Out of Bondage
Page 16
* * *
Luca stayed away from the subway and kept walking briskly through the streets of London. As Eve followed him, maintaining her distance, she noticed the buildings growing more and more familiar. She’d been here before, but she couldn’t recall when. All the places she’d visited in England had blurred together.
* * *
Eve saw Luca stop at a door. Eve eyed the building and suddenly recognized it. She clasped her hand over her mouth to avoid audibly gasping. She saw Luca look left and right again, and then she saw Daniella open her front door and welcome Luca Riccardi into her home.
* * *
Eve stood still and watched the door close. Her heart was racing faster than ever. Daniella. She knew Luca. If she knew Luca, then it stood to reason that somehow she was the one who betrayed them. Eve felt sick. She turned from Daniella’s flat and began to run in the opposite direction. Eve ran and ran until she didn’t recognize a single street.
* * *
When she stopped running, she bent over the nearest bin and threw up. Eve’s stomach retched and she nearly doubled over. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and emotions stirred in her head like an unwelcome soup. Something was wrong. This was impossible. But she’d seen it with her own two eyes: Daniella had welcomed Luca Riccardi into her home.
* * *
Eve didn’t know what to do next. She looked around her, searching for bearings that she wouldn’t find. She kept walking in a direction she thought would take her closest to her apartment. Really, she had no clue and she didn’t care. Eve needed time to think.
* * *
She was snapped out of her nightmare when Nico called.
* * *
“Yes?” Eve answered flatly.
* * *
“Jesus Christ Eve, where the hell are you?” Nico chastised.
* * *
“Uhhh… I have no clue,” She answered honestly.
* * *
“Are you alright Eve? What the hell is going on?”
* * *
“Nico… I’m lost,” Eve said.
* * *
She started crying. Not because she was lost, but because she was unwilling to face the betrayal that she’d just uncovered. It didn’t feel real and Eve didn’t want it to begin feeling real.
* * *
“Where are you?” Nico pressed.
* * *
Through her tears, Eve tried to blubber her location. She struggled to get the cross streets named.
* * *
“Stay where you are, I’m coming,” Nico demanded.
* * *
Eve hung up. There was a small café on the corner of the street she was standing on, so Eve went inside. She figured she was far enough away from Luca that she was safe. Eve ordered a hot mug of cocoa and sat down. The café was crowded, but at the same time Eve felt invisible. Posh Londoners could tell she wasn’t from around here but the occasional sneer didn’t trouble Eve much.
* * *
What she wanted more than anything was just to be left alone until Nico came. Time ticked on, and then Eve saw her husband’s face appear in the window of the café.
* * *
“Eve!” He called to her, pushing past the neatly formed queue to get to his wife.
* * *
Eve stood up and embraced Nico. She hugged her husband tightly, appreciating the warmth of his arms and the strength with which he held her. She leaned up and kissed him. That kiss sparked heat between them and Nico grasped her tightly, kissing her deeply right there in the middle of the crowded café.
* * *
“Please, let’s get out of here,” Eve said.
* * *
Nico nodded and allowed his wife to lead the way onto the street. Once they were there, Nico stopped her and looked into her eyes. Something was wrong, and he worried that she wasn’t eager to say what.
* * *
“Why are you all the way up here?” Nico asked.
* * *
“I-I-I saw your brother.”
* * *
“Luca?!”
* * *
“Yes, and I followed him.”
* * *
“Eve! That’s dangerous.”
* * *
“I know.”
* * *
“But what else did you see?” Nico pressed her, “That can’t be it, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
* * *
“I followed him and I saw someone let him into their apartment… It just doesn’t feel real.”
* * *
“Eve, be straight with me. What did you see?”
* * *
“He went into Daniella’s apartment. She let him in. Daniella let Luca in.”
* * *
Eve started crying again and she collapsed into Nico’s chest. He held his wife close and kissed her forehead as she cried and processed the grief of the betrayal she’d just witnessed.
* * *
Nico took her home but the walk home was quiet and morose. Eve looked over at her husband. She could tell Nico was thinking hard about everything she’d said and turning around the possibilities in his head. Neither of them wanted to admit that Daniella (or Domenico) could have betrayed them, but there was no logical explanation for any of it.
