22. Luca
Chapter 22
Luca
T he blade slid along my father’s arm smoothly, blood pouring out in a slow stream.
Irina leaving fucked me up in the head and I’d let out steam in the only way I knew how. Violence.
“I’ve gotten bored with your existence,” I said, finding another patch of skin to cut through. “You suck the joy out of everything, even in death.”
An incoherent mumble came from him, bringing my attention to his hollow face, sweat and blood dripping down his forehead.
“You’ve done enough talking.” I lifted the blade between us, assessing it under the light above us, the crimson color vibrant. “Not that you’re able to, anyway.”
I spun the knife with my fingers before wrapping my hand around the hilt and jabbing it in his thigh.
A silent scream vibrated from him as he shuddered against the bed .
“It’s my turn to talk now.” I dragged the knife down until I’d ripped through muscle and flesh.
Was it normal to feel unaffected by my own father’s pain?
“Isn’t it ironic?” I chuckled, wrenching the blade out. “You always wanted me to be exactly like you and, in a way, you succeeded.” I emphasized my words by digging it in his other thigh as resentment rose to the surface. “But there’s one difference between us.” I glanced up at him, fury thrumming in my veins. “You’re going to die, and no one will mourn your loss.” Stab . “Not me.” Stab . “Not Evangeline.” Stab. “No one.”
Red drenched the mattress by the time I finished mangling his body, and yet a part of me wasn’t satisfied. It hadn’t been for weeks. I was done.
Leaning over him, I brought my face close to his, forcing him to see the coldness I felt on the inside. “You took my mother from me,” I seethed, the memory engraved into my mind as if it had happened yesterday. “You took and took from me, but I’ll never allow you to do the same to Evangeline.” I brought the knife to his neck and dug it in, his eyes filling with fear. “And I’ll be paying my thanks by taking everything from you.” Slowly, I slid the knife across his throat, dragging out his death more than I already had. “Your legacy dies here.”
Blood seeped from his mouth; his face stunned, before his eyes rolled back as he let out his last breath.
I stared at him for a few moments, wondering how I could bring him back to life to do it all over again.
Grabbing the towel from the bedside table, I wiped my hands clean as I walked out of the door .
Dr. Aldo stood patiently beside the door; his questioning eyes narrowing at me in suspicion.
“One less patient for you to worry about.” I nudged my head at him. “Congrats.”
I’d walked down the room when my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Roman’s name flashed across the screen and instantly I knew something was wrong. After what happened last night, he wouldn’t have called me if it wasn’t urgent.
Was it Irina?
I said I’d let her come to me this time, but my patience only extended so far. If I had to drag her back to Italy kicking and screaming, I would.
“What’s going on?” I answered, panic gripping me in a vice and what I felt last night didn’t compare to the terrible sensation coursing through me now.
“Nico is gone.”
“What do you mean ‘ gone ’? Did you check his location?”
After Nicolai was brought in by Roman and we learned of his background, my best friend inserted a GPS chip beneath his skin.
The trauma Nico had experienced made him compliant enough to undergo the quick procedure.
It had been a bit strange to us all how sympathetic Roman was toward him, but we quickly learned that their relationship was more of a father and a son than a Don and his crew member.
“I had to.” He sighed. “He hasn’t come yet.”
“And?” It wasn’t abnormal that our youngest member had a tendency to go out .
“I’m headed to his location.” He sounded too calm, and I knew it was worse when he did.
“Did you call Ric?” I asked as I signaled to my security team to go upstairs. My father could rot elsewhere.
“I did. He’s on his way there right now with the men to scope it out.” A loud horn echoed down the line before he cursed. “Hold on, I’m sending you Nico’s location.”
A second later, I zoomed in on the blinking red dot displayed on my screen, squinting my eyes to see where exactly he was.
It looked to be a small building, the area surrounding it deserted. The fuck?
And there it was. The confirmation to my suspicion. Something was wrong.
“Luca.” Roman didn’t wait for me to acknowledge him before he said, “If she had something to do with this, I’ll fucking kill her this time.”
I’d never driven my bike so recklessly in my life.
My heart was beating against my chest harshly, blocking out everything else except for blue eyes that cut me deep, denting and molding a place into my heart.
Irina might be malicious when she wanted to be, but I knew she would never harm Nicolai.
I’d caught up to Roman on the way as he rode his truck, speeding down the roads as fast as I was.
I turned my head at the same time he did, his expression disturbed before he held his phone up to me where Ricardo’s name was displayed .
My stomach twisted in knots as he stepped on the gas, and I almost wasn’t ready to see what I’d find when we arrived at the location.
