Chapter 54 Liana
LIANA
“Itexted her letting her know we’re here,” I say to the guys.
“Make sure to stay alert,” Massi says to his brothers, scanning the area around us to see if there’s anyone suspicious.
“She said her guard is inside with her, so that’s good, right?” I ask.
“It’ll make leaving with her easier, but that means he’ll know something is up sooner rather than later when she doesn’t come back,” Massi says.
“Well, Jeff is fueled up and ready for takeoff. I told him we need to get in the air as soon as we get there.”
“Good.”
“Have you talked to your dad? He said he’d let you know if Ignazio is onto us, so maybe he really has no idea what’s about to happen.”
“Yeah, maybe, but after everything that’s happened, I’m not sure I can trust my dad anymore,” he says.
“There she is,” I say, pointing at the back door.
“Keep your eyes on our surroundings, guys,” Massi says, watching her speed walk in our direction.
Once she’s in the car, I turn to look at her from my seat. “Are you okay?”
“Y-yes, sweetheart, I’m just a bit frazzled. I’m not sure how long we have until my guard goes looking for me.”
“You’re sure you want to do this?” I ask.
“Absolutely. I know Ignazio is not the man I thought he was all these years, and I know we’re in danger the longer we stay here.”
I nod, then turn back in my seat.
“Keep an eye out for anyone that could be following us,” Massi says to his brothers.
When we get to the airport, we jump out of the car and hurry toward the plane with our bags.
“Jeff?” I call out when we board the cabin, but neither he nor Monique are anywhere to be found.
We venture deeper into the cabin when someone clears their throat from behind us.
“You didn’t think you guys were going to get away with taking my wife, did you?”
We all spin on our heels and are met with Ignazio, who’s standing there with a gun against Rosa’s head while one of his men has a gun against Andreas’s head, and two others have guns pointed at us.
Gio, Gui, and Massi drop their bags and pull their weapons on the men.
“Oh, don’t even think about it. I’ve directed my men to shoot if there’s even the slightest hint one of your guns is about to go off,” Ignazio says.
“Mom … Dad …” Massi says.
“Oh, don’t be upset with your parents, Massimo. I know your dad has been keeping you updated on how close I was to finding you. When I found out he was feeding you information, I took away his phone and made sure he’d be here for the dramatic conclusion to this game you stupidly decided to play.”
“You mean the stupid fucking sick game you started by stealing a woman from her life and feeding her a bunch of lies for the past several years?”
“She was mine first,” he grinds out.
“That didn’t give you the right to take her from me!” I yell, my heart threatening to burst from my chest at his delusions.
Ignazio snaps his gaze to mine, and his lip curls up into a dirty smirk. “Like I said, little girl, she was mine first.”
“Ignazio, please, stop this,” my mom pleads. I grab her hand and pull her behind me.
“Look,” Massi says, “we clearly both expect to leave with the same thing, so how do you expect us to get out of this?”
“Well, I can already tell you what you’re going to do.”
“And what’s that?” His grip tightens on his gun.
“You and your little brothers are going to drop your guns and hand over my wife.”
“She’s not your wife,” I grind out.
Ignazio laughs and tightens his hold on Rosa who lets out a whimper. “Oh, but she is, and if you don’t hand her over this instant, I’m going to kill your husband’s dear ole mother.”
He drags his gaze back to Massi. “Now, I know you’re upset with your parents for keeping Vittoria a secret, but surely not enough to watch them get shot in the head.”
“Ignazio,” Andreas says, but the man standing behind him, hits him on top of his head with his gun, forcing a yelp out of his mouth.
Massi clenches his teeth, then finally says, “Fine. But if you want Vittoria back, then we trade at the same time.”
“Massi,” I hiss out, but even though I hate that he just chose his parents over my mom, I can’t say I wouldn’t do the same. Regardless, there’s an anger coursing through my body at his decision.
“Be quiet, little girl. The men are talking,” Ignazio snarls.
His beady eyes divert back to Massi. “I knew in the end you wouldn’t be able to choose her mother over your own.
It’s exactly why I dragged her here. I had to find a weakness of yours, and even I know you’re not coldhearted enough to let her die from execution when you could just as easily save her. ”
“Shut the fuck up already,” Massi snaps. “Now, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it by my rules. On the count of three, you’re going to push my parents over to us, and I’ll push Vittoria over to you.”
Massi grabs my mom from behind me and puts her in front of him like a shield.
“No!” I cry out, but he ignores me.
She looks over at me, tears welling in her eyes, and says, “It’s okay, sweetheart. You need to get out of here. I promise, I’ll find you.”
“Mom, no,” I sob out. “I just got you back, I can’t …” The words don’t come. My mind is caught in a warp with everything that’s going on. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.
“Shush,” she soothes. “It will all be okay.”
“And as soon as your wife is back in your arms, you will all exit this plane and forget we ever existed,” Massi says.
Ignazio narrows his gaze on him. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because, in the end, you’re right about me. I can’t put someone else’s family before my own when it really comes down to it.”
Those words are like a stab to my gut, and I’m not sure how Massi and I will ever recover from this.
“Fine. As you wish, Massimo. On the count of three,” Ignazio says.
“One …”
No, please, God, this can’t be happening.
“Two …”
I won’t allow it. She can’t go back to that monster!
Just when I’m about to hurl myself in front of my mom, Massi rushes out, “Three,” then pushes her.
I go to cry out, but the next thing I know, she’s being thrown at me and a gunshot goes off.
I fall to the ground with my mom, placing my body over hers, and keeping my head down, not knowing where the gunshot came from.
There’s yelling, and a few more gunshots go off until someone’s hands are on my shoulders. I flinch at the touch.
