34. Mia
34
MIA
M y heart is pounding as the car pulls up to the estate. The sun has long since set, and the house looms dark and imposing before me. I take a deep breath, steeling myself for the conversation ahead.
How do I tell Luca about Dom’s promotion without setting off his temper?
But as I step inside, all thoughts of Dom and the Sicuras flee my mind. The house is quiet. Too quiet.
“Luca?” I call out, fear gripping my heart. “Luca, where are you?”
I find him in his study, slumped against the ground, his broken phone beside him. His eyes are red-rimmed, his hair disheveled. He looks up at me, and the raw pain in his gaze takes my breath away.
“Mia,” he croaks, his voice hoarse. “You’re here.”
I rush to his side, kneeling beside him. “Luca, what happened? Are you hurt?”
He shakes his head, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. “My mother,” he says, his voice breaking. “She’s gone, Mia. She… she killed herself.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. “Oh, Luca,” I whisper, pulling him into my arms. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
He collapses against me, his body shaking with silent sobs. I hold him tight, murmuring soothing words, my own heart breaking for his pain.
How long has he been here alone, dealing with this?
We stay like that for what feels like hours, Luca pouring out his grief while I try to anchor him. Gradually, his sobs subside, replaced by quiet sniffles. He pulls back slightly, his eyes red but clearer.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbles, wiping at his face. “I’m a mess.”
I shake my head, cupping his cheek in my hand. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Luca. You’ve suffered a terrible loss.”
He leans into my touch, his eyes closing briefly. When he opens them again, there’s a flicker of his old self there. “How was your visit?” he asks, his voice rough. “With your family?”
I hesitate, torn between honesty and protecting him from more pain. But Luca sees my hesitation and frowns. “What is it, Mia? What happened?”
Taking a deep breath, I decide to tell him the truth. He deserves that much. “There’s… there’s been a change in the Sicura family,” I say carefully. “Don Sicura has decided to retire. He’s giving control of the family business to Dom.”
For a moment, Luca just stares at me, his face blank. Then, like a switch has been flipped, his expression contorts with fury. He leaps to his feet, nearly knocking me over in the process.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he roars, his voice echoing through the room. “Don Sicura gets to retire? He gets to peacefully hand over his empire to his son?”
I scramble to my feet, reaching out to him. “Luca, please?—”
But he’s beyond hearing me now. He paces the room like a caged animal, his hands clenched into fists. “My father never got to retire,” he spits out. “He died protecting that bastard! And now my mother… she’s gone too. How much more do I have to lose so that Dom fucking Sicura can rule?”
His hand lashes out, sweeping the contents of his desk onto the floor with a crash. I flinch at the sound, my heart racing. I’ve never seen Luca like this before.
“All these years, I’ve watched Dom Sicura get whatever he wanted,” he continues, his voice shaking with rage. “I’ve tried to move on. I’ve tried to let go of my anger, for you. But this? This is too much.”
He turns to me, his eyes blazing with a fury that makes me take an involuntary step back. “I’m done playing nice,” he growls. “I’m going to finish what I started at that ball. Dom Sicura doesn’t get to live another day.”
Horror washes over me as I realize what he’s saying. “Luca, no,” I plead, grabbing his arm. “You can’t do this. Please, think about what you’re saying!”
He shakes me off, storming toward the door. “Stay out of this, Mia,” he warns. “I can spare your sister, but Dom? He’s a dead man walking.”
Panic rises in my throat. I can’t let this happen. I can’t let Luca throw everything away in a moment of grief and anger. I rush after him, placing myself between him and the door.
“I won’t let you do this,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “This isn’t you, Luca. This isn’t who you want to be.”
For a moment, I see a flicker of doubt in his eyes. But then it’s gone, replaced by cold determination. “Move, Mia,” he says, his voice low and dangerous.
I stand my ground, even as fear courses through me. “No. I won’t let you destroy everything we’ve built together.”
Luca’s face hardens, but he attempts to push past me. But I don’t let him. Instead, I make one last desperate attempt to reach him. “Luca, please,” I beg, my voice breaking. “You promised me. You promised you’d let go of this need for revenge. I thought… I thought I was enough for you.”
He whirls around, his eyes blazing with a fury I’ve never seen before. “Enough?” he spits out. “How can you be enough when you’re not even loyal to me?”
His words hit me like a physical blow, immediately reminding me of Dom and Sofia’s accusations earlier. The parallel is startling, and it leaves me momentarily speechless.
Luca takes my silence as confirmation. “That’s what I thought,” he snarls. “You’re just like them, aren’t you? A Marino through and through. Always putting your family first, no matter who it hurts.”
“That’s not fair,” I protest, finding my voice again. “I love you, Luca. I’ve stood by you through everything. How can you say I’m not loyal?”
“If you were loyal,” he shouts, his face contorted with rage, “you wouldn’t have kept this from me! You wouldn’t have spent the day celebrating with them while I was here, dealing with my mother’s death alone!”
Guilt and anger war within me. “I didn’t know about your mother,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm. “If I had, I would have come home immediately. And I didn’t find out about Dom’s promotion until just before I left. It’s why I came home. So I could tell you. You know that.”
