“Yes you can,” Eve reassured him, “We’ll be right here ready to handle things if they go wrong.”
* * *
Daniella moved closer to Eve and grabbed Eve’s hand. Eve squeezed her hand back. Everyone in this room comprised of Eve’s new, strange family. They were all trying to escape their pasts, but their pasts had always caught up with them. Eve was starting to realize that you couldn’t truly escape the past. You could only come to terms with it and hope for the best outcome from there.
* * *
Domenico picked up the phone and dialed Luca. Domenico had been certain that Luca would see right through him. When Luca picked up the phone, Domenico slipped easily into his role as snitch. He kept his voice steady and looked around the room at all the people who were counting on him — all the people he’d already let down.
* * *
“Nico is here. I managed to steal a few moments. He’s suspicious. Get here soon.”
* * *
“An hour?! I don’t have a damned hour Luca. If he’s onto us, he’ll kill me…”
* * *
“Fine. An hour it is. Hurry.”
* * *
Domenico hung up and let out a loud sigh. Everyone in the room looked at him expectantly.
* * *
“It worked,” Domenico said.
* * *
He smiled broadly and repeated as if he were trying to convince himself, “It worked. It really worked and Luca is coming.”
* * *
“How much time do we have?” Edoardo asked.
* * *
Domenico shook his head, “Not long. One hour. Half an hour if he was lying to me.”
* * *
“We don’t need an hour to be ready for him,” Nico added.
* * *
“Right,” Daniella threw in, “We’ll stand up to him no matter when he shows up.”
* * *
Daniella winced and Eve saw the exact place under her clothes where Luca must have cut her. She imagined the pain Daniella must have been in and the strength that she exhibited despite that. Daniella and Domenico were wrong to betray them, but they were kids compared to everyone else in the room. In the end, they’d been just as brave as the eldest of them.
* * *
The start of the wait for Luca proceeded at a snail’s pace. Edoardo and Luca were armed. Domenico and Daniella had guns stashed around the house. They took Edoardo upstairs to sift through the small armory in their apartment, leaving Eve downstairs with Nico.
* * *
“Do you think this is it?” Eve asked him.
* * *
Nico shook his head, “I can’t be sure. I want this to be over.”
* * *
“And then what happens? We head back to America? Back to Boston?”
* * *
Nico grinned, “No silly.”
“Then what?” Eve wrinkled her nose.
* * *
Nico pulled her close to him for a hug.
* * *
“Then,” He whispered, kissing Eve on the forehead, “We go on our honeymoon. We’ve had a long, long wait and it’s finally time for us to live as husband and wife.”
* * *
Eve closed her eyes and tiptoed upwards to kiss Nico on the lips. She kissed him deeply, slipping her tongue into his mouth. Nico gripped his wife’s curvy waist and squeezed her as he kissed her back. Nico then started to kiss Eve’s neck and moved his lips back to hers.
* * *
“I promise you,” Nico started, keeping his cobalt eyes glued to Eve’s brown ones, “I promise you that we will come out of this alive.”
* * *
“I hope so,” Eve whispered.
* * *
“I’ll always take care of you Eve. I promise. And after this, we will finally be safe.”
* * *
“There’s nothing and no one else?”
* * *
Nico shook his head, “No. After this, we’ll be free from the mafia, free from all of this.”
* * *
“I love you,” Eve whispered.
* * *
Nico responded by kissing her and dipping her backwards as he did. As Eve let her weight fall into Nico’s grasp, she felt simultaneously weakened and strengthened by her love for him. Their bond had been forged in gunfire and the flames of their passion. Their bond was strong, resilient, and prepared for anything, including dealing with a dangerous man like Luca Riccardi.
* * *
Edoardo returned with Daniella and Domenico. They had plenty more weapons and stashed them around the living room. Every sound outside the front door drove their gazes to snap in unison towards the outdoors but Luca hadn’t yet arrived.
* * *
He was coming. They could all feel he was coming, like an ominous east wind over the land. Quiet befell them and the only sound that could be heard in the living room was the steady throbbing of a wall clock. Each breath hung in the air with the density of an early morning fog. Time pushed them towards the inevitable confrontation that they hoped would lead them out of bondage.
* * *
“He’ll be here any minute,” Domenico said after a while.
