by Soraya Naomi
“Yes, Alex told me,” I reply.
“When exactly did he tell you?” Luca asks, unbuttoning his suit jacket while shooting daggers at me.
“The last time you and I had lunch at the deli, Alex saw us together,” I hurriedly explain, intimidated by this side of him.
“Keep talking. I’m not going to ask you every damn question,” he says and turns his back to me, facing the window as he runs a hand through his hair to comb back the strands that have fallen loose. “Tell me what happened after you went back to work. I can’t protect you if I don’t know everything. You’re smart enough to figure that out.”
His insult stings and adds another punch of anxiety to my already disordered state, so I decide to disclose everything. “Alex saw us sitting together in the deli. After I got back to work, he called me into his office – I thought to add to my workload. But he asked me, and I quote, ‘If I knew with whom I was getting involved by dating the likes of a criminal like Luca DeMiliano’. He thought I was working for you and told me you’re part of a mafia, but he made it seem like it was a small organization and the two of you had some kind of feud over money. When he caught my surprised expression at his calling you a criminal, he realized I didn’t know. So he plotted a way to use me and has been threatening me ever since. He threatened not only me but also my parents if I didn’t get him incriminating information on you within a month – something Alex could blackmail you with. And if I did, no one would find out it came from me, and my parents and I would be safe.”
Of course, I didn’t believe Alex, yet I didn’t trust Luca enough to confide in him the moment Alex revealed Luca’s involvement in the mafia. And deep down, I felt that there was some kind of truth in Alex’s story. However, accepting the truth also meant accepting how I’d been purposely ignoring warning signs because I fell in love. And I could never have guessed that Luca lived an entirely different life in the underworld. Until Luca explained everything to me yesterday, I didn’t understand the enormity of the danger I’m in.
Furthermore, Luca’s distance over the last week helped me to keep my secret. As the days progressed, and Alex kept his distance as well – only twice verbally inquiring if I had information – I became increasingly confused and was foolishly thinking I could maybe end things with Luca to have Alex back off and extract myself completely from this situation between these two men. Although, in the back of my mind, I knew I was in trouble.
Still, I let the days slip by, evading a confrontation with either man. After finding the make a marriage message on Luca’s phone last Friday – I never actually thought Luca was married, but I had to think fast when he caught me with his phone, so I led him to believe the first thing that popped into my mind – I researched it during the cab ride to the charity event and landed on various sites explaining that it’s mafia slang. This was my confirmation that Luca was part of some mafia, yet I never saw it coming that he was the underboss of such a powerful organization.
So between Luca and Alex, Luca was then the lesser of two evils that I hoped could help me, and I decided to tell Luca about Alex because I was weary of this game these men had pulled me into. It was a risk I was willing to take at that point. But I acted too late, because, not an hour later, I was taken by Luca’s men in the back alley of the venue, and from that moment on, everything happened so fast and I trusted no one after all that had transpired.
“Did Alex hurt you?” Luca’s low voice brings me back to the present.
“Not physically; only with his threats,” I say while Luca continues to stand with his back to me.
“Why didn’t you tell me before?” He doesn’t spare me a glance, keeping his seething focus trained ahead.
“I haven’t trusted anyone since that day Alex exposed you. My fear shut me up. Alex told me that he’d find out immediately if I told you, and I had no idea what kind of mafia you or Alex were in. I didn’t even know if he was telling the truth. I was scared, Luca, and confused. I still am.”
“But why didn’t you tell me yesterday or Friday after I confessed the truth to you?” he wants to know.
I’ve been withdrawn from Luca since the day Alex called me into his office with the news that tilted my world on its axis. Alex preyed on my panic, and the angst he implanted in me robbed me of my ability to make smart decisions.
“Luca.” I move toward him by the window as more uncertainty bleeds through me. “I haven’t been thinking clearly. I’m not sure—”
“Were you going to tell Alex what you learned about the Syndicate here? You have absolutely no evidence. I think he meant incriminating information in the form of tangible evidence. Are you working with him?” Luca asks in a hostile tone, glancing back at me with a hopeless expression.