* * *
As they wove through the streets of London, pangs of homesickness hit Eve. She missed the friendly, relaxed nature of Boston. Everyone in London seemed so serious. Their British politeness tinged all their movements with a cold formality. It was clear she was an outsider here. Nico gripped her hand and when they arrived back at their place, Eve stopped him before heading inside.
* * *
“We’re going to tell Edoardo about this?”
* * *
Nico nodded, “We have to.”
* * *
“I don’t want anything to happen to Daniella.”
* * *
“Eve…” Nico started.
* * *
Eve shook her head and wiped tears from her eyes, “I just don’t want to believe the girl that I know could have caused this. Something else must be going on.”
* * *
“Whatever’s going on, we’ll find out. And I promise I won’t let Edoardo do anything insane.”
* * *
“They’re just kids,” Eve muttered, “How the hell can they be mixed up in all this?”
* * *
Nico didn’t care to remind Eve of the circumstances under which she’d met Domenico. If he’d ever been allowed to have a normal childhood, it would have been over long ago. If Daniella’s father was mafia, the same could be said for her. Nico kept his mouth shut and pushed the door open. Edoardo stood there concerned.
* * *
“Is everything alright?”
* * *
Nico nodded, “Let’s get settled and we’ll tell you everything.”
* * *
Edoardo was concerned, but rushed to the kitchen to begin brewing a pot of tea. The British obsession with tea was one thing that Eve had easily adjusted to. They waited for the kettle to shriek through the apartment and Edoardo brought a mug of Earl Grey tea with cream and sugar for Eve to enjoy. She had just noticed how cold she was when she took the mug of hot tea out of Edoardo’s hands.
* * *
Nico had chamomile tea and Edoardo had Earl Grey for himself. They sat, drinking tea slowly, waiting for Eve to warm up. Nico could understand why she was unwilling to share, and even scared. There was no telling what this new information would mean for any of them. And this new information hardly helped when it came to planning their next move.
* * *
“When are you two going to clue me in?” Edoardo asked with a smile, intended to put them at ease.
* * *
Nico grimaced uncomfortably and gestured to Eve.
* * *
“Eve witnessed something while she was out that she thought we’d be interested in hearing.”
* * *
<
br /> Eve muttered, “Can I please finish my tea first?”
* * *
“Sure.”
* * *
Silence fell again. Eve seemed to be going slow on purpose. Once finished, she set her tea down on the countertop and took a deep breath.
* * *
“I suppose I can’t put this off any longer.”
* * *
“Take your time,” Nico spoke gently to her, resting his hand on her shoulder.
* * *
Eve nodded, taking in Nico’s attempts to comfort her.
* * *
“While I was out, I saw something alarming.”
* * *
“What is it?” Edoardo asked.
* * *
“I caught sight of Luca while out on a run.”
* * *
“Luca?! Are you alright?”
* * *
Eve nodded, “Sort of. I followed him.”
* * *
“Eve!” Edoardo chastised her like an older brother, “That’s dangerous! He’s a very dangerous man.”
* * *
“I know. But I couldn’t help it. We’ve spent so much time looking for him and he didn’t recognize me at all. I trailed him onto the tube and all the way to a neighborhood that I thought looked familiar.”
* * *
Edoardo folded his arms and continued to look intently at Eve. His musings had taken him far and wide. He worried that Eve had started following Luca; he worried that Luca had even allowed her to get so close. This was either a trap or Luca was losing his mind more and more in his quest to get vengeance on his brother.
* * *
“Where did he go? Tell me and we can find him tonight,” Edoardo replied.
* * *
Eve didn’t share his eagerness; that was the main reason that she had hesitated in telling him that Daniella and Domenico were involved in this.
* * *
She sighed, she sat up and then Eve said, “I saw him walk to Domenico and Daniella’s place. Daniella let him in. Somehow, they’re working together.”
* * *
Edoardo’s eyes widened.
* * *
“Shit.”
* * *
“Yes, ‘shit’,” Eve finished.
