by Lux Miller
“Don’t move!”
The loud voice booms through the room, and I scrunch down further, peeking between my knees as I huddle on the floor. A thunderous crash rumbles beside me, and I skitter across the floor away from the sound, despite the warnings being shouted from the doorway. I glance over my shoulder and see Marco sprawled on the floor on his back, a dark spot spreading across the chest of his crisp white shirt.
He groans and attempts to sit up, but he only gets halfway up before another spot appears next to the first. I gasp and let out a silent scream as I realize what’s happened. Stepping stealthily across the room is the red-headed cop I’ve come to hate with every fiber of my being. He has a police-issue weapon drawn and aimed at Marco. He’s laser-focused on Marco as he snarls directives at the people in the room.
“Everyone on their knees! Now! Hands up!”
I’m already on my ass, and a strangled cry rips out of my throat as I put my hands up. To my horror, the red headed man turns his gaze on me. His eyes rake over my exposed skin way too slowly to be a casual glance. One eyebrow perks up as he moistens his lips with his tongue before he turns to Mike, pointing his gun at him.
“Uh uh… none of you fleabags move until I tell you to move!”
Luca snarls from where he’s still on his knees and bound in a position of submission. “Go fuck yourself, Rossi!”
The man whirls on Luca and aims his gun at him. He strides back across the room, cheerfully mocking him in a sing-song voice. “Oh, Luca… Poor, unfortunate soul… disillusioned and ready to die for honor.”
Luca narrows his eyes at the man, struggling against his bindings. “What do you know of honor?”
The man chuckles, spreading his arms open wide. “I know that I’ve been at the bottom of a god damn shit hole of my own making, and I never found myself bound and broken on the floor of a hotel room… so tell me… is this…” The man waves the gun around in the air with a smirk as he stands just out of Luca’s reach, “...for love or money?”
Luca looks away, refusing to answer the man, and I find myself almost disappointed. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Mike stealthily climb to his feet and edge closer to Marco, who’s laying on the ground, a pool of blood spreading underneath him. Marco sneers at Mike as he clutches his hand to his chest that’s now soaked in blood.
His voices gurgles as he struggles to speak, “Traitor,” he murmurs, his voice strangled.
Mike raises the gun in his hand, pointing it straight at Marco. He shakes his head wildly, his eyes cold and his face stoic. He keeps his voice low and pulled tight as he replies, “No, brother. You are the traitor. You betrayed your oath of Omerta.”
Marco groans as he pushes himself to a position so that he can lean on his elbow. I can see his eyes beginning to gloss over from where I’m huddled on the floor. His voice is labored as he grinds out his words. “And you… have betrayed… your blood… and for what? To be… their pet?”
Mike steps closer to Marco, keeping his gun trained on him. Marco snivels coldly, throwing his head back to laugh until awful choking noises cut off his words. He spits on Mike’s shoes, spraying crimson liquid across their surface. “You have… brought dishonor… on us all...”
Closing his eyes, Mike replies sadly, “Better to be dishonored by a family that wrote me off… than dead.”
My eyes widen when I realize Mike’s intention, but my scream of ‘Nooooooo!’ dies in the air as Mike pulls the trigger twice. Marco crumples to the floor and stills, and Mike drops the gun as he drops to his knees. His head bows in defeat as the red-headed man whirls around from where he was taunting Luca.
There’s panic in the red-headed man’s voice as he leans his mouth down to a radio strapped to his chest, murmuring codes so quickly, I can’t even hope to keep up. So, he’s not here for fun after all. Imagine that.
It’s just a few minutes before the room is swarming with uniformed police officers, a loud buzz filling the dank air. I rub my side where the chain had been pulled so tightly around me, that there’s now purplish bruising spreading over my skin. The men have Mike shoved up against a wall with his hands cuffed behind his back as they search him.
Luca is being treated the same. They cut him loose from Parker’s bindings, but then employed their own, putting both him and Mike under arrest. A doctor is trying to examine me, but he can’t hold my attention for more than five seconds as I constantly lean around him to try to keep an eye on Luca.
The doctor is getting frustrated as he tries to assess my injurie,s and as he reaches to touch my bruised side, I flinch away from him, defensively swatting my hand at him. It lands across his cheek, and he blinks at me momentarily before standing up and holding his hands up. “I can’t do this. The girl needs to be subdued. She’s defensive, and I can’t even get a good look at her. There’s no way we can get a rape kit done on her in her current state.”
I cross my arms defiantly over my chest, thankful at least that they allowed Luca to give me his button down shirt to cover my near-nakedness. “I’m not doing a rape kit.”
The doctor sighs heavily and looks back over his shoulder at me. “I know that you’ve been through a lot, but we need to secure all evidence available to us at the scene. That includes processing a rape kit so that any bodily fluids left behind by your assailants can be logged and matched up.”
I stamp my bare foot down onto the nasty carpet. “I wasn’t raped!” I lower my voice and mutter, “...yet.” I look back up at the doctor and glare, “The only bodily fluids you’ll find will be from my husband, and I can assure you, he didn’t rape me!”