But Luca is beyond reason now. “Would you have come home early?” he sneers. “Or would you have stayed there, comforting your precious sister and her husband?”
“That’s not fair,” I repeat, my own anger rising now. “I’m not choosing them over you. I’m trying to protect you from yourself!”
“Protect me?” Luca laughs, the sound harsh and bitter. “By lying to me? By hiding the fact that the man who destroyed my family is now more powerful than ever?”
I take a step toward him, reaching out. “Luca, please. Dom didn’t destroy your family. He wasn’t even in charge when your father died. You can’t blame him for everything.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know they’re a mistake. Luca’s eyes narrow dangerously.
“So you’re defending him now?” he says, his voice low and deadly. “Choosing him over me?”
“No!” I cry out, frustrated tears springing to my eyes. How is this going so wrong? “I’m not choosing anyone! I’m trying to save our marriage, our future!”
“Our future?” Luca scoffs. "What future? As long as Dom Sicura lives, as long as he has everything that should have been mine, there is no future.”
His words chill me to the bone. “You don’t mean that," I cry out. “Luca, this isn’t you. This is your grief talking. Your anger. Please, let’s just sit down and talk about this.”
For a moment, I think I’ve gotten through to him. His face softens slightly, and he takes a half-step toward me. But then his expression hardens again.
“There’s nothing to talk about,” he says coldly. “Dom Sicura dies tonight. And if you’re not with me on this, Mia, then you’re against me.”
“Luca, no,” I plead, grabbing his arm as he turns to leave. “You can’t do this. Think about what it will mean. You’ll go to prison. We’ll lose everything.”
He shakes me off roughly. “I’ve already lost everything!” he roars. “My father, my mother, my future—the Sicuras took it all! And now you’re taking their side?”
“I’m not taking anyone’s side!” I shout back, my frustration boiling over. “I’m trying to save you from making a terrible mistake!”
“The only mistake I made,” Luca growls, “was thinking you’d understand. That you’d stand by me, no matter what.”
His words cut deep, reopening the wound left by my family’s accusations. “I have stood by you,” I say, my voice shaking. “But I can’t stand by and watch you throw your life away.”
Luca’s face twists with rage. “My life ?” he spits out. “What life? The Sicuras took everything from me. And now you’re helping them finish the job.”
Before I can respond, he grabs me by the arms, his grip painfully tight. “Is that what you want, Mia?” he demands, shaking me slightly. “To see me destroyed? To watch Dom take everything that should have been mine?”
“Luca, you’re hurting me,” I gasp, trying to pull away. But he doesn’t seem to hear me.
“Maybe this was your plan all along,” he continues, his eyes wild. “Marry me, make me think I could have a normal life, and then pull the rug out from under me when I least expect it.”
“That’s crazy!” I cry out, finally wrenching free from his grasp. “How can you even think that? After everything we’ve been through together?”
But Luca is beyond reason now. His grief and anger have consumed him completely. “I don’t know what to think anymore,” he says, his voice cold. “All I know is that Dom Sicura needs to pay. And if you’re not with me on this, Mia, then you’re just another obstacle in my way.”
Before I can react, he’s grabbed me again, dragging me toward our bedroom. I struggle against him, shouting, pleading, but it’s no use. He's too strong, too determined.
“Luca, please!” I cry out, my voice breaking. “Think about what you’re doing! This won’t bring your mother back!”
He shoves me into the room, and I stumble, barely catching myself before I fall. I whirl around, ready to make another plea, but Luca is already closing the door.
“Luca!” I scream, pounding on the door. “Luca, don’t do this! Please!”
“I’m sorry, Mia,” I hear him say through the door, and for a moment, I hear a flicker of the man I love in his voice. “I’ll let you out when it’s done.”
“No!” I shout, tears streaming down my face. “Luca, please! We can talk about this! Don’t throw everything away!”
But I hear his footsteps retreating, then the slam of the front door. He’s gone.
I sink to the floor, my back against the door, sobs racking my body. How did everything go so wrong so quickly?
I scramble to my feet, rushing to the window. I see Luca’s car peeling out of the driveway, tires screeching. He’s really going to do it. He’s going to kill Dom.
Panic rises in my throat. I have to stop him. I have to do something. But I’m locked in, powerless to intervene.
I grab my phone, my hands shaking so badly I can barely dial. Who do I call? Sofia? The police? Who can stop Luca before it’s too late?
As I stare at the phone, paralyzed with indecision, I realize the full weight of what’s happening. Luca, the man I love, is on his way to murder my brother-in-law. If he succeeds, there’s no coming back from that. Our life together, everything we’ve built, will be destroyed.
And if he fails? I could lose Luca forever.
The parallels to this evening’s conversation with my family are not lost on me. They accused me of divided loyalties, of not being fully committed to the family.
And now Luca has accused me of the same thing.
Am I doomed to always be caught in the middle, torn between the family I was born into and the family I chose?
I struggle to my feet, wiping away my tears. I have to do something. I can’t just sit here and wait for disaster to strike.
But what can I do?
I sink to the floor again, clutching the phone to my chest. But as the minutes tick by, each one feeling like an eternity, I can’t shake the terrible feeling that I’ve already lost everything. That the moment Luca walked out that door, our future walked out with him.
And there’s nothing I can do.