“Why are you choking him and not me? He didn’t steal your car.”
“She has a point,” mumbled Quin.
He tossed Quin across the room. “You should come with me.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t know you and I don’t want to get to know you.”
“I don’t want to force you, but I will.” His eyes dropped from my face to roam over my body.
Flinching, I clutched the towel tighter as I walked over to the dresser and pulled it open. After checking the rest of the drawers, I growled. “Wow, you guys packed my stuff quickly. I’m not certain how I feel about that.”
I snorted and tossed my hair over my shoulder. “I know you do whatever you want to do, despite what anybody else wants.”
Quin looked at the security pad in his pocket. “Oh no. He’s early. Yes. Go with him now and call me later.”
Just then, three more vampires appeared. One was the man I had bumped into earlier.
He licked his lips. “Domenico, you didn’t tell me how beautiful she was.”
“Don’t even think about it, Nicenzio.”
5
Domenico
“Who is here?” I looked from her to the older man still on the floor where I’d thrown him. He was checking the security cameras and moving faster than he had when I had my hand wrapped around his throat.
“Torin Cullen is here with his brother. We need to leave now,” said Genziano.
Nicenzio cracked his knuckles. “If he has a problem, we can solve it right here and now.”
“If you had your ass at the meeting, you wouldn’t be saying that. We haven’t filled you in on the latest news, but this isn’t the time for war,” said Bartolome`.
Walking over to one of the boxes marked clothes, I ripped it open. If Nicenzio’s gaze dropped one more time to her naked thighs, I was going to gut him. Tossing her a shirt and a black pair of skinny jeans, I turned to the older man. “Why is Torin here?”
“Why are you here, jerk,” she mumbled. I watched as her hips swayed as she sauntered to the bathroom. She closed the door and a second later, I heard the lock slide into place.
“If you want answers then answer my questions first,” said Quin.
I raised my eyebrows. I was tempted to finish him off. I didn’t allow that tone from immortals and I wasn’t about to take it from a human.
“Who are you guys?”
I pointed to the men surrounding me. “Genziano, Bartolome` and Nicenzio. I’m Domenico Beneventi.”
The bathroom door opened, and she walked out. Her hair was up in a bun. She was more beautiful than she had been the night before.
Suddenly the front door slammed shut. “Quin, are you home? Why didn’t you pick me up?” she hollered.
“Quin, she can’t see me. Go down there to her.” She rushed over to the man and tried to push him out of the room.
“No, she needs to know. Besides, she needs their protection, and she won’t be too much for them to handle.”
“Torin will be here any moment. She needs her wits about her when he comes.”
“Why is he here?” I was in front of the man, to prevent him from leaving the bedroom. Patience wasn’t one of my virtues and I don’t wait for anything or anyone.
Quin tilted his head and studied my face. “Torin was her fiancé. Why did you save her if you didn’t want a war with the wizards?”
“Micheline. I thought….” Madeleine’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed to the floor.
Turning, I didn’t take my eyes off her. “Micheline, you have a choice. Stay here and the vampires and wizards go to war over you or you can come with us now.”
Frowning, she narrowed her eyes at me. “Why do I care if you guys go to war?”
“When we kill Torin, his kind won’t stop until you’re dead. I will protect you, but your sister isn’t under our protection. If you come with me, I will make sure she’s protected.” I pointed to her sister crumpled up on the floor.
Nicenzio walked over and picked her up. He smoothed her hair away from her face. “I never would’ve guessed that she’d be a twin.”
Glaring at Nicenzio, I turned to her. “You can smell him from here. You have two minutes tops.”
“How do I know I can trust you? I’ll go back with you tonight, but I will not be a prisoner.”
The doorbell rang. Quin looked at us. “You’re out of time, hide and I will get rid of him as soon as I can.” He turned and rushed out the room.
“Come on,” said Micheline. She grabbed my hand and pulled me toward her walk-in closet.
