her chest.

Every part of her hurt—not a physical pain, but an emotional pain that seemed to be worse than any physical pain she’s ever felt in her life.

“Caterina!” Rámon yelled out as he feared for his unborn child.

He loved Caterina, but he also loved his son who wasn’t even here yet. It was his son, how could he see him get killed?—even if Caterina did have every right to pull that trigger and take him away.

Rámon swiftly moved across the room and pulled Veronica behind him. Caterina was even more gutted at the sight in front of her.

It was worse knowing that Rámon betrayed her, but to see it with her very own eyes was just agonizing.

She didn’t know how to feel—she was just broken.

“Caterina, I know you’re upset.” Rámon spoke out softly as he stared at the love of his life who was losing it, “I’m sorry baby, I’m really sorry.”

“SORRY?!” Caterina screamed out, “Your f*****g sorry?!”

Rámon’s face scrunched up in pain as he watched the one strong person he knew, completely breakdown in front of him.

“How long?!” She spat out, “How long did you know she was pregnant?!”

“Two months.” He didn’t even look at her when he said that. He was so ashamed that he couldn’t even look her in the eyes.

He knew he was an unforgiving asshole, he just couldn’t see the pain in her eyes after he confessed the truth.

Caterina closed her eyes as her already broken heart dwindled further away into the gaping black hole in the middle of her chest.

His confession put the pieces together in her mind.

It explains the distance between them and all the secrets he was keeping. It explains the reasons why he would dropped off the face of the earth and not come around.

He knew all along and kept her in the dark while dragging her along like a stupid love sick puppy.

She was done.

She was done with him and this whole situation. She didn’t want to be apart of any of this.

“That’s why you were so distant and keeping secrets.” She muttered out as she opened her eyes and looked at Rámon again, “You knew this whole time and lied to me. You kept me in the dark and dragged me along.”

Rámon wanted to refute, but he couldn’t.

Everything she said was true.

“Caterina, I’m sorry.” He apologized profusely, “I’m really f*****g sorry.”

Rámon’s chest hurt as he watched the whole secret he kept, unravel before his very own eyes.

“Your apologies mean nothing!” Caterina yelled back, “You f*****g lied to me and betrayed me!”

“You got down on one knee and promised me no more secrets and lies!” She continued yelling, “You asked me to marry you and start a life with you! You took my virginity for f***s sake!”

Her voice cracked as she became emotional, reliving every beautiful moment in her mind—but they weren’t beautiful anymore, they were tainted.

It was all a lie.

It was all one big lie.

“Caterina I’m sorry.” Rámon begged, not knowing what else to say “I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to protect you from all of this.”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” She screamed out, sounding like an unhinged banshee.

She waved the gun around as her red rimmed hazel eyes blazed with an uncontrollable fury that was terrifying.

“I gave you everything!” She yelled out, “I f*****g gave you everything and you do this to me!”

“Caterina!” He urged out to her, “Put the gun down and calm down!”

“NO!” Her grip on the gun tightened as her finger itched to pull the trigger.

She fantasized about a bullet hole in the middle of Rámon’s forehead. She wondered what his blood would look like or how it would pour out of his traitorous head.

She wanted more than anything to kill him in this moment. She hated him with every fiber in her being. She wanted him to hurt just as much as she was right now.

Then there was Veronica.

She wanted to kill the bastard baby inside of her whorish womb. She wanted to take a knife and cut that abomination out of her, herself.

If anything, she wanted to destroy the both of them and make them watch as she killed them in cold blood.

She wanted blood.

She wanted chaos.

And she wanted the end of them.

“Caterina!” Rámon begged, “Put the gun down now!”

Rámon saw the fury in her eyes and he knew she wasn’t in her right mind. He was scared that she would do something to hurt them.

He knew she would do something to hurt them.

She was a Gambino after all.

It was in their blood to kill their betrayers—and right now, they were her betrayers.

Just as Caterina was about to pull the trigger, her logical side instantly took over. It prompted her to open her mouth and ask one final question.

“Choose.” She spoke out, “I want you to choose. Me or her?”

Her tremors stopped as the anger disappeared and all she felt was the pain and despair of losing the one she truly loved.

Deep down she wanted to know.

