Fugitive (Deceptive Series Book 2)

by M. D. Melai

  “I love you,” I eventually whispered against his lips.

  “I love you too,” he said through ragged breaths.

  Chapter 9

  I woke up to someone poking me in the shoulder and warm arms wrapped around me. When Violet’s face finally came in to view, she was tapping her wrist and pointing to the door.

  Time to go.

  I carefully removed myself from Emilio’s grasp. He stirred for a moment and then drifted back to sleep. He was so peaceful and handsome. No worried lines were on his face, but I knew that would quickly change. I quietly bent down and kissed him on the forehead one last time.

  “La mia vita, il mio cuore. Ti amo più della vita stessa,” My life, My heart. I love you more than life itself. I whispered in his ear, then tiptoed out of his room and closed the door behind me.

  “I thought you were just going to say goodbye, not freaking sleep in his arms all night long!” Violet smiled as I entered my room.

  “Oh hush! I did say goodbye. I just thought there wasn’t any harm in having him hold me one more time.”

  “Mm-hmm,” Violet hummed at me.

  “Girl you saw me, nothing happened other than that. I’m still in my pajamas for heaven’s sake!”

  “Lily, I know you. I wasn’t talking about that! I was talking about, and I quote, what’s the harm in that? Because I’m pretty sure what happened did a lot more damage to the both of you than you think.”

  “I'm good,” I lied. “I’m leaving everything behind.”

  Violet’s expression immediately changed and I knew I had just hurt her.

  “Everything but you Violet,” I assured her. “I’m starting over. I won’t lie and say I’m not scared to death, because I’m terrified, but I’m never going to escape any of this if I don’t do it now.”

  “True. Speaking of, you better finish getting ready. We only have forty-five minutes. My source said that the electricity will be turned off at four thirty sharp.”

  And with that, we went to work. I took a shower, changed my clothes, fixed my hair, and put on some makeup. I had a very long day of traveling ahead of me. While I was getting ready, Violet rechecked my purse to make sure everything was there.

  “I need your necklace,” Violet said as I took one last look at myself in the mirror, and then looked at the clock on the wall.

  Four fifteen.

  I sighed before turning around to face her. My fingers automatically took the locket between them and I moved it along the chain.

  “You can’t take it with you,” she added.

  “I know.” I frowned.

  I wanted to take it with me. I loved my necklace, but Emilio would be able to track me down before I even made it out of the states.

  “Here,” Violet said as she held out a little black box. “Maybe this will help.”

  I didn’t hesitate to take it from her. I couldn’t open it up quick enough, and when I finally did, I felt a tear roll down my face. In my hands was an exact replica of my necklace.

  “And you don’t have to worry, there isn’t a tracker in that one,” she said with a smile. “Open it!”

  I couldn’t help but smile when I pressed the button and the locket popped open and four faces stared up at me. There was a picture of me and Emilio together and one of Violet and Dante, and behind those were two open spots to add pictures to.

  “I thought I would leave those open for whoever you deemed awesome enough to be there.” Violet smiled.

  “Thanks Violet,” I said as I threw my arms around her and pulled her in tight. “I can’t thank you enough. I’m glad I will have my locket with me, even if it is not the original.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said. “And just like your other locket, this one has the same inscription on the inside. It’s identical on the outside, but on the inside it holds your heart.”

  “Stop getting so sappy on me,” I half cried, half laughed.

  Violet laughed and we both pulled away. “I’m not, but seriously though, I’m going to miss you. And if you need me, you can call me anytime and I will answer, okay?”

  “I will miss you too, and I will, I promise.”

  We both took another look towards the clock.

  Two minutes.

  I grabbed my purse and put the long strap around my neck before we both hugged each other one last time.

  “Tell Emilio I’m sorry,” I said just as the lamp in my room went off.

  “I will. Be careful, and come back to us,” Violet whispered as I passed by her and headed out the door. I could hear her starting to cry again and was thankful that in that moment that I couldn’t see her face anymore.

  Using the banister, I quietly and quickly made my way across the hallway and down the stairs. At the bottom of the stairs, I opened the closet door, grabbed my bag, and then slipped it around my neck.

  Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I pictured the next steps I needed to take to make it to the front door.

  When my hand touched the knob of the front door to turn it, I hesitated for a moment. My heart sped up and my mind raced. I couldn’t believe I was about to do this. I felt liberated and terrified all at the same time. It was now or never.

  The door silently opened and closed. The air outside was crisp and cool. I could see a car outside the gate just like Violet and I had planned. We decided that a car service would be the cheaper route.

  I jogged down the drive to find the gate closed. We had thought of everything, except the stupid gate! I almost took it as a sign, but then I threw my bag over the gate and climbed it.

  “You in a hurry?” the driver spoke as I landed on the ground outside the gate.

  “Yes,” I said as I opened the passenger side and jumped in.

  “I was told Newark Liberty Airport, is that correct?” he asked.

  “Yes,” I replied.

  The driver asked several questions and I answered them vaguely on the drive to the airport, but for the most part, it was quiet. There was plenty of traffic on the road, even at such an early hour in the morning.

