by Soraya Naomi
“I’m so excited for you! And I am doing very well,” I admit truthfully and store my paperback in my purse as he stares ahead for a moment at the people passing us by, making me frown at his hesitancy to ask his next question.
But then he wonders out loud, “Fallon, you’re good people, but I still worry sometimes.”
“Why?” I retort, yet I do understand where this is coming from.
Wade knows much more about the underworld than the rest of us civilians, and I bet he’s concerned about my relationship with Luca.
He glances at me, disappointed at my obvious feigned ignorance. “Luca lives in a dangerous world. He might seem clean, but you have to be careful.”
Apparently, Wade has been doing more digging, which he, unfortunately, is extremely skilled at; however, one thing I promised Luca is that I’ll never disclose anything about the Syndicate. And I’m sure Wade couldn’t have found any tangible evidence of Luca’s connection to the Syndicate – he’s just suspicious. Wade’s also wrong; Luca lives in the same world as Wade and I.
“I’m always careful, so I don’t know what you mean,” I defend.
“You protect him?”
“No, he always protects me.”
He releases a deep breath. “I have seen that.”
“For Luca, I would do anything because he’s done no less for me.” In a playful tone, I add, “I can hold my own, you know.”
“I have no doubt you can.” A smirk pulls at his lips, and he changes the topic. “How are the sessions going with Sylvia?”
“I forgot to tell you that I’m going to start seeing her every other week. She says I’ve made great progress. And I’m starting to feel like my old self again.”
“I’m glad, and you look really good, content.”
“I think I’m getting there, Wade. Without you and Luca, I don’t know what I would’ve done.”
“You’re a survivor, Fallon.” He pauses to take his phone out of his pocket and checks the screen. “Dinner next week? I have an assignment to get to right now,” he announces eagerly.
“It’s a date.” I kiss him on the cheek before he leaves.
I deeply inhale the air, and serenity settles within my heart. And with that gratifying feeling, I stroll back home. To Luca’s penthouse, my new home.
As I pass a bookstore, a self-help book about love and life in the window catches my attention. My preconceived notions of love and life were based on a lie. A lie I created in my mind based on what I’ve been taught. Communication and trust are definitely an important part of love, or better yet, of loving someone honestly. Nevertheless, love is also accepting your partner, with all his flaws, without the resolve to change that person. That’s what loving Luca DeMiliano has taught me.
While our love suffocated us for four months while we were apart, we learned how to let it breathe on its own when we found our way back to each other. More importantly, I don’t always need to know every little detail about his life because, at the end of the day, he comes home to me. We are each other’s home.
Luca’s a part of me as much as I’m a part of him. I belong to him as much as he belongs to me. He fulfills me and always puts me first.
And even though our relationship isn’t traditional, and it’ll always be something people around me wouldn’t understand if they knew the truth about Luca’s line of work, I still love him. I accept him. Today, tomorrow, and always.
CHAPTER 35
Luca
Adriano and I enter the warehouse where Ashton Banks has been held captive for a month – since that night at the cottage. Adriano had ordered Damian to go ahead and race to the cottage while he was calming Fallon on the phone. Damian got there in time to capture Ashton before he had a chance to drive away.
I would’ve given Fallon Ashton’s head on a stick if she’d asked me, but I knew that wouldn’t have made her very happy because she’s still slightly too conscientious, so I’ve been waiting for Fallon to come to terms with her grief. However, no one gets away with what Ashton did to Fallon, the Syndicate, and me, and that’s why I’ve held him captive here without telling her. Vengeance has never been far from my mind, but I didn’t want anything to obstruct the rebuilding of my relationship with Fallon. And I wasn’t about to lose her again, so I waited patiently for her to come to me and ask for revenge while already making Ashton’s life a living hell.
I lied to her. Yes. Am I sorry? No, because I will always protect her however I see fit. To lie or not to lie: that’s what it all comes down to with us, every single time.
