11. Luca
Luca
Chapter eleven
Giada’s wide eyes and stunned silence allow me to continue, though I’m not sure how well she’s going to absorb everything I have to say. When she walked in here three minutes ago and told me that her brother had arranged for her to leave with the Russians, a plan began to form in my head. Finn told me Carlo had been working with the Russians, and he had intel that if Carlo could drum up some support, the Russians would help him in taking back control of the ports. I knew of the Russian involvement and knew the plan had failed when Finn found the man who was helping Carlo, Orlando Farina, the son of another powerful Mafia family in Massachusetts and killed him for trying to take Finn’s wife. No one wanted any part of trying to take down the Monaghans after finding out what Finn had done to Orlando, except apparently the Russians.
“If you’re married to me, it will offer you some protection. They’ll think twice about taking you.”
“It won’t matter if we’re married, Luca. When Carlo finds out, he’ll kill you. We'd be running for the rest of our lives, and heaven help us if he finds us.”
“We’ll go to my family. Trust me, he won’t dare come after us.”
“What are you talking about? Who’s your family?”
“The Monaghans.”
Giada backs up a step, and I allow my hands to fall from her, her eyes staring at me as though she has no idea who she’s looking at. I suppose she doesn’t, not really. No one in this house does, and I’m about to let her in on a secret that would surely get me killed if anyone outside of this room hears what I’m about to divulge.
“H-How…what…” she fumbles out.
“We don’t have a lot of time, Giada, and I swear to God I will explain everything to you—”
“I think now’s the time to try, Luca. Especially if you’re proposing marriage.”
I’m not going to lie, the way she straightens her spine, demanding answers from me, is a relief. She walked in here so broken, so defeated. Her brother is essentially selling her to the Russians to garner support since his plan a few weeks ago went up in flames. At least, that’s what I’m assuming. It’s not as though he’s opposed to the idea of selling women. And if Francesco told him he has control over Giada’s future, selling her to the highest bidder with the most for him to gain isn’t out of the question. But now I’m seeing the inner strength I’ve always admired in the way she tilts her chin, her gaze demanding answers.
I take a step back, allowing her more room.
“Before I tell you my truth, I need to ask one thing of you.”
“Are you really in a position to be asking me for anything?”
“Are you really in a position to not hear me out?” I shoot back.
Her brow quirks and she waves her hand, motioning for me to continue.
“If, after hearing me out, you decide I’ve betrayed you and your family to the point that there’s no way you can trust me, please give me a little time before you sound the alarm. What I’m about to tell you, Giada, will no doubt make your brother or any other person in this house want me dead. Please, for the sake of the girl whose secrets I kept, promise me you’ll give me a chance to leave.”
She blows out a breath and the long column of her neck bobs as she swallows. “I can do that.”
I wipe my hands on my shorts and grab a shirt, throwing it over my head, and begin a rushed explanation. “I didn’t happen to meet your brother in a bar seven years ago. I planted myself there to figure out a way to get into his organization. But not because I was some low-life criminal looking to get an in with the Mafia. I wanted in because before I came to Boston I was told some things about my past. Some things that were kept from me when I was growing up with my father, who, turns out, wasn’t my biological father. My parents are from Boston and your father had mine killed for falling in love with a woman from the Monaghan family. He took it as a betrayal of loyalty, and when the man who I thought was my father was sent to wipe my real father and his family from the earth, he couldn’t finish the job. He took me and ran.”