“It’s just me.”
“Massi?” I raise my head to look over my shoulder where he’s kneeling down beside us.
“Yeah, baby. It’s me. It’s okay. It’s over.”
“Massi,” I cry out, my emotions on overdrive. I quickly lift myself off my mom and throw my arms around him. “W-what happened?”
“I’m sorry I threw her at you like that, but I had to make it seem like I was going to hand her over to Ignazio.”
“You didn’t do it … I-I thought you were going to.”
“I know. I had to make you think that, but I would never do that to you.”
“It was my mom or your parents, Massi. I understood the predicament you were in no matter how much it hurt.”
“There was never a predicament. I knew me, Gio, and Gui would be able to take them out without harming my parents. I just needed Ignazio to let down his guard for a second to take the shot. From there, it was just a matter of Gio and Gui taking out the others.”
I glance back at my mom who’s sitting upright on the floor. “Are you okay, Mom?”
She’s shaky, but she says, “Yes. Yes, I’m all right, sweetheart.”
I throw my arms around her and give her the biggest hug.
“Massimo,” a deep voice sounds from behind us. I look back at Massi and he lets out a sigh, then pushes himself up from the floor and turns to face his dad.
I follow him, pushing myself up to a stand, then helping my mom up.
“I wasn’t sure you were going to help us after everything,” Andreas says.
“I helped you because I’m not a terrible fucking human being, but make no mistake, you still have no part in our lives moving forward.”
“Massimo,” his mom says, coming up to stand next to her husband. “Please, you have to understand why we kept this secret for so long.”
“I don’t. I refuse to. You broke up a family, and in turn put ours in a bad fucking spot back home.”
“Surely, Liana can speak to—”
“Don’t for a second think my wife will do either of you any favors. You both chose where your loyalties lie, and just because I killed the man you seemed to think so highly of, doesn’t mean you’ll be welcomed back with loving arms.”
“What are you saying?” Andreas asks.
“I’m saying, I hope you made friends with people other than Ignazio here, because you’re no longer welcome back home.”
“Massi,” I breathe out, hating that I’m the one responsible for breaking up his family.
He turns to look at me. “I told you where my loyalty lies. I made a promise to love and protect you, always.”
“I can’t be the reason you exile your parents, though.”
“I’m doing this because it’s the right thing to do. What they did is unforgivable. I’ll never be able to look at them the same again.”
As I gaze deep into his eyes, I know there’s no talking him out of this decision. He’s doing what his heart is telling him to do, and while a part of me does feel bad for being responsible for this falling out, something else squeezes at my heart knowing the love he has for me is this strong.
“Massimo, please,” Rosa says.
“I’m doing you both a favor and telling you to start your lives over anywhere but home.
Stay in Sicily, travel somewhere else. I don’t care.
But as soon as I get back to the states, I fully plan on informing Matteo DiMaggio of what you both did, and I’ll leave it up to him to decide the fate of you both.
Because you’re my parents, I won’t hand you right over to him, but I refuse to help you any further than that. ”
Gio and Gui move to stand next to Massi. “We refuse to help you,” Gio says.
Their parents are silent for a moment, looking between their three sons, until their dad finally says, “Fine, we’ll go, but you have our numbers when you’re ready to move past this.”
Massi, Gio, and Gui don’t respond to that.
Rosa looks at me and my mom, and says, “I-I’m sorry.” Her words come out like a choked sob. I feel like she wants to say more, but she just repeats herself—“I’m sorry”—then turns to follow her husband off the plane.
I place my hand on Massi’s shoulder and he turns to look at me. Wrapping his arms around my waist, he draws me to him, and I slide mine around his neck, holding onto him like I never want to let go … Because I don’t. I never want to let this man go.
Pulling back, so I’m able to peer deep into his eyes, I cup his cheek with my hand and say, “I love you, Massi.” His gaze locks with mine.
“Thank you for everything. For helping me with my mom. For helping me with Alessia. For … everything. You’re the man I never knew I needed, and now the man I’ll never be able to go without. ”
“And you’ll never have to, mia moglie. I’m here with you, always and forever. I choose you because I love you.”
“Uhh, I hate to break up this cute as fuck little moment between you two, but we kind of have some bodies to get rid of before we can get out of here,” Gui says.
“Again with the fucking timing, Gui,” Gio sighs out.
“Oh my gosh. Do we know where Jeff and Monique are?” I ask, panic raising my voice as I realize they’re still missing.
“We’re here, Miss Liana,” Jeff says, and I peek around Massi’s shoulder. “I locked Monique and I in the cockpit as soon as I saw those men get out of their cars.”
I let out a relieved sigh. “Oh, thank God, Jeff. I’m so sorry. Are you both okay?”
“Yes, we’re perfectly fine. I’m just glad you’re all okay. I would’ve called to warn you, but I was so focused on getting Monique and I to safety that I left my phone in the cabin.”
“No, you did the right thing. I’m just thankful you were both able to get to a safe spot.”
He looks around at the bodies on the floor. “We’ll work on getting this cleaned up.”
“No, you guys are fine. We’ll handle it,” Massi says, then he and his brothers go to take care of the bodies, leaving my mom and I alone.
I turn to her, and say, “I’m so sorry. This isn’t how I wanted everything to go down.”
She cups my face. “You have nothing to be sorry for, sweetheart. That man showed me exactly who he is, and the way I see it, he got exactly what he deserved.”
I’m so relieved to hear her say that. Witnessing everything that happened was not how I wanted to start our new lives, but I’m so glad it didn’t scare her off.
“I might not have my memories back, but I know this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
I wrap my arms around her once more. “Let’s finally go home, then.”