26. Nicki
Danny picks up his rifle. He checks that it is loaded and ready for use. Then he takes a deep breath and tilts his head towards me.
"I wish you didn't have to be the one in the center of all of this." He says, reaching out and touching my arm gently.
I smile tightly. "Well, thanks for being here with me. I appreciate the support. My dad would have been really proud of you."
He grins. "Your dad was a tough mentor. It is a challenge to live up to his name at work. I hope one day I make him proud."
I reach up and pull the black military mask over his face.
I nod, satisfied. I prefer that he keeps his face hidden. Law enforcement is not exactly welcome in the mafia world, and I don't want Danny to put himself at risk to help me or Vitorio. He has already been so helpful in getting us to this point.
I haven't spoken to Vitorio in days. Danny told me he tried a few times to call his burner phone but hasn't been able to get through. My assumption is that it got damaged or went missing after he escaped Luca. At least I know he is alive and well, that he got away from that horrible situation in one piece.
He sent that message to his uncle, and his uncle told me he would make contact with him after I left, through one of the other family members if need be. I wonder what he will think of the fact that I went to see his uncle. I hope he understands that I only have good intentions.
I miss him so deeply it is hard to focus on everything else. I can't wait for tonight to be over. I want to wrap his arms around me and nuzzle my face against him. I want to feel safe and warm and loved, everything that he gives me without even realizing he is doing it.
Danny and I are standing inside Cielo e Terra, in a room off the main venue. Marco has gone to fetch Sasha to escort her into the building, and Luca is set to arrive any minute now.
The main venue area is packed with family members and allies, and the tension is so high the air feels heavy as we wait for the night to play out in whatever direction it is going to go in.
I close my eyes for a second and take a slow breath.
"Ok, I am going out there now," I say to Danny, adjusting his mask so that only his eyes are visible. He taps the handgun at his side and briefly lifts his rifle. "I'm ready." He nods.
With one short nod in reply, I step out of the room and into the open space, filled with Vitali family members and allies. They all look in my direction.
I stand in front of a long wooden table, as though I am addressing a courtroom.
I feel the weight of expectation settling over me.
But the crowd's attention is not on me for long, before a murmur sweeps through the room, and all eyes drift towards the door.
Luca steps in and his face turns sour when he sees the people staring back at him.
"What the fuck is this?" He makes his way deeper into the room. His arrogance is bitterly clear in the way he walks, surrounded by his bodyguards and security teams. For a simple meeting with his uncle, he definitely went overboard with personal safety measures. I guess when you are always up to no good you have to take extreme measures to watch your own back.
Luca spots me in the crowd and marches straight over to me. He looks angry and confused to see me there.
He grabs my jacket and tugs me towards him. I gasp in fright.
"What the fuck have you done, Nicki?" he snarls into my face.
Danny moves to step closer, but I hold my hand up to let him know I am fine.
"Why don't you stick around and find out, Luca? I am sure you will find it is going to be quite an exciting night." A taunting smile touches my lips, but my eyes stay determined and focused.
He snarls, pulling his lips up in distaste. Then he pulls my face even closer to his and whispers. "And afterward, you and I can have a conversation about what is going on between us."
I roll my eyes in annoyance, pushing away from him. I can see he is about to say something else, but another murmur rolls through the room when Marco arrives, accompanied by Sasha.
Her spineless greed is the only thing that convinced her to come through tonight. Money. That is all it took to entice her into this trap.
Sasha has her arm looped through Marco's and she is striding alongside him. Gushing and grinning, so fake and yet so gullible, ready to accept a ridiculous bribe in exchange for her silence. You can tell she has been trying to play her charm on Marco, perhaps hoping he will be her next love affair?
Marco leads her to the center of the room, pulling his arm away from her with a look of disgust on his face as he drops his fake politeness, no longer needing to con her into following him.
Sasha's face turns as white as a ghost when her eyes fall on Luca.
She freezes, looking as though she wants to turn and run. Marco grabs her arm and holds her firmly in place. "Let me go. What is this?" She squeals.
"I suggest you calm down and stay still," Marco growls with the threat in his voice. Sasha's eyes grow wide with fear, and she stands like a deer frozen in the headlights of an oncoming car.
"It looks like we are all here," Marco says, addressing the room. "I think it is time to get started."
He steps to the side and gestures his hand towards me. "Nicki, you may go ahead."
Behind him, I see Vitorio arriving, with a group of about thirty men, armed and ready for anything.
I hold in a tight breath because every single cell in my body just wants to run towards him and leap into his arms.
His eyes are on me -- a gentle smile touches his lips. I can barely contain myself.
"Nicki? What the fuck has Nicki got to say?" Luca snaps, pulling me back into the moment.
Sasha looks terrified. I can see her mind trying to calculate a way out of this situation.
I take a deep breath. There is no going back now.
"Tonight…" I address the crowd with a loud clear voice, "We are here to settle a long-standing mystery and to bring closure for the families involved."
Luca snorts in amusement. "Oh, we are, are we?" He chuckles.
"I wouldn't be so casual about it Luca. Wait until you find out what Sasha told us about what happened all those years ago." Luca turns to glare at Sasha, shooting daggers into her with his eyes.
