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The car stops, and I move Aly to the side, all while ignoring her. I can feel her eyes on me, making it harder than I thought. Without a word, I step out of the car. Vinny follows my lead, leaving Aly to herself.
I quickly scan the area, searching for my sister, afraid to find her as one of the bodies already covered with blankets.
“Luca Rossi.”
I turn to see a cop. He’s not one who’s on our payroll. I don’t recognize him. He doesn’t give off the vibe of being a dirty cop either. He smells clean and ambitious. One of those types.
Eyeing him up and down, I observe he’s my height and built like a brick shithouse. This guy spends way too much time at the gym.
“What?” I pin him with my glare, daring him to give me trouble.
“Your sister is this way. She’s been asking for you.”
I almost step back in shock. I was waiting for him to arrest me or show me a warrant.
I allow him to lead me past a group of people, happy to hear she’s alive but still worried of the condition she could be in. I see my mother, then Aria. Aria is sitting under a blanket, her hands clenching the material to keep it around her tiny frame. My sister sees the two of us walking up, and her face brightens. I’ve never been so happy to see that smile. I don’t deserve her kindness.
Standing, she runs toward me, her blanket still draped around her. “Luca! How’s Aly?” My sister is a saint. I chose my wife, and she’s worried about Aly without any grudges toward me or her.
Meeting her in the middle of our large driveway, I respond, “I am so sorry, Aria. I’ve let you down. I don’t deserve your faith in me.” My sisters mean the world to me, and more so to my father. If I were a lesser man, I would fall to her feet. Instead, I stay stiff, wishing I could show her how much she means to me.
“Don’t be silly. You made the right decision. I could never live with you choosing me over Aly. I never want anyone’s blood on me.”
She glances past me, and I turn, following what has caught her attention. She smiles shyly at a cop. I want to take her arm and move her away but remember he was probably the one who saved her.
She steps toward the cop. I watch as they stand with an awkward tension rolling between them. There’s something off with their body language.
Fuck, I’m losing it.Shaking my head, I officially decide I need sleep. I’m starting to sound like a woman and making something out of nothing. Running my hand down my face, I come up beside my sister.
“How were you saved?” I probe, glancing between her and the cop before staying on his uniform. I take note of his last name—Fox.
My sister startles at my loud voice and takes a step away, unaware that I’m picturing the cop’s head on one of my targets.
“They followed Mancini here and came just in time.” Her voice is too dreamy, and I want to stomp all over it.
“If they followed him, why didn’t they stop this before it got out of hand?”
“Is there a bigger question you would like to ask me?” he dares to ask me, stepping in front of Aria, but the Italian in her refuses to be sidestepped. My sister narrows her eyes on me, but this is for her own good. If our father was beside us, this fucker wouldn’t have a job tomorrow.
I’m about to unleash hell, when I hear Aly calling my name.
Chapter 34
Aly
Lucaleavesmeinthe car as he runs to find his sister. I immediately miss his presence. The darkness engulfs me, masking that I exist. I’ve been a fool, thinking my father loved me. I’ve always been a pawn to him. I never realized it until I learned he was the one who took me for his revenge on Luca. I now understand fully why my mother tried to distance us the best she could from him.
Tears fall down my face as I realize I messed up the best thing that ever happened to me. Luca. I was an idiot to let him walk away. Using my palm, I wipe the silent tears off my cheeks. Cautiously, I step out of the car, taking in the compound grounds. It’s like a movie set for some bloody horror movie. I search for Luca in the dimly lit area, blue and red lights helping to cut the darkness. Each step I take away from the car, I walk into casted shadows and colored lights. I could slip away into the night, but then I would be leaving a life that I want.
Between the sea of people, Luca is nowhere to be seen. Searching in front of me, my eyes collide with my father through the back window of a cop car. I freeze midstep. He glares, not happy to see me. His mouth is turned down, disgusted by my mere presence. The way his cutthroat stare is watching me has goose bumps traveling down my spine. Then he smiles, sitting up straighter and pretending to be morally honorable, like an arrogant asshole.
Turning from him, I increase my pace, but I can’t help the impulse to look back at him every other second. His mouth opens in a laugh with his head leaning back before he puckers his lips, sending me a kiss.
The red and blue lights don’t brighten the night as I thought they might. I could describe the area as calm chaos. No one is moving too fast anymore, but everyone has a job they’re doing. I’m the lone soul wandering around trying to find Luca, the man I hope I can still call mine.
I won’t take him saving me or holding me as a sign. Luca is loyal to a fault, and it could all have been out of habit or out of the need to kill me himself. Or worse, torture me for the rest of my life. I’ve seen what an unhappy marriage can be like in this lifestyle. Once you’re in, the only way you’re leaving is in the ground.
“Luca,” I call into the darkness.
