Chapter 14 #3
“Luca was in the lead, he’s the best fighter and shooter, plus he’s always enjoyed a good fight, we had everything under control, that’s when the Bratva leader’s son showed up.
He and Luca exchanged a few words about something nobody understood, and they started fighting; it was he who fired the bullet that left him like that.
Don Henrico went to Luca to help him, and the Russian shot him, too.
It was he who fired the bullet that left him like that.
Don Henrico went toward Luca to help him, and the Russian shot him too. ”
“What happened to him, where is the Russian?”
“In one of our torture rooms imprisoned, we have to wait for orders.”
“Hasn’t Lady Milena made any decisions?”
“Not yet, I think, with her son and husband in surgery, she can’t think about it now.”
“Paolo, I’m a future Di Santis, the fiancée of the future Capo…”
“You can give the orders if you think it’s necessary.”
I look at my dad, trying to get an answer out of him, but nothing, he chooses not to.
“Torture him, make him say why we were attacked, make him suffer.” Paolo nods with a twisted smirk on his lips.
“Don’t kill him; keep him alive whatever the cost; get a doctor to give him transfusions if necessary.
As soon as you get information about the attack, come and see me, then we’ll decide his fate. ”
“With all due respect, Chiara, but he must die for what he’s done.” Francesco’s voice is heard. I look in his direction, and he seems apprehensive, perhaps thinking about our conversation about the devil.
“Yes, he will die. But only after we get the information we want, I will decide whether he dies straight away, or whether we should wait until Luca is ready to kill him.”
The elevator doors open, and I see Lady Milena with Bella in her arms, crying.
The image makes tears well up in my eyes, and I slowly move closer.
Lady Milena looks at me and holds out her hand for me to take; I squeeze it against mine and sit down next to her, desperately hoping that she will be okay.
“Henrico Di Santis’ relatives?” Lady Milena and Bella get up immediately.
I stand up, noticing Bella’s hands shaking.
I hold her hand and give her a smile. “He’s fine; we managed to stop the bleeding quickly, andhe’ll wake up in a few hours.
As for the paralysis he complained of when he was admitted…
Well, the bullet hit his spine, we tried to reverse it, but the lower part of his body will be paralyzed. ”
A painful sob comes from Bella’s lips, and I pull her toward me, hugging her and not allowing her to fall. I look at Lady Milena, and she appears to be in a state of shock; she doesn’t move; she doesn’t cry; she just stands there looking at the doctor in front of her.
“A person can go in and see him.”
Milena finally seems to come back to reality; she looks at me, looking, confused and lost.
“You can go; I’ll stay with Bella.” She just nods and follows the doctor down the long corridor; I pull Bella toward the chairs and let her cry on my lap. “It’s going to be okay, please breathe.”
“He’s a Capo; I don’t know how he’ll react when he finds out.
I’ve always wanted to have a normal family, you know, without danger, weapons, deaths…
But nothing like this has ever happened; I’ve never sat in a chair in a hospital praying that my brother and father don’t die; sometimes, I think I’d rather not have been born, maybe be born into another family.
I love my family, believe me, Chiara, I love them very much, but this world, what they do, I… ”
“It’s okay, Bella. You can’t control what you think about, and in situations like this, sometimes we find ourselves thinking that we wish our circumstances were different.
The only solution is to stay strong and move on, your father and brother will need you when they wake up, they’ll want to make sure you’re okay, they would die for you, it may seem like all this is the worst that could happen, but we both know it’s not.
So let’s just get up and carry on; we can’t show our weaknesses; the enemies are always lurking around, waiting for the right moment to attack us.
So hold your head up, straighten your back, wipe your tears, and show yourself to be the strong woman that I know you are. ”
Bella gets up from my lap, wiping her tears, gives me a sad smile, and looks in Francesco’s direction. “The Russian who did this to them…”
“Chiara has already given the torture order.”
“I thought you…”
“Thank you for taking care of it and helping me.”
“Family and friends of Luca Di Santis?” the doctor asks without looking in our direction, his eyes fixed on the paper in his hands.
“It’s us!”