This was the worse place to hide, and the first place a man would look.
“We’ll leave,” said Genziano. Bartolome` followed him, but they turned and saw that Nicenzio wasn’t coming.
He shook his head. “I’m not leaving her defenseless. She’s unconscious.”
Genziano rolled his eyes. “If she was awake, she’d still be defenseless. We cannot start a war now. Trust me on this.”
“I’m not leaving her.” Nicenzio looked up at the ceiling, with the rustic beams, and jumped up there. He perched himself closest to the door.
“He’s so damn stubborn,” said Bartolome`.
I covered her mouth as I closed the closet door. Things had just become more complicated than I could’ve imagined. Torin wasn’t someone to go to war with, but I was in too deep.
She pulled my hand away and glared at me.
“Torin, you can’t go into her bedroom. Madeleine fainted. She hasn’t been doing well,” said Quin. He followed behind Torin who strolled into the room. He glanced at Madeleine then turned to him.
Tobias lifted his nose, then glanced at his brother. “It smells like vamps in here.”
“What do you expect? Did you think you wizards were the only ones interested in Micheline? The vampires were interested as well, especially now that Madeleine is dating one.”
Torin took off his shades. “Why are you having a closed casket? I want to look upon my fiancée one more time. I will be taking her body after the service.”
Glancing down at her, I saw that she had her entire fist in her mouth. Her eyes were as large as spaceships. She didn’t know the effect she had on Torin. Does she know the effect she has on me?
“Impossible. Her body wasn’t in a proper condition, or what was left of it, and I had her cremated.”
Torin narrowed his eyes at Quin. “You said the vampires didn’t have an issue with my fiancée, yet she was murdered before our wedding.”
“Have you considered why that is? You come here demanding answers from me, but your people weren’t happy with your decision to marry her,” said Quin.
“My people would never cross me. Give me her remains,” said Torin.
“I don’t have them. I haven’t picked them up. I don’t work for you. I work for them, and now Madeleine. I’ve been a bit busy with her multiple attempts of suicide.”
Tobias shook his head. “I heard but having her hospitalized was risky and it could’ve resulted in someone trying to take her out too.” He crossed over to the bed. Some dust fell from above where Nicenzio was waiting to pounce.
“Don’t wake her up,” said Quin.
“Why not, she needs to get to know me. We are her best option right now, and nobody can protect her better than we can,” said Tobias.
“She will never marry you. Her parents told her who they wanted her to be with if something happened to them and her sister. She will do her duty,” said Quin.
Tobias took a step toward him but stopped when the bed creaked.
Madeleine sat up, opened her eyes and scrambled to a sitting position. “Quin, what’s going on?”
“I’m Torin and this in my brother Tobias. I came to pay my respects.” He moved over to her side and took her hand in his.
“Your sister and I were to be married, which makes you family to me,” said Torin.
She yanked her hand back and stood up. “I apprec
iate that but please leave. It’s been a long day.”
Torin inclined his head and walked to the door. “I know that she was out there because of you. The least you could do is tell me what happened that night.”
I grabbed Micheline as she lunged toward the closet door. My hand clamped down on her mouth as she struggled to jump out of the closet.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Madeleine. She balled her fists at her side.
“It would go better for everyone involved, including you, if you told me now. I’m going to find out what happened, with or without your help.”
“I just lost my sister. I don’t give a damn about your threats.”
“I’m sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine what you must be going through. We’re all dealing with this as best we can,” said Tobias.
She licked her lips. “Don’t take offense, but my sister wasn’t thrilled about marrying your brother, but she was going to do it for me.”
“Torin and I aren’t the bad guys here, but we can be what we need to be when the time comes. Know that I will be there for you.”
6
Madeleine Lambert
I watched Tobias and his crazy brother leave. I’m not sure how I felt about Tobias’ blatant interest in me. It was shocking and frightening at the same time. When the front door closed behind them, I ran down the stairs. A part of me had to be physically sure they weren’t in here now.
