* * *
“And you will be,” Martina reassured her, “Nico didn’t want Luca to come back. None of us did. We’ll take care of this and then it will all be over. I promise.”
* * *
“And how do you know this?”
* * *
Martina shrugged, “A sixth sense?”
* * *
Eve pulled away from her friend and picked Matteo up, allowing him to sit on her hip.
* * *
“Well no matter what we need to find a way out of this.”
* * *
“Leave London tonight,” Martina suggested.
* * *
“Yes. We must. But I don’t know where to go. I don’t know if Nico and Edoardo will find us.”
* * *
“They’ll find us,” Martina reassured her, “We should go to France. At least there we can get a head start and try to move around each day.”
* * *
“Right. So literally going on the run.”
* * *
“I don’t see what other choice we have. We need to keep Matteo safe.”
* * *
Matteo perked up at the sound of his own name. He knew enough to know when his mother was having an adult conversation and his input wouldn’t be welcomed. He replaced his head on her chest.
* * *
“So then. France it is,” Eve muttered.
* * *
Martina nodded in response.
* * *
“I’ll book the tickets.”
* * *
“And I’ll try to get a hold of our husbands,” Eve added.
* * *
Before Martina could walk off, she interrupted her, “Do you think we’ll be trailed out of the city?”
* * *
Martina shrugged, “It’s possible. We’ll have to keep an eye out.”
* * *
Eve nodded somberly. She took her son upstairs and started packing another duffel while she tried to call Nico and Edoardo. Eve was unsuccessful. She suspected that her husband was already well on his way to London by the fastest route possible. But they didn’t have time to wait for him. If they waited, Luca could be on his way back at any minute, and this time…
* * *
Eve shuddered when she thought about the possibility of encountering Luca again. She started packing as Matteo tried to help. He understood that they were on the run again. Pangs of guilt wracked through Eve as she mused about the life she was giving her son.
* * *
This wasn’t normal… This wasn’t stable. She was supposed to be free with Nico but they’d been consistently entered into a form of bondage the deeper they grew intertwined with each other. Eve desired freedom, a rest from mafia related drama and a true future with her husband, not just the possibility of one.
* * *
Eve was tired of possibilities, she wanted a definitive future.
* * *
With their bags packed and the flights booked (but still no word from their husbands), they left the house by cab. Once they got to the airport, Martina kept watch to see if anyone was staring at them unusually, or keeping tabs on them. There was no one.
* * *
That didn’t mean they were in the clear, just that Luca was either absent, or not making his sources of information obvious. The flight to France passed quickly and represented one of the few moments of true peace of mind for Eve.
* * *
Matteo slept on her lap the entire way and didn’t go into fits as the plane landed. Once they landed in France, he awoke and pressed his mother for where they were. From her experience with Matteo, Eve had learned just how adaptable children were, and she remained in awe of how Matteo could adjust to his surroundings even if his mother moved him around constantly.
* * *
His eyes lit up with delight as they entered their hotel room for the night, and Eve let him crawl into bed and turn on the TV while she set up a laptop with Martina at the hotel room’s small round table in an attempt to contact Nico again. For a quick night’s stay, the hotel was quite high end. Eve was still adjusting to the contrast between the classiness of the hotel and the fact that she was on the run.
* * *
This seemed more like the kind of place you would go on vacation, not to escape a murderous psychopath.
* * *
Martina began messaging Edoardo and finally, there was a response. As they expected, their husbands had just landed in London and were shocked (and terrified) to find their apartment vacated.
* * *
“Do you want to talk to Nico?” Martina asked.
* * *
Eve shook her head. She’d tried to internalize Martina’s words, but she still wasn’t ready to talk to her husband. She had wanted anything but to be left alone in London and he’d assured her everything would be okay. But it wasn’t, and if it weren’t for sheer dumb luck, they’d all be dead.
* * *
Hell, they might still all end up dead despite fleeing to France. The last person Eve wanted to see was Nico. If he wanted to see her, the least he could do was show up here and actually be there for her. He’d keep them safe once and for all.
* * *
Martina finished up her conversation with Edoardo and then hung up, throwing Eve a stern look.
* * *
“Why don’t you want to talk to Nico?”
