19. Vitorio
Nicki's eyes are locked with mine in a very intimate gaze. The deep pools of her beautiful soul pull me towards her, tugging at my heart, and causing me to fear for her life. My brother seems to be capable of almost anything at this point. He has shown me a side of him I never dreamed possible. I always knew Luca was troubled - but not like this.
I promised her I would keep her safe, yet she has been kidnapped, locked in a freezer surrounded by dead bodies, and tortured by my own brother. My family. The person I was defending so adamantly when Nicki told me about her suspicions of him. I would have sworn on my life at the time, to stand up for him. And if you had told me that one day he would kidnap Nicki and hurt her - I would not have believed you.
But here we are.
And now he has his hands all over her, he is kissing her, touching her in ways that have fury flooding through me. She looks so distraught as he embraces her, and I am in no position to help her right now.
"Last chance," Luca says softly to Nicki. I shudder at the way he brushes his face abasing hers, and that sinister smile that touches his lips.
He wants her to give up all of the information we have discovered in our investigation. He was talking about how it might affect his other business ventures, but I don't know about any businesses he has that would be affected by what we have found out.
Nicki doesn't take her eyes off me when she answers Luca. I can see how she is struggling with an intense inner battle.
"I can't tell you anything." She sighs, refusing to give in to his threats. Her mouth is turned down at the corners, and her eyes flutter closed. She is struggling, fighting her own thoughts. She looks as though she feels guilt-ridden.
Luca's face becomes a dark pit of rage.
His skin flushes red and small beads of sweat drip down his brows. His eyes narrow as he glares at Nicki. I watch as his arm muscles flex when he jerks her around to face him. His face is inches from hers as he screams at her. She flinches away from him, but his grip on her arm doesn't falter. He shakes her, pulling her right into his chest.
"Don't you give a shit about his life?" She turns her head away. "Look at me, don't you care?" He rants.
I want to tear him to shreds for the way he is treating her.
"I won't tell you anything, Luca. I can't. I don't trust you. I don't know what you will do with the information." She is holding her ground. I am so proud of her, but also, I wish she would focus on protecting herself instead of everyone else. All I want is for her to be safe.
"You fucking bitch. I love you. I will build you an empire if you just love me back the same way." She closes her eyes, trying to block him out. Her body language is rigid and defensive.
He shakes her again, roughly demanding her attention.
Nicki tilts her head further away from him and he reaches out to grab her neck, his fingers wrap around her throat as anger seers through him. His fingers lock down, digging into her skin, and suddenly her eyes shoot open. Her lips parted as she tried to take a breath of air. His grip on her throat is dangerously tight, and his fingernails are practically tearing into her.
His nostrils flare as he spits his words at her with venom in his voice.
"Whatever you know, I need to know. I need to know what impact it is going to have on my business. I will not have you fucking this up for me. Do I make myself clear?"
Nicki's face is bright red. She can't breathe. He is going to kill her.
My mind races in search of a solution. I have to stop him. I have to save her. I have to do whatever it takes.
"Luca," I shout, grabbing his attention.
He glares at me, but it is enough to distract him and his tight grip around her throat softens. He turns his body slightly away from hers, towards mine. He doesn't let her go completely, but for the moment she is not in pain.
She gasps for a breath of air and fights against the fear I see on her face.
Her eyes are glittering with shock.
I turn back to look at my brother.
"Luca, I will give you everything," I say, knowing I need to get this situation under control as quickly as possible. The moment I lose his attention he will turn it back on Nicki.
Luca narrows his eyes towards me, tilting his chin upward. I have piqued his curiosity at least.
"Go on." He says, sounding bored, gesturing for me to keep talking. He is trying to act like he doesn't care but I know how obsessed he is with material gain. He sees power in owning things. I have offered him something substantial.
"I will leave the family business. I'll walk away from the casino, everything - you can have it all."
"Everything." He confirms.
"Yes, absolutely everything. I will sign it over to you so there is no misunderstanding."
"And what do you get out of this?" He shifts his weight and folds his arms across his chest. Nicki moves slightly away from him, and he doesn't seem to notice.
"Just let me take Nicki with me. Let's walk away together, right now. We will disappear from this city. You will never see either of us again. You say all you are worried about is your business - so take it - take all of them - everything - all of the money. Let me leave with Nicki." I try to hide the desperation in my voice, not wanting to give him the upper hand in this situation. But I think it is obvious from my offer that I am willing to give it all up for this woman.