“Quin, don’t you dare hide from me.” Walking down the hallway, I opened the garage. The most expensive car I had ever seen was parked inside.
What the heck is going on? I know I saw my sister today. I came home and walked into her room and there she stood, in a towel no less.
Lately, I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been falling apart. I gave my sister flack, but what baby sister doesn’t give her older sister hell? That all changed when she sacrificed herself for me at MO’s Bowling Alley. Locking the garage, I headed back upstairs. I needed answers, and I needed them now.
“Quin. Come out now. I know you’re in here somewhere.” Heading down the hall, I walked into my parents’ room. I’ve avoided coming in here because the room still smells like mom’s fragrance and I’m secretly afraid that one day, it won’t; like her, it will just fade away. Breathing deep, I searched their master bathroom just to be thorough.
Flopping on their bed, I grabbed mom’s pillow as I tried to channel her strength. Mom and dad lived a very modest and simple life out of the limelight despite dad having money. He went through a lot to hide his funds and lived four hundred percent below his means. We moved a lot when I was younger, and I thought it was because of dad’s job, but he said that he was an accountant, and accountants didn’t make the type of money he did.
All of them tried to shield me or leave me out, but I’m a Lambert too. I might have been better prepared if I knew what I was up against. Mic had implied on several occasions that I didn’t know everything there was to know about the family, well that’s the understatement of the decade. Mom always favored Mic’s control over her emotions. I never had it. I’m a Gemini, so I’m an emotionally complex person, depending on which side of the bed I wake up on determines which version of me you get.
I was daddy’s favorite. Despite Mic and I being identical twins, daddy swore I looked like him. Everyone knows that we looked like mom with her fair skin and striking blue eyes. Our beautiful wavy thick blonde hair was a gift from dear old dad.
Mom was a warrior in a dress. She had infinite ways to go to war, and it seemed like I needed that skill now more than ever. Mom was a planner; unlike other people, she planned for the good and bad days. She probably planned for this day as well.
Where would she have put that information? She would have had it in two places just in case something happened to the first place.
One of those places would have been here. Mic and I are always here, and she knew that. Where here? The attic would be the obvious place, so it wouldn’t be there.
I sat up, remembering a time when I was twelve years old. I had walked into their bedroom without knocking and barged into the walk-in closet where dad was putting his nine-millimeter inside a charcoal gray case that had a fingerprint and combination lock on it. It was the first time I realized that my loving, easygoing father had a gun, and not just one. Inside a tiny compartment hidden in the wall, he kept a small arsenal of guns: assault rifles, shotguns, machine guns, and Glocks.
“Baby doll, you’re old enough to knock. You didn’t knock on the bedroom door and you didn’t knock on the closet. You didn’t announce your presence at all.”
“Daddy, I was in a hurry to talk to you. I won’t forget to knock again.”
“You shouldn’t. I heard you coming, so I wasn’t surprised, but what if I had thought you were an intruder and shot you by accident? This would be a different conversation.”
“Daddy, you can’t shoot an intruder. We should call the cops, shouldn’t we?”
“Yes, but they take time to get here and I have to do everything I can to protect your mother, you and your sister.”
“Daddy, what if someone breaks in and shoots you with those guns? They can hurt us, maybe we shouldn’t have them in the house.”
“I will take them out of here, just for you. However, right now, I need you not to tell your mother about them. She will worry just like you.”
“I promise, daddy. I will never tell anyone.”
“I know, baby.” He wrapped his arms around me, and instead of laying my head on his shoulder like normal, I tilted my head to the side, looking at those guns. In that moment, I never looked at him the same.
Opening the dresser, I rummaged until I found a box cutter hidden underneath a pink floral pair of thong panties in mom’s drawer next to the bed.
