Secret Baby for the Mafia Prince (Savage Mafia Empire)

30. Luca

Chapter thirty

Luca

“Where have you been?”

Bianca flinches, looking startled as she walks back into the house. “Damn Luca, you fucking scared me.”

I bring the glass of water I grabbed earlier to my mouth and take a sip, staring at my sister. She wasn’t in her room when I woke up and tried to check on her.

“I was just out.”

She looks suspicious as she moves uneasily, away from the door, heading to the stairs. Her hair is in a low bun as she hugs herself. She has a big green sweatshirt on. “Out for some fresh air.”

“I thought I told you-”

“Chill brother, Vito was watching me. I was in safe hands.”

I’ve noticed lately how close Vito and Bianca have become.

“You have a visitor. Vito should send him in any moment now.”

Who could that be?

Giovanni and I agreed to meet later this evening. If I’m to believe Giovanni about not having murdered my parents, I am yet to find the truth about who killed them. Right now, I’m only tolerating his presence because we both want the same thing—to get Gianna and my daughter out of Mateo’s home alive.

I’m not expecting anyone else today.

Bianca disappears up the stairs just a moment before a knock lands on the door.

I set the glass cup on the bar counter as I walk to the door. Vito is in front as I open the door. He nods a greeting before stepping aside to reveal who it is.

Pietro.

“Luca, we meet again.”

“We seem to do that lately,” I reply, as I make way for him into my house. He has on a brown Panama hat with a black shirt neatly tucked into his brown pants.

“Unfortunately, always in complicated situations,” he says, while he takes off his hat to reveal a bruised left eye.

“Is everything alright, Pietro?”

“Oh, this?” He points to his swollen eye. “One of the many things my brother does to me.”

“Fuck. I’m sorry he did this to you.”

A wide grin spreads on his face as he stares at me, one eye more open than the other.

Mateo must be a fucking asshole. Heaven knows I’ll fucking kill him if he dares to lay a finger on Gianna or my daughter. I would have barged into his place, if not for Giovanni and Bianca convincing me otherwise.

“I certainly didn’t come for your pity. I am capable of handling my own brother.”

I’m walking back to the bar. He looks like he needs a drink more than I do. I take out an extra clean glass and a bottle of whiskey. “Why do I have you in my home then?”

“Gianna.”

I leave the bottle hanging in the air as he mentions her name, stopping myself from pouring us a drink. He must know something. Why didn’t I think of him earlier?

“Where is she? What about my daughter?” I growl, as I set the bottle back on the counter.

“Safe. At least for now, before Mateo acts differently. He can be...”

He grabs the bottle and tries to pour himself a drink, but I stop him before he does, gripping his arm.

“He can be very unpredictable sometimes,” he adds. He stares back at me now. “That’s why Father has him running the family business instead of me. He has broken him in so many ways. I almost feel sorry for him.”

I let go of his arm. “Where has he kept them?”

He takes his gaze off me as he pours himself a drink. “In his home. He will be getting married to her sometime soon.”

Fuck .

“I’m not going to let that happen,” I grunt.

He sets the bottle back on the counter. “Good. But you might want to hasten up your plans. Mateo doesn’t want to have it delayed.”

I watch him closely as he downs the drink in one gulp.

“That’s not why I am here, though.” He drops the glass on the table.

“Why are you here?”

“Because I think it is time for you to know the truth.”

“Truth? About what?”

He places his hat back on his head. “Come with me.” Pietro turns back in the direction of the front door, walking out of my house.

“This better be worth my time,” I grunt, following behind him.

“Wait till you see.”

Pietro walks out through the door and makes his way to his car parked in my compound.

Vito and another guard of his are standing beside it as I follow Pietro. His guard opens the backseat door for us and we enter.

“I need to show you these.” He hands over a brown file to me.

“What is this?”

“Open it, Luca. You are a smart man; I’m sure you’ll piece it all together.”

I open the file to find several pictures in it.

His driver hands him a phone as I exchange glances between him and the pictures. They have Mateo in them and my parents’ car. The one they had died in.

Oh fuck!

“What... what is all this Pietro?” I ask, confused as I flip through the pictures.

“I told you, the truth.”

One of the pictures has Mateo and two other men beside the bodies of my parents. They are holding their wrists.

“You’ve been made to believe a lie for a long time, Luca.”

The next image has a berserk mark inscribed on all their wrists.

Fuck! Fuck!

“Mateo murdered my parents.”

“Fuck!” I harshly whisper, flipping through the rest of the pictures.

Mateo’s face is at the murder scene, marking my parents’ dead bodies, before any of my men had arrived.

All these years, fucking Christ. All these fucking years!

“Mateo and my father were behind it all. They wanted to take your parents out of the picture and frame Gianna’s family so you’d be at war and become weak.”

I can feel the anger coursing violently through my veins, ready to explode any second. How did I not see this? My eyes are glued to the pictures in disbelief. How did this fucking son of a bitch?

“My father has always secretly wanted to be the capo of this city, but both of your families posed a threat and he needed to take you out. What better way than to set your families up against each other in a war?”

Everything! All my fucking need for revenge was all built on a fucking lie!

