AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her brow arches. “Why?” Her expression is tense, worried.
I go to her, taking her hand. “I’m not asking for a new identity. I’m going to stay here with him.”
“What? Why? You said you wanted freedom.”
I nod. “I want to be happy and be me, and he gives me that.”
“He kidnapped?—”
“You’re fond of Giuseppe, aren’t you? Even though you were essentially sold to him.”
She purses her lips at me. “Yes, but?—”
“Don Leone is fond of Ms. Fiori,” Rosa states as she gathers clothes.
“He told you that?” I ask.
“No. But I know him. He’s a good person. Yes, he can be hard, but he knows love. His mother lavished him with it. Ah, how he adored her. It was her death that killed something inside him. Something that has bloomed again with you here.”
I look at Lucia. “Dad killed his mother.”
Lucia let out a breath. “I know.”
“His brother too,” Rosa said. “Niko had plans in life, but sometimes, life puts you on a new path. His has been revenge for so long. Now, with you, maybe he can find peace and love.”
I smile, hoping she’s right.
"I'm coming with you,” Lucia says. “Where you go, I go. That’s the deal I made with him.”
We pack and meet Mikey in the foyer. He helps us with our bags and then we’re off. The drive toward Manhattan is lovely. The sky is blue. The sun is shining. It’s like a sign from God that I’m doing the right thing.
Mikey keeps his eyes fixed ahead, hands steady on the wheel. Lucia hums a song in Italian, and it reminds me that she must speak Italian all the time when she’s home. While we have Italian heritage, the language wasn’t spoken in our home. I wonder if it was hard for her to learn.
I lean my head back, closing my eyes as I sort through my head what to say to Niko and hoping he’s happy about my choice. A smile teases my lips. Yes, I’ve made the right choice. Everything is going to be fine. Perfect.
My body is jerked to the side as a loud crashing sound fills the vehicle. My world spins. Glass shatters. Screams escape my mouth. The car finally comes to a stop against a roadside barrier.
“Oh, my God. Are you okay?” I reach over to Lucia, who is slumped in the seat next to me. “Mikey.”
A man approaches the driver’s side door, and I’m relieved that help is on the way. The man opens the driver’s side door and, lifting a gun, shoots Mikey in the head.
I scream until he turns the gun on me. “Quiet.”
Two other men appear. “Let’s go. Now!”
The three men pull me and Lucia, now awake but groggy, from the vehicle and put us into another car pulled up behind where we crashed.
“Put these on.” One of the men puts a cloth sack over my head. Another zip-ties my hands and ankles.
I reach out next to me, hoping to find Lucia. Her shoulder bumps into mine, and we lean into each other.
What is happening? Who is doing this to us? Is it our father? Or is it Romeo? Didn’t Niko tell me he had a run-in with him yesterday?
“Let us go,” Lucia yells, apparently coming fully out of the stupor she’d been in. “Do you know who we are? You’re so fucked?—”
“Shut up or I’ll shut you up.”
“You know you’re dead, right? You—” Lucia goes silent.
