26. Chapter 26
S eeing Luca alive and unharmed did something to my heart and soul.
Like all the cracks and fissures fused together to make them whole again.
A surge of warmth that I hadn’t felt in years filled me as he jumped into my arms. His love, a love I used to doubt, covered me like a warm and comforting blanket.
It was only the pain in my body and the wave of dizziness that forced me to put him down.
I had risked crashing or getting caught by cops to get here as fast as I could.
Thank fuck, Sully hadn’t been too far away.
He had saved my Luca, who had been too close to being captured and taken from me.
No matter his twitchy mental health issues and our arguments, I could always rely on him as my brother.
Holding Luca’s hand, I walked up to his terrified mother. She looked as if she was barely holding it all together and about to crumble at the seams, but she had strength like Luca did. She didn’t fall apart.
“Margaret—”
“You may as well call me Maggie.”
I gave a slow nod. “Maggie. I need you to take a breath, then steel yourself for bodies and blood inside the house, so you can get packed up. I’ll take you to one of our safe houses in Vienna.”
And she did. She took a deep breath, dropped her hands at her sides, and fisted them. Turning on her heels, she headed back into the house, and we followed. “Gather your things, too, Sunshine.”
I let him go to follow his mother. When he reached his discarded bow and quiver, he picked them up and headed inside while I kneeled on the ground, wincing and feeling older than my years, to check on Cleo. She sat on her haunches, panting and looking quite proud of herself. She fucking earned it.
“After giving you a bath tonight, you can sleep with us in the bed. But don’t make a habit out of it. It’s a treat only.”
Her nose inched close to my face, and she gave me a lick on my chin.
I laughed and gave her a quick pet before I went inside to check the damage.
The place would take a while to clean, but The District had a big team and would make it look good as new, then Luca’s mother could put it on the market.
I doubted she wanted to live here again.
As they got ready and gathered their things, I took a walk around the house to inventory the bodies and damage.
The more blood and death I saw, the angrier I grew.
All this for one boy. Well, and the diamonds, too, but so much firepower.
Luca could’ve been killed, and he might have been, were Cleo not with him.
I was sure she had warned him early. And the fucking mercenaries were useless.
What a waste of money. I’d kill them were they still alive.
I kneeled down at a body with an arrow in his throat and smiled, proud that Luca defended himself just as he wanted.
But that niggling part of me winced, he was becoming a killer.
I didn’t want him to lose his light. He called me his dark angel, but he was my angel of light, and I never wanted to see him dimmed.
Regardless, he was forced into this violent world, and he needed to learn to defend himself in it.
I yanked out the arrow and inspected the tip as I contemplated all the ways I planned on hurting Kozlov.
He could’ve let the boy go, but instead, he got greedy.
I understood about the diamonds, but he had many children at his disposal.
Luca was special to me, but what made him so special to Kozlov?
We may never know because once I got my hands on him, I wouldn’t do it to extract information.
It would be solely for my revenge and pleasure.
There were roughly six bodies inside the house, two of which were killed by Luca, three by Cleo, and one by the mercenary, judging by the bullet holes, but I was sure he killed more outside.
The house was rather intact, all things considered.
Just a lot of blood cleanup and body disposal.
The backyard and front yard were another story.
Sully was gruesome in his killings. He relished in the blood and gore.
And thank fuck he was; otherwise, Luca would be dead or gone.
Luca was by my side shortly after, but it took longer for his mother to gather her things. Once she was ready, she came down, freshly showered, with a large, stuffed suitcase and her purse.
“Are you sure it’s safe to have people in here while I’m gone,” she asked.
“Define safe because you all were nearly killed.”
She nodded. “I just meant… fuck it. It’s just stuff.”
Her swearing was unexpected. Even more unexpected was her willingness to give up her finer things, which was good because the house she would be staying in wasn’t exactly the height of luxury, though it was comfortable.
“Let’s go.”
My body was on fire and ached, but I did my best to hide it. That didn’t stop Luca from taking note. He looked up at me with worried and questioning eyes as he threaded our fingers together.
“I’m fine,” I told him, answering his silent question. “By the way, I like your earrings and clothes.” I did, but I also said it to distract him from me.
He covered his mouth and smiled. “Do you? I like them, too.”
“You’re gorgeous.”
Luca’s mother followed us in her car toward Vienna.
It wasn’t too far, taking us twenty-five minutes to get there.
The town was crammed full of strip malls, doing their best to make them look quaint.
The town itself was turning into one of pretentiousness, full of massive homes over a million dollars.
They would buy up the smaller homes, destroy them and rebuild.
While the town was old, the homes were not.
They weren’t unattractive, but it took away from the uniqueness of Vienna.
The main road was free of cars being so late, despite the area crammed with traffic during the day. I turned on a side street, past the main grocery store, heading into the older part of Vienna where the smaller homes built in the 1960s and 1970s still stood. Eventually, those would come down, too.