She takes a deep breath, looking around the room as if someone is going to jump out at her. “Luca…this is…”
“I know, Giada. It sounds like something out of a book that no one could possibly believe would happen in real life. But it did. It happened to me. Frank, the man who raised me, found out he was dying and came clean about all of it. I have pictures of our fathers together. Frank was a capo who handled things for Francesco when he didn’t want anyone to know. Francesco played a major role in his capos hating my family for murders that Francesco ordered, not Cormac Monaghan. He’s the reason the two organizations have been at war for all these years. Why Frank never told me where I really came from. He didn’t want this life for me but couldn’t stomach the idea that when he died, I’d be left alone in this world.” I let my mind wander to that conversation, the betrayal I felt in being lied to for all those years. It’s similar to the betrayal written all over Giada’s face. “After Frank died, I was so fucking angry. I wanted revenge for the lives your father had taken from me. I contacted my cousin, Finn, and we came up with a plan that would get me my revenge and get Finn the control he wanted in Boston.”
“Are you the reason my father went to prison? Were you feeding the feds information? Was it part of your plan to make me trust you so you could somehow get information from me to give to the prosecutor’s office?”
“No,” I reply firmly. “You were never part of any of it. I won’t lie and tell you the thought didn’t cross my mind, but I couldn’t do that to you, Giada. The US attorney’s office built its own case. I didn’t want your father in prison. I wanted him to lose everything, and I wanted it to be because of me, because of what he did to my family.”
A knock sounds at my door, startling me and Giada.
“Luca, is Giada in there?” Nina asks from the other side.
Giada takes two long strides toward my door and pulls it open. Fuck, she’s going to tell Nina everything I just told her and Nina is going to run to one of the guards.
“Nina, I need a couple things before I leave. Would you mind running to the pharmacy for me and filling my birth control prescription? I don’t know when the doctor will be able to transfer the prescription to wherever I’m going.”
Nina looks between Giada and me with suspicion and question in her brown eyes.
“It could take days to transfer and I don’t have that kind of time, Nina. Please.”
Honestly I’m not sure if Nina believes Giada’s need for her to leave the house, but she nods her head and walks away before Giada closes the door.
“Hopefully my brother isn’t too hard on her when he finds out I’ve escaped.”
Ah, she gave the woman a reason for missing her walking out the door.
When she leans against the closed door, Giada’s eyes find mine and I see hurt warring with anger in them, but her gaze holds steady with mine. “I need you to be one-hundred-percent honest with me right now and look me dead in the eye when you answer, Luca. Was it part of your plan to get me to fall for you and use me as leverage against my father or brother?”
“No.” I shake my head and take a step toward her, but the way she fuses herself to the door halts me in my tracks. “You were never part of the plan, Giada. I just…I can’t watch your brother give you away to Petrov. He’s not a good man. I can’t stand by and watch another woman be sold.”
That’s why I’ve concocted this insane plan that hinges on her saying yes and leaving with me. Knowing what the Russians are capable of, knowing they view women similarly to her brother and father, there’s no way I can let her go from one prison to another with no one caring whether or not she’s safe. Here, I was able to keep an eye on her. There, she wouldn’t have anyone who cared about her, certainly not Nikolai, if the rumors about the Petrovs are true.
“It doesn’t seem I have much of a choice then.” Her eyes are filled with defeat. “I guess you’re the lesser of two evils.”
My head tilts to the side. “Giada—”
She lifts her hand to stop me from speaking. “It doesn’t matter, Luca. You offered me a way out and I don’t have a choice but to take it right now. I can’t be traded to the Russians so my brother has a partner in whatever plan he’s come up with. I won’t. But make no mistake, I won’t be a pawn for you to use, either. If you want to go through with this, if you truly want to help me, then you need to know I won’t be used for information for your family to take mine down. I may hate my brother and my father for what they’ve done, not just to you but to everyone else, including me, for God’s sake, but I deserve a chance. I deserve a shot at living a life where being the daughter or sister of a Mafia boss doesn’t define me. I’ll go with you because it’s my best choice at the moment, regardless of how angry I am. But don’t think for one minute you’ll control me and rob me of my freedom. If that’s even a thought in your head, then you’re no better than Carlo or my father.”
“I would never—”
“I never thought you would lie to me, and look where we are. I would’ve never guessed you were this entirely different person than what I believed. I’m going with you because I don’t see another way out.” Her eyes implore me to see her and listen to her. “Please don’t make me regret trusting you now.”
