Chapter 37 I'm Not Dead

The sweep through Eastside turned out far bloodier than anyone had expected. By the time the sky began to lighten, the gunfire at the abandoned pier was finally thinning. Alessandro stepped over bodies strewn across the ground, the hem of his black trench coat smeared with dust and blood. "Don Rossi, the Corsini men are retreating," one of his men reported as he ran up, his voice hoarse. Alessandro lit a cigarette. He'd barely taken a drag when he caught a flicker of movement in the shadow behind a container on the left. "Watch it!" His body moved before his mind did. He yanked the young man beside him back. A muffled gunshot cracked through the air. Alessandro's body jerked, then swayed. The sea wind swallowed the sound of the shot. Alessandro let out a low grunt and clamped a hand over his left upper arm. Blood broke through his sleeve almost instantly. The bodyguards' eyes turned bloodshot. Gunfire flooded the corner, and the ambusher was finished in seconds. "Don't shout,