34. Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Three
Luca
17 Years Ago
“Listen to me very carefully, Figlio. Today, you will do something very important. Something that no one will ever know about.” I watch my father with wide eyes as he speaks to me. He rarely uses this tone with me, signifying that whatever is about to happen is very serious.
I live to please my father. And now that he has given me something important to do, I will not fail him. I shift my attention away from my father as a figure moves across the street. A woman pulls her young daughter with her, and she is frantic, as the little girl stumbles from the pace her mother drags her.
“We’ve been offered a special opportunity. And I want you to fulfill it,” my father says.
I turn to him with wide eyes.
“You really mean it?” I ask.
Pride swells in my chest as he nods. I’ve been training for something like this my entire life. A moment to prove to my father, and anyone else who doubts me, that I belong. He is finally going to let me be recognized as a man within the ranks.
“Now look. Do you see the woman? She has made some very serious enemies and has kidnapped the daughter of an important man. He wants her dead,” he says.
I look back out the window as the woman huddles with her child near the empty alley. She’s waiting for someone.
“Why?” I ask.
My father slaps me hard across the face, and I instantly taste blood in my mouth. But I don’t cry. I slowly bring my fingers to my lips, spitting the blood on the floor of the car as my father points his finger in my face.
“Do not question me, boy,” he snaps.
I make sure to drain my face of emotion. I feel no pain. I am strong. My father abhors fear and weakness. And it is my job to show none.
“I want her disposed of properly, only her fingers you keep to prove the job is done,” he says.
“And the girl?” I ask, looking at the young girl. She’s crying as her mother shakes her, trying to quieten her. She’s scared.
“Beat her. Instructions are to send her back to her father,” he says.
I furrow my brow. The instructions are strange and seem like they belong to a coward. He wants his wife dead, and his daughter brought back, but not without bruises. It doesn’t make sense to me. But I am not one to question my father. Not when a simple “why” gets my lip busted. I follow orders.
“Okay,” I say, getting out of the car.
The street is dark and as I look around, no one is in sight. She was obviously meant to meet someone here to help her and didn’t want to be seen. But what she doesn’t know is that her husband is already aware of her plans and has taken that possibility from her, along with her life.
I quietly cross the street, pulling my gun from its hidden place just as her daughter starts acting up again. She roughly grips her shoulders, hissing at her. And as she does, she gives me the perfect shot.
“Elise, I told you—”
I smile to myself as I hit her right between the eyes, her life evaporating instantly.
“Bulls-eye,” I murmur.
The woman collapses to her knees before falling against the pavement, pulling the girl with her. The girl shrieks, screaming at her mother as she pulls her hand from her grip.
“Mommy? Mommy!” She shakes her mother and doesn’t realize I am approaching until the last second. She jumps when she finally sees me, but doesn’t realize the danger she is in as she grabs my arm.
“Please help us! My mom…she won’t get up,” she sobs.
Her eyes are red and puffy from the tears streaming down her face. I don’t miss the innocence in her gaze as she looks at me. And as I step closer, she doesn’t see the butt of my gun careening towards the side of her head. She collapses instantly, and I kneel next to her, my eyes shifting to the blood pouring from a new wound on her temple.
I may have overdone it.
I check my watch and set my timer. I have four hours to dispose of her mother. I grab the girl by her collar, lifting her to look at her unconscious face. The blood drips from her temple to her brow now, forcing me to take in her innocent features, which cause me to hesitate.
Then, my father’s words flash in my mind.
So I ball my fist, putting any weakness out of my mind as I swing at her unconscious body.
Present Day
I jolt awake, my breathing heavy from the memory that always causes me panic. I quickly take in my unfamiliar surroundings, and I notice the needle in my arm and the leads on my chest. The monitor next to me shines an annoying light over the dim room, and I quickly rip the IV out of my arm. I hate being pumped with anything. It makes me slow and an easier target.
“Agh!” I moan as a headache scratches the inside of my skull. I drop my head in my hands, gritting my teeth as I try to calm myself down. I’m in the hospital. The last thing I remember is Elise’s panicked face after I was shot…then nothing.
I quickly survey the room, shock coursing through me when I see Elise lying on a small cot. Her arm is over the edge, hovering over the floor as she lies on her stomach. Her hair is pulled away from her face, revealing the scar on her temple that she doesn’t remember getting. But I do. Discomfort suddenly hits me as I recall my memory. She’s grown so much from the little girl whose life I changed all those years ago.
I recall her panicked expression as she tried to save her cousin.
She has no idea just how much her family hated her. The lengths her father went through to build his reputation and steal her future from her are despicable even to me. And he attempted the same with her brother. Now that the entire Trovoli clan is eradicated, it’s a matter of finding out who did this to Enzo and me. And more importantly, why?
It takes me longer than I would like to get out of bed while trying not to make a sound. But eventually, I successfully put my feet on the ground without waking Elise. If Elise is here, Romelo or Nicolai can’t be far. It takes all of my strength to open the door, and just as I suspect, Romelo is standing in the hallway.
He turns when he hears the door creak, shock appearing on his face when he sees me and not Elise stepping into the hallway.
