Deadly Vows

by Haley Stuart

  “Who the fuck are you?” I don’t like him already. His gaze shifts to Elise, and I feel my irritation rising even higher. “Don’t fucking look at her! She’s not the one holding a fucking gun. I said, Who the fuck are you?”

  He looks at me and slowly raises his hands.

  “I’m Eli. I meant your … wife no harm. We found her passed out in the snow and couldn’t just leave her there with all those injuries.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. There has to be more to this than just helping her. This man is trained in some area. The way his stance is when we’ve walked in is one of a man that knows combat.

  I step closer to him, and the dog’s growls grow louder.

  “Shut that thing up before I put a bullet in its head.”

  He clicks his tongue at the dog, and it immediately relaxes a little. He watches me with careful eyes, observing me like I am observing him.

  “Who the fuck are you?” I say again.

  “I’m Eli.”

  “And I’m fucking Luca. Who the fuck are you?” I say again. I don’t like how he is avoiding the meaning of my question.

  “I’m no one. I just found your wife and—”

  He stops midsentence as I cock my gun so close to his face. A smug grin passes his face.

  “I don’t think your wife would appreciate you shooting me, Luca,” he says. He puts emphasis on my name. And I currently am not in the mood for mind games. I fire my gun, and I hear Elise shout behind me. Eli hunches over, a new hole in his thigh.

  “I don’t think my wife appreciated that either. Doesn’t mean a fucking thing to me.” I turn away, looking at Romelo and Nicolai.

  “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 45

  Elise

  I don’t know whether or not to feel relief or fear now that Luca has shown up. Initially, he shocks me when he walks through that door. But Rocco has picked up on his scent and began growling, causing Eli to immediately jump into action. Whoever he is, he has acted just like Luca at the first sign of danger.

  I look behind me frantically as Eli is on the ground in pain. I hate that Luca has shot him, but I am glad he has shot him in his leg instead of killing him. Eli looks up at me with pain in his eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” I mouth to him, not wanting to set Luca off.

  He looks between me and Luca and shakes his head.

  We trudge through the snow for I don’t know how long, the cold air seeping through the sweater I am wearing. Luca hasn’t even said two words to me. As soon as he lays eyes on me, his whole demeanor falters.

  I know the moment he spots my stomach. Right now, he is calm and collected. I am scared to death he is going to mistake this child for Alexander’s. I have to tell him the child is his.

  “Luca …,” I say.

  He doesn’t respond to me; he is just walking with his back to me.

  “Luca,” I try again. But he still doesn’t say anything.

  I reach out to grab his sleeve. As soon as my skin makes contact with his, he jerks away from me. The movement is so sudden and unexpected I fall flat into the snow. Romelo and Nicolai, even though they are ahead, falter in their footsteps, looking at me in concern. But Luca keeps walking. Not acknowledging me at all. I open my mouth, but in all honesty, I haven’t the slightest idea what to say.

  My emotions are all out of normalcy, so I can feel tears welling up in my eyes from his blatant neglect. He barely even looks at me when he finds me. Nothing but confusion is on his face once he steps in that door and sees me. No happiness. I see a flicker of disgust before he hides it.

  The snow is beginning to seep into my palms, chilling me to the bone. It also is seeping into the pants.

  Nicolai and Romelo exchange looks. They have stopped, but Luca continues walking.

  “Luca!” I try again, louder.

  He still doesn’t respond.

  The tears begin rolling down my face, and I can feel the sting they leave behind from the icy air. I drop my head and let the tears flow freely. He won’t even look at me. Won’t even acknowledge me. He tops the hill and disappears. Romelo whispers something to Nicolai, and he nods, taking steps toward me.

  He bends over and helps me up from the ground, pulling his jacket off and wrapping it around my shivering shoulders. We trudge through the snow in silence. Romelo has now disappeared from our view too. I can’t get the way Luca looks at me out of my head. He has only ever looked at me in adoration and need. But for once, he actually looks like he hates me. Like I disgust him.