I pulled up to an old rambler in yellow. It wasn’t quite decrepit, but it wasn’t cared for either. It desperately needed a paint job, but we left it this way intentionally.
I parked the car in front of the house while his mother pulled up behind me and got out. She stared at the house, and I could practically feel her disgust. She was used to fine living, and this was the opposite of that. Good thing it was only the outside that was unattractive.
“Don’t worry. It’s much nicer on the inside.”
I unlocked the front door to a completely refurbished house on the inside, with reclaimed wood floors and plush furniture. There were no decorations except a couple of generic paintings, and the kitchen, while small, was completely upgraded.
“There are two bedrooms, and there’s a finished basement with a library.
It has plenty of books, another TV, and video games.
It also has a small security room with a video feed for the cameras, which are hiding throughout the house and outside.
Anyone who tries to break in will alert us immediately.
The kitchen has basic, non-perishable foods, but we’ll have to go grocery shopping tomorrow since the store is closed. But there is coffee.”
“It’s fine. Thank you… for this.”
His mother headed to the master bedroom while I fed Cleo food I had stored there just for her.
Luca took my hands and stood on his toes to kiss me. “They hurt you.”
I nodded. “It was a trap. I almost didn’t get out of there, but I got lucky.”
“Not luck. They can’t stop my angel of death.”
I wish that were true.
“So… it was Kozlov all along who first hired you?” he asked.
“Yes. It was about you and the diamonds all along. Apparently, your owner stole them, and then you stole from him. When Kozlov’s men found you and diamonds were missing, he was hell-bent on getting both back.
He’s been one step ahead of us the entire time.
Well, that is until tonight. I hoped we put a dent in his plans and men. ”
“He’s going to know his men failed.”
My hand cupped the side of his face, still spattered in blood, and his eyes fluttered closed to the touch. “He knows already, I’m sure. We need to prepare and keep you safe. That also means we need to go on the offensive and take him down once and for all, and we need to move fast before he does.”
He took my hand and led me to the room we planned to stay in for the night. Then we’d head back home tomorrow. His long fingers grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head. Next, he removed my shoes, pants, and underwear.
His gentle and probing fingers inspected every inch of me to be sure I hadn’t been lying about being okay.
Sure, I had bruises all over, along with burns from the cattle prod, but I wasn’t nearly as bad off as the last time I returned to him, despite the trap.
It could’ve been much worse. I hadn’t been afraid of dying, but now that I had someone I cared about and needed to protect, the prospect became more worrisome.
He’d be taken care of financially should I die, but he’d be alone and vulnerable again.
It was my turn to undress him, peeling off his clothes drenched in dried blood. What a shame because I liked his new intentionally grungy look. It fit him with his blond waves growing out and those hoop earrings. I raised my fingers to his earlobes and smiled at his piercings. “Yep, I like these.”
After turning on the showerhead to get the water hot, I faced Luca and placed my hands on his cheeks.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am that you're alive, and I’m so proud of you for defending yourself.
You’re so strong. Stronger than I originally gave you credit for.
” I rested my forehead against his and sighed.
“But I hate this, too. I… don’t want you to turn into me. ”
“I can never be you because I am me.”
I huffed a laugh at his profound simplicity. “Fair.”
The words lingered on the tip of my tongue, itching to be spoken, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready. The last time I had spoken to them, my partner died. Maybe I would when the threat was over, and Luca’s enemies were dead and rotting in the ground or a landfill for all I cared.
When I stood straight, dizziness slammed into me, and I wobbled on my feet. Fucking concussion. I needed to take it easy, but there was no time for that. We had to hunt down Kozlov. It was a risk I’d have to take.
“What’s wrong, Angel?”
“Nothing. They knocked me out tonight, and I have a concussion. Uhm, they injured my brain.”
His brows furrowed with concern. “How do we fix that?”
“We can’t, other than rest. My brain has to heal.”
“Okay. I will help you and take care of you. Just as you always take care of me. I’m no longer helpless.”
I smiled at his growing confidence. “That you’re not.”
For the second time since I had known Luca, we washed away the blood from our bodies, watching the red turn clear from the warm water washing down the drain.
I hoped it would be for the last time, but it wouldn’t.
There would always be those who needed killing, and there would be times I’d get injured.
As long as I came back to him every time.
Once we were clean, we got dressed, and I let Cleo out in the back to do her thing; then, we headed to bed. I’d worry about bathing her tomorrow. I was too fucking tired and dizzy.
“I’ll need to talk to my mother tomorrow about all this,” he said after yawning.
“Probably. She’s taking it surprisingly well.”
“I feel bad now that she’s a part of this life.”
“Don’t. It all started with your piece of shit father. It’s his fault, along with Kozlov’s. You and your mother were just collateral damage.”
It didn’t take long for Luca to fall asleep.
I was barely holding on, myself, but I needed to look at him.
To see his angelic face and appreciate him.
That he was still alive and would continue to be so until I took my last dying breath.
I regretted many things in my life, even Luca, at first. But no longer.
Saving him was one of my best decisions.