He looks at me and Bella with an arched eyebrow, and I see Francesco approaching us, looking at the doctor with an unsympathetic face. “What are you to the patient?”
“Fiancée and sister.” I look at him with a skeptical smirk on my face, showing him my engagement ring. “Now can you tell us how he is or do you have any other questions?”
“The patient lost a lot of blood and two blood transfusions were carried out during the operation, but fortunately the bullet didn’t hit his heart.
As for the lung, it was only a shrapnel wound, so it was easier to repair the damage.
He also had a gunshot wound to his left arm and a stab wound to his right leg, all under control.
He should wake up soon; the anesthesia is wearing off, and the room is 476; as soon as he wakes up, a nurse will let you know; if anyone wants to go in now, I’ll accompany you to his room. ”
I look at Bella, and I can see that relief has taken over her face. “Do you want to go in?”
She looks at me, surprised by the question. “I thought you wanted to go in first.”
“I want to go in, but he’s your brother…”
Bella seems a little afraid, but she follows the doctor toward Luca, and I clasp my hands together trying to contain my anxiety.
“Chiara…”
I look in Francesco’s direction, but his face isn’t very good. “What’s going on?”
“Paolo called me, the Russian wants to see you and tell you in person why he shot Luca.”
“Why me?”
“I don’t know, we could just carry on torturing him; I just thought I’d say it; after all, I promised not to hide anything.”
His voice sounds a little resentful, and I feel bad for having spoken to him like that. “I’m going!” I don’t know what came over me; the last time I saw a man being tortured, I panicked, and here I am, getting into the same situation of my own free will.
“Are you sure?”
“You’re not going to let him hurt me, right?”
“Never, you’ll be safe.”
“Let’s go then.”
I follow Francesco toward the elevator, getting into the car and heading toward the Di Santis’ villa. As soon as we pass the gates of the house, despite the darkness of the night I can see the shape of the bodies lying on the ground, I let out my breath loudly, noticing that they are all dead.
“We haven’t had time to collect the bodies yet, we’ve had to increase security for the business and the family, we’ll try to do that in a few hours.
” I get out of the car and see bodies lying near us.
The image makes my stomach churn, and I wonder how I’m going to be able to watch another man being tortured.
“Lady Milena and Bella should rest; maybe they should go to my place…”
“Don’t worry; Don Henrico has several houses scattered around the city; they will be sent to one of them.”
I nod and follow him down the cold, grey corridors, hearing screams ringing off the walls.
Francesco opens the door to a roombigger than the one I was in last time; four men are holding instruments of torture, and a doctor is in a corner monitoring the blood transfusions.
I look at the man sitting in the chair; his whole body is covered in blood, andhis face is disfigured, but he still smiles when he sees me.
“Here she is.” His voice comes out weak, and his Russian accent rings through the room, making the men look at him with disgust. “The girl with the golden hair, I missed you.”
I look at him, trying to make out some trace, something that would make me recognize the man in front of me, but nothing, I don’t know who he is. “What do you want with me?”
“A lot of things!” a disgusting smirk forms on his lips. “You look even more beautiful than last time.”
“Last time?”
“Don’t you remember in Moscow?”
“I have no idea who you are…”
“Nikolai call me Nikolai.”
“I don’t want to know your name; that’s not why I came here. Why did you attack the Camorra? I don’t have all the time in the world, and if you don’t hurry up and talk, I’ll leave.”
A smile forms on your lips, and I want to hit him until it disappears.
“I saw you in Moscow last summer; you were having dinner with your brothers in one of the best restaurants in the city; as soon as I looked at you, saw your hair and your smile, I knew…” He stops talking and lets out a loud laugh.
I look at him confused, not really knowing what to expect; he looks like a madman.
“I knew you’d be the woman I’d marry, I followed you to the hotel that day, and all the other days that followed. ”
A shiver runs through my body; I remember feeling uncomfortable in Moscow, feeling that someone was watching me. I thought it was something in my head, but it turned out I was right; he was following me. Paolo looks at him angrily and lashes out, making him wince in pain. “Get to the point.”