The doctor shakes his head as he speaks to a uniformed police officer, “She’s been traumatized to the point that she’s rationalizing things in her head. Get a female officer in here and tell her to be gentle with the victim.”
I ball my fists up at my sides and scream at the top of my lungs. Once I can no longer scream, I inhale heavily, my chest heaving with the effort. I slap the officer’s hand away as he reaches to comfort me, and he stumbles back from me in shock. “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down here.”
Shaking my head, I lash out at the officer, “For the last fucking time, I’m fine. Yeah, I’ve been knocked around and assaulted, but nobody raped me. For fuck’s sake, I just want to go home with my husband, but you seem to be dead-set on arresting him on false charges. He had nothing to do with this. Both of us are victims! He was here to try to rescue me, but you wouldn’t understand that, because you’re too fucking dumb to open your eyes and take a good look around at what happened here. Parker abducted me… with his help…”
I point at Marco’s still form accusingly. Thankfully, somebody has thrown a sheet over his body, but nobody has bothered to clean up the puddle of blood that oozes out from under it.
The officer looks at the red-headed man and shakes his head, “Ma’am, you need to calm down. Luca Barresi is under arrest and nothing you say will change that. He and Mike Carlen will be taken downtown and booked with the other two dozen men we arrested in the raid on this hotel. You need to go home.”
I shake my head defiantly. “I’m not going anywhere without Luca. He’s my husband.”
The officer chuckles, “Then maybe you’ll be lucky enough to get conjugal visits, but I can assure you, the DA has been waiting to catch him with his hands in something that he can’t deny. I’m sorry, ma’am, but you cannot come with him.”
I inhale sharply at the crass ignorance of the officer and huff, “The fuck I can’t…”
Before I can talk myself out of it, I leap at the officer and slap at him with my hands. I probably look ridiculous, but I really don’t care. My hands may be tiny, but I land hit after hit in rapid succession. The red headed man easily pulls me off the officer and shakes his head sadly as he restrains me, holding my arms behind my back as he slaps handcuffs on me too. “Are you fucking crazy?”
I jerks my arms out of his grasp. “I’m probably a bit unhinged. Are you?”
/> The man narrows his eyes at me. “Why?”
I chuckle like I’m losing my mind. “Because I know that the son of the Chief of Police wouldn’t dare walk into the middle of a raid on a drug lord without having either a serious vendetta or a few screws loose.”
The man clears his throat angrily, jerking me back against him. He leans down to my ear and whispers harshly, “Not everything is what it seems, Emily. I’m not here on my father’s orders, I can you tell you that much. I’d suggest you sit down and shut up if you know what’s good for you.”
I sling my head backwards and connect the back of my skull with his mouth. He lets go of the handcuffs, and I whirl on him, staring him down with hatred written all over my face. “And if I don’t?
He shrugs and motions another officer over. “Book her with the others.”
As the officer grabs my arm, I spit at the man. “Go to hell, Rossi…”
He simply shrugs and dusts off his police uniform, then looks me squarely in the eyes, “Oh, I already have. You can’t damn a soul I willingly gave to the devil. As for getting yourself arrested along with the others… as you wish…”
FIFTEEN
I’ve experienced a lot of feelings pulling up to the house that looms above me. Apprehension, anticipation, even agitation. But never before have I felt such relief as the vehicle I’m riding in slows to a stop in front of the grand wrap-around porch. Looking over at Luca, I can see that his feelings are much the same as mine. He hasn’t said much in the last twenty-four hours, and he keeps his emotions closer to the chest, but anyone could see that he’s simply glad to be home.
I look up at Luca’s face as he stares out the windshield. His expression is stoic and his body stiff, though he’s maintained constant contact with me since the moment we arrived at the police station. That was a harrowing experience in itself. Being slapped into cuffs after being abducted and held for ransom is bad enough. But having a dozen police officers stare in awe as you threaten their captain and physically assault him is something else entirely. It’s a line few dare to cross, and I didn’t just toe around at it… I took a flying leap of faith and went all out.
I refused to be medically evaluated at the scene when the police officers broke up what was inevitably going to be at least Luca’s funeral. With my mouth and stubborn streak, it likely would have ended up being mine too. Parker didn’t seem to care how far he took things. All I know is he wanted Luca tortured and dead. By the grace of God, and a cleverly hidden tracker on Luca’s person, he didn’t get the chance.
After I was kidnapped from the gas station by Marco, Parker sent a ransom letter to Luca, threatening to make me pay Luca’s numerous debts. Despite turning over the letter and all known information to the police force under the guidance of Kyle, it wasn’t enough for Luca. Stubborn as he is, Luca refused to sit back and wait around while things fell into place organically. He followed the directions given in the letter, even though he knew he was likely walking into a trap and his own mortality.
Thankfully, Mike and Dante didn’t trust Luca one bit and slipped a miniscule tracker into his food. Mike tracked Luca first, pinpointing his location to an outdated hotel on the fringes of town. He arrived just ahead of the calvary, but you won’t ever hear me complain. Had he not arrived when he did, Marco very well may have raped me in front of Luca. I knew that was Parker’s plan eventually, in order to torture Luca. But to have someone I thought I knew and once trusted demand sexual gratification while my husband watched was horrifying.