* * *
“We’ve been married for such a short time, yet I already feel like it’s been nothing but bullshit. I got conned.”
* * *
“Hey!” Martina snapped, “Do not think like that. You love each other, no?”
* * *
“Yes, we love each other.”
* * *
“Then this is just hard times. Everyone comes on hard times. Women… we are strong. We can handle much more than men can. Endure this Eve… Endure this and at the other end will be the lifetime of happiness you’ve been dreaming of. I know it’s hard on you, but don’t give up on him.”
* * *
“Shouldn’t this be easier though?” Eve resisted, though she could already feel herself coming around to Martina’s point of view.
* * *
“Perhaps it should be easier. But marriage is never what we expect it to be.”
* * *
“I just want him to be here. I don’t want to talk to him through a screen anymore. I want him to face me…”
* * *
“I know. But please Eve, try to think how hard this must be for him.”
* * *
Eve heard Martina’s words and Martina’s candor surprised her. Eve wasn’t accustomed to Martina being so honest with her.
* * *
“I need time to think.”
* * *
Eve climbed into bed next to Matteo and pulled her son close to her chest. He lay his head down on her bosom and began his usual toddler babbling to her. Eve stroked Matteo’s hair and kissed his forehead. Despite his tawny skin color and his curly hair, he reminded her so much of her husband.
* * *
Nico — the husband she loved and the husband she feared would bring ruin to their entire family.
* * *
She had trusted before that this would all be over, but that seemed naïve given what they were both currently facing. Luca. That ghost from Nico’s past had murdered those he loved before. She understood how terrified Nico must be.
* * *
“Where’s daddy?” Matteo asked.
* * *
Eve looked down into his gorgeous face and knew that she couldn’t lie to him. She had to give Matteo some truth about where his father was, even if it wasn’t the whole truth.
* * *
“Daddy’s trying to make us safe, sweetie,” Eve replied.
* * *
Matteo looked into his mother’s deep brown eyes.
* * *
“We aren’t safe mama?”
* * *
“Of co
urse we’re safe,” Eve said, “But… Daddy’s just trying to make things better. We’ll see him soon.”
* * *
“Okay,” Matteo seemed to accept the answer, “I want some pizza.”
* * *
Eve chuckled, “No pizza. It’s too late. Why don’t we head to bed and we can see about pizza tomorrow.”
* * *
“Okay,” Matteo said, “But I’m sleeping here.”
* * *
He closed his eyes and rested his head on his mother’s chest. Eve began to stroke his hair, appreciating how much Matteo had grown since he was born. He was already talking, walking and he seemed to be getting smarter every day. She loved watching the curious way his eyes roamed around a room and how much Matteo craved nothing more than spending time with both her and Nico.
* * *
It didn’t take long for him to fall asleep. Eve caught Martina looking over at them and she wondered if perhaps Martina was thinking about having a child of her own — what it would be like. Motherhood had changed Eve. She had gone from putting herself first to putting Matteo before anyone else.
* * *
That was why she found herself growing so angry with Nico. She wanted to see that he put his son first too.
* * *
Please keep us safe babe. Eve whispered to herself.
* * *
She kept stroking Matteo’s hair until he started snoring. She moved him off her chest onto the bed next to her. Martina climbed into the other bed and the two women said goodnight to each other before dimming the lights and slipping into a deep sleep.
* * *
In the middle of the night (around 3 in the morning), Edoardo and Nico found them. Eve’s heart dropped to her stomach when she first heard their knocks at the door until she heard Edoardo cursing under his breath for a cigarette. This time, there was no trick; their husbands had arrived.
* * *
They reunited silently in the middle of the night. Edoardo climbed into bed with Martina after giving his skinny dark-skinned wife a long and tight hug. Eve allowed Nico to peck her on the cheek and then he slid into bed with both her and Matteo, kissing his son on the forehead as he drifted off to a much needed sleep.
* * *
Morning in France was different from anywhere else. Mornings were less rushed in France than in any other country in the world. The sun crawled over the horizon and Eve only began to rouse when the sun started to blind her. For the first time in a long time, Matteo woke up after she did.