  As we walk in silence, something dawns upon me. Everything. Every pain-filled moment I have gone through is because of Luca. Everything is calculated in his mind. But with every pain-filled moment comes a moment where he has revealed something to me about himself. That he will always protect me. The only person I have to fear in this world is him. Because if anyone else even tries, he will do whatever is necessary to see that I come out alive.

  He has proved that when he has saved me from my father, when he has jumped in front of a bullet for me, when he has protected my brother and taken him in for my sake. When he has warned me about Ari.

  Everything that he has put me through, I should hate him for it. I do hate him for it. But now as I walk in the silence, I realize how much I depend on him. How much in his own twisted head he cares for me. And how much he believes he is doing right. He is fucked up. And that is the fault of this family we have both been born into. It is his job to be fucked up. Being the capo, you can’t be soft and sane. You have to be hard and maniacal. Being with Alexander, I’ve seen firsthand the type of people he deals with. Luca has been protecting me from people like that. I know he has been way overboard with me for no justifiable reason, but with everything that I have been through, just the thought of being near him, near safety, makes me feel comforted.

  As I walk in the silent, snow-filled forest with Nicolai by my side, I realize something. As much as I hate him, the pain I am feeling from his neglect, from his disgust is too much. I stop in my tracks as it hits me. How can I possibly be feeling this way after everything? Everything he has done to me and my family, to innocent people. How can I feel this way after he has tortured me and destroyed any hope I have? After he has abused me and everyone around him. After he has manipulated me. What the hell is wrong with me?

  I love him.

  * * * * *

  “Tests came back negative, so you’re all in the clear.” The nurse smiles at me as she sets the envelope with my results down on the counter. The first thing Luca has made me do is come to the hospital to be tested. I try to return her bright smile, but I just can’t. After he has left me in the snow, Luca hasn’t even bothered to ride in the same car as me. Nicolai just gets a call and says we have to go to the hospital. For me.

  The nurse senses my attitude and gets up to leave.

  As she opens the door, I catch a glimpse of Nicolai on his phone. He looks stressed. He sees me watching him and says something into the receiver, walking toward the room. He steps in, looking around, and spots the envelope on the counter. He grabs it and is about to leave.

  “The nurse said everything came back negative,” I say.

  He pauses in the doorway. He is silent for a moment before letting out a deep sigh and turning to me. “Luca asked me to bring him the results.”

  I narrow my eyes at him, not knowing what to say. He is only following his boss’s orders, but that doesn’t lessen the sting.

  I stand up, walking toward Nicolai. He is watching me with wide eyes. Probably nervous. I yank the envelope from him, catching him off guard, and tear it up until it is shreds at our feet. I use all my force to shove him out of the room and slam the door in his face.

  Chapter 46

  Luca

  I sit in my office, thrumming my fingers on my desk in annoyance. Nicolai is on speakerphone, and Romelo is standing in front of me with a stupid grin on his face. I take a deep breath.

  “She did what?”

  “Uh … she snatched the enve
lope and tore it up.”

  I growl in irritation. “And you let her?”

  “I honestly had no idea she was about to do it.”

  “Dammit, what the hell am I trusting you with her life for if you can’t even prevent her from snatching an envelope?”

  “Sorry, boss,” he grumbles.

  “When can you get another one with the information?”

  “They said it’s gonna take a few days. They already closed her file, and it’ll take a while to get all that information back in one file without an appointment.”

  I take a deep breath and run my fingers through my hair. “Okay, just bring her home. And try not to fuck anything up.” I hang up the phone before he can respond. “What the fuck are you laughing at?” I snap at Romelo. He has been very brave lately.

  “It’s just that Elise seems to have taken on a whole new persona in her time with Alexander. I never would have taken her to openly defy you like that.”

  I roll my eyes and turn away from him, looking out the window.

  “You seem stressed. Shouldn’t you be happy? I mean, you finally got her back after … how long?”