“Have this,” he says, as he stretches out his arm to me with a phone in his palm. “It contains recordings of my father and Mateo’s conversations regarding the murder.”

I grab the phone from him.

“Open the fucking door,” I growl.

Pietro nods, staring at me. The door opens immediately.

“I hope you get your revenge, Luca.”

I step out of the car, holding the file and phone tightly.

“I fucking will!”

Vito follows me into my house as I angrily return.

“The fucking Carusos did it! All of it!” I growl, punching the wall. “Arghhhh! I’m going to kill them!”

“Boss?”

Bianca runs down the stairs, afraid as she stares at me.

“What’s wrong, Luca?”

I punch the wall again, fuming in anger. The file falls from my hand, down to the ground, spilling out the pictures. I’m holding the phone tightly in my other hand.

“Luca!” Bianca yells, startled, running to me. “You’ll hurt yourself.”

“It was never the Mancinis, Bianca. They were saying the fucking truth all along.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Bianca’s eyes settle on the pictures. “What are these?”

“Mateo murdered our parents. That son of a bitch did it,” I yell.

Bianca gasps as she bends to pick up the file. Vito grunts a curse.

“No... no... no,” Bianca says repeatedly as she flips through the pictures.

“I fucking made a deal with the man that killed Mother and Father. Fuck!” Bianca screams, with tears on her face. I’m going to fucking kill Mateo and make him pay.

I unlock the phone, wanting nothing more than to hear the recordings already. Three voice recordings appear on the screen as I unlock it.

Bianca covers her mouth to stifle her sobs as I begin to play the first.

We all listen to a conversation between Mateo and his father, planning how to take both families out. Mateo suggesting the murder of my parents and framing the Mancinis for it.

I want to rip his head off his body. I’m fucking losing my mind. My entire plan was focused on getting revenge on Gianna’s family. For three fucking years!

I hit play on the second recording.

Bianca places her other palm over her mouth as she drops to her knees the moment we hear Mateo reporting back to his father about the murder.

Fanculo !

Vito is beside my sister as he holds her in his arms. She is crying hard.

I’ve been made to believe a fucking lie that cost me everything. The woman that I love, precious years without my child, my family.

Fuck, my best friend.

Mateo has to pay. I’ll make sure he does so in the most painful way.

***

I take a long drag of my cigar as I patiently wait for Giovanni’s arrival. He should be here any minute. It’s a few minutes to 4 p.m.—the time we had set to meet.

A cloud of smoke escapes my lips as I puff out.

We are meeting at what used to be our favorite bar before our falling out. I spot him walking toward me the moment my wristwatch makes a sound. It is 4 p.m. already. I’ve always known Giovanni to be on time. He has black shades on as he makes his way to where I’m sitting. His fingers in the pocket of his black leather jacket.

I turn to stare at the empty space, the Elsie’s bar opposite us. Giovanni plops on the seat, taking the space beside me and leaving a gap between us.

“You haven’t changed,” I say, taking another drag.

“I can’t say the same about you, Luca.”

I puff out some smoke and then squash the cigar into the ashtray, killing the light.

“Giovanni?”

“I’m only here for my sister. How do we plan to get her out of there the fastest?” he cuts in before I speak completely.

I had told him earlier about Pietro’s confession and the evidence he gave to me, hoping we would be able to smooth things out when we met. Not that I thought he would, if I’m being honest. I know I wouldn’t if I were in his shoes.

“I know you hate me.”

Giovanni lets out a scoff and turns to me. “Hate, Luca, is nothing compared to what I feel right now, considering everything you’ve fucking done.”

“You have every right to be angry.”

“You almost fucking killed me, Luca. I barely survived you shooting me.”

“I’m sorry. I only acted on what I was made to believe and I wanted the ones behind it to feel just as much pain as I did.”

“I am—was your fucking best friend. How could you believe I would ever hurt you like that?”

“Our families, they were at war. I didn’t know what else to believe.”

“You should have believed me. Our families have always fought to stay at the top of this city but we never let it get to us. I saw you as my brother, Luca.”

My heart sinks and I fucking feel it. I wish I could change every fucking thing I did wrong.

“I did, too,” I reply.

“Bullshit! Gi—you were seeing Gianna behind my back. You hid it from me.”

“We were going to tell you. All of you.”

“She is my fucking sister, Luca! She’s different from your playthings you always had your way with in college.”

“I fucking know that and I never treated her like them.”

He stares at me silently.

“I loved her... and I still fucking do.”

He returns his gaze back to the road and we both watch as cars pass by. “All I want now is just to have her back.” Giovanni lets out a breath as he stands up. “As for this, everything you’ve done, I don’t know if I’ll be able to forget it all.”

“Giovanni?”

“For now, let’s focus on getting them back. That’s all I want right now. My men and I will meet you tomorrow, as we’ve discussed.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. He is right. Saving Gianna and my daughter is what's important right now.

“Goodbye, Luca.” Giovanni leaves me as he walks away.

I have no fucking idea if I’ll be able to fix this. However, I need to save Gianna and my daughter first.

Then get my revenge.

Finally.