* * *
Matteo saw his father sleeping next to them and he started to tug on his arm until Nico was awake too. The room was nice, but not perfect. Martina and Edoardo couldn’t ignore the fuss Matteo was making and soon they were all awake. Perhaps tinged with a bout of cabin fever, Martina volunteered to go pick up some coffees and bring them back to the hotel room.
* * *
Edoardo was reluctant to let her out of sight, but she wasn’t the type to easily bend to her husband’s wishes. Edoardo couldn’t do much to stop her.
* * *
Martina left and Nico and Eve sat up in bed. Matteo clung to his father, unwilling to let go of him. Eve could tell he was worried that his father would leave again. She didn’t even have any faith that he’d be in France with them long.
* * *
“After coffee, there is much to discuss,” Edoardo said.
* * *
“I know.”
* * *
“You met Luca?” Edoardo asked, “And survived?”
* * *
“Somehow,” Eve answered, uncomfortable that such a conversation was happening in such proximity to her young son.
* * *
“Can we occupy Matteo and move this discussion to the table?” Nico said.
* * *
“My apologies,” Edoardo said.
* * *
Matteo was thrilled to watch cartoons and content to let the adults hang over the table in the hotel room without him. A few minutes after sitting down, Martina returned and handed out their coffees. They started drinking as they began speaking about what had transpired in London.
* * *
“He’s demonstrating his power,” Nico muttered.
* * *
Martina nodded, “Well if he wanted to scare us, he succeeded.”
* * *
“Agreed. He could already know where we are,” Eve added.
* * *
Edoardo shook his head, “I doubt it.”
* * *
“Then how did he find us?” Eve retorted.
* * *
Nico shrugged and Edoardo replied, “I don’t know either.”
* * *
“We need to be careful,” Martina added, “We’ve already underestimated him before.”
* * *
“She’s right,” Nico said.
* * *
He took a long slurp of his coffee. All eyes on the table looked to him for guidance. Eve noticed that her husband had that effect on people. No matter what situation they were in, he was usually positioned as the leader. Eve enjoyed watching the magnetic effect he had on others. It was the same charisma and charm that had drawn her in.
* * *
Nico moved his hand over to Eve’s lap and squeezed her thigh. It was a quiet sign of intimacy and reassurance that he was still thinking about them as a couple. This was a temporary storm that Nico planned to temper with a whole lot of calm once it was over.
* * *
“Let’s move. We’ll discuss more later,” Edoardo suggested, “The more we stay on the move, the easier it will be to avoid our brother.”
* * *
“He’s right.”
* * *
So again, they packed up and this time, Edoardo chose a nice villa in the French countryside. They booked three nights there, plenty of time to figure out their next move and unwind. In the evening time, they were all spent and no definitive plan had come up. Edoardo and Martina volunteered to take Matteo into their part of the villa for the night, giving Eve and Nico some semblance of a honeymoon night together.
* * *
In their bedroom alone, Eve suddenly felt uncomfortable. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about this. Eve needed the drama to melt away so she could be in a world that was just her son and her husband. Nico approached her tentatively and wrapped his arms around her. Eve allowed him to embrace her, but she struggled to face him and look her husband deep in his eyes.
* * *
“Look at me Eve,” He commanded.
* * *
Eve turned her head slowly to look at Nico. He held her chin up and said.
* * *
“Why can’t my beautiful wife look me in the eye?”
* * *
“It’s difficult,” Eve choked out, “Our wedding is all a blur. It barely feels like it happened.”
* * *
“I know… But I’m here now Eve. We’re here together and no matter what we’re in it forever.”
* * *
“But we’re still on the run,” Eve replied, “And there’s no end in sight for this. I feel like we’ll always be on the run.”
* * *
“That’s not true.”
* * *
“Then why does it feel that way? Why do I feel so scared all the time?”
* * *
Nico brought his lips to Eve’s and as he kissed her, she forgot for a moment how hard everything had been. When Nico pulled away, Eve felt a little less scared.
* * *
“You’re scared because I’ve failed you Eve. It’s been twice since I let my brother get close to you but I promise you, things are going to change. Edoardo and I found good intel in Italy and we’re going to take him down.”
Out of Bondage Page 8
