60. Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty
Mialina
“Luca is alive?”
I stare at Mamma, pretty sure my jaw just dropped.
“And Isa is with him?”
Mamma nods, and my hand flies to my mouth to cover my shock. I jump off the bed and begin pacing again.
“Luca Caruso?” I ask, needing to be sure I heard right.
“Yes,” she replies, but I still can’t make sense of what she’s telling me. I let out a disbelieving laugh.
“But we all thought Luca was dead. Why else would he not have come back for Isa in five years?”
Mamma sighs. “I don’t know the full story yet. Luca has always loved Isa. Looks like he finally kept his promise.”
“She spent years mourning him, and now he shows up when she’s about to marry another man?”
“That might be why.” Mamma shrugs. “All I have from her so far is a short message.”
I come to a stop in front of her. “When did you hear from her?”
She draws a slow breath. “While Aldo and I were away.”
And she only tells me now? Then another question pushes past the hundreds already crowding my mind.
“Why didn’t she message me?”
We always tell each other everything. And this… this changes everything.
Learning that she reached out to Mamma without contacting me shouldn’t hurt when she’s safe, but it does.
“What did she say?”
Mamma pulls her phone from her skirt pocket, unlocks it, and hands it to me. My stomach twists as I scan the message before reading it aloud.
Hi Mamma, Isa here. I’m sure the staff will have told you I’m gone by now. I’m so sorry, I never intended to worry you. I’m fine. Better than fine, actually. I’m with Luca. We eloped to Las Vegas. I’m happy, safe, and will explain everything when we return.
I stare at the screen long after I reach the last word. My legs suddenly feel unsteady, and I sink back onto the bed before they give out beneath me.
“So… she’s okay,” I whisper, more to myself than Mamma. “And she’s married Luca.”
Mamma nods, but she still looks dazed, as though the words haven’t quite become real to her either.
I press my fingertips to my forehead, trying to force my thoughts into some kind of order.
“But what about Sebastian?” I ask. “She flew to Las Vegas with him. What happened? Why didn’t they get married?”
“I’d say because Luca turned up. Isa only ever loved him.”
True. I’d always envied the love those two shared, right up until Luca disappeared. Watching Isa grieve him for so long showed me the other side of a love that deep. The side that could break you.
“Then… did she and Luca leave for their honeymoon? Is that why she hasn’t contacted us again?”
Instead of making things clearer, the message has only left me with more questions.
A flicker of unease moves through me. Isa wouldn’t usually disappear like this. And she’d get in touch with me, no matter how wrapped up in Luca she might be.
I hand Mamma her phone back.
“I want to believe that, tesoro.” She lets out a weary sigh. “But…”
Her voice trails off. When I look at her, worry clouds her face. Dread creeps in.
“But what?”
She hesitates, as though gathering the courage to continue.
“I think Luca is in trouble.”
Cold settles in my stomach. I tilt my head, waiting for her to continue.
“There was a cyberattack on a pharmaceutical logistics hub in Delaware two days ago.” She lifts her eyes to mine. “The news said it was carried out by someone calling himself the Venom. Whoever is behind it is demanding an annual ransom of two billion dollars to prevent future attacks.”
I frown, struggling to see where Luca fits into any of this.
“What does that have to do with him?”
“There was footage,” she says quietly, twisting the phone in her hands. “A short clip the news said had been leaked. It showed a man arriving overseas.”
My pulse begins to pick up.
“It wasn’t very clear,” she continues.
“And?”
“When I saw him…” Her voice catches. “I thought…”
She swallows.
“I thought it was Luca.”
My breath catches. For a second, I can only stare at her.
“What?”
I search her face, hoping to find uncertainty there.
“I hope I’m wrong.” She shakes her head slowly. “It was only a few seconds, and the image was grainy. But I’ve known that boy since he was a child.”
Her voice softens. “I’d recognize him anywhere.”
I’m on my feet before I even realize I’ve moved, pacing across the room again.
“Luca wouldn’t do something like that.”
He just wouldn’t.
Luca is loyal, caring, and dependable. I can’t imagine him threatening countless people for money, no matter what he stood to gain.
At least not the Luca I knew. Five years is a long time, though. People change…
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.” Mamma closes her eyes before looking back at me. “The reports said Interpol and several other agencies are looking for him. There’s a bounty on his head…”
If that really were Luca, then Isa would be with him.
Merda.
Are they on the run, hiding from everyone? Is that why she hasn’t contacted us again?
I stop beside the bed and clasp Mamma’s hand, squeezing it tightly.
“I’m sure it’s not him,” I say, as much for my benefit as Mamma’s. “Isa and Luca are probably on some tropical island somewhere, enjoying the sun.”
A faint, sad smile touches her lips.
“I pray you’re right,” she whispers. “All we can do is wait.”