  “Three months,” I respond absentmindedly.

  “Three months! That’s a long time to be missing a wife. Especially the way you heard her disappear. Aren’t you, in some way, glad she’s back?”

  I want to smash my head onto the desk. He is right. He is. But …

  “She’s fucking pregnant, Romelo. With someone else’s child. And not just anyone, Alexander’s. How am I supposed to deal with that? How am I supposed to handle raising his child?”

  He shrugs his shoulders. “Just make her abort it. If you’re worried about her fighting you, just drug her and do it while she’s asleep. Or you can sneak something in her food. Like shark. That’ll definitely do the trick.”

  I look at him. “Unless you want to keep your tongue, I suggest you think about what you’re going to say next.”

  A smile breaks its way across his face. He slowly raises his hands in surrender. “Look, Capo, all I’m saying is, if just getting rid of the child is such an issue, why let the fact that it isn’t yours get in the way of your happiness?”

  The room is silent as I take in his words. He looks at his watch and chuckles, turning to leave.

  “Where are you going?” I ask in irritation.

  “I have a date.” He walks out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving me confused about both things he has just said.

  * * * * *

  It is not until twenty minutes later that I hear the front door, which means Elise is home. I stand and step outside of my office to see her walking toward the stairs.

  “Elise.”

  She freezes and looks at me with sad eyes. I motion for her to come into my office. I turn and don’t wait for a response. I take a seat behind my desk just in time to see her stepping into the room. Her hair is wet at the ends, courtesy of the hospital letting her shower. Nicolai must’ve bought her a change of clothes.

  I take in her appearance. Her arms are wrapped in bandages, all the way down to her palms, which have to be restitched. There are purple bruises on her arms. There is a new bandage on her forehead, and even her legs are wrapped up in gauze. Every inch of her body is marked up horribly. I have to close my eyes to calm myself down.

  “Why do you feel the right to tear up those records?” I ask. I want physical proof that nothing is wrong. I want to know how long she has been pregnant. I want the tangible proof.

  I am surprised as she glares at me head-on. “You should be able to listen to me when I tell you what she said.”

  I tilt my head, studying this woman now standing in front of me. She is feisty. Brave. Not the timid girl I have married. And I don’t like it.

  “You’re not even home yet, and you’re already defying me.”

  She scoffs and looks at me in irritation. “Defy you? You’re not my father, Luca.”

  I narrow my eyes at her. “You’re right. He’s dead.”

  She looks taken aback but quickly recovers. “And who’s responsible for that?” she counters.

  “He is,” I state matter-of-factly.

  “No. You are! You put those bullets in his body!” she shouts at me.

  “Because he betrayed us!”

  She laughs, but there is no humor in it.

  “You think this is funny?”

  She narrows her eyes at me. I glare at her as long as I can. I can’t hurt her. I can’t make her understand.

  “Ahhh!” I shout, punching the wall. The room is silent. “Get out.”

  She starts, “Luca—”

  But I interrupt her, unable to hear her voice right now. I turn around, facing her, and am unable to even look at her face. All I can see is her stomach. The life she is now nurturing inside of her that is Alexander’s.

  “I said get the fuck out! I can’t fucking look at you with that … inside of you!” I almost regret what I say. The look of hurt that flashes across her face is quick to make me rethink my words.

  She takes a step toward me.

  “Luca, if you’d just listen to me—”

  “I don’t want to listen!” I slam my hand down on the desk, and she jumps. “Get the fuck out of my fucking office!”

  I watch, torn, as she stares at me with wide eyes. Her bottom lip begins trembling, and she pulls it between her teeth just as tears begin to fall down her face. She takes a step back before running out of my office, slamming the door behind her.

  Fuck.

  I don’t even know where she has gone in the house. I stay in my office late, working on things I’ve let get behind searching for her. That is when the screaming starts. It is bone-chilling and causes my blood to run cold. The first thing I think is that Elise is in trouble. I jump up from my desk out into the foyer. The screams are echoing off the walls of the house.