“I won’t, Giada. I swear to you, you’ll be safe.”
She lets out a sad huff of laughter. “I’m a girl born into a world ruled by men who only care about power and revenge, Luca. I’m beginning to realize I’ll never be safe.”
She opens the door, but before she takes her leave, she turns to me. “I’ll marry you, Luca, but I’ll never trust you.” Then she shuts the door behind her.
That fucking stings more than I have time to dissect at the moment. Right now, I need to figure out a way to get Giada off the property, and the only thing I can think of is not going to go over well with my soon-to-be wife.
“The trunk?” Giada hisses as we hurry to one of the cars parked inside the garage.
“It’s the only way to get you off the property. Who knows if Carlo already spoke to the guards at the gate? We have to assume he has and that he told them to expect a car in”—I look at my watch—“sixty-three minutes to take you. It’s a thirty-minute drive to my apartment. That gives us time to switch cars and be on the road to New Hampshire before the Russians get here. It’s not much of a head start, and the longer you stand here arguing with me, the more time we’re wasting.”
I want to reassure her that everything will be fine, that she can trust me to keep her safe, but I know such assurances will fall on deaf ears. And they’ll be worthless if she doesn’t get in the damn trunk.
She closes her eyes and her lips move as though she’s reciting some sort of prayer.
“Giada, I know you’re scared,” I begin, setting the duffel bag with her things in it between us. “But I just need you to trust me for thirty minutes until we get to my place.”
Her eyes open and her lips form a thin line. “Okay.”
She looks in the trunk, and I hold out my hand to help her climb in. The fear in her amber eyes when she looks up at me tears me apart inside. She doesn’t trust me at all, but she knows she’s backed into a corner with only an hour to be long gone before her brother and the Russians start ripping the place apart to find her. “Thirty minutes.” I shut the trunk of the sedan and send a prayer to whoever is listening that we make it out of this alive.
Leaving the property was the easy part. The guard at the gate simply nodded to me as I drove away. There’s a sense of relief that I won’t ever have to come back here. I’ve hated the last seven years playing nice with men who I’d rather see buried six feet under than share a beer with. By the time all of this is over, I won’t be surprised if that’s where several of them end up.
When we pull into the small garage under my building next to my old SUV, I immediately pop the trunk, allowing Giada to see where we are. I rush to the back of the sedan and help her out.
“Can’t say I’ve ever been shoved in a trunk and driven across town, but I can say I’d rather never do that again.”
I smile down at her, but she doesn’t return the gesture.
“I have to grab a few things, then we need to get out of here.” I grab her bags and toss them into my vehicle. It’s old as shit, but it’s all I got, and I know for a fact the Cataldi cars have trackers on them. I don’t particularly care if they find the car here after they realize I’ve disappeared with Giada. This is another place I don’t ever plan on stepping foot in again.
“Come on up.” I guide her to the small stairwell that leads to the apartment I’ve kept even though I’d been staying at the Cataldi estate.
When we enter the apartment, she looks around at the bare walls and the sparse furniture the apartment had when I moved in.
“How long have you lived here?” she asks.
“About seven years, but I haven’t stayed here in four months.”
“If you have your own place, why were you staying at the estate?”
“Your brother wanted me there to keep an eye on you. Make sure you stayed out of the way and stayed put. When those two assholes your brother started working with came around and leered at you any chance they got, I was so fucking thankful you weren’t in that house unprotected. It’s the only time I’ve been grateful to your brother for making sure I stuck around after your father’s arrest. Guess it didn’t work out how Carlo had hoped, though.”
Her gaze drops from mine as she absorbs the truth I gave her. “Get your things, Luca. We need to get out of here before anyone realizes we’re both gone.”
“Right.”