“No, no,” I deny truthfully, shaking my head.
In an attempt to pacify him, because I’m afraid he’s going to lock me in again and then I won’t be able to speak to Camilla, I reach out to him. If Luca stays this livid with me, he might change his behavior, and that makes me fear him more because anger makes people irrational. And these people are members of a Syndicate who commit murder and whatnot. I refuse to be imprisoned any longer since I’m going stir-crazy from worrying all the time, so I hesitantly close the distance and touch his back.
But he briefly looks back at me over his shoulder with a blank face, instantly crossing the room to get away from me, and stops by the door, putting me in an even more vulnerable position since I’m farther from the escape route now.
Shit. It seems like he’s constantly a step ahead.
“Why is Alex telling people you’re sick then?” Luca’s voice is eerily soft. He’s regained control; his mask is in place.
How am I supposed to know that? “Maybe he doesn’t want anyone to ask questions, and he must know that my disappearance could be connected to you? Maybe he thinks I’m retrieving his information? I don’t know.”
“Are you sure you’re being honest?” Luca’s eyes narrow, hardening the lines in his face.
“Yes,” I answer decisively, but I go into panic mode when he touches the door handle. “Wait. Where are you going, Luca?” The urge to know his next move explodes inside me.
Resentment and doubt cloud his eyes as he scans the length of me before fleeing the room and locking the door.
I dash forward in alarm and smash my fists against it, screaming, “Luca! No, come back!” Tears pool in my eyes from rising despair, a few landing on my bare feet as I peer down at the floor and slam my palm against the surface of the door in defeat.
The one thing I tried to avoid has happened. I’m back to being locked inside the room with my never-ending disconcerting thoughts.
How will Camilla be able to help me now? I hope Luca isn’t onto her and that she’ll still be permitted to bring me food today. And what will Luca do? Will he still help me? Or is he planning to trade me?
Luca loves me, but I know all too well how love can be ruined by disloyalty. One message from Alex, and the tables have turned. Luca knows everything I’ve been holding back, except for my plan with Camilla. But do I know everything he’s lied about? He said full disclosure, but a man as conniving as he apparently is must have held something back as well.
I’m definitely no match for the shrewdness of men like Luca and Alex, so I need to get out of here the first chance I get.
CHAPTER 37
Luca
Antagonized by conflicting feelings, I storm into my office where Adriano’s waiting for me. Fallon’s confession is sending me down a spiral of raging emotions.
Adriano twists his hand up in question. “Not good news?”
I lean forward with my palms on my desk. “Alex has some balls. He’s been threatening Fallon for over a week and also disclosed that I’m part of the Syndicate to her.”
Adriano copies my stance. “She knew?”
“This never leaves this room. Chiaro?” Understood?
Adriano confirms I can trust him with an instant consent.
&n
bsp; “She’s been lying to me for almost two weeks. Alex wanted intel from her.” I vehemently rub my hand over my lips.
“Is she working with him?” Adriano inquires, aghast.
“No,” I state, but evidently my judgment isn’t the best when it comes to her since I believed Fallon was easy to read.
I piece together all our interactions from the last two weeks. Fallon was distant and quiet, more so than usual. She was trying to pull away from me, but I wouldn’t let her.
Fuck! I bang my fist on the desk. I noticed her overreaction on Friday regarding the make a marriage message she read on my disposable phone, and I distinctly got the impression she was acting. In hindsight, even her reaction to my telling her that I’m the underboss of the Chicagoan mafia was too mellow for someone who was hearing such shocking information for the first time. Nonetheless, I don’t think she’s working with Alex. Fallon’s not that good an actor.
“This mess keeps on getting bigger. I can’t trust Fallon, and that enrages the hell out of me.” With a sharp breath, I drop down into my seat.
