Chapter 23
SOPHIA
I dream that I’m running and running and I can’t get anywhere. It’s not like there’s glue all around me, as in dreams previous, but more that I’m running in slow motion. I keep passing by the same spiral staircase, over and over.
My father is there. He stands at the end of the spiral staircase, pleading with me. His expression is pained, tear tracks down his face. The last time I’d seen my father cry was the day my mother died.
“She’s gone,” he’s telling me in my dream, over and over.
Three days before my eleventh birthday.
I hear the sirens even though I know they can’t possibly be real.
My father had told emergency services she was already gone.
I look around, trying to find out where the sirens are coming from, and when I look back at the staircase it’s not my father, but Luca standing there, that same pained expression on his face.
He puts his hand to his side. It comes away bloody and I start to scream.
The scream dies in my throat as I wake, Luca’s arms already around me.
“Shh, shh, pixie, it’s all right,” he’s soothing me.
“I had a bad dream,” I say dumbly.
“I know. You stated crying in your sleep.”
My hand flies to my face, wiping tears away from my cheeks.
“What did you dream about?"
I shake my head. “Nothing.”
The dream seems pretty straightforward now that I’m not in it anymore. I’m afraid of Scott sending the cops, taking Luca down. I don’t want to lose him, even though he kidnapped me. Even though he hates me.
Even though I should hate him, too.
Luca swings his legs to one side of the bed and panic rises in my throat.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to take care of some things.”
I swallow hard. “Be careful."
Luca smirks at me, turning his head slightly to look at me.
“Are you worried about me, pixie?”
“N-no,” I lie. “Just don’t want to be stuck here if something happens to you.”
“Lovely,” he murmurs, but he doesn’t look hurt. He looks…happy, really.
But why would me worrying about him make him happy? He hates my guts. Doesn’t trust me.
And really, he has no reason to. Everything I find out is going into a report to send to my superiors. Right? I’m still working.
But my mind hasn’t been on the job since I got taken. When I’m not worried about Rosa, the only thing I can seem to think about is Luca.
He gets dressed and I pout up at him, but he leaves nonetheless, giving me a slight half-smile that makes him look a decade younger.
I keep staring at the door after he leaves, blowing my bangs out of my face.
Now I have to figure out how to occupy my time all alone. As if he read my mind, Diego slides a worn paperback under the door.
“Mansfield Park? Really? Wouldn’t have pegged you as an Austen fan,” I call through the door.
“M’not,” he mutters. “More of a Bronte sisters fan, but this one was pretty good.”
It’s one of the only Austen books I haven’t read, so I sit in the middle of the bed, cross-legged, and try to lose myself in the pages.
“She really should have ended up with the other guy,” I complain through the door after I finish a few hours later.
Diego barks out a laugh. “Who, the womanizer?”
“She could have changed him.”
“Oh, you’re one of those ‘I can fix him’ types,” Diego drawls and I huff, taking offense to that.
“Not exactly. I think all people are broken.”
“That’s a pretty nihilistic way to look at the world. You hungry?”
I don’t answer and the deadbolt clicks open and he swings wide the door.
“Why am I asking? You’re always hungry.”
“Are you calling me fat?”
“No, woman, I’m not calling you fat,” he groans, and I can’t help but grin.
Diego is fun to be around after you get to know him a little.
Reminds me of Scott, in a way, except a lot more, well, straight.
“You and Luca grew up together, right?” I ask once Diego has me sat at the island, watching him cook.
I don’t know what he’s making but it smells amazing. Thin slices of meat with breadcrumbs coat the flesh, fried in a pan.
“I keep forgetting you’re a pig.”
“And the fat jokes continue,” I mutter.
Diego laughs. “That’s not what I meant and you know it. You’re very attractive…for a cop.”
“I don’t know if I can handle this many compliments from you, Diego.”
“Shut up.”
He places a plate in front of me and I dig in, praising the taste.
“You’re gonna make some guy a great wife one day,” I crack, and Diego snickers but there’s no humor in it.
“Tried that. Didn’t pan out.”
His face tells me that he’s not going to elaborate and warns me not to push at the same time. I just clear my throat.
“So tell me about Luca. What was he like when he was young?”
“Wild,” he answers easily, and it surprises me so much I tilt my head.
“Wild? Luca? He seems so…controlled.”
“Wasn’t always. Inherited his mama’s temper.”
“You knew Luca’s mother?”
He shrugs. “More than I knew my own mother, yeah. She pretty much took me in when I was about fourteen. Died just a few years later.”
“Jesus. So you two really lived together for a while?”
“When we were teenagers, yeah. He would have gotten into a lot of trouble if it weren’t for his father. He talks about him babying Nico, but he used to let Luca get away with murder, too. Luca just grew up. Nico never did.”