My thoughts were spiraling, and I held onto this idea that Nico was having a bad night and ended up getting shit faced fuck knows where. But even I knew he’d never been reckless in that regard.
Five minutes later, we were parked and running toward a gray building. It was old and abandoned, as if it had no purpose of being there.
Barging through the steel door, we moved around swiftly, scoping the area inside to find the space empty, a putrid smell emitting in the air.
“Ricardo!” Roman ran down the aged hall, opening doors to more vacant rooms.
“Over here, Don!”
We headed toward the sound of Ric’s voice, my mouth turning dry with every step until I stood inside a stained room.
As if every cell in my body came to life when she was near, my gaze landed on Irina.
My breath caught in my throat as I nearly tripped over my feet getting to her.
She was lying on the floor with one of our men crouched over her, assessing her.
“What happened?” My voice sounded hoarse to my own ears as I dropped to my knees and grabbed her unconscious body, pulling her against me. “What the fuck happened?” I asked, louder, staring down at her.
Irina’s face was bloody, a sharp cut across one side of her face. With trembling hands, I pushed back her matted hair hesitantly. It was short. . . choppy.
My finger fell upon her pulse, evident but slow.
“We gotta go,” Ricardo shouted. “Now!”
With my pulse racing, I wrapped my jacket around Irina, trying not to focus on the blood covering her body. I took deep breaths to calm myself down. She was my priority right now, but when I found out who did this to her, they’d be left for worse.
Cradling her body, I picked her up and finally peered around the room.
Roman was bent over Nicolai, his hands palming his face as he whispered something to him, almost like a chant.
But Nico was knocked out cold, battered and bruised, blood covering every surface of his body.
Nausea unfurled in my chest at the horrific scene in front of me.
When Ric set a hand on Roman’s shoulder, he looked up and I could see the glistening streaks of tears on his face .
“We have to go, Don.”
He nodded and together, they hauled our youngest member up.
I needed answers, and I needed them now. Whoever did this had a vendetta against Irina and Nicolai, marring and mangling their bodies until it was near unrecognizable.
The next hour went by in a blur, my head pounding from the unwanted adrenaline. I was on high alert, my body trembling in restrained rage .
When we arrived at the hospital, the doctors immediately admitted Nico and Irina to treat them. All it took was one look at their appearance and their faces had drained of color.
Threats were made and questions went unanswered. They knew better than to involve the feds.
I waited and waited, impatiently walking the halls of the clinically pristine walls for an update on their conditions.
Although my attention was solely on Irina, I was worried about Nicolai. He was hardly breathing when we brought him in, his once pale hair smeared with crimson.
Roman was worse than me, his eyes distant with fury swarming in them as he sat on a chair in the waiting room, his body tense and still.
This was bad, really fucking bad.
My mind tumbled until a fiery surge of emotion caught ahold of my chest, potent and persistent.
I clawed at my collar, feeling the air in my lungs cease.
If I hadn’t let Irina go, this wouldn’t have happened. She would’ve been angry, but safe. And so would have Nico.
If I hadn’t let her walk away, she wouldn’t have been tortured within an inch of her life.
If I had fought harder, she wouldn’t have been stripped of her sanity.
The start of a panic attack burst to life, my vision darkening as claws sank deep into my bones, pulling me beneath the lethal surface. The feeling had been foreign for a long time, the last one happening when my mother passed away .
Please, let them be okay.
I had never known longing and desperation until Irina slipped from between my fingers. The mere thought of never molding my body against hers again, never breathing in her intoxicating scent again, and never getting lost in her presence again made me want to sacrifice my soul if it meant hers would be okay.
My back hit the wall as I gasped for air, losing this internal battle with myself. I needed more time. We needed more time.
Hands pressed into me, suffocating me further into oblivion. No. No. No.
“Luca. . . ”
I squeezed my eyes shut as I covered my ears to rid of the distant voices entering my twisted thoughts.
My head throbbed viciously, senses overwhelming me with every tremor racking through my body.
“Luca!” The hands grabbed ahold of me, slowly anchoring me back to a place I could breathe in again.
“It’s me,” the voice said. “Roman.”
Roman?
Breathing heavily through my nose, I urged my brain to stop tumbling into the abyss.
“You’re okay, brother.”
The sound of his rough voice came out clearer, his hands squeezing my shoulders in comfort.
With a shaky exhale, I blinked away the black spots dancing in my vision until his face appeared before me, concern slashing across his features.
The underlying panic was still present, but my best friend kept me rooted .
“I can’t lose her,” I choked out, shaking my head. “What I feel for her terrifies me and I haven’t even come close to understanding it.”
He stared at me, his obsidian eyes softening slightly as he sighed in resignation. “Trust me, I know that feeling all too well.”