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“If I am going to be dead soon, what does it matter if I wear this same sweater or not?”
“Wow, you're so welcome,” he says full of sarcasm, running a hand through his thick hair. “I didn’t pick you for the ungrateful type.”
“Excuse me?” I frown. “Did your mother drop you on your head or something when you were a baby, or are we dealing with daddy issues here?”
He stares at me for a long moment before coming to a grin. It’s like the sun has come out, hiding away the dark cloud that follows him constantly. His face shines so brightly when he smiles, making him beautiful and so much the man I wish he could be.
“You certainly have a way with words, red.” He steps forward, snatching the bags from my hand. “If you don’t want them, you can stay in your smelly rags, for all I care.”
Reaching out, I snatch the bags back. “I didn’t say that I didn’t want them. I just don’t understand why you would buy me things when I am going to be dead soon.”
Luca takes a seat on the sofa. His arms splay out like eagle wings over the back of it. “You say that like I am going to butcher you tomorrow. Why are you so certain that I am going to kill you?”
“I am not stupid. I know how this is going to end. You came to my apartment a week ago to kill me. It is only a matter of time before Nicolai will send you orders, and it’s over for me.”
“It all depends on what information you have and what you plan on doing with it. The ball is in your court, red.”
“That's bullshit, and you know it.”
Luca leans forward on the sofa, resting his elbows on his knees. “Nicolai will be here in a few days. He is the one who decides your fate, but it is up to you to convince him your life is worth saving. You have to give him something that will make you useful to him.”
I frown at him. “I have nothing to offer, nor would I want to if it means being a part of your world.”
He shakes his head but not at me. It’s at whatever he is thinking. “Why aren't you afraid? The thought of death scares most people. Don’t you want to live?”
“That all depends on what it will cost me,” I answer, peeking into one of the bags, seeing the EarPods inside. I can’t help but inwardly smile. He brought me headphones so he doesn’t have to listen to my music. A gift that benefits both the giver and receiver.
“What could be more important than saving your life?” he asks with genuine curiosity in his eyes.
“My soul.”
Something close to pain washes over his face at my words. It hits him deep and hard. “Keep the gifts,” he says as he stands and begins to walk away. “Use them for as long as you still have your soul.”
I stand dumbfounded for the longest moment. What the hell? Luca’s words bite into me. Was he trying to tell me to bargain with Nicolai for my life? Offer him my services in exchange? Is that what he was trying to tell me in a roundabout way? That is what he wants?
I empty out the bags onto the sofa: two expensive-looking knitted sweaters, one baby blue, and the other a pastel pink. I run my hand over the soft fabric. They are beautiful, unlike anything I’d expect Luca to choose. There is a pair of jeans and some lingerie, EarPods, an iPod, and a few magazines.
Why would he do this for me? Is it guilt or remorse?
Luca said Nicolai would be here in a few days. He doesn’t realize that with his gifts today, he took one away from me—the gift of not knowing when I am going to die. Now I am cursed with the knowledge that in a few days, I will meet my maker.
Twenty-Eight
Luca
It's been two days. Scarlet has been quiet ever since I returned from Elijah’s club. Something about my gifts unsettled her. The banter, the wit, and her infectious laughter has all muted. Sticking to the confines of her room, she has not caused her usual chaos throughout my apartment.
There have been no more home-cooked meals. She has picked at the take-out food, only eating mere morsels. Her somber mood sits heavy in my gut, making me feel uneasy and despondent myself.
The normally bright burning fire inside her has burned out to ashes and smoke. Her distant eyes tear painfully in my chest. Time moves quickly, but we stand dormant in it, watching each agonizing second tick by with anxious minds.
I don’t know for sure what Nicolai will decide, but I know he does not take threats to his family lightly. Scarlet is a threat. I can’t see him letting her live after what she has done. To be honest, if it were anyone else other than Scarlet, I’d agree. I would gladly pull the trigger. However, it’s not, it’s her, and the moment ticks closer and closer to Nicolai’s return. My heart beats harder, louder, like a constant war drum brewing into an unstoppable storm.
Pacing the apartment, I stop to straighten the Ares sculpture on my hall table. He is the mythological Greek god of courage and war. Full of bloodlust and brutality, he represents the barbaric violence of battle. He fell in love with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. It’s ironic that he loved someone of love, beauty, and procreation. When he was a man who represented the reckless taking of life, it was a love cursed never to be any more than just an affair. It was punishment for a man such as he, to never truly have the woman he wanted. The statue is a constant reminder to me that I too shall never have love. That the realities of a man like me can never have happiness.
I hear the distant chime of the elevator. He is here. The moment has come.
Nicolai enters the apartment. His presence both calms and unsettles me. Jet lagged and weary-eyed, he smiles when he sees me. “It’s good to see you, brother.” Taking me into his embrace, he squeezes my chest to his. Nicolai has been more of a father figure to me than a brother. He always put me first, took care of me, protected me even when it could have cost him his own life. His loyalty to me has never faltered. It’s only been since he has gotten married and started a family that I have come second to that, which I hold no grudges against. It is as it should be. They are paramount. I’d expect nothing less.