Giada isn’t ready to hear the lengths I’ve gone through—the lengths I’ll go through—to make sure she’s safe. I’m still the man who came into her life under false pretenses. The man whose sole purpose of being at the house was to find anything I could to destroy her family.
Walking into my small bedroom, I head to my closet and open the crawl space to grab the box with the few things I brought with me from my past and a few other essentials. I take all the cash, guns, and the letter-sized envelope that contains pictures of my life with Frank and the pictures of my parents.
Giada is standing in the doorway when I turn around in the closet and she eyes the box in my hands.
“Can I show you something?” I ask, setting the box on the bed and opening it.
She nods and walks closer to me as I open the box and pull out the envelope of pictures. Reaching into the old manilla envelope, I pull out a picture of our fathers together and one of my real parents and me when I was a baby.
I hold the picture of the three men out to her first. “That’s Frank, your father, and my real father, Elio.” Then I hand her the other picture. “And that’s my mother, Ciara Byrne, Maeve Monaghan’s sister.”
She studies both briefly, her eyes darting between mine and the picture of my mother. “You have the same eyes.” Her voice is soft, and it’s the first time I’ve felt anything from her other than distrust mixed with a healthy dose of rage since I told her who I really am.
“That’s what Finn said. Told me my aunt has the same eyes, too.”
I offer a small smile, but Giada doesn’t return it, the walls slamming shut once again behind her eyes. “I’ll wait for you in the other room,” she says, handing the pictures back to me before spinning on her heels to walk away.
After throwing several changes of clothes into a bag, I walk back to the living room and find Giada still standing there. Well, at least she didn’t take off. That’s something, I tell myself.
Grabbing the keys for my SUV from the beige parquet countertop, I leave the keys for the sedan I drove here.
“Let’s go.” I open the door and allow Giada to step out before shutting it and locking it behind us.
“Where are we going?” she asks as I lead her back down the stairs.
“New Hampshire.”
“What’s in New Hampshire?” Her voice is breathless as we hurry back to the garage.
“There’s no three-day waiting period in that state like there is here. We have time to get there, get a marriage license, and see the justice of the peace.”
“Wow, and all before lunch.”
“The faster we do this, Giada, the faster you’ll be safe from your brother. I’ll call my cousin when it’s done, and we’ll figure it out from there.”
“What if he decides it’s too much trouble and wants to send me back to my brother? This shit going on with our families has been a long-standing feud, Luca. The Russians and the Monaghans never had any problems as far as I know.” She stops at the passenger door, and I open it for her before throwing my bag in the back seat and walking to the other side of the SUV.
She’s right; my cousin’s most pressing concern has always been the Cataldis. He’s never mentioned the Russians, but after Alessia was taken and he found out they were willing to help Carlo and Farina take over Boston, his tune changed pretty damn quick.
“Finn has no problems taking out two birds with one stone. Trust me,” I assure her as I start the engine.
“Am I supposed to be the stone? I already told you I won’t be used as a pawn in this bullshit. I just want to be safe from whatever Carlo has planned for me.”
“You will be, Giada. You’ll be my wife, which will make you a Monaghan through marriage. Trust me, no one is going to take you from me.”
“That’s the thing, Luca, I don’t trust you, but I’m desperate enough to go along with this.”
It’s not the answer I’d wish for, but it’s not like I can be too bothered by the fact she’s suspicious, especially when all she knows about the Monaghans has come from her father or brother.
Without saying anything further on the subject, I pull out of the garage and begin the drive to Manchester. Giada is quiet on the car ride, and the silence is stifling. I want to know what she’s thinking. Scratch that, I want her to be thinking that I’ll take care of her, that she has nothing to worry about now that we’re on the road, but I know she won’t believe me. Every man in her life has used her as a pawn in their games for more power. That’s what Carlo was going to do. Though it’s not my intention, I’m sure she feels differently. At the very least, she’s not ruling out the idea that, once again, she’s somehow going to be used.
