Secret Baby for the Mafia Prince (Savage Mafia Empire)

23. Luca

Chapter twenty-three

Luca

I’m clenching my fists tightly as I struggle to stay calm. There's no doubt anymore. No more what ifs. I have a child!

My daughter, who even ? without knowing me ? reached for me, her little eyes begging me to take her in my arms. I would rather get shot at and stabbed than feel the way I did a moment ago, having to walk away from her.

I was fucking frozen, staring in disbelief. My head jumbled with so many emotions all at once. Anger, pain, betrayal. Gianna kept her away from me and now she thinks she's going to marry Mateo. Over my dead body! That man is not going to marry my woman or be a father to my child.

I’ve already lost the first three years of being with my daughter. There’s no way in hell I’ll give the second chance I have to be the father to my own kid to someone else.

Mateo isn’t fucking robbing me of that. He can’t have either Gianna or my child. No fucking way in hell will I let him.

I can feel the rage coursing through my veins, threatening to escape, as I reach the back exit door.

Andre had helped us get ahold of Gianna. He has the other guards engaged to keep them away from the back door we used to sneak into the store. Bianca wanted this to be as quiet as possible to avoid any drama.

It could have gotten heated pretty quickly if I had stayed a minute longer. I’m holding myself back from punching the wall as I grab the door handle and yank it open.

Bianca is calling my name from behind, but I ignore her while I walk past Vito to the car.

“Drive!” I bark at Vito. He is trying to settle into the driver’s seat as he shuts the door.

“Boss, Miss Bianca isn’t-”

“I said fucking drive.”

As Vito starts the car, Bianca barges in. Her face is scrunched up in a frown, looking at me. “What the fuck was that?” Her brows are furrowed as she narrows her beautiful blue eyes on me, sliding into the seat next to me.

I clench my jaws tightly as I stare out the window, ignoring Bianca for a second. I’m trying to wrap my head around the truth.

That little girl is mine. I was so fucking frozen when she stretched out to reach for me. Gianna had a child and I had no idea until a fucking Caruso snitched on his brother. This throws a wrench in my plans! I can feel the calm demeanor I’ve been clinging to for years slip out the window.

“Luca!” Bianca touches my arm.

I can’t help but lash out at her angrily. “Don’t fucking...” I hiss roughly, panting hard.

Bianca is startled for a moment.

“That is my child! My daughter, whom she has kept away from me.”

Bianca shakes her head as she stares at me. There’s something in her expression that feels like a stab in my fucking chest. She’s staring at me with disgust and anger.

Fuck .

“She had every right to. I mean, look at you, brother. Don’t act like you didn’t threaten to kill her family. You’ve been obsessed with getting your revenge all these years.”

The thought of Mateo having what belongs to me pops into my head again. Not just my daughter but Gianna, too. It infuriates me so damn much. I want to punch something—fuck, anything.

“You had Gianna locked up in your house like a fucking prisoner. How could she have told you the truth about her child?”

“I have every fucking right to know!”

“What the fuck is wrong?”

Bianca’s screams fill the space as the car takes a hit and Vito is struggling to take control of the wheels. I grip the headrest of the driver’s seat tightly with one hand as I hold onto Bianca’s arm with the other.

Who the fuck hit us?

The side of the car crashes into a streetlight.

“Fuck!”

I lose my grip on Bianca in the sudden crash.

She screams as her head hits the car frame violently. The glass breaks and shards hit her skin.

“Fucking drive, Vito!” I yell. Vito grunts as a bullet flies through the air, piercing through the glass and meeting his arm. Two masked men are walking right at us with their guns pointed at Vito and me.

Fanculo (Fuck)!

He starts to drive away the moment a bullet is fired at me. I barely escape being hit, as Vito’s timing fucking saves me. He hits the gas harder and zooms off.

“Bianca.”

Vito’s eyes and mine meet in the rearview mirror. I can see his pain as he grunts, driving with one arm.

Bianca is silent, her head dangling down. Her eyes are closed.

No... no.

I shift closer to help her up. Blood stains my fingers as I touch the side of her face. She’s still breathing.

Thank heavens.

“Bianca, please open your eyes.” I pull her closer to me, into my arms. I’m not losing anyone ever again. I hate myself for yelling at her moments ago. That can't be the last conversation we have.

“Drive faster, Vito. I can’t lose her.”

I’m holding her head as I stare at her face. Blood covers the right side of her face, with a wound on her head from the glass. Her breaths are slow as I hold her in my arms. The gates open wide as Vito arrives at my house.

He had contacted Sterling along the way. Sterling is by the door when I fling the door open in a rush. I have Bianca in my arms as I go to the house.

“Find me whoever fucking did this!” I carry Bianca into the house to get treated by my in-house doctor. Sterling had already called him to come here.

I’ll fucking kill whoever did this. I’ve waited too long to end the Mancinis and they keep coming for me and the people around me.

Not anymore.

***

Sterling is staring at his phone as I watch him through the rearview mirror. It’s been two days since the accident. Vito only sustained an arm wound, while Bianca has a minor concussion. I’m so thankful.

I left her at home with Vito and more guards to watch over her.

Andre had informed me about an incoming shipment for the Mancinis. It’s time to take back what they’ve stolen from me and get payback for the crash. No one messes with me or my family and gets away with it.

My plans to make them pay for my parents’ deaths aren’t over yet. They’ll pay dearly for their sins.

