Pretending to Be an Untouchable Crime Boss

They were so fucked that Mike just walked back to the SUV and sat down on the ground beside Arine, who hadn't moved an inch since. He had no more ammunition in the smg, and his pistol only had one magazine maybe enough to kill one or two if he was lucky.

Benji too was out of ammunition and just sat down, while two guards and Luke kept firing their last rounds.

"What's with that face…?" Arine asked Mike.

He just shook his head and smiled into his face. "I think this is it, Arine."

"Oh… well fuck, I'd rather be shot than put into a prison." As he said it, bullets started wheezing and impacting the SUV as the SWAT officers started shooting at them.

They didn't wait a bit and even threw flashbangs while the armored truck started moving up to them.

One of the guards was hit in the shoulder, as a sniper positioned himself in one of the buildings. As his body fell back, the blood splattered onto Arine and Mike. The high-caliber round this time went through the bulletproof vest and out the back.

But Mike didn't move.

He just looked at the guard as he grabbed his wound, pushing it, blood gushing out between his fingers like he had already given up on everything.

"Mike, move your ass!" Benji shouted at him as he leaned out and emptied his pistol magazine toward the armored truck and hit one of the officer's guns. That one hit was enough to stop their movements and get a few seconds more in.

Mike got up this time, and he was back to his old self, dragging closer to the guard and pushing his hand on the wound. He grabbed the tourniquet from Arine's vest and put it on, but he had no bandage left, so he just kept pushing onto the wound as long as he could.

But the next moment just hit him in the heart. The guard he was helping got out his phone and started a voice message recording.

"Hey, darling... I'm sorry I wasn't there..." His voice cracked as the adrenaline started to go away. "If I disappear, please tell our baby when he grows up, that I loved him, okay? That I loved him more than anything…" His voice cracked again as tears started falling on his face. "I love you, darling… and I'll never forget about you and Cilia." He sent the message and threw the phone to the ground as he leaned his head back.

Not even a minute passed, and his phone was buzzing on the ground. Mike looked at it, and the caller ID was "Darling" with a picture of a baby and a woman, the guard's family. He reached out his hand toward it, but the guard grabbed his hand.

"No… it's okay, man… it's okay." He said, gritting his teeth together as the pain just got worse.

Mike turned his head toward Arine. "Call up your family!"

Arine with a faint smile said. "I don't have family, Mike… you are my family. You and the Bellinis."

He felt the words hit him like a train. It was the truth, and it hurt more than he could have prepared for. He'd always thought of family as something more, something warm and full, something you could rely on in moments like this.

But none of them had that luxury.

None of them had real families anymore. They had each other, and that was it.

"You've got us." Mike said, his voice thick, though he didn't know if it was for Arine's sake or his own. "You're not alone."

The words felt hollow, like they could never be enough to fill the void left by a family that wasn't there. But in that moment, it was all he had to give.

The next bullet that passed them was too close, but in that moment, before the world could fall apart entirely, he allowed himself the smallest flicker of hope, that maybe, just maybe, they could make it out of this together.

Not because they thought they would win.

But because they were Bellinis.

So Mike did what he needed to and pulled out the guard's pistol and threw it to Arine, while he reloaded his own. Luke, and the others did the same, pulling out their pistols and getting ready to shoot at the moment the officers stepped forward.

Mike's heart raced, his palms slick with sweat as he tightened his grip on his pistol. He looked over at Arine, his eyes meeting him with a silent understanding. This was it.

Benji was muttering under his breath, while he pulled out his knife as he was out of everything.

They all knew the reality of the situation, they weren't getting out of this. Not alive, anyway.

Mike thoughts flashed back to every moment, every battle, every piece of himself he had sold just to survive this life. The Bellinis weren't just a family, they were the only family any of them had ever known.

And now, here they were, ready to go down fighting for the only thing that mattered, loyalty.

The sound of boots hitting the road drew closer.

Mike's chest tightened, and for a moment, he swore he could hear the heartbeat of every man standing beside him, Benji, Luke, even the others who hadn't spoken a word. They were all here, united by a bond that ran deeper than blood.

"We do this together…" Mike said, his finger tightened on the trigger.

Arine's voice cracked "I'm scared, Mike."

"Me too man."

Then came the silence. A heavy silence, as if everything around them had ceased to exist. No sounds, no footsteps, no gunfire….nothing. For minutes there were silence.

Silence… yes, it was the silence of death that was approaching.

And then a sound. A sound of something striking the asphalt. A dull, rhythmic knock that grew closer, and closer, and finally showed himself.

With a smile on his face and with a cane in hand stood…

James Bellini.