Luca #3
My throat now felt like mini shards of glass was inside of it. It felt raw and too painful to swallow down but I did it anyway. I took a sip of tea as I watched her lean back in her seat weakly.
“And yet,” she spoke lowly. “You still became Don… accepting the position was optional.”
Those words hit hard because they carried truth. I didn’t want to become Don, never thought twice about it. Once my father was murdered I became determined to step in his shoes just to feel close to a piece of him that he poured into. Then there was Kentrell, who would have ruined everything.
“You don’t regret any of it?” I asked her.
“No.” She didn’t hesitate to answer at all.
“Roy.” I glanced over at my brother who now had visible emotions written all over his face.
“I finally got the reports on my father a few weeks ago… people died in the midst of getting the falsified reports, but I got them,” I offered her a grim smirk.
Lucille gasped hard as Roy frowned in confusion.
“La’Nova never had practice with using a gun.
” I chuckled dryly in disbelief. “She never shot one but was determined to use it on my father since he’s the reason her parents are gone…
Still… the bullets she hit him with had grazed him, which means she probably had her eyes closed when she aimed and shot at him in the hotel… .” I let my words trail off.
Lucille’s eyes grew wide and wild.
“I thought Di Lucas died knowing the truth, when in reality, he only knew half the truth about how his son was murdered—”
“Luca, please don’t—”
I shook my head because it was too late for her to try to beg me now for any sort of mercy on her already pre-ended life.
“The same poison that you put in his whiskey that caused him to bleed from the nose and mouth all because you didn’t get your fuckin’ way is the same poison you been sipping from for the last couple of days…” I scooted my chair back then unbuttoned the three buttons to my suit jacket.
“The pathologist and doctors you paid off to change documentation for my father will be the same people to handle you and your reports… when it’s all said and done, they all will join you in hell, ma.”
“What are you saying, Luca?” Roy stood halfway from his chair immediately as years of grief crawled up my throat all at once.
“Granted.” I gestured my hands in front of me.
“La’Nova went inside of that hotel with every intention of killing my father.
She did pull the trigger, but the bullets grazed him like I said before...
He could’ve had a chance if it wasn’t for her…
but… He was already dying slowly from the poison she had placed in all of his imported whiskey bottles…
poison that she got from Lennox. They already had a plan in motion.
She was just so convinced that she could control me better than Kentrell since I obviously loved her more. ”
“What the fuck.” Roy frowned, tilting his head to the side. “You that fuckin’ cold with it Lulu…” He murmured in disbelief.
“You killed your own husband.” He gave her a pointed look but she now looked unfocused, struggling to breathe.
“Does that make you feel better about La’Nova…” Her eyes widened as blood slowly seeped out her nose. “Does that make you sleep better…when you’re still alive because of me.”
I knew what she was getting at but it didn’t stick at all. La’Nova still played a part. Although the bullets didn’t land, she still had ill intentions. Lennox wanted me dead, that was a never a secret since me knowing Kentrell wanted the same.
“I survived despite you,” I whispered lowly.
My words injured her. I saw it all over her face. For a second I saw real pain flicker behind her eyes. Then suddenly she let out a hard cough. The sound ripped violently from her chest. Blood splattered across the white napkin pressed near her mouth instantly.
“Shit.” Roy cursed under his breath.
Lucille grabbed the edge of the table as her breathing sounded uneven. Her chest rose too fast beneath her silk shirt. Another cough came and out came more blood. She pulled her head up weakly and smiled at me with bloody teeth. It was the most haunting smile I ever witnessed in my life.
Lucille’s hand shook as she reached for the wine glass desperately.
She squeezed it tightly and chugged the rest of it down in desperate swallows.
Her breathing worsened immediately after she dropped the glass against the table.
Roy stared at me hard, but Lucille looked over at me like she was relieved.
“I… knew… you poisoned me,” she nearly whispered.
My chest tightened painfully.
She laughed weakly again, blood still staining her teeth.
“I ran out of sources,” she whispered. “No more judges or politicians… I no longer had leverage for a hostile takeover… I tried to get Roy to help me, but he’s too loyal to you.” Blood leaked out the corner of her mouth.
“So…” She inhaled sharply, fighting for air. “I accepted my fate.”
Roy looked sick now. He turned away briefly, rubbing his jaw hard while Lucille kept staring directly at me. I expected to see some form of remorse, maybe even fear. Her eyes remained soulless and somehow that hurt more than her betrayal.
“You should live the rest of your life hating me.” Her eyes finally softened.
“I made you capable,” she breathed. Then another cough tore through her body violently, causing her to tilt to the side.
Before my pride could stop me, I stood up.
My chair scraped harsh against the floor behind me while I closed the distance between us.
Lucille tried reaching for the table but another cough ripped through her chest before she could steady herself.
She tipped sideways right into me. I caught her automatically like instinct remembered she was my mother before my mind could argue otherwise.
My mother…. That realization hurt me in a way I wasn’t prepared for.
I lowered us both to the marble floor without even thinking about it, sitting down hard while holding her against my chest. Her curls brushed my jaw softly. Her perfumed still smelled like expensive oil reeking from her pores, overpowering the rusty metallic smell of blood.
Warm blood soaked through my white dress shirt as she struggled for breath against me. Her witch red fingertips gripped weakly at the front of my suit jacket while wet choking sounds crawled from her throat.
My chest physically hurt. I blinked hard until my vision was clear enough to focus in on her beautiful face.
“Breathe,” I rasped instinctively.