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“Your wife?”
“Elenora Buccini. Or now known as Elenora Barbieri.”
The shock on his face was comical, but I couldn’t laugh. I was too deep in my darkness to do anything but glare at him.
Realisation unwrinkled his frown lines as he started to sweat and stuttered, “That’s what this is about? Fuck, why didn’t you just say. If I had known she was your wife... I won’t go near her, I fucking swear. I don’t even have any need for her. If that’s all you want, it’s done.”
“That isn’t what you told Dante,” I gritted. I had memorised the text I found on Dante’s phone by heart. “Get me the girl. I get a go on her first, then you can. I’ll have her in the rings before he even realises she's missing.”
I could barely hold on to my rage, as I stared into his vindictive eyes. My hand was wrapped so tightly around my knife I thought my knuckles might break through my skin.
“That was before!” he shouted when I stood up and stalked towards him. “She wasn’t your wife then! I just thought she was your hostage!”
I grabbed his dick in one hand and cut through the base of it, castrating him as he screamed like a baby. I threw it down on the bed as a copious amount of blood soaked the bedding around him and he stared down at himself, horror on his pale face. The screams kept coming.
“You fucking son of a bitch! You sick fuck!” he bellowed as I rolled my tongue over my teeth and grabbed the container of lighter fuel out of my bag, drenching his body and the bed.
“No! What are you doing? Stop! Just fucking shoot me!”
I flicked open a lighter, the flame dancing in the air as I held his terrified gaze, “See you in hell, Galiz.”
I dropped the lighter on the bed and within seconds, the whole thing had gone up in bright, orange flames as his body thrashed and his garbled screams echoed around the room. I stood and watched until his body was completely engulfed and his cries faded. Storming from the room and down the aisle towards the woman, I untied her frantically and removed the duct tape as she cried and whimpered.
“Put this on, right now!” I shouted, throwing a harness at her from my bag. The heat from the fire was starting to travel through the plane and I knew I didn’t have much time. Grabbing my own sky-diving harness with the parachute attached, I pulled it on and dashed into the cockpit. Finding the button I needed to turn off autopilot took a few torturous seconds. Then I turned off the stabiliser and one of the engines, causing the plane to immediately shudder and the nose to dive slightly. The woman screamed, gripping the side of her chair as I tried to make my way to the emergency exit.
“Come here!” I shouted at her as the plane plummeted and gravity took effect. She screamed again, shaking her head and bawling in panic as she held onto the chair for dear life. “If you don’t want to die! Fucking come here now!”
My hand was gripping the red handle of the emergency door, ready to throw it open as she shakily fell to her knees and started crawling towards me. I reached out my hand to her, but the plane catapulted downwards and she latched onto another chair. Fuck. We didn’t have time for this. My watch started beeping with the alarm that I had to jump now. Any closer to the ground and I wouldn’t have time to open my parachute.
“We have to jump! Right now!” I yelled at her. She got back to her hands and knees and crawled towards me. I grabbed her hand, hauling her to her feet as I pulled down the lever. The door broke off, flinging off its hinges into the air as the speed we were falling crushed my lungs and I couldn’t even breathe let alone speak. I tried to attach her harness to mine, but when she saw the drop and what I was about to do, she fell backwards away from the door, shaking her head.
“I can’t- No!” she cried, though I could barely hear her and I swore loudly, leaping out of the plane. If I didn’t jump, I wouldn’t make it back to Elle. My body twisted and turned in every direction as I catapulted towards the blanket of blue beneath me. My hand searched for the string to open my parachute, but I was too disorientated. My heart thundered and panic set in knowing it was going to be too late soon.
I found the cord and yanked at it, the parachute flowing out behind me, but I knew something was wrong when one side of my body was aggressively yanked back. I looked up to see the strings were twisted on one side and the parachute hadn’t opened perfectly. My eyes darted down to the nearing surface of the Atlantic and I knew I was falling too fast. There was nothing I could do but pray. Pray that the impact wouldn’t kill me. That the parachute would do enough to save my life.
My body hit the water with force, knocking all the air from me and sending a wave of pain through my entire body. I sank below the surface of the chilly depths and fought to kick to the top. My mouth opened to scream at the unbearable, searing injury to my collarbone, which caused me to inhale a mouthful of salty water. Pure panic. Fight or flight kicked in. I couldn’t die. Not now. I had to make it back to her. I promised I would never leave her. But the surface felt like it was getting further and further away.
Images of her face flashed in my mind. Her rich brown eyes. Her full lips smiling. Her silky, black hair. The softness of her skin. My greatest fear has always been dying and having it not mean anything. A moment of clarity and peace washed over me as the last of my oxygen ran out and I suffocated on the solitude of the ocean’s secrets. My death meant she was now safe. The ultimate sacrifice for my Princess. My life.
I’ll love you.
Until forever.
Defining Moments
Defining moments. I had never before taken much time to consider the impact of every little moment in my life and how they have shaped who I am. But that is all our lives come down to really, precious moments in time.
Some are so fleeting, almost irrelevant, that they don’t play a huge role in the grand scheme of who we will become or what we will achieve. There are some that we glide through, completely unaware of how much their importance will change the course of our lives forever.
Some moments are just meant to live in our hearts as fond memories or periods of cherished happiness. Whereas others are sent to test us or devastate us so entirely that you no longer believe you know why anything happens at all. They are the hardest. The ones where you must pick up the broken pieces of your soul from wreckage around you and find the strength to rebuild. But they are also the ones that teach us how invincible we truly are. And every once in a while, there will be a moment in your life that will be so significant and life-altering that you will take the time to stop and realise… this is what life is all about.
As I smoothed my clammy hands down my sophisticated, white knee-length dress, straightening out any invisible creases, I knew that tonight would be one of those moments. I glanced around the airy, bright and pristine art gallery with a feeling of pride at what I had managed to accomplish in the last three weeks. It hadn’t been easy, especially when I had to arrange, organise and design so much of the space and this event over zoom calls with my newly appointed floor manager, Angelica. I called her Angel because she was exactly that. My angel, who had been my physical presence in the South, while I was forced to stay in the North.
Tentatively, I walked towards the first collection I was showcasing during the launch of my gallery, Anima. The artist was a young girl from Sicily whose raw talent I had stumbled across on social media. Her family were working class and didn’t have enough money to send her to university or art classes so she had taught herself. A pure talent, who deserved a moment to shine and make a name for herself. The second collection was by one of my favourite Italian artists. He was already well-established and would attract customers straight away. And the third, was my own.
I had only made the final decision to stop hiding my creativity from the world, and just said to hell with it, a few days ago. My family and friends had been so encouraging and supportive, but it wasn’t their voice I heard in my head every time I doubted whether my art was good enough to have a spotlight on the opening night of my first ever business. It was Alessio’s. I could feel his unparalleled belief in me even now, pumping through my veins. You’ve got this, Princess.
“Okay, champagne glasses are filled to the brim, music is ready to go, art is looking spectacular and so are you…” Angelica sauntered out in her heels and elegant pantsuit towards me, extending a glass of champagne my way. “I think we are ready.”