  When we reached the airport, I paid and thanked him before getting out of the car and heading into the airport.

  I checked in, went through security, and found my gate before I searched for something to snack on. My flight took off in an hour and I was praying it wouldn’t be delayed.

  Everyone would be waking up around then, and I knew Violet would make up an excuse as to why I wasn’t down at breakfast. I hoped she could hold them off as long as possible.

  I ended up grabbing a coffee and a cinnamon roll before I boarded the plane. I was glad I did, because when I arrived at Toronto Pearson an hour and half later, I hit the ground running.

  By the time I made it through customs, I had a little over two hours before I had to be back at the airport in time to go through the checkpoints to make my flight to Italy.

  As quickly as I could, I made my way outside to flag down a cab. I didn’t have to be outside the coffee shop for another hour, so I contemplated where I would go before then. It took me only a second to realize exactly where I wanted to be.

  ***

  The cool fall wind whipped around me as I stood there looking down at his tombstone.

  Roman.

  “Hey,” I whispered as I placed my hand on the cold granite piece of rock. “I miss you. I bet you are wondering why I’m here, huh?” I half laughed.

  “I'm running away,” I said shyly before I smiled. “Yes, I know it’s a bad idea.” I looked out across the cemetery before turning my attention back to Roman.

  “I need to get away. This past year has been so hard on me. So many things have been going on and I need a new start. One in which I can be anyone I want to be.

  “I wish you were here. You could go with me, or at least tell me how bad of an idea this is. Knowing me, I would have guilt tripped you into going.” I smiled.

  “Remember when I was thirteen and I told you I was going to run away? Then you went and opened your big mou
th to Dante who told my parents. Yeah I would have used that against you, just to let you know.” My smile faded as I paused. I would give anything to go back to that day just to see him again.

  “I can’t breathe lately,” I said as I began again. “I feel like every day it’s getting worse and worse. After you were murdered, I got kidnapped a few months later. I lost myself for a while after that. I thought I was better and that I had come to terms with things, but I was fooling myself. I’m lost. I don’t know or understand my family anymore. How could they of kept me in the dark about everything going on? They have an undying need to protect me too, but from what? They’re all vague about it when I ask. It’s confusing.” I couldn’t stop the tears as they started flowing down my face.

  “I could blame it on my father like I want to do, but the truth is, a lot of it is my fault. I was completely blindsided by the secrets of my family. I was selfish and wrapped up in my own world. Don’t get me wrong, I’m mad at all of them, but I’m mad at myself more.

  “I think the best thing for me to do right now is to find myself before I can truly grasp anything else going on in my life. I used to be a confident person. Now I’m anything but that. I let myself be cooped up in a house as I watched the outside world pass by, because I was scared. I’m scared of people who I don’t even know. You know I never cower to anything or anyone, but lately that is all I do, and I’m not going to do that anymore.

  “I’m hoping this new journey will bring me some peace. I don’t know if I’m coming back. I told Violet I would, but I’m not so sure. It could be two weeks, it could be twenty years. I don’t know. I need to find my happy place.

  “I miss you every day Roman. I miss talking to you and your laugh. I miss everything. Anyways, wish me luck on my new journey. I wish you were going with me.”

  I bent down and kissed the top of his tombstone. “I know you will be there though, protecting me in your own way.” Then I turned and headed towards the taxi that had been patiently waiting for me. I wiped my tears away as I approached the door, and then turned back one more time to look at the place where my friend laid.

  I felt better as I headed back into town. I had told Roman things I could only admit to myself. Things Violet didn’t even know. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my chest. I could breathe a little deeper now.

  I made it outside of The Common with time to spare. I found a place across the street to watch and wait for my mother and her friends to come by. They came here every Friday morning to talk about their week and catch up. It was their favorite place, as well as one of mine.

  I silently cursed myself for not getting here a little sooner, so I could have grabbed something for myself. But if I would have come here earlier, then I wouldn’t have had the chance to see Roman’s grave and talk to him, which meant more to me than a cappuccino and a mouthwatering croissant.

  At exactly ten o’clock I pulled my jacket around me tighter and let my hair fall in front of my face as much as possible. I knew my mother would be coming in to view at any moment now.

  Right on cue, she and her five other friends walked up to the door. She looked so beautiful in her black pant suit, red shirt, and bright red pumps. Her makeup was flawless and her hair was down and straight. She looked happy as she laughed at something one of her friends said. They were all about to go into the restaurant when she reached into her purse, pulled out her phone, and smiled as she waved her friends into the cafe.

  She was smiling at first, but it quickly changed as a terrified look took over.

  “What do you mean she’s missing?” she yelled so loud I could hear her across the street.

  My heart sank. They had figured out I was gone. I thought I was going to have more time.

  “FIND HER!” she screamed into the phone. “You find her, do you understand me?” She listened to whatever the other person was saying before she said a few more things. Then she hung up the phone, searched through her purse, pulled out her keys, and turned away from the coffee shop.