Even worse was watching Mike’s hand forced as he ended his brother’s life. For my honor or for Marco’s betrayal, I’ll never know. Mike has refused to speak of the heroism he displayed. In fact, I don’t think he feels much like a hero. He was orphaned like me, and his brother was all he had left of his family. To shoot to kill is a tough enough order. To do so to the one person you thought you could trust above all others is heartbreaking, especially when the loyalty was one-sided.
Even more gut-wrenching is the fact that Marco’s betrayal was long-term. Even with just a couple days’ worth of investigations, it’s been uncovered that Marco was working for Parker even longer than expected. After the initial shock of his double-cross had worn off, it was assumed he’d switched alliances with Matteo’s death. The truth has proven to be far more shocking. Apparently, he’d been feeding Parker information for well over a year, possibly longer.
I nudge Luca gently, and he turns to look down at me. He offers me a half-smile, but his attention is far away, somewhere else. He’s been distant since the incident, but I can’t say I blame him. How do you approach the topic of your husband forfeiting his life for yours? I know that reality didn’t come to fruition, but had it not been for Dante and Mike’s interference, the truth is I’d likely be a widow and either Parker’s new concubine… or dead.
I motion at the house that looms above us. “Should we… go in?”
Luca shrugs, and I sigh, resting my hand on his thigh. “Luca. Please talk to me. I know what you saw was horrible, and I’m sorry you had to watch that. If I could go back and change it, I would. I know you’re not a man of many words, but please… say something.”
He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head sadly. “Why’re you apologizing to me? Because of me, you were abducted, bound, abused, and nearly raped. Don’t say this isn’t my fault, because it is. And you know it. Do you know why I surrendered to Parker?”
I shake my head sharply. He hasn’t discussed this with me, or anyone for that matter. I swallow hard and grab hold of his right hand with my left. My wedding ring was found in the floorboard of the car Marco’d used to abduct me, and Luca was quick to put it back on my hand, demanding that I never take it off again.
He inhales a sharp breath and covers my hand with his left, where his own ring glitters in the morning light. “Because I knew I’d never see you again if I didn’t. He took you to get to me. He wanted me dead, so I thought that if I gave him what he wanted, he’d let you go like he promised.”
I chew on my bottom lip slightly. “Luca, he was never going to let me go.”
Luca nods. “I know, baby, but I had to try. I couldn’t let you suffer at his hands because of me. I’d rather be rotting in the ground than know I let someone hurt you when I had the power to possibly stop it.”
I blink in surprise, my heart skipping a beat. He just declared his love for me a way that only a man forged in the blood of the Mafia could. I should be absolutely horrified at the entire situation. While it makes my stomach churn, it doesn’t surprise me the way it should.
Nodding slowly, I lean against him, resting my head on his shoulder. “We’ve both done some crazy things to protect each other. Funny how what started as you kidnapping me and making me pretend to like you, turned into something where you’d sacrifice your life for me…”
Luca chuckles, despite his mood. He nods. “Yeah, and then you’d stubbornly get yourself arrested to not be separated from me. Seems like, despite your modest upbringing, you’ve more of the Mafia in you than you ever realized. I’m just glad you finally let them do a rape kit. I know you swore he didn’t touch you, but a small voice in the back of my head was nagging that you were just protecting my feelings by saying that.”
He turns to face me suddenly and leans down to capture my lips in a loving kiss as he wraps his arms around me, enclosing me in his scent. I wince slightly where my lip is still split from the butt of Marco’s gun, but I don’t care or pull away. Since before I was taken, this is the first physical contact Luca and I have shared besides little touches and gentle hugs.
In addition to the bruises and cuts on my face, my knees are skinned, and I have several bruised ribs from Marco slinging me around. It’s far fewer injuries than the medical examiner was expecting. He seemed surprised that Parker hadn’t hurt me further, and he briefly suggested that maybe Parker had plans for me beyond bait. Just the thought of being expected to be Parker’s anything makes me shudder.
Luca was
n’t as fortunate to escape a large number of injuries. His wrists are both heavily bruised from where he was bound, and though he won’t admit it, I know that Parker must have beat him. The same medical examiner who checked me over was damn-near flabbergasted after he examined Luca. I haven’t pushed the matter, and Luca hasn’t been forthcoming about what happened to him while in Parker’s custody. But there’s no way a man like Parker wouldn’t take every opportunity to fuck over the man he felt was responsible for his daughter’s death.
That thought takes me instantly to the elephant in the room, -er car. Mandy. I already knew that she and Luca had been serious as teenagers. She’d died the night Luca became a made man, and it’s suspected that she died because of bullets from Matteo’s gun that night. But it was Parker’s fault she died. He’d pushed her into the line of fire - Matteo has been aiming for Parker, not the beautiful, brunette girl who was almost three months pregnant with Luca’s son.