  I sprint up the stairs, pulling my gun out as I take two at a time. Her screams continue. Now that I am getting closer, I can hear her begging.

  “Please, please don’t!”

  My heart is pounding in my chest as I pump my legs faster to get to her. How the fuck could someone have gotten past security to get into this house and attack her? The screams are coming from our bedroom, and I kick the door open with all my force, aiming my gun at the assailant.

  Chapter 47

  Elise

  I am back in Alexander’s cellar, tied to the table he loves to use. He is over my body, squeezing the life out of me with his bare hands as he assaults my body. I scream and beg him to stop, the tears coming fast and my air supply being cut off. He pulls out a knife, aiming it right over my stomach.

  “Please, please don’t!” I shout.

  “Elise! Elise!” I am jolted awake, a cold sweat drenching my body. Gray. Steel-gray eyes are staring at me with worry. He is holding on to me.

  There is silence as we stare at each other. My breathing comes out in pants as I get choked up.

  “Oh god, Luca!” I shout without even realizing what I am doing. I wrap my arms around him, pulling him close to me. “It was so real … I was there … I was back with him …”

  I sob into his chest, and he slowly wraps his arms around me, rubbing my back in comfort.

  “H-he was killing me … while I was tied up …”

  “Shhhh. You’re here with me, Elise. I won’t let anything happen to you, I swear. You’re mine to protect. I will protect you. No harm will come to you … or that child. I swear it.”

  His words make me feel so much better. He is going to protect me. He says he is.

  We sit like that for a while, and I sob into Luca’s arms and he comforts me. He tells me how I am safe and he’ll protect me.

  After I quiet down, he stands up to leave, and I immediately freak out. I reach out and grab his arm with my bandaged hand.

  “Please don’t leave me.” My voice comes out in a whisper.

  Being in this dark room alone terrifies me to no end. I feel like someone is
going to come and take me at any moment. I will drift into these nightmares and imagine Alexander with me again, and that is terrifying.

  Luca watches me with concern and slowly sits back onto the bed, looking at me with worry.

  “I’m going to go take a shower, then I’ll come right back and lie with you, okay?” He is speaking to me as if I were a child. I nod slowly, and he stands to head into the shower.

  “C-can I come with you? I don’t want to be alone.” I look at the ground as I speak, not wanting to see his face. Every time Luca looks at me, I can see the disgust that lurks beneath his gaze.

  I feel a hand over mine and stop shaking. I haven’t even realized I am still shivering in fear.

  Luca’s hand slowly wraps around mine, and he pulls me from the bed toward the bathroom. I sit on the chair as he draws a warm bath, the steam fogging up the mirror. He sits on the edge of the tub, testing the warmth of the water. He still doesn’t look at me, though. And quite honestly, I am okay with that. As long as I can be in the same room as him, I feel safe. Luca always means what he says, so if he tells me I will be safe, I feel I can believe that of him.

  Luca stands and slowly begins to shed his clothing. He keeps his back to me as he does so. Once he is completely naked, he turns to me, holding his hand out to me. I stand slowly and walk toward him. Once I reach his arms, he pulls my shirt over my head and begins to remove my underwear. We stand for a moment as he takes in my naked form. His eyes trail down to my stomach. He reaches out, slowly unraveling the gauze from around my arms, revealing the cuts and bruises that lurk underneath. He reaches around me and puts some gloves on my hands since I have stitches in the palms and they can’t get wet. He stares at the marks along my body and slowly pulls me in for a hug, and we stand like that in the middle of the bathroom, naked, in each other’s arms.

  He pulls away from me, walking toward the water and sinking himself in. He still doesn’t say a word; he just looks at me, and for the first time since my rescue, he smiles at me. He brings his hand out of the water, holding it out to me. I walk toward him and lower myself into the tub with him. He lies on his back and pulls me in between his legs. His hands rest over my stomach. I can feel his chin resting atop my head.