52. Chapter Fifty-One
Chapter Fifty-One
Luca
There are many people out there desperate to take us down. But none would have had the balls to attempt it in the way this man did.
Jared Mitchum.
He heads the agency we’re after. Unlike the agents who were dumb enough to take money from people who had no power to protect them, he is actually trained for this world. He’s skilled in hand-to-hand combat, weapons, torture, and anything else you can think of. If not for my finding Elise, he would have continued to pick us off one by one. He has the patience to do so.
But he made a mistake when he allied with the Trovolis—when he ordered the hit on my father. When he fucked with the Pasquinos. He opened up himself to a shitstorm. And gave me the perfect opportunity to give myself and my entire family immunity.
I shift my attention to the window upstairs. The light is still on. I’ve been watching his home for the past thirty minutes, waiting for him to fall asleep so I can put an end to this. According to the files we stole, he lives in the middle of nowhere. He probably thought it would make him safer living out here, but it’s only made him more vulnerable.
As I continue to wait, my mind shifts to Elise. I can’t help but wonder what she’s doing now. I’ve barely had time to think about her over the past few days. It feels like I had to leave just as we were getting on the same page. I keep trying to tell myself that I just need to focus on this for now. I can think about and see her all I want when this is over. But I can’t help myself. I could be walking into my death. And that was the last time I saw her.
If I die, she’ll get one of her wishes at least. She’ll be free of this life. No one knows where she is, not even Romelo and Nicolai. She’ll be able to start a new life without me or the pressures of our world. She can be happy—truly happy.
I’m pulled from my thoughts when the lights finally go out, signaling it’s time. I pull in a deep breath, moving from my hiding place.
First, I go to the box on the side of the house that is responsible for all of his electricity. And after the few seconds it takes to cut the lock off, I cut the wires to the security system. I make sure to replace the lock with a new one before making my way to the side door that leads into the kitchen.
It takes me about five minutes to break into his home. Even though I cut the security, the front door was deadbolted, so I had to make use of the side door in the kitchen. I slowly ease the door closed behind me, grabbing my gun from its holster as I head up the stairs. The blueprints said the master bedroom is up the stairs, and I assume that is where he’ll be. If I’m lucky, he’ll be fast asleep and I can end this nightmare without a fight.
Once I reach the top of the stairs, my eyes have adjusted to the darkness. I can see that the bedroom door is slightly cracked. I hold my hand out, seconds from pushing it open, when I register movement in the corner of my eye.
A baseball bat connects with my forearms, instant pain shooting through me as it forces my gun out of my hand. I don’t have the luxury of nursing my pain as my assailant swings again. This time, however, I am ready. I dodge, grabbing the bat as it collides with the wall. I pull hard on it, bringing my attacker forward, and I use their balance shift to knock their feet out from under them.
The grunt of pain is all the confirmation I need.
But he’s fast, coming at me from below. His hands wrap around my waist as he attacks me from below, both of us colliding with the ground. I cry out as my back comes into contact, bearing both my and his weight. He straddles me, attempting to strike me across the face, but I dodge, grabbing his arm before smashing my fist into his rib. He immediately falls off of me, and I don’t give him time to recover as I grip his shirt, my fist colliding with his face over and over until I see him swinging at me.
I put my hands up to dodge it, but slicing pain rips through my forearms.
“Fuck!” I cry out, putting distance between us. He has a knife, and he knows he has me on the defense, swinging wildly in the dark. The tear of my clothing sounds as he misses my skin by inches, and I close the distance between us, but he lunges at me, and we both go tumbling down the steps.
I cry out, trying to orient myself before he does as we hit the bottom of the stairs, both of us panting hard. He really is gifted in hand-to-hand combat.
“Luca…fucking…Pasquino. I knew you’d stop by sooner or later. How’s your wife? Still lost to the system?” he chuckles.
I don’t bother correcting him that she was found. I attack. My fist connects with his face, and as he stumbles back, I hit him square in the chest, sending him through the archway.
Laughter echoes from the living room as I slowly step through the archway.
“Fuck…I knew you’d be tough,” he laughs, slowly standing.
But he doesn’t attack. He watches me with a grin as if he’s won something.
“Do you really think I didn’t know you were skewering my subordinates? I know a lost cause when I see it,” he chuckles.
I narrow my gaze, stepping into the room.
“You had to know that going against me is a death sentence,” I say.
He shrugs.
“I also know that without you, the whole world you run can’t function,” he says. “You want to know something about me? I am a prideful man. But I know when I’m done.”
He reaches into his pocket, pulling out a rectangular object.
“I know once my superiors find out what’s been going on, my life is over. And I’ll be damned if I let you get away with all you’ve done in the wake of it,” he snaps.
My eyes widen as I realize what he has. It’s a detonator. The crazy fuck rigged his whole house.
I spin around, sprinting to the door when I hear him.
“Fuck you Pasquino. See you in hell!”
With that, a powerful blast ripples through the house. I’m barely into the kitchen when the force catches my body, and everything around me instantly engulfed in a raging inferno. I’m propelled forward, and the pain of a thousand needles prickles over my body. It feels like I’ve been broken in a thousand places. I can’t breathe. I can’t even scream. It’s all ripped from me, as is my life, as darkness overcomes me.
Elise is smiling at me.
Her cheeks rose slightly from the effort it takes to grin the way she does. She’s watching me with love and compassion in her eyes as if I can do no wrong. I want to touch her. I want to reach for her, but I can’t. I can only see her.
She, however, reaches for me. The moment her fingertips touch my cheek, the world explodes in a flash of white, and I am transported to the day we met.
She doesn’t know it, but I’ve watched her from afar over the years. This, however, is the first time I’ve seen her in person. Her back is to me as she rocks delicately to the song she plays. And the moment she turns around, I know my life will never be the same.
A violent shock ripples through my body, and I am dragged to our wedding day. She walks up the aisle, as frightened as I’ve ever seen someone. The eyes of her family are on her, but she is focused on me. She is filled with uncertainty, as was I when I was first told the news. But I am more certain in this moment than ever that she belongs with me.
I flinch as heat hits me, burning the right side of my body. But I can’t look away as my world shifts, and Elise is beneath me for the first time, her mouth open as her sighs caress both of us, leading me to release. Here, long tresses are sprawled around her, and I want more than anything to touch them, but I can’t. I am transported again.
This time, she is coming from a place where she cannot see me. Her hair is short now, and she can no longer hide behind it. Her face is tilted toward the sun, and she smiles to herself, unaware of the danger lurking.
The pain in my body intensifies as I am transported to the night she wrecked my car. The hatred in her eyes as she yells at me, running away from me. My world tilts, and I am forced to look at every expression she’s ever had. The pain, the hate, the desire, the joy. I see all of it. I see her. I see the flush of her cheeks when she is both shy and aroused. I see the way she looks at me in fear, though some of it dissipates as time goes on, replaced with curiosity and, towards the end, need.
Desperate need.
It is seared deep within her. And in a bright flash, everything disappears until the only thing remaining in front of me is Elise. She watches me with tears in her eyes.
“You have to come back,” she says.
I open my mouth to tell her that I will. But I can’t speak. I can’t move. I am in excruciating pain. It then dawns on me that I am dying. She slowly backs away from me, and the more distance there is between us, the deeper the chill that settles over me.
I keep my attention focused on her as she leaves, desperate to get every little bit of her that I can. I chuckle to myself as I slowly fade, realizing what just happened. I just watched my life flash before my eyes. And she was the most beautiful thing I have ever witnessed.
My Elise.