He walks closer to me, moving away from Nicki completely. One of his men steps towards her, keeping an eye on her so that she cannot make a run for it. I clench my jaw in frustration.
Luca tilts his head towards me and sneers.
"So, you can see it too?" he asks, as he stares down at me.
"See what?" I shake my head in confusion. A dangerous smile touches his lips.
"How special she is." His eyes are piercing into mine as he says the words.
At first, I don't want to answer, but he is looking at me expectantly. It was hardly a question though. It was more of a statement.
I nod.
Then my eyes are back on Nicki, her gorgeous face. Her beautiful soft nature, her inner strength. She is perfect.
Yes, I see it. I saw it from the moment I laid eyes on her. She is special. But she is so much more special than he will ever understand. He wants to possess her, like an object. He wants to own her and parade her around like a trophy.
He doesn't want to understand her or support her, or learn about what she dreams about, what music she likes, why she doesn't like to add mayonnaise to her salad, or how she thinks orange isn't her color. He doesn't want to lift her up, help her reach whatever goals she has, and watch her blossom.
My heart tightens in my chest. I want to do so much for her. I want to do everything for her. My life suddenly feels as though I have only existed up until this point, and meeting Nicki was when I actually started to really live.
Because I understood what it felt like to love.
Luca takes a sharp breath, forcing it out of his lungs loudly.
"Then you understand why I can't just give her up like that, Vitorio."
"Luca, you don't love her. Just take what I am offering and let us be."
"I do fucking love her." I can feel the heat in his words.
"If you loved her, you would never have locked her up to freeze to death."
"She has to learn to do what she is told." He snaps.
"That isn't love."
He shakes his head, and his posture changes, becoming more relaxed. He shrugs, smirking and looking confident about whatever is on his mind.
"Honestly Vito, I could just shoot you right now and everything would be mine. You don't have anything to bargain with, not even your life. Do you not understand how much I hate you - brother? Don't you realize what a bitter taste is left in my mouth each time I have to say your name? You have been a burden in my life that I have had to suffer for far too long now."
Luca looks up at the men holding me down.
"You can kill him." He says coldly, then turns to walk back towards Nicki.
I fight against their grip, trying to push myself to my feet again.
"You don't even have the guts to do it yourself?" I shout, angry and scared about what he has planned for Nicki.
If I die, she will be left alone with him - at his mercy. And by the way, he has had his hands all over her, I don't want to imagine what he will do to her.
"Luca," I shout growing even more angry. He turns to glare at me.
"Just accept your fate, Vitorio. It's over."
Two shots fire loudly, and I wince in fright, not knowing if I have been shot or not, not able to tell if I am in shock, and perhaps unaware that a bullet has pierced my body.
For a moment I am frozen, with my ears ringing, and my head spinning.
Then one of the men holding me drops to the ground, his face exploded by the impact, leaving a gaping hole in the front of his head.
The next man slumps down to the ground too, blood oozing onto the ground around him.
Everything is moving in slow motion.
I am free, no one is holding me anymore.
More shots fire through the air and more of Luca's men drop to the ground. Everyone looks confused, not sure where the attack is coming from.
I glance up to see my brother staring behind me with a look of fury in his eyes.
"Who the fuck are you?" Luca snarls.
Nicki starts running towards me, but her eyes are locked on something behind me.
"Danny." She screams.
I stand up as Luca lifts his gun towards wherever Danny is standing. And for the second time today, I slam into him, knocking him to the ground. His gun flies from his grasp, and I start throwing punches. We roll across the ground, kneeing and punching wildly.
Luca pushes to his feet, and I am standing in a second, ready to fight.
"Nicki get the fuck out of here." I bellow as I duck, too late, and his fist slams into my temple. I blink hard to maintain consciousness and strike back. Blood flies from Luca's nose as it cracks loudly beneath the impact. Nicki is frozen in place, and I need her to start moving. "Run, get out of here," I shout again.
She glances from me towards Danny, as thoughts rush through her mind. "Nicki, please, fucking go. Danny take Nicki, get her out." I duck, dodging Luca's swinging fists, and then head butt him as hard as I can. He staggers away from me. My ears ring and my head spins.