* * *
“Let’s head into positions.”
* * *
“We’ll all go upstairs,” Eve said, “You two wait down here. When Luca comes, talk to him for a while. When he thinks he’ll surprise us, we’ll surprise him.”
* * *
“And that will be it.”
* * *
“Yes,” Nico assured them, “Then that will be it.”
* * *
“What if he realizes we’re armed?” Daniella asked. Her tawny colored skin glowed in the light of the living room, giving her face a twinge of youthful innocence that reminded everyone she was just barely an adult.
* * *
“We’ll be just overhead,” Edoardo replied.
* * *
Daniella nodded at him and then they left the two downstairs. Nico slipped his hands in Eve’s to ascend the stairs to the apartment.
* * *
“Do you think they can handle this?” Edoardo asked them.
* * *
Eve and Nico glanced at each other before nodding in unison. Domenico and Daniella were oddly resilient for such young people. While their youthful optimism did present with an element of danger, they’d both had a world of experience in tough situations. They could handle this. They were all in equal danger of being killed by Luca Riccardi. That danger bound them all together with a bond thicker than the water of the womb. No one could get a single move wrong, or they’d all be dead.
* * *
Edoardo kept his eyes glued to the window that overlooked the street.
* * *
“Think he’ll come in an Escalade this time?” He mused.
* * *
Nico shook his head, “No. That was my father’s style. Luca is much more slippery.”
* * *
“Slippery or not, we’ll catch him,” Edoardo reassured them. (Eve couldn’t be sure he wasn’t just reassuring himself).
* * *
“I hope you’re right.”
* * *
Edoardo pressed his forehead to the window again. Eve paced around the room and Nico stood still as if his mind were turning all the possibilities around over and over.
* * *
“I see him,” Edoardo called.
* * *
They rushed to the window and saw the small motorcycle pull up to the apartment. Luca parked it on the street and walked towards the door. Eve still found it unnerving how much he looked like Nico. He knocked on the door and all three watched him disappear.
* * *
“Get ready.”
* * *
Downstairs, Daniella and Domenico sat expectantly. When Luca came to the door, Domenico went to get it. His cousin Luca had a much different energy from his cousin Nico. If they weren’t carbon copies of each other
, it would have been difficult for Domenico to believe they were related. Luca pushed the door open with a fierce, focused face.
* * *
“Thank you for calling me, Domenico.”
* * *
“I tricked them upstairs. They’ll be occupied for quite some time,” Domenico said, “Come inside. We will discuss how to dispose of them.”
* * *
Luca followed Domenico inside and they all sat in the living room together.
* * *
“Fetch water, Daniella,” Luca commanded, hardly glancing at her.
* * *
Daniella scowled but stood to her feet to fetch water. Luca ordered her around like a servant whenever he called. He seemed to think that women had one place in the home alone. Daniella pattered to the sink and began to fill a cup of sparkling water for Luca with lemon juice. (Yes, he was particular about his water and he needed more lemon juice in it than any human Daniella had ever met.)
* * *
She returned to the living room with the water.
* * *
“Here, Luca.”
* * *
Luca took the water from her and set it down. Just as Daniella was about to return to her seat he grabbed her wrist.
* * *
“Turn around,” He growled.
* * *
Daniella turned around to face Luca, still trying her best not to look directly into his eyes. There was something unnerving about Luca still.
* * *
“One day Daniella, when my cousin Domenico stops satisfying you, I think you would make the most beautiful wife… You have such smooth ebony skin…”
* * *
Gooseflesh broke out over Daniella’s skin. She cast a glance at Domenico who looked back at her powerless. Luca didn’t seem to notice her disgust. If he did notice, he didn’t seem to mind. He released her arm and Daniella fled back to her side of the room. She felt sick, like she needed to wash the part of her arm where Luca had grabbed her.
* * *
“I can hear them overhead,” Luca said, like a lion that was about to pounce on his prey.”
* * *
“They are armed, but no guns,” Domenico lied.
* * *
Luca grinned, “Perfect, perfect, perfect. It’s always more fun when they put up a fight.”
* * *
He winked at Daniella who shuddered again. She couldn’t wait for Nico to take Luca out. She hated to wish ill on people but Luca gave her the creeps. The place where he’d wounded her still hurt and despite the stitches, Daniella was sure she’d have a scar on her body for the rest of her life. He’d marred her skin like it was nothing and he held her like a fox on a rabbit.