And I’m pleased Damian caught him and took him to the warehouse that night because I knew the police were never going to do anything to solve her parents’ murder – they made that abundantly clear with the way the detective treated her from day one. And even if the police were going to do anything, I still wanted to take care of him myself.
Fortunately, it only took Ashton one day to confess everything to Adriano, and that’s when we learned what a psychotic idiot he truly is. It all started with the note found in Alex’s safe. Ashton was convinced that Alex left the note for him, but it was actually written by Kelli Ann Collopy and meant for me. It was nothing more than a jealous ploy by Collopy to get my attention because she saw me with Fallon. Kelli started to dig into Fallon’s life and found out she worked for Charity Events, and the moment she discovered Alex Gentry, who she knew was Fallon’s boss, was dead, she planted the note in his safe. Two unrelated events ignited a chain reaction of destruction and murder. Ashton drugged Fallon’s drink that night in Cocktails & Heels and was planning to kidnap her. If I hadn’t shown up there in time, I would’ve lost her forever.
Then Ashton first hid at Club 7, until we informed Fat Sal. He killed Collopy after he found out she attacked Fallon – he had someone else following Fallon when he was waterboarding me; therefore, he knew Kelli Ann assaulted her, and he decided to frame Fallon for a cop killing since she wasn’t going to be tried for his brother’s murder. But this didn’t play out as planned because Wade helped her. Ashton raped her at the police station, simply out of spite because he gets off on hurting people. He wasn’t done with making her pay for Alex’s death. He wanted Fallon to feel the pain of losing someone she loved and was becoming increasingly furious with how she got away with everything, so he killed her parents after following her to Lake Forest. A murder that changed Fallon’s life was based on misinformation.
Ashton was moving around Chicago to hide from us after that, with the help of the hostess of Club 7 constantly keeping him up-to-date, until he followed us to the cottage, and even that plan didn’t work out for him. Ashton was obsessed with Alex and never once investigated whether the note was actually written by Alex. If he’d have done that, much loss and violence could’ve been prevented.
For the first week of his capture, I had him in hell confinement in the first room of the warehouse because I wanted him to suffer. Hell confinement made it impossible for him to walk, sit, use the toilet, or feed himself. A pair of handcuffs and a pair of foot shackles that were linked together with a steel bar restrained him so that he had to stand up constantly as the bar pressed against his back. For a week, I starved him, and he was forced to defecate on himself.
Since then, we’ve had him strung up during the day but let him sleep on the floor at night while feeding him water and bread because I don’t want him to die too quickly.
“Bring him out,” I order Damian while Adriano and I move to the back of the area where the elongated high-temperature cremation oven is already burning with flames.
He rolls Ashton, who’s shackled on a metal table, over to us.
“Damn, he reeks!” Adriano’s mouth turns down in disgust.
“You should’ve made sure you killed me when you had the chance,” I grind out, watching Ashton’s pitiful expression.
His eyes widen in fear when he looks at me. “Just...kill me,” he begs, no trace of the fighter he once was. His thin body is black and blue.
&nbs
p; “Oh, dear Ashton, this is just the beginning.” Calmly, I unbutton my suit jacket, but as I speak, my anger detonates. “Death is too easy of an escape for you. Too bad for you that I had to read how you fucking raped my girl and tried to break her. I had to read how you pushed your filthy cock in her, you motherfucker! How you defiled her when she has done nothing to you!”
Inhaling a severe breath, I roll my neck as Adriano flicks open his gold lighter and holds it up to the end of his cigarette while approaching Ashton.
“You messed with the wrong people, asshole,” he whispers into his ear and then takes the cig between his pointer finger and thumb to blow smoke into Ashton’s eyes before handing it to me.
Without delay, I press the burning tip of the cig against his crotch. “There will be no mercy for you. Ever.”
First, the thin layer of his boxer briefs singes away, making Ashton jerk in his restraints as his piercing screams fill the warehouse.