“Are you sure everything’s out in the open now?” Adriano asks.
“Yes...actually, no. I’m not positive of anything anymore when it comes to her.”
He starts to recap, “Okay, so we know Alex threatened her. With what?”
“Only words. Her parents, the usual bullshit when you want to intimidate someone.” Could it be I’ve underestimated the New York Syndicate’s boss, Leggia? “Alex doesn’t have the nerve to threaten a woman he believes is dating me. You know how skittish he is when we pay him a visit. And he’s just an associate, not even a member of our Syndicate. What if someone put him up to it? Someone like Leggia? Leggia did the background check on Fallon the second he found out she was connected to me, so his intel must’ve notified him that she works for Alex. And Leggia knows that Alex is our associate.”
Adriano nods, following my line of thinking.
I continue connecting the dots out loud. “What if Leggia contacted Alex and is pulling all the strings from different angles? Leggia instructed Alex to terrorize Fallon in order to break us apart.”
Adriano interjects, “But how would Leggia know that Fallon wouldn’t just come clean to you after Alex’s blackmail?”
Good point. “A risk he was willing to take?” I offer as explanation.
“Possibly.”
“Now Leggia has two operations set in motion to break me loose from James’s Syndicate and both involve Fallon: the trade for Danny and the fact that she was being disloyal to me. I think this is playing out even better than Leggia had planned. Frank kidnapping Fallon gave Leggia the upper hand; it gave him the best opportunity to piss me off by allowing him to offer the trade of Danny in exchange for Fallon.”
“That motherfucker is smarter than we’ve given him credit for,” Adriano comments. “Where’s Fallon now?”
“Locked in my room.”
His brows crease. “You’re probably scaring her, you know. What’s our next move?”
The need to protect Fallon still overwhelms me. I vouched for her, and although my scenario about Alex and Leggia is pure conjecture, all the pieces are falling into place. Her distance, her contradictive behavior because she wanted to believe I wasn’t part of the Syndicate, her odd reaction to my text last Friday, and why she was desperate to avoid seeing Alex Friday night and used the back exit.
“Alex is a dead man,” I decide, rolling my neck to get the tension out. “We proceed as planned with one small addition. Where’s the meet Wednesday night?”
“Parish of the Blessed, Father Eli’s church,” he answers as disapproval sculpts his face.
Of course, Leggia’s taking precautions and chose a public place like that church, but he doesn’t know that Father Eli is already on my radar, and this I can use to my advantage.
“No, that’s a good place,” I inform him. “We can use Father Eli. Where are we meeting Leggia’s underboss, Biagio, tonight?”
We managed to set up a secret appointment with Biagio, without Leggia. It’s imperative that I get Biagio in our corner before the trade takes place on Wednesday.
“At the warehouse,” he replies, but switches the subject back to Fallon since he needs to be aware of my strategy. “Luca, what are you going to do with Fallon?”
I need to calm down before I speak to her again, so I toss my room key to Adriano and he catches it with one hand easily.
“Let Cam attend to Fallon today. I can’t see or talk to her now. You and I will take care of our business first,” I instruct.
I have less than three days to clean up this clusterfuck. Since I vouched for Fallon, it won’t go well for her, or me, if James finds out about her disloyalty, so I’m determined to fix this mess before the meet with Leggia.
Without going back up to Fallon, I travel to the Loop to handle my business. During the drive, the first months of our then-happy relationship haunt me. Being with Fallon used to be the only thing in the world that could calm me, but with one five-minute conversation, she managed to rip out my heart and slice it into tiny pieces.
This is how betrayal feels. This is what I did to her, although what I did was far worse because I lied for all those months. This is retribution. And it hurts like a motherfucker.
However, redemption is not meant for men like me, so I deserve to feel this pain, but Fallon’s an innocent civilian who’s been tainted by my world now. And even though a constant stream of retribution is what lies in my future, I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure that Fallon is out of harm’s way in hers.