“Boss!” His footsteps falter as he approaches. “Do you need anything? Has Elise seen you yet?” he asks.
I shake my head, immediately coughing when I open my mouth to speak from the dryness of my throat.
How long have I been out?
Romelo is by my side, helping me to the sitting room. Once I’m seated, he quickly moves to bring me a water bottle, and I take it from him, drinking it down until the bottle is empty.
“How long have I been out?” I ask.
My voice is rough from lack of use, even with the water.
“A week,” Romelo says.
I tense, forcing myself to remain calm. That means I’ve been in the hospital long enough for a file to be created on me. And long enough for whoever did this to get a good look at the routine of my subordinates during a time like this.
“What happened? And where the hell is Nicolai?” I ask.
“He’s watching the boy. He was released from the hospital a few days ago,” he says.
My anger slowly builds as Romelo tells me everything that happened. He tells me how Enzo was shot, and Elise pressed my wounds before she knew it was safe. And he tells me who was behind it. It looks like Arianna used her husband’s contacts before she was captured. And while we’ve taken one man to interrogate from the party, it isn’t looking good for us. Someone high up is coming for the Pasquinos courtesy of Arianna—possibly government level.
That must be why she said a storm is coming.
“I want to be out of here within the hour,” I say, standing.
Romelo watches me with concern.
“But you’re not even close to fully healed—”
“I don’t care. I hate hospitals. Have something set up at my home. We’re leaving,” I say.
Romelo stands with me, helping me back to the hospital room I woke up in. And when I step inside, Elise is still asleep. I quietly study her as I sit atop the bed. She could have left me for dead or even attempted to run, but she didn’t. And according to Romelo, she’s been here every day this week by my side. She hasn’t left.
I smile.
I don’t know why she’s had such a change of heart, but I won’t question it. Not when she’s been watching over me while I’ve been asleep. I flinch as I lie on my back, and pain shoots through my chest. I know it will be a stretch to full recovery, but with everything that is coming, I can’t afford to take a break. Not when everything I’ve worked so hard to protect is at stake.
Elise
“Mr. Pasquino, please. You’re not stable—”
“You can’t keep me here against my will. Fuck off.”
I tense as the sound of Luca’s voice penetrates my sleep. My eyes fly open, and I sit up just in time to see the nurse scurrying out of the room to avoid my husband’s wrath. Anger contorts Luca’s expression as he watches her leave the room, and I feel a mix of emotions as I take him in.
I’ve had a week to put everything behind me, yet I still don’t know what emotion to feel to see him awake. So, I try to focus on the relief of him being alive. Whoever plotted against him failed, and my brother and I, regardless of our choices and affiliations, will remain safe.
Luca shifts his attention to me, his expression shifting to excitement when he realizes I am awake. He sits up, attempting to throw his legs over the bed, but I’m up before he can, closing the gap between us.
“No, don’t move. You’re still weak,” I murmur.
As I come to stand next to him, he reaches for my hand, pulling me on top of him and into a tight embrace. My heart beats a little faster as his arms tighten, and after a moment, my own hands slowly brace against his back, pulling him into me.
“I didn’t know what to think when I was on the brink of consciousness. I was so scared they might have gotten you too,” he murmurs against my hair.
He clearly doesn’t remember his words to me as he passed out.
“I knew you cared.”
It was an instinct I felt at the moment, but maybe he was right. I’ve remained here this entire week, afraid that he might not wake up. And I don’t know if it’s because he has become my protector or if somehow his twisted version of love has affected me. But I don’t want to think about it now. It’s much too complex, all of it. Especially now that all we truly have is one another. All of our immediate family is dead, including Arianna, who I watched my brother kill to prove himself.
Now, he is a Pasquino.
“I’m glad you’re okay,” I murmur. “I was scared that—” I trail off, unsure of how to finish my sentence. But Luca takes it for what it is, laughing softly as he strokes my hair. He gently pulls away from me, his gray gaze boring into mine as he reaches for my face. He gently strokes my cheek, smiling.
“Romelo told me you never left my side,” he says.
I pull in a deep breath, looking out the window. I note that it’s still dark out as I find the will to be vulnerable with Luca. In the past, Luca exploited all my vulnerabilities. It makes me hesitant to share with him how I’m feeling now, especially since I don’t know what kind of emotional effect it will have on him—If it will trigger him to treat me differently.
“I couldn’t, not after everything you’ve done to protect me and my brother. I owe you my life at least, Luca,” I say.
Luca makes a face.
“You are my wife, Elise. You don’t owe me anything. It is my job to protect you. And all that comes with it. I’ll never let anything happen to us,” he says.
His expression is serious as he looks at me.
“I love you,” he says.
This is the third time Luca has told me that he loves me, but I can’t reciprocate those feelings. Luca’s version of love is dangerous, and I’m sure that by staying by his side, I have intensified what he feels for me. His love is scary, but it is also what has kept me alive against my family and given my brother a future much different from what my father had planned.
A knock at the door pulls us both out of the moment as Romelo steps into the room.
“Boss. We’re ready.”