“Hold him down,” I command Damian as I crush the cigarette deeper into his burning flesh and grit my teeth. “Hurts, doesn’t it?” I repeat my torture on different sensitive parts around his crotch. “I’m going to keep you on the unbearable border of life and death for a long time. When you do finally die, I will eventually find you in hell to torture you for eternity. That’s a promise, fucker!”
Signaling to the oven, I direct Damian to roll him in before the temperature gets too high.
Damian opens the door and reels him in partly so that only his legs connect with the flames while his earsplitting screams of agony echo off the concrete walls. The hot singe of flesh permeates the air around us.
Yet his pathetic cries mean nothing to me. This is me in my full underboss mode. No empathy. No compassion. Violence overrules my mind because he’s hurt what’s mine. She’ll always be mine to protect.
“Out!” I shout and inspect his wounds, which must hurt like hell because he’s already becoming delirious. “Tend to his wounds but don’t give him any pain meds. Leave him in the first room and repeat this until he fucking dies.”
As Adriano and I head out, he comments, “The wounds will probably get infected.”
But I merely pull up my shoulders. “I don’t care as long as he suffers, and trust me, he has and will.”
CHAPTER 36
Luca
“Come.” I offer my hand to Fallon and link our fingers while we take a stroll through the park on our way to the Parish of the Blessed.
“I’ve always loved the smell of spring,” Fallon remarks sadly as she closes her eyes and sighs.
I can tell she’s reminiscing about her parents. Pulling her into my side, I throw my arm around her shoulder and kiss the top of her head. I need to tell her that Ashton has been dealt with.
“Sweetheart, Ashton has been taken care of.”
Her reaction amazes me. She doesn’t become rigid, but on the contrary, she clasps her arms tightly around me, saying, “Thank you.”
I know she doesn’t want the specifics on how I handled Ashton, but I do need to educate her on other dealings of the Syndicate for her safety. “I want to show you something to give you some insight into the Syndicate.”
Now her body does tense up, so I rub my hand down her arm.
“Not anything dangerous. Sei sempre al sicuro con me, dolcezza.” You’re always safe with me, sweetheart.
I tighten my grip when she snuggles up against me as a gust of fresh spring air rushes past us. “I’m going to disclose information to you so that you can at least try to get an understanding of the Syndicate and my part in it. It’s important for us to trust each other. I can’t stress that enough. And you need to keep in mind that I’m the only person you can fully trust – and Adriano. If there’s ever a problem and you can’t reach me, call Adriano. He’s the only person I’d trust to keep you safe.”
“What about James?” she questions and tilts her head up to look me in the eye.
“Our relationship is complicated. It always walks a fine line. He wants to treat me like a son, but he must keep a certain distance because he’s the Capo crimine. He has a soft spot for both Adriano and me, and we do owe him a lot because he got us into college, which enabled Adriano and me to climb the social ladder. I trust him too, but not as much as I trust Adriano. Now, I want you to memorize what I’m about to tell you. There are three Syndicates: LA, New York, and Chicago. We, Chicago Syndicate, have a Capo crimine, underboss, Capo, and Consigliere as the highest ranking men. We also have regular captains and a number of soldiers and associates working for the Syndicate.” I pause and gaze down at her nodding her head, conveying that she understands what I’ve said. “There’s a reason why we – the highest ranks – are elusive. No one knows for sure who the boss and underboss of the LA, New York, and Chicago Syndicates are except for those high ranking men in said Syndicates. No one with a high rank in any of the Syndicates has a criminal record, and bosses are never seen in public with soldiers. We’re invisible but pull all the strings. And each Syndicate has many associates working for it. The most powerful people, people who you would never suspect, are associates and are involved in various illegal activities to gain wealth. This all happens in your world, Fallon. It’s the same world you live in, only our rules are different, not governed by the state.”