I hum. I’ve heard about Nico, read about him in the dossiers. He seems dangerous. A loose cannon. Nothing like his older brother. Except I suppose they aren’t so different after all. They just took different paths.
Diego looks at me curiously. “What do the cops say about me?”
I look at him, biting my lip nervously. “You really wanna know?”
He nods.
I tell him, starting with his spotty military record and his colleagues who refused to say a bad word about him.
His shoulders relax. “That’s not so bad.”
“Thought they might know more?”
“Yeah. A lot more. You guys aren’t great at your jobs, huh?”
I throw back my head and laugh, holding my stomach. I wipe tears of mirth from my eyes after a moment, going back to my food.
“You’re not like any other cop I’ve ever met.”
“I think I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Not sure I meant it as one.”
“I’ll take it, all the same.”
Diego shrugs. “No skin off my ass. Only thing I’m paid to do is entertain you, so…”
“You got any other books?”
“A few, in my truck.”
“You carry them around with you?”
“Sure. Never know when you might get a free minute.”
“Most people would play on their phones.”
“Never took much to technology,” he says, but I know that’s a lie. He was considered a tech whiz by the military. Diego was a mysterious man, but it’s not up to me to figure him out.
I’ve got enough to worry about with Luca.
I frown. “He’s been gone a long time.”
“Might take him a while yet. He’s out collecting today.”
“Doesn’t he usually send someone else to do that?”
“Usually, but…” he trails off. “I guess you know that there’s dissent in the ranks.”
“Has been for a while.”
He blinks. “Surprised you cops came up with that so quick.”
“Nico Rossi has always been on our list. He’s been expected to rise up for years.”
I don’t know why I’m telling Diego the truth. I guess it’s just coming out of me. It’s partially because I am worried for Luca. But I think a part of me is also just tired of the lies.
Diego nods. “I’ve been worried about it ever since he came of age myself. I try to tell Luca but…”
“He doesn’t take it seriously?”
He sighs. “It’s more that he doesn’t know what to do with Nico. He can’t bring himself to treat him like he would any other man. He still treats him like his baby brother.
“Diego,” I start, and Diego hums in response, finishing his plate. “Have you ever seen the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice?”
“I’m not big on movies,” he says with his nose wrinkled and I crow, standing up and washing up the dishes before bouncing into the living room, expecting him to follow me.
He does and I curl up on the couch, bringing up one of the various streaming services Luca has active. I put on the movie and halfway through, Diego is locked in.
He leans forward, his forearms on his thighs, as Mr. Darcy starts to realize his feelings for Elizabeth.
I’ve dozed off by the time the movie is over, but Diego is still staring at the screen, a big smile spread across his face. It’s kind of cute, really, this big military guy going all soft for 19th century literature.
“What did you think?”
“I think I should watch more movies. Any more you recommend?”
I laugh but he takes a notepad and pen out of his back pocket, looking at me seriously.
I rattle off a few movies I think he’ll like and he jots them down, gently placing the notepad back in his pocket. Mobsters are a lot different than I would have thought.
This was certainly never in any dossier.
Time goes by a little quicker than usual since I have Diego and the television to distract me. We watch a bunch of period films and when Diego gets teary eyed during one of them, I don’t even tease him.
But as the hours start to pass, my dream seems more and more real to me.
“Should you call? Check on him?”
Diego rolls his eyes. “You want me to call and check on my caputo?”
“Just to make sure he’s okay,” I plead, and Diego just stares at me.
“He’ll be fine. This is what he does.”
“But not usually himself!” I argue. It’s dangerous, moving differently like that. If he usually sends lackeys to do the work, showing up himself…
It says something to the mob at large. It says he can’t trust his men.
From the look on Diego’s face, I know that he knows that, too. He’s just as worried as I am.
“Tell me more about when you two were young.”
“He had these big dreams,” Diego mutters. “Wanted to travel. Get out of this life. Meet someone. Settle down. He always wanted kids.”
“Kids?”
My heart aches. He used to want a different life. He didn’t want to be stuck under his father’s thumb forever.
“Yeah, always said he wanted a houseful. We always laughed it off, but he was serious. Dated a couple girls in high school, but nothing ever stuck.” Diego sighs.
“His father was always on his back, you know, and it just got worse after his mother died. Luca had to take over everything, including caring for Nico.”
“How old was Nico when their mother died?”
“Five, six?” Diego winces. “It wasn’t the best situation.”
So Luca hasn’t just been cleaning up after Nico for the past few years. He’s been doing it for his whole life. No wonder the two have always been at odds.
Learning more about Luca might have been a mistake, because now some part of me aches for that man he wanted to grow into. A family man.
I just pray he gets back safe.