  I felt sad for my mother, because I knew what I was doing was going to kill her. It was going to hurt everyone I left behind, but I was doing the right thing. They would understand eventually, I hoped.

  ***

  “Final boarding call for Flight 5986 for Palermo, Italy,” the flight attendant announced over the speaker.

  I had been waiting for this call. I could have boarded a long time ago, since I had a first class ticket, but I just kept waiting.

  Stay or leave, stay or leave?

  I finally stood up and walked over to the lady checking tickets.

  “Visiting?” she asked.

  “You could say that,” I said with a smile as she handed my ticket and passport back to me.

  “Have a safe trip then.” She smiled at me.

  “Thank you,” I said as I headed into the tunnel and towards the plane.

  A nervous excitement filled the air around me. I could do this. I knew I could.

  Chapter 10

  The plane ride to Palermo took almost seventeen hours. We made one stop along the way in Paris. In that extra time, I contemplated on what I was going to do when I arrived. Violet had found a vacant apartment and booked it for two weeks, so I at least had a place to stay in the meantime.

  I also knew that once I settled in, I needed to find the place that held the genealogy archives about my family. Two places came to mind on where I could go to find that information: a library or a courthouse.

  The only two details I knew about my family heritage was that my family had emigrated from Palermo to New York in the eighteen hundreds, and I knew my grandparents’ names. That was about it.

  Looking out the window as the plane descended, I started to feel nervous. When I had first boarded the plane, I was filled with excitement, but now that I was actually here, the feeling of complete fear had fallen on me.

  You can do this.

  I closed my eyes and waited to feel the jolt of the plane tires hitting the runway. My stomach leapt into my chest a few times, mostly due to the plane, but I knew it also had to do with what my future held.

  Within minutes I felt the bounce of the plane as the wheels touched the ground and it started to slow down. The pilot came over the speaker and announced that we had arrived and thanked the passengers for flying with the airline. Before the plane came to a complete stop, almost everyone had stood and started getting their overhead luggage.

  Once the doors opened, everyone rushed out. I patiently waited until the area I was in cleared before I made my way to the aisle to retrieve my carry-on. I knew as soon as I stepped off this plane, my life was going to change, so I wasn’t in any hurry to speed up the process.

  “Arrivederci,” the flight attendant said as I made it to the front.

  “Arrivederci,” I replied before taking a step into the tunnel that led to the airport.

  I took several deep breaths as I followed the signs that pointed me towards passport check. When I reached it, there were two long lines: one for people inside the EU, and one for people outside of the EU. I stood in the line for people outside of the EU and hoped that it would go by quickly. All I wanted to do was get to my new temporary home and sleep. I hadn’t slept much on the plane, and I knew the jet lag would take a toll on me.

  Once I was next in line, I pulled out my passport. I hoped that I could make it through here without them questioning me as Caterina De Luca. The picture clearly looked like me, but I didn’t know if Violet got me a real passport or a fake. She had received it rather fast.

  I took a deep breath as the customs worker took my passport and gave me a look over.

  “How long will you be in the country?” he asked.

  “I’ll be here for three weeks,” I said as confidently as I could.

  “And what is your purpose in coming here?”

  “I’m visiting family,” I answered quickly, hoping he wouldn’t suspect my lie.

  He nodded his head and stamped my passport before handing
it back to me.

  A sigh of relief escaped as I made my way out the double doors and into the arrivals waiting room. I contemplated on what would be the best transportation to take to my apartment. I could either take the bus, a taxi, or walk. With the apartment being twenty miles away, I quickly gave walking a resounding no.

  There was a line of taxis waiting out in front of the airport as I walked out. I wasted no time as I made my way to the guard who was ushering people into their taxis. He asked where I was going and I gave him the address. He nodded in response, opened and closed the door for me, and gave the address to my driver before he gave me a quick smile.

  I didn’t speak on the ride to the apartment, but I made plenty of gasping noises. I feared for my life the entire way there. Apparently Italy did not believe in driving lanes! Every time I made a sound I would get a questionable look from the driver. It wasn’t my fault though. This was all new to me.

  Within thirty minutes of leaving the airport, we arrived at my destination. I paid him and he quickly left. Luckily, I had plenty of money with me, because it was an expensive drive.

  I checked the address one more time as I made my way to the intercom and pressed the name of the owner Violet had given me.

  “Ciao,” the woman said.

  “Ciao. Do you speak English?” I asked. I really hoped she spoke English since my Italian was a little rusty.

  “Yes, how may I help you?” she said with a thick Italian accent.

  “I’m Caterina De Luca. I have a reservation here for the next two weeks,” I replied.

  “Ah yes, Ms. De Luca, please come in,” she said right before I heard the click of the door unlocking.

  I opened the large brown door and made my way into a beautiful courtyard filled with an assortment of flowers and plants. A small fountain stood in the middle, making the entire area feel tranquil. Above me on either side were different apartments that each had their own balconies. The smell of clean laundry filled the air as it swayed in the wind.

  “Ms. De Luca,” the woman said before coming out of the first floor door that led into the courtyard.