We stop at the edge of the curb and wait for the light to change to green as she listens to me intently.
“So not many people, in even your own Syndicate, know who you are or who James is?” she asks.
“Exactly, or they know I’m powerful but not my exact rank. And all these associates, soldiers, and other people we work with – I can identify them all. Sometimes we can be forced to give away our identity for leverage. People who do know understand not to voice what they know.”
“But weren’t the people at your headquarters your soldiers? They see you there constantly, so they can identify you, can’t they?”
“Some of them can. But I’m never there as often as I was when you were at the house. There are maybe a handful of soldiers who know the hierarchy. For example, Damian knows. Of course, there are a lot of rumors, and many soldiers do think they know my rank, but they would never disclose it outside the Syndicate for fear for their own lives. You need to understand how powerful we are. We’re above the law. Look at how I can live, and yet I’m never under investigation. We can make anything and anyone disappear. I want you to stop being afraid. If you trust me one hundred percent, I can guarantee that you’ll always be protected. Stop thinking in black and white and open your mind more to the grey.”
“I’m trying to, Luca, but it’s complicated,” she replies. “When I was at your headquarters, I remember you said that none of you were blood related. But the doctor is James’s brother.”
“None of the members are related. I also told you that the doctor isn’t truly a member. He’s part of the Syndicate but only as our physician. We can’t just use any physician we choose; it needs to be someone we can trust. And James’s brother doesn’t mind because they’re very close. He’s been part of the Syndicate since before I joined.”
In the meantime, we cross the street to climb the stairs of the parish. As we stand in the back, I circle my arm around Fallon from behind and pull her back to my chest.
When she rests her head against me, I speak softly into her ear, “There’s a good reason why I always tell you to be more observant. Remember the priest from your parents’ funeral? He’s at the front; his name is Eli. He’s a mafia priest. Do you see the woman in the front row in the blue blouse? That’s his wife.”
“Huh? A priest can’t marry,” she blurts.
“Rules of religion don’t apply to mafia priests. And most people attending this service know and accept that he’s married. The guy in the grey suit on the left...”
Her attention turns to him.
“He’s an associate and also the DA. So you see, no laws apply to these people. And always remember that nothing is what it seems. We all live above any law except
the Syndicate laws. Ordinarily, no one knows the laws of the Syndicate except the members, but I’m telling you all this for your own safety. You’re my life, Fallon, and I will protect you with everything I have and know.”
CHAPTER 37
Fallon
“You’re my life, Fallon, and I will protect you with everything I have and know,” Luca mutters and presses his lips to my temple as I pull his arms tighter around my middle.
I’m not surprised Father Eli is part of the mafia because I knew he had a shady association with Luca, but I’m stunned that he can just do what he wants, even marry, and his congregation accepts it.
Glancing around at all the different people, I realize that I shouldn’t try to understand it. As long as Luca understands it, I’ll be safe; I’m positive of that.
He’s quelled my need for revenge exactly the way I wanted it. I feel at ease again because I’m confident that Luca has made Ashton pay. Although I don’t want to know how, the fact that he’s taken care of him fills me with a serenity I never thought I’d enjoy again. Ultimately, I’ve gotten justice for my parents and myself.
And I finally realize that Luca is the good one in my life story. He might be an underboss, but he’s mine, and he loves me fiercely and without boundaries. He loves me with all of his heart and is the only man who could comprehend my few dark parts.
My morality changed the day my parents died, and that allowed me to love the dark parts of him as well. He’s opened my eyes to a world I refused to see. Life isn’t black and white, life isn’t even grey; it’s actually an entirely different, unidentifiable shade when you open your eyes and see past the standards that society sets. Everything I’ve been taught about good and bad has been a lie.
At last, Luca’s words make sense because, indeed, nothing is what it seems.
CHAPTER 38
Luca
I’m waiting for James in my office at our headquarters to discuss Cam when Adriano steps inside, eating as usual.