CHAPTER 38
Fallon
After having hours of worry polluting my mind, the door opens and I’m somewhat appeased when Camilla appears.
“What happened?” she asks. “Adriano and Luca barged out of the house earlier after giving me the key.”
Frantically, I tell her bits and pieces about my confession to Luca, enough for her to realize I’m still the one being held captive here.
“Camilla, I’ve hit rock bottom. Even though I don’t trust Luca, up until today, I could still feel his undeniable devotion to me, but not anymore. The last couple of days have only been bearable because of him, yet I’m here because of him. When I admitted everything to Luca, he was furious and left, and then he locked the door again this morning.”
Luca hasn’t been honest either, but I get locked up for lying. I’ve probably completely destroyed his trust in me by now. I’m not the innocent party here any longer since I lied to him; I saw that much in his eyes.
I swallow back an avalanche of mixed emotions. Fear of the unknown. Guilt for lying. Panic over what to do. And still, a layer of misguided love for Luca envelops it all, yet I shake it off quickly. Resolve slowly finds its way through my jumbled thoughts.
I sit down on the bed. “I need to leave as soon as possible. What if Luca comes back just as furious? I don’t know what he’ll do in this state.” There’s no more time for me to gradually convince Camilla to help me. I need the help right away, so I pound her with questions, hoping we can figure out a way for me to escape. “Where are we exactly?”
The mattress dips as Camilla joins me. “Melrose.”
“That’s close to Lake Forest.”
“In the middle of nowhere though. We’re at the far edge of the suburbs,” she mentions, solemn. “Shit, we need a plan. I’ve never seen Luca this infuriated.”
It’s not a good sign if Luca doesn’t return to this room, because he’s the kind of guy who needs to cool off and then he’s ready to talk. If he doesn’t come back, then he’s still brooding. And I really need to avoid a brooding Luca right now.
“There’s got to be a way out,” I implore.
“I don’t know,” Camilla replies, “but I have to be downstairs again. I’ll be back as soon as I come up with something.”
***
Unfortunately, she doesn’t come back the entire day, but neither does Luca. Luca’s out of reach, and I’m petrified of wh
at the consequences of not telling him about Alex’s blackmail will be for me. My first night alone in this house, and I’m still just as scared and uncertain as I was on Friday.
CHAPTER 39
Luca
Drenched in sweat, I sit up straight in bed as my eyes adjust to the sunlight streaming in.
It’s Tuesday.
I jerk my head to the left just as my hand shoots out to the side to search for Fallon, but she’s not beside me. I take in my unfamiliar surroundings and recall that I’m in one of the private rooms of the strip club and haven’t seen Fallon since her revelation yesterday morning. Adriano and I came back late to the house, and Cam informed me that Fallon was crying up in the room. Yet my outrage prevailed over my affection, and I couldn’t be the one to console her.
Rubbing my eyes, I try to clear my mind of how desperately I want to be with her, but I need to concentrate. Only today and tomorrow. I don’t think about anything beyond those two days.
Gathering my clothes, I tuck my legs into my grey dress slacks and don’t bother to unbutton my dress shirt before putting it on and then driving my hands through my ruffled hair. From the bedside table, I retrieve my silver watch and clasp it around my wrist. It’s almost ten thirty a.m.
Leaving the room, I’m welcomed by complete silence, so I down a bottle of water while resting on the burgundy half-round sofa in the middle of the room and let my head fall back against the cushion.
Fallon broke down my walls with her innocent nature, and I would’ve done anything to be with her when this was over, but we’re slipping further away from each other with each passing day. Maybe it’s time for me to let her go, but that notion is cutting brutally through my chest.
And I’m still unsure about how to handle Fallon. Will she even cooperate with the trade? While I’ve been patient with her, because I do feel responsible for this mess, she’s been holding out. If only she had told me about Alex, so much could’ve been prevented.