She wanted to know if he would choose her over Veronica. She wanted to see if he would salvage their relationship—whatever sliver of hope they had left for their relationship.

She wasn’t stupid, she knew he didn’t cheat on her. By the size of Veronica’s belly, she knew he slept with her way before they got together.

In her mind, they could salvage this.

It may have been ugly, but there was a chance that they could salvage this.

He just needed to choose her.

Caterina searched his light brown eyes that she once adored but only found pain when she looked at them. She searched them deeply, eagerly hoping for that sliver of hope of him choosing her over Veronica and his bastard child.

“Caterina you know how much I wished I had my father in my life.” Rámon admitted, “I can’t abandon my son, I can’t do that to him. I’m sorry.”

His words broke Caterina all over again, as if everything else wasn’t enough.

He didn’t choose her.

He really didn’t choose her.

So much for them being together for the rest of their lives.

The pain and despair disappeared as the rage took back over.

Without another thought, she pulled the trigger and kept pulling the trigger until the clip was empty.

Glass shattered all around them as every round of ammo plunged itself into the glass windows that overlooked the city.

Veronica’s screams were deafening as Rámon shielded her with his broad towering body—the same body that used to hold Caterina and make her feel things that she’s never felt before.

Caterina looked at the state of the apartment and how Rámon was shielding Veronica. The sight alone made her nauseous and just made things even more agonizing for her.

She knew in this moment that she was really done. There was no going back for them.

From this day forth, they were enemies.

Rámon finally opened his eyes and checked his body, finding no bullet wounds or wounds from the shattering glass for that matter.

He looked down, seeing so much glass covering his marble floors. Veronica’s cries finally caught his attention and he looked her over, checking for any injuries.

But she had none.

He turned his attention over to Caterina who dropped the empty gun to the floor and looked at him like he was her enemy.

He knew then that he would never get her back.

She was gone.

The Caterina who he knew and always loved since he was a child, was gone.

She was gone forever.

He watched as Caterina slipped the engagement ring off of her finger and dropped it to the floor.

The noise of the ring hitting the floor made his heart shatter.

“We’re done.” She promised—her voice final and unforgiving.

She grabbed her bag and quickly left, never looking back.

Rámon caught his breath as he tried to process what just happened. Everything felt like a dream, but the state of his apartment and Veronica’s constant wails proved it not to be.

Caterina really shot at him.

He wanted to be mad, but he couldn’t. She didn’t kill him, hell, she didn’t even wound him for that matter. If Caterina Gambino really wanted to kill him, she would have.

With that knowledge alone, he didn’t know how to feel.

Even at her lowest moment.

Her brokenest moment.

She held restraint.

“Are you just gonna stand there?!” Veronica cried out, “She just tried to kill us! Go after her and do something!”

He wanted to scream at her and tell her that if she really wanted to kill them then they would be dead, but he knew it was useless.

It was useless trying to get through to her.

If anything, he wanted to kill her. This was all of her fault, it wasn’t supposed to happen this way.

Rámon’s beast took over, making him grab Veronica by the neck and drag her across the living room until he was slamming her up against the wall.

He squeezed her neck, cutting off her air supply. She kicked and scratched at him, but nothing worked because he was too powerful.

“I told you to stay away from her!” Rámon snarled as pieces of spit flew onto her face, “You were to keep your mouth shut and not go near her!”

Veronica gasped for air, but she was quickly loosing consciousness as he squeezed her neck even tighter.

“You ruined everything!” He yelled into her face, silent cursing her very existence as he pondered on if he should kill her or not “You took the one thing that meant the world to me!”

“So I will now make your life a living hell.” He promised before releasing his grip and dropping her to the floor.

She gasped for air as she slowly regained consciousness. Rámon smashed his fists into the wall above her, leaving multiple holes.

He had so much rage that he needed to get it out. He would gladly take his rage out on Veronica, but that meant hurting his unborn son.

So, he had to find another target.

He turned his rage onto his apartment, destroying everything. Every piece of furniture was thrown or turned over. All of the TV’s were smashed and hanging off the wall. The priceless chandeliers were destroyed and on the floor.

His once pristine penthouse apartment was now in a disarray- just like his soul.

He lost the only thing that mattered.

Now, the world would suffer for his careless mistakes.

All for a child that wasn’t even his.