AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Carlos doesn’t answer and only keeps wrestling against the men.
Ilya is enjoying himself. He’s looking at all of us like this is the best day he’s had in his life.
“Oh, he said plenty in the end. That’s how we came up with this plan. Of course, after all these miles we’ve been doing, we didn’t want to end up empty handed. Which is why, when he was pleading for his life. He said he could promise me Luca Colombino.Luca Colombino!Of course, I was very dubious of it all at first, but he explained to me your friendship with Sophie, that her husband was Luca. He also said that you and his best-friend were dating, and that hisbest-friendwas also friends with Luca. Well—” he puts down the shears and begins clapping. “Happy plan! Finally!”
I don’t know what horrifies me more: my own brother's actions or the plan to lure in Luca. All because of my stupid brother's debts…
“Right,” Ilya says, replacing the shears. “Let's cut the little piggy first.”
Carlos begins screaming again, and I go along with him. The room is awash with noise until we all hear the new one.
A phone is ringing.
Myphone ringing.
Ilya stops what he’s doing and looks at the desk. My phone is ringing and vibrating along the surface, heading for the edge. He smiles. “Oh, perfect timing. We can have even more fun.”
He squeezes the shears and cuts off my brother's toe as we all start screaming.
Chapter 25
Sebastian
Aswedrivetomy apartment, Luca fills me in on everything Carlos has been up to for the last five years.
“And youknew?” I ask incredulously.
Luca nods. “I knew once I began calling around after you returned. Leandro said he was looking into things on his end, but he encouraged me to do the same. Carlos, it turned out, hasn’t exactly been subtle about trying to fix his debts with Alexei. He’s been to every loan shark in the city of New York; he’s pitched to many different teams about robberies, he’s stiffed over a few other families trying to trick people out of money…” he shrugs. “He’s been desperate.”
I shake my head. Beyond the sense of betrayal from Carlos, I also feel it for Luca. He’s let me run around like an idiot these past weeks… “So it was all a ploy to lure Alexei in?” I shake my head. “You let us drive up and almost get killed—”
“No, no.” Luca cuts me off with a wave of his hand. “I didn’t know about them then. As I just said, I only began searching after Leandro informed me of potential interest in the deal.”
“But you knew when I was back.”
“Yes,” he says, opening his car door. “All things considered, I think we were mostly right to allow Carlos his freedom. I think we could’ve drawn Alexei’s men out had I been able to talk to him in time. But debt and fear change people and make them do stupid things. I know. It’s a shame that coincided with you and Mimi dating, I know how much it means to her.” Luca shakes his head at the sadness of the situation.
Of everything he’s just said, I only hear the beginning. “Mostly right? Who’s the naive one now?”
Luca’s face tightens like he’s bitten a lemon. “Huh? Sebastian, do not underestimate desperate people. You are operating in the same way, and you don’t think anything you’re doing is crazy.”
“What, so you pity Carlos now?” I say, glaring at him from the passenger seat. Why the hell am I trying to pick this fight?
Luckily, Luca is above that. “Yes. The man was so afraid that he wouldn’t, or felt that he couldn’t, ask for help. Think how desperate he was to steal a van and do the exact same drive you just did. You know how long that was.”
That stops me. Still, for some stupid reason of my own desperation, I still keep trying to poke the bear. “But then why let us dangle? If you knew the extent of the debt, if you were trying to lure the men down here, why the fuck let us wait?” My hands are bunched up, and I’m fighting with every ounce of strength in my body to not knock Luca’s head off.
“Because you deserved a choice.” He says it with so much calm that it finally jolts me into some sense. “When my father died, I’d been forced into hiding with Sophie for similar reasons. It had given Marco the perfect opportunity to go after him and use it against me. I like to believe, in fact Ihaveto believe, that if I had a choice that maybe my father would still be alive.”
I unclench my fists and look away.
“I could’ve forced Mimi and her mother to come to my house. I could’ve confronted Carlos about his secrets and questioned him too. Or used him as a way to gain trust with Alexei. I could’ve kept you in the fold. There are many ways that we can go about life, but we must have the choice. I gave Mimi the choice of protection, but she wanted to protect her mother. Which I knew would always be the case. Did you think that I cast you aside for no reason? Sophie believes that I favor my own, which may be true to some extent, but not now. I knew that Mimi would refuse, she is proud like her brother. Which is why I cut you free. I knew that you wouldn’t rest unless she was protected. I hoped that your presence would keep them at bay while I finished my investigations.” Luca drops his head. “But I didn’t know she was pregnant. Had I known that, she wouldn’t have had a choice.” He finishes as we screech to a halt in front of my apartment building.
I sit there, shocked, for a second before I follow him out. “But why have you been refusing to help?” I say, catching up to him at my door. Luca looks at me but says nothing. I realize he’s probably been doing more than I know.
I fish the keys out of my pocket and unlock the door.
My place is trashed. Everything has been upended and turned over. It fucking stinks, and the garbage in the kitchen is only part of the reason why. Upended and with the sun pouring in on it, flies are buzzing, and some have even pissed all over the pile. Back in the living room, the couch has been cut to shreds and all the stuffing pulled out. We walk through, knowing no one is there. “I guess it was good I wasn’t here, huh?”