She stammers and takes a step away from him, but her path is blocked by one of the other family members. "I - I didn't say anything - "
"Don't worry about that for now though. First, we want to address your involvement in human trafficking, Luca. Then we will chat about all the evidence we found on Sasha's old phone." I flip the folder open on the table in front of me, letting the evidence I have collected spill across it for him to see. Sasha and Luca stare down at the pages, obviously recognizing their own words, and photographs of themselves, emails, messages, call logs…
Luca's breathing hitches in his chest and immediately he leaps into action.
Luca seizes the opportunity to throw Sasha under the bus within moments of me starting my speech.
"That bitch forced me into that business. It was her idea after my father refused to be involved. She used me and manipulated me. I would never have been interested in human trafficking if it wasn't for her forcing it on me." He shouts, loudly defending himself.
"Are you fucking kidding me? You dived at the opportunity. You told me how weak your father was for turning it down. Don't put this on me."
"You are the one who said my father was weak and that's why you left him for me. Because he couldn't give you the life you wanted. I didn't know it at the time, but you didn't love me, you just wanted money and power." Luca spits the words at her in ferocious anger.
"You were always jealous of the love your father and I shared."
"Love?" He laughs bitterly. "There was no love. He was determined to get rid of you. He and that friend of his. They knew what a twisted woman you were."
"His friend?" I ask. "You mean Leonard?"
"Leonard and my father were determined to get rid of Sasha, to get her away from our family. She is like a virus, infecting everyone she touches." Luca says, sounding meek and timid, playing on the emotions of the crowd.
I shake my head. His games won't work tonight, but I am pleased that our plan is working. He is already talking about my father. And these two are already prepared to tear each other's throats out to save their own lives.
"Sasha, your own brother was against you?" I ask pointedly. Her nostrils flare at the mention of her brother, my father. By giving away these little bits of surprise truths that we have discovered I am hoping to plant the idea in their minds that we do already know everything.
"I didn't view him as a brother. My family disowned me years ago. My brother tracked me down to try and help me reunite with them. He found me with Diego. But then he and Diego became friends. The truth is that Leonard never changed, in all the years since I left that house. He was still as judgmental as ever. Always making me feel like I was never good enough like I should do better and be better. Fuck him and fuck Diego." She snaps bitterly.
Her emotions are getting the better of her, which is good for us.
"Leonard should have minded his own business; your father got involved where he shouldn't have, just like you are now, Nicki," Luca says, his eyes darkening towards me.
"Is that why you killed him, Luca? To protect your shady business?" I glare at him, daring him to tell me that I am wrong.
"Are you fucking psycho? I didn't kill Leonard. I don't know what the fuck happened to him." His heated response seemed so genuine, but I have the evidence I need to bury his lies.
"You should have thought about that answer more carefully, seeing as you are the one who signed the bounty you put on his head."
"What the fuck?" He says, shocked, as he stares at the piece of paper I place in front of him.
I tap my finger on the signature. Vitali.
He grabs the paper and spins towards Sasha, shoving it in her face. His eyes are wild with rage. "I fucking told you it would come back to haunt us."
"You fucking weakling. You should have had the balls to do it in the first place. I had to forge that signature. You had to be taught how to be a real man."
"You put me in a position I didn't want to be in. I should have killed you instead." He growls with menace.
"Instead of who?" I ask Luca, my brows raised. The knot in my stomach is so tightly bound that I feel ill. "You two signed my father's death warrant. Did you kill him as well?"
Sasha starts laughing. "Go on Luca, tell them what you did."
"You did it. It was your fault." He is tipping over the edge of sanity, trying to hold himself together under immense pressure. His fists are tightly clenched, and his jaw muscles are practically ripping through his cheeks.
"At least I didn't kill my own father." Sasha laughs.
My heart practically stops in my chest. The crowd gasps, falling deathly silent. Did she just tell us that Luca killed Diego? It can't be. I stare at Luca, waiting for his response.
Luca speaks so softly that I can barely hear him.
"I did it for you. You made me believe that I loved you. I would have done anything for you." His eyes are distant and cold, as though he has detached from himself from this moment.
Sasha is so angry she is shaking. "You didn't do it for me. You did it because your father and his friend were trying to shut your business down. You did it for money. You aren't any better than me Luca. No one is better than me." She screams, her cheeks flushed red and her voice cracking.
Neither of them seems aware of the crowd around them anymore. They are fighting each other, spitting out the truth in painful doses of harsh confessed words.
I hardly know what to say anymore.
Luca killed his own father.
Sasha signed the bounty for her own brother.
They were both so hellbent on chasing money and power that they were willing to do anything and everything to have it.
Marco looks like someone just punched him in the stomach. His mouth is hanging open in shock as he stares at his nephew. Luca killed Marco's brother. His own family. I can see by the look in Marco's eyes that he wants to believe it isn't possible, but he heard what Luca said. He can't deny it. The truth is out now, and there is no going back.
With a heavy heart, I glance up at Vitorio. I feel terrible for him. He had to find out such devastating news in this way. It isn't fair. Life can be so brutal sometimes.
Vitorio is standing dead still, with his eyes locked on Luca. There is such an intensity in his stare that I feel frozen into the ground just looking at him.
Luca looks up at me, still furious, wanting to take it out on someone. But then he notices that I am not even looking at him, and he follows my gaze, turning around, looking past Sasha - to lock eyes with his brother.
Luca's shoulders drop and for a moment he looks as though he wants to melt into the floor, like he wants to disappear and never be found again.
I would be terrified too if Vitorio was looking at me that way.