Yep. I wanted to be like her. I might not be the strongest person, but I could learn. Their blood flowed through me, and I will channel their spirit and unrelenting tenacity to find the people who set my sister up and killed our parents.
Right now, nothing is as it appears. I will find out the truth and destroy our enemies if it’s the last thing I do.
Clutching the box cutter, I walked to the closet, shutting the door behind me. Walking to the back, I scooted my father’s suits aside and moved the old Italian tapestry. Pulling out the dented section of drywall, I saw the charcoal gray case.
A part of me was sad that daddy had lied to me. A child’s perspective for sure. My parents knew the real deal, and I didn’t, but that changes now.
Dragging out the case, I saw the small arsenal of weapons, as well as a floral journal. I didn’t recall the beautiful journal being in there. Folding my legs Indian style, I opened it.
May 06, 2000
Today I married Piero De Luca, or should I say Lambert. We are now in witness protection. I didn’t sign up for that shit, but I was in too deep by the time the truth was revealed. Either way, I’m no longer Gabriella Ricci, I’m Gabriella Lambert. Too bad we can’t leave the mafia behind.
Swiping my tears, I slipped the journal inside my baggy pants, and replaced the drywall and the tapestry. Releasing a breath, I closed the closet door, and walked into Mic’s room. I sat down on her bed. Everything I thought I knew about my family had just been destroyed. Glancing at the crumpled towel on the floor, I flopped back on her bed.
I always resented them for including Micheline and excluding me. It seemed like she was their favorite, but I know now that it was for my protection. I’m grateful to them. It’s too late to show any of them that their sacrifices were appreciated and priceless.
“Are you calm now?” asked Quin. He walked inside the room holding a sterling silver serving tray with chamomile tea and a raisin bagel with cream cheese.
Running my hands through my hair, I stared at him. “When I was in the hospital, they talked to me about discussing my feelings before I self-harmed or attempted another suicide.”
Nodding, he sat down next to me. “Go on.”
/> “I need you to be straight with me. I know I saw Mic here. Where is she?”
He tilted his head and studied me, then reached over and handed me the mug. “What do you remember about that night?”
Taking the cup, I sat it down next to me on the dresser and turned away from him. I remembered leaving my sister there, running like a coward. It’s the worst mistake of my life and I wished I would’ve died standing and fighting next to her.
“I remember killing my sister.” Standing up, I stop as tears momentarily blinded me, and sharp pains slice through my chest.
“You didn’t kill her. I was there. I saw you driving away. I know she sent you out of there. It’s not your fault, it’s mine. She made us split up and we both knew we were out of time. If there’s someone to blame, it’s me.”
Wiping my tears, I shake my head. “I knew what might happen if she fired that gun drawing all the attention on her. I didn’t want to leave her, but she was determined to provide the distraction so I could get away.”
Quin picked up the second mug and took a sip. “This is something you and I must work through. We don’t have time to wallow in our guilt and regret. Torin means business.”
Wiping my face, I walked over to the towel. It was dry now, but my sister’s scent mingled with her favorite lotion lingered on the towel. The lotion that wasn’t here in the house, it was the same lotion she had on her, the one she had been wearing that night. I’m not crazy. She hadn’t been a figment of my vivid imagination. Joy, wonder, and curiosity flowed through me and I smiled and held up the towel.
“Where is my sister?”
Quin shifted on the bed. “She died that night, but she didn’t remain dead.”
Narrowing my eyes, I sat back down on the bed. Curling up, I grabbed my mug and took a sip of tea. “Go on.”
“She came this morning, shocking you and me. She was turned by a vampire named Domenico.”
“We’ll deal with her little undead problem later. Where is she now?”
“The immortals live among us in secret. It’s not like you’ll see vampires, werewolves and sorcerers running for office. They are here incognito. Your sister is part of that world and, in some ways, still dead to you.”
Supernatural Syndicate: A Limited Edition Collection of Magical Mafia Stories Page 35