* * *
“They will fight,” Domenico assured him.
* * *
“And I assure you, I will kill them all,” Luca said, “And you will be rewarded for your loyalty Domenico.”
* * *
Domenico nodded and let out a sigh. He didn’t want to believe that Luca could actually defeat three totally armed adults, but if there was anyone insane enough to survive an ambush of this magnitude, it was his cousin Luca. Domenico prayed that wouldn’t be the case. He prayed that Nico, Edoardo and Eve would emerge victorious.
* * *
With Luca Riccardi, you could never be sure.
* * *
“Your wife is beautiful, Domenico,” Luca added.
* * *
His gaze was fixated on Daniella again. Domenico felt fires of rage building up in his chest. He resented the way Luca looked at Daniella as if she were a piece of meat. He knew that whenever Luca decided that he wanted her, he’d have her and he’d be powerless to stop her. The thought sent fury raging through Domenico’s heart. He could never allow Daniella to be hurt by Luca.
* * *
That meant, no matter what Nico and Edoardo did today, Luca would have to be stopped forever. If he wasn’t stopped, he’d hurt Daniella and he wouldn’t stop hurting people until the day someone did stop him. Now would have to be as good a time as any.
* * *
“Yes,” Domenico agreed, “She is beautiful.”
* * *
Luca licked his lips.
* * *
“Let’s not waste time then. Let’s have my prey.”
* * *
“I think they’re coming,” Domenico whispered, trying to listen closely to the noises from the top floor of the apartment.
Footsteps started sounding down the stairs. Nico walked down first followed by Eve and then Edoardo. They turned into the living room and Luca smiled as he saw his brother’s face looking back at him. He could see that Nico was nearly as handsome as he was, likely worn down by the ball and chain of marriage and child.
* * *
“Brother,” Luca said, “It is good to see you for a final time.”
* * *
“Agreed, this will be final.”
* * *
Luca went to reach for his gun but it was too late.
* * *
“Not so fast,” Edoardo muttered with gun drawn as he pressed a gun to Luca’s head.
* * *
Luca was too shocked to reply. That moment of pause gave everyone in the room the chance to draw their weapons. Daniella held her gun with steady hand and walked towards Luca, grinning as she pointed the gun at his junk. Eve kept her gun at the other side of Luca’s head.
* * *
Nico kept his gun lowered while Domenico pressed a gun into Luca’s back with one hand, holding a long knife in the other hand.
* * *
“You betrayed me, Domenico,” Luca said coldly.
* * *
“Shut up,” Nico commanded, “Don’t speak to the boy any longer. You’ve come here for me, so we’re going to talk brother to brother. And when we’re through talking, I will decide what is to be done with you.”
* * *
“There isn’t a prison in the world that can keep me captive, brother,” Luca said, “And you are not man enough to kill me.”
* * *
“Don’t worry about my manhood Luca. And only speak when spoken to. or I will have our cousin punish you for the way you cut his woman.”
* * *
Luca felt the knife pressed against his back and decided to oblige his twin brother.
* * *
“How are you still alive?”
* * *
Luca grinned, “I have many people who are indebted to me and many, many friends.”
* * *
“Somehow I doubt that,” Edoardo grumbled.
* * *
“I am a freak accident,” Luca replied, “I survived. There are things that even you do not know about me brother.”
* * *
“Stop speaking in tongues.”
* * *
“We are mirror twins. You are right handed, I am left. Your heart sits in the left side of your chest, and mine on the right.”
* * *
Nico furrowed his brow, “I don’t recall this from our childhood.”
* * *
“Have your woman press her hand to my heart and find my pulse.”
* * *
Eve looked at Nico, wondering if it were really smart to let Luca take control of this interaction in any way.
* * *
“Go ahead,” Nico told her, “If he’s playing games with us, Edoardo will blow his brains out.”
* * *
Luca puffed out his chest and Eve tentatively moved her hand across his chest. She could see a scar on his neck and feel scars beneath his t-shirt. But on the left side of his chest, just like he’d promised, there was no heartbeat. Eve’s hand moved to the right and she felt Luca’s chest beating slowly, like it was waiting for something.
Out of Bondage Page 18
