30.Luca
Luca
“I want you to cut his body into so many pieces he won’t be recognized without a DNA test and send each piece, one by one, to those French bastards, so they see what happens when they mess with what’s mine,” I command Abert on the other end of the line when he calls to ask what to do with the French filth’s body.
He confirms and hangs up. Good, this is just the sweet beginning of what I’m going to do to them.
I promised Alin that I would stay here and not go on a killing spree among the French without her, but they got bold too soon.
They haven’t even recovered from the last blow we dealt them and they’re already causing trouble again.
They’ll learn the hard way that raising their hands against us means we’ll cut them off. Sons of bitches.
The image of Alin’s unconscious body is still etched in my mind like a nightmare that won’t end. The rage courses through my veins once more; any harm that comes to Alin feels like someone is driving a knife into me and twisting it deeper with burning agony.
She has truly become my greatest weakness, but I can’t lie—I felt a flood of relief when she said she prayed for me to come and save her.
She always wants to do everything alone, claiming she’s strong enough.
I know she’s strong, and I’m still afraid of what she can do, but for the first time she needed me.
Why do I feel so much better knowing that?
I should be happy she knows how to take care of herself.
I lean back in the office chair and sigh, realizing there’s no more room to argue how I feel about her. I just have to accept that our worlds are so different that we’ll never get bored until death parts us.
Luca, tell me Alin is okay. She hasn’t answered my call since Mariano dragged me home from the club last night.
09:40 AM
A message from Cora pings on my phone, and I’m surprised she’s asking me for answers.
It seems Mariano still hasn’t come home.
I reassure her that Alin is fine and still sleeping, chuckling to myself at the thought that my brother and I have reached a point where two women now twist our family around. Great.
The office door suddenly opens, accompanied by Mariano’s sigh. “What’s with my future sister-in-law? Why does she have to keep me up at night too?” he asks, yawning.
“Even my wife doesn’t leave me this tired,” he adds as I chuckles, both of us frustrated by the same daunting fact.
“I need your help with something,” I throw to Mariano as he flops onto the couch across from my desk, melting into it with exhaustion.
“The first time you ask instead of demand... I’m curious now,” he suddenly sits up on the couch and looks at me with a sly grin.
“I don’t think you understood correctly, you’ll help me whether you want to or not,” I declare with a smirk, and he laughs as he gets up and walks over to my desk. I turn my laptop screen toward him, showing him what I’m looking for.
“The days where I can finally get revenge on you for all the times you mocked my sticky relationship with Cora have come sooner than expected. Congratulations, you’ve joined the softies club,” he taunts, taking the laptop from me and quickly jumping back to the couch before I can land a punch to him.
He should consider himself lucky he’s good at what he does.
I know I hurt Alin when I lost myself yesterday, but I’ll prove to her that I’m ready to blend our worlds if that’s what she needs. I won’t let her go anywhere else; her home is only with me.
“I need you to keep this between us. None of the men can know. Alin’s secret must be kept,” I emphasize again to Mariano as he makes a call to get more information.
“Softie,” he throws at me again, laughing.
I really have softened; in the past, he would’ve gotten bruises for such jabs.
Maybe I’ve grown tired. I chuckle to myself at the thought, excited like a little kid about the surprise I’m planning for her.
I remember the day I gave my mother her necklace, holding the pendant around my neck as a promise.
This time, I won’t let her go. I’ll keep my so-called weakness close to me.