Chapter 3
Caterina
I was in my office with Malachi, Cornelius, and a handful of my other men coming up with a game plan on how to find my wife and Elizabeth.
Luca didn’t answer my text nor did he return any phone call.
After his therapy sessions, he would normally retreat to his room with Lizzy and stay alone for a day or two.
Everyone processed trauma differently, but today I didn’t need that.
We knew there was a chance that Vincenzo would have Harlow in his grasp again, and Lizzy…
I refused to believe the thought spiral.
They were both strong and would fight, I knew that.
I needed Harlow to believe I would storm in there like a bat out of hell and save her.
I would save her, but I needed a clue as to where she was.
There was only a small window of opportunity to find Harlow and Lizzy.
I knew if Vincenzo got his hands on Harlow, she would be in his bed.
But Lizzy would be more complex and difficult to find if Vincenzo kept her alive.
Harlow was his prized possession and he would keep her, but Lizzy would be placed in the same spot we rescued her from before. Except this time, she wouldn’t survive.
I would paint the streets of Chicago red until Harlow and Lizzy were both back home safe.
Vincenzo had better pray to whatever God would listen to him, because he would not survive if he harmed my wife.
Harlow would fight, but I knew my wife. She would fight for Lizzy’s safety, and while I admired her dedication to her friend, I didn’t want to lose her.
I would bring them both home, but I needed them both to fight.
I had an undercover go to his club to see if my wife was there, but he said Lizzy and Harlow were nowhere to be seen.
I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place, with no plan.
Lizzy could be hidden in his club or already dead, but Harlow could be at his house already being tormented.
I needed to have faith my wife was with Lizzy, and they were fighting together.
Xavier was prepared for this, and it was my fault that I kept Harlow distracted. If she had her guard up, she and Lizzy would never have been taken in the first place. I should’ve known Vincenzo would try something the moment Harlow was alone.
I was spiraling, and I didn’t need to do that now, but I felt like I was back in the closet, listening to my mother being tormented.
“Cuore mio.” My mother’s voice trembled with fear. We heard the gunshots and knew we were under attack, but Papa and the rest of his men were gone. “Hide in the closet.”
“Mama, no! I’m not leaving you,” I argued, but she shook her head.
She slowly pushed me back. “You need to hide. I will not let them harm you. Promise me, no matter what happens you will stay hidden. Please. Tell your father I love him and I’m sorry.”
I buried myself into the hidden compartment in the closet as my mom kissed my forehead. “I love you, Mama.”
“Ti amo. Sei il mio cuore e la mia anima.” I love you. You are my heart and soul.
She closed the door, and I messaged my father. He knew there was danger because the explosion was a decoy. The real attack was here. He was too far away to make it home in time. My father wouldn’t make it in time, and I couldn’t do anything.
“Ahh, if it isn’t Alexander Moretti’s gorgeous wife.” His voice echoed through the room. “Where’s his daughter hiding? It’s not a party without her.”
“Vincenzo, why are you here?” My mother wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Vincenzo chuckled. “It’s time to be the sole ruler of Chicago.
The mighty Alexander Moretti will fall without his pretty little wife.
” There was a commotion before a gunshot fired.
I covered my mouth to muffle the sob. “Let’s see what the fuss is about.
When I am done with you, I’ll find your pretty daughter and show her a good time, too. ”
“Fuck you. You will not touch her.”
I hummed You are My Sunshine to drown out the noise, but nothing would ever be able to cover the sounds of listening to my mother being brutalized by this monster.
I needed to do something, but I made a promise.
And Vincenzo would shoot me if I revealed myself.
My fingers shook as tears rolled down my face.
My father said help was on the way, but they needed to hurry up.
Vincenzo grunted before I heard my mother scream. “Oh, how the mighty fall. When I find your daughter, the same will happen to her, and the Moretti name will die.”
I listened to him leave. My father would be back soon, but even if he came back for me, it wouldn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore. Vincenzo came here to accomplish one thing, and he succeeded.
When Vincenzo was gone, I crawled out of the hiding spot and stumbled towards my mother. She was bleeding from various places with a broken, dazed look in her eyes. “No, Mama!” I pulled her into my arms and she barely winced. My hands shook as I called my father. “Papa! Please. We need a doctor.”
I heard his harried footsteps and him screaming in Italian to his men. “I’m coming. Help is coming. Stay strong for me, farfalla.”
I brushed my mother’s hair out of her face, smearing the blood in the process. She was dying. She was going to die. The last thing she would remember was what that monster did to her. No. She wouldn’t. I wouldn’t let her.
I pulled her to me, kissing her forehead, my tears hitting her skin.
“Tu sei il mio raggio di sole. Il mio unico raggio di sole. Mi rendi felice,” I sang.
My little sunshine was her favorite lullaby to sing me whenever I woke up from a nightmare.
She lived through a nightmare, and I would make sure it wasn’t the last thing she heard. “Te amo, Mama.”
Everything else passed in a blur.
The next thing I knew, someone was pulling me away from her body and my father broke. Vincenzo would succeed in destroying our family, but not for long. I would avenge my mother and make him pay for what he did to our family.
I refused to let Vincenzo Mancini take someone else from me.
The streets of Chicago would know the sins of Vincenzo Mancini, a requiem of vengeance, shrouded in pain.
He would never cause anyone to feel the same misery he caused me and my family.
Even if it cost me my life, he would shatter and feel every agonizing minuscule of pain before I took his life.