“Not exactly how you imagined your wedding day, I’ll bet.” Jesus, that’s a stupid thing to say.
Giada lets out a chuckle that is completely devoid of humor. “The only thing I knew about my wedding day was I wasn’t going to be happy about the groom I was going to be marrying.” She looks over at me. “So, I suppose this is exactly how I imagined it.”
Fucking ouch.
I want to tell her if she’s going to be a brat about it we can call the whole thing off. But I know I won’t, and I know she won’t either. Right now, she’s angry and scared. And hurt. If lashing out makes her feel better or makes her feel like she has some control over her life, I won’t hold it against her. It’s not like I handled being told everything I’d known about my life was a lie with any sort of grace. I lashed out a hell of a lot worse than she is. Does it make the drive any more comfortable? No. There’s nothing I can say that’ll make her believe me. The only way she’ll be confident that she’s safe and no one is going to use her or lie to her again is for her to actually see it. Anyone can tell you one thing and do the exact opposite. If I want Giada to trust me, it’s going to take work and patience.
“So, is my last name going to be Bennetti or was that a lie too?”
I haven’t thought about it. I used the same last name that I’ve had my entire life. If anyone had done any digging, all they’d find was a kid with a dead father and a chip on his shoulder. It didn’t seem necessary to change everything about myself.
“My last name is Bennetti. At least that’s what I’ve always gone by, but my dad, Frank, told me that my real father’s name was Romano.”
“And my father had him killed.” This is the first time since I told her the truth about my parentage that she’s brought it up.
“He did.” My hands tighten around the steering wheel at the mention of Francesco. It’s as though now that I don’t have to pretend I don’t hate the man, it’s impossible to temper my reaction.
“Why though? Falling in love with someone doesn’t seem like that big of an offense.” I appreciate the curiosity, but damn, this is the last thing I want to talk about. I told her she could trust me though, and the first thing I do can’t be to shut the conversation down just because I’m uncomfortable.
“My father, Elio, fell in love with Maeve Monaghan’s sister. It’s no secret your father expects the utmost loyalty from his men. My father was his consigliere, and when he found out Elio was with my mother and they had a child together, he was convinced my father was betraying him and talking to the Irish.”
“So he had him killed? Why not try to talk to him?”
“I don’t know. You’d have to ask him. But from what I know of your father, he’s the shoot first, ask questions later kind of boss.”
“Can’t argue that. And Frank. How does he fit into all this?”
“He was the hit man sent to kill my parents. When he found me in my crib, he couldn’t finish what your father wanted him to. Said there was some spiritual woo-woo moment or some shit.”
“Spiritual woo-woo?” she asks, looking confused at my description.
“He explained it better. But yeah. He knew he was sent there to protect me.”
“So he just took off with you?”
“Kind of. He called your house and your mother answered. She told him to run and gave him some money.”
“Wait. My mother knew about you?”
“Yeah. Frank said she was a good woman. A devout Catholic. He needed help and knew she wouldn’t turn him away or turn him into Francesco. I don’t know. I kind of think he needed a woman who believed in God but also knew what was expected of someone in this life to tell him he was doing the right thing. That’s what she did.”
Giada stares out the window at the passing scenery. It’s spring in Massachusetts and the trees along the stretch of highway between Boston and Manchester are lined with budding green trees. New beginnings and all that.
“If you have any questions I’ll answer with one-hundred-percent honesty, Giada. I don’t want lies between us.
“I don’t,” she snaps.
It’s a lot to take in, so I don’t try to continue the conversation even though I’m sure there’s more she’s curious about. I kind of get the feeling that anything, including the sound of my voice, is liable to set her off. There’s no denying our nerves are at an all-time high. We’re running from her brother and the Petrovs. In about thirty minutes, she’ll have a new last name, and after that, I’ll have to call my cousin and explain why it’s time I come out of hiding with my new wife.
Hell, it’s definitely not how I saw today going when I opened my eyes this morning.