Chapter Ten
ROCCO
Vincent is dead, and I don’t even have a moment to mourn.
Not that I’m much of a mourner. When my father passed, I opted to skip the funeral. It actually wasn’t much of a funeral, considering his body was sunk in Boston Harbor. But sometimes grieving is good. It was easy to forget about my father because of all the hardships he put me through in my youth.
Vincent Lombardi, on the other hand, gave me a good life and a second chance. He used me as the weapon I was trained to be, but he took care of me. He gave me a home, showed me what a family should be, and I appreciate those small gestures.
But he’s dead, and I’m screwed.
“What happens now?” Shay asks.
“You need to pack your things. We have to leave,” my voice is calm. It doesn’t reflect my actual state, but I must stay strong for her. “Bring only what’s necessary. I’ve got money, and we can get whatever we need on the road.”
“Where are we going?”
She leaves my office, and I follow behind her. We go into my bedroom and Shay collects the clothes she was wearing before her interruption. She changes into a comfortable, bright-yellow shirt and jean shorts. She enters the ensuite bathroom to wash up after what we did and gets dressed.
“I don’t know, but we can’t stay here. Emilio will take over the family, and it won’t bode well for us. If he hasn’t sent men out to find us, he will soon. We should be as far away from this place as we can be before then,” I say.
“Why can’t we fight him?” Her voice echoes behind the bathroom door. Her determination makes me smile. She’d rather stand and fight than run. It’s an incredibly admirable trait.
“Emilio has full control of the Lombardi family.”
“But you know those people. They’re your friends. They celebrated your birthday with you.” She steps out of the bathroom with a raised brow.
“In an ideal world, I could rely on that belief, but there are no alliances in this reality, Shay. There are no friends in the mafia, only loyalty to whoever sits at the top. And it just so happens, he’s had it out for me since the day we met.”
I often think back to that day on that beach.
Sometimes, I even wish I could turn back the clock and decline the chance to survive.
I’ve fought and killed for this organization, and every day that I’ve lived, a part of my soul has been chipped away for a cause I’ve never believed in.
For what? Waiting for my inevitable end at the hands of Emilio Lombardi?
“Come on, we have to get out of here,” I urge her again.
Her nonchalant approach to our escape is worrying, but I can’t expect her to understand the severity of what’s happening.
I, on the other hand, knew this day would come, and I’ve prepared for it.
I have a duffel bag full of clothes, weapons, and other necessary items, ready for a quick escape.
“I don’t have a bag,” she says.
Silly me. Of course, she doesn’t. She was abducted from her home with nothing but the pajamas she was wearing. I grab a suitcase from a high shelf inside my cupboard and put the duffel bag holding my things onto the bed.
I leave Shay to pack while I retrieve my father’s pistol from my study. It’s ice-cold in my hands.
“You might want to cover your ears,” I shout to the other room.
“What? Why?” Shay asks.
I don’t answer her again. I load a bullet into the pistol, point it at the wall, and fire a round.
Shay screams in the other room. “What the hell was that?”
“I had to make sure the gun works,” I say. It was unwise of me to pull the trigger in the first place. My duffel bag has two loaded weapons inside it, but using my father’s weapon has a strange sense of catharsis about it.
Shay packs light. It’s easy to do when you don’t have many belongings to your name.
I hoist the duffel bag over one shoulder, and Shay pulls up the handle of the suitcase.
“I’m ready,” she says. But she isn’t. She might feel ready at this moment, to go on the run and get away from this place, but this escape is only the beginning.
We’re going to be hunted for the rest of our lives.
Pursued by a man with a vendetta that can only be described as biblical. Our lives will never be the same again…
Unless I kill him.
But I’m one man against his army. What chance do I really have?
We leave my apartment and Shay takes my hand in hers. She’s squeezing it as if she’s clinging onto me for dear life.
“I’m sorry you’ve been put in this position, Shay.”
“It’s not your fault,” she replies.
“No, but you don’t deserve this.”
I scan the corridors of my building as we walk. I lead Shay down the stairs, avoiding the elevator on the off chance Emilio has already sent a hit squad to my door.
“I will do whatever it takes to protect you, though. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” The vow leaves my lips in a strained whisper. It’s a vow I’ll die to honor.
“Thank you, Rocco.” She squeezes my hand reassuringly.
We make it to my car without any interruptions from the Lombardi family.
I pack our bags into the trunk before getting into the car and disappearing into the night.
I don’t know where we’re going yet, but I don’t have to.
Right now, it’s a race against the clock.
The further we manage to travel, the higher our chance for survival gets.