* * *
Nico folded his arms and shrugged, “We still have to do something.”
* * *
“Yes but… this doesn’t make any sense,” Edoardo said.
* * *
“It doesn’t make sense to me either, but I know what I saw,” Eve said.
* * *
“Where did they live?”
* * *
“I barely remember. But I had my phone with me, can’t you trace it?”
* * *
“Yes,” Edoardo said, “Hand it to me.”
* * *
Eve pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and handed it over to Edoardo. He slipped it into his own pocket and leaned against the counters again.
* * *
“I hate to say this, but for once, I have no clue what the hell we’re supposed to do.”
* * *
“Neither do I,” Nico said.
* * *
Eve shook her head. She had no ideas either. Domenico and Daniella’s involvement made this tricky. If Nico were to do thing Giuseppe’s way, it would have been simple. Immoral? Maybe. But simple? Definitely.
* * *
Nico didn’t feel comfortable taking his cousin’s life, nor the life of his young cousin’s young wife. No matter what they’d done, he wanted to hear the truth of it from their mouths directly. But that meant they couldn’t zip down to Zone 3 guns blazing.
* * *
“Let’s get some rest,” Edoardo offered, “We can regroup in an hour.”
* * *
“Right.”
* * *
“Let’s stay on our toes. I haven’t ruled out the possibility that Luca is setting a trap.”
* * *
“I know,” Eve replied, “I think I’m clear but you can never be too sure.”
* * *
They parted ways. Eve retired to her bedroom with Nico, and Edoardo closed the door to his bedroom. They heard his fingers begin pounding into his keyboard and knew that he was probably tracking Eve’s phone.
* * *
Nico closed the door behind them and then enclosed Eve in a proper hug.
* * *
“Thanks,” She murmured as she buried her head in Nico’s chest.
* * *
“Please, don’t ever put yourself in danger like that again.”
* * *
“I won’t,” Eve whispered.
* * *
“I love you Eve.”
* * *
“I love you too Nico.”
* * *
Nico sighed and pulled away from her, “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for all this.”
* * *
“I just hope we get a chance to find out.”
* * *
“And I hope that Luca doesn’t hurt them.”
* * *
Eve shook her head, “They’re playing with fire. They must know that.”
* * *
“Something has to be up with them.”
* * *
“But what could be keeping them bound to Luca? I have a hard time believing Daniella would betray me. Back in Boston, when she was younger we spent so much time together. I know her and her mother so well… She’s like a younger sister to me.”
* * *
“People do insane things for the men they’re in love with,” Nico said.
* * *
Eve nodded, knowing that Nico was right, not only from her own experiences but from words Daniella had told her in the past. Daniella was a naive young woman, and that may have been a flaw, but her naivety had also led to unspeakable loyalty. Above all, she was loyal to Domenico. She had chosen him to be her life partner and she would have given up anything for him.
* * *
“It’s my cousin we should be afraid of,” Nico asserted, “Not Daniella.”
* * *
Eve’s brow furrowed.
* * *
“That makes even less sense. Why would Domenico betray you? You did everything for him. I remember when you protected him from Giuseppe and allowed him to live a normal life away from all that.”
* * *
“I know. Perhaps things have changed. We were away for a long time.”
* * *
Eve nodded. They had been gone a while. Everything that had happened with the Savelli family had warped Nico’s ability to truly be there for his younger cousin. In that time, it was entirely possible that Domenico had been led astray.
* * *
“Let us rest as Edoardo instructed us, okay?” Nico asked.
* * *
Eve nodded. It was an easy sell. Despite the fact that it was just after midday, she felt exhausted. She climbed into bed next to her husband and shared quiet intimacy with him, even drifting off to sleep for a few moments. Nico sat there with her, stroking his brown-skinned wife’s hair and occasionally kissing her big, beautiful forehead.
* * *
Nico’s chest throbbed. Soon, he’d have to face his brother Luca, and this time, Nico knew one of them wouldn’t make it out alive. He thought back to their childhood and to all the times Luca had pinned him down and punched his face until he bled. He thought about their boyish fights, the ways his brother had tortured him and the ways that sometimes, Luca had even been sweet.