The phone finally rings and Sterling answers it on the first ring. We’ve been waiting by the warehouse in East Harlem for an hour now to hear from my men. I had sent Timothee and some of my men to hijack the shipment. It belongs to me now.

“We are waiting,” Sterling says, still on the call.

I take a drag of my cigar as I stare back at Sterling through the rearview mirror.

“It’s done, Boss.”

A cloud of smoke escapes my mouth and nostrils as I puff out slowly. My eyes are hardened by anger. My daughter is still being kept away from me and Gianna is betrothed to another.

“Tell Timothee to have Shadow clean up any mess they’ve left behind now.”

He repeats my words back to Timothee on the phone before he ends the call. I don’t want dead bodies on the street drawing the attention of the authorities to us.

The cigar hangs low in-between my lips after I release the grip of my fingers on it. “How close are they?”

“They should be here in five.”

I take another drag as we wait in the car for them to arrive. I’m waiting to see the truck with my own eyes. It’s risky to bank on their words. Especially after Sterling had kept the shipment problems away from me before. I’m not letting that happen again.

They arrive right on time. Timothee is in the driver’s seat of the brown truck as I get out of my car. I drop the cigar in my hand to the ground and squash it with my feet.

He has a bruise on his head and nothing more as he jumps out of the truck. A rifle is hanging on his left shoulder. “Boss,” he greets with a nod. He has a brown shirt on with a baseball cap and black jeans.

“Where are the rest?” My left hand is in my pants pocket.

“On their way with our vehicles.”

“How about Shadow?”

“He is on it, Boss.”

Perfect.

Sterling has joined me with other men and they begin to offload the truck. They take the wooden crates into the warehouse. The crates are filled with bags of cocaine underneath canned beers. A decoy to hide them in plain sight.

I retrieve my car keys from Sterling and exit the warehouse, leaving my men to work. I don’t like leaving Bianca alone and I need to realign my plans on how to take out all my fucking enemies for good.

Bianca is seated in the dining space when I walk into my house. Her hair is a mess, with the wound on the right side of her head still having a plaster on it.

“You’re back early,” she says, as I stroll into the room to meet her. She has a bowl of ramen in front of her.

“I’m not letting you out of my sight for long.” I stare at her for a moment before I walk to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water.

“Where have you been?” The words come out sloppy, as she has some ramen in her mouth.

“At the warehouse,” I reply, before taking a long gulp. The chilled water quenches my thirst.

“You had a shipment delivered today?”

“Hmmm.” I shrug.

Bianca hangs the fork full of ramen in the air as she stops to stare at me. “I know that look, Luca.” She drops the fork back into the bowl. “What have you done?”

“I only took what belongs to me.”

“You stole someone else’s shipment?”

I keep mute as I take another gulp, ignoring her glares.

“Luca!”

“What Bianca? They stole from us, too, and fucking hurt you.”

“You stole from the Mancinis?”

I start to walk away from her, back into the living room.

She stands up as I hear the sound of the chair screeching on the floor. “Luca! How are you certain it was them who stole from us?”

“They’ve been the assholes messing with us. No one dares to face me except them.”

“Can you hear yourself? Like we haven’t had attacks from other gangs, but you automatically think it’s always them. Don’t you fucking want to have your daughter around?”

I stop in my tracks and slowly let out an angry breath.

“If you continue like this, they’ll never let us have her.”

“That’s enough, Bianca!”

“You’ve been an asshole to her mother. Now this?” She coughs out a laugh.

“I said enough!” My voice is raised in anger. I turn to look at her, but she doesn’t flinch this time.

“What’s wrong with you, brother? Something broke in you ever since Mo-”

I watch her stop herself mid-sentence and let out a breath.

“Don’t Bianca.”

“Ever since they died.”

“Don’t you dare mention their deaths right now!”

“You know I’m telling the truth, Luca.”

“They’d still be alive if it wasn’t for you and your reckless drinking!” The words fall out of my lips before I can take them back.

Bianca’s face turns sour almost immediately.

Fuck. I regret saying that already. What the fuck is wrong with me?

“Bianca.” I try to touch her arm but she steps backward before I can.

Fuck! Fuck!

“What... what did you just say, Luca?” Tears are forming in her eyes as she stares at me.

“I-I didn’t mean any of that, I swear.”

“Bullshit! Don’t you fucking lie to me, Luca.” Her cheeks are now wet as tears roll down her face.

I hate myself seeing her like this.

“I... I did this to them?” She smacks her mouth shut as she breaks down in tears, moving further away from me.

“No, no, Bianca. None of it was your fault.”

She’s shaking her head in response, refusing to believe me. “Fuck you!” Bianca runs into the hallway angrily, still in tears.

What have I fucking done?

I punch the wall hard as I let out my rage. My knuckles turn white quickly from the impact. I grunt, sliding down the wall till I hit the ground.

A couple minutes pass by till I hear the sound of the door shut from inside. Bianca walks out of the hallway dressed in a black shirt and jeans.

“Bianca?” I stand up, ready to do anything to take it all back.

She has a travel bag in her hand. “I’m leaving.”

“What?” My jaw drops open in surprise.

“Don’t come looking for me, Luca. I just want to be alone.”

Bianca walks to the door without looking back and I’m frozen in shock.

I don’t do a fucking thing to stop her.