* * *
“How’ve you been?”
* * *
“Good. But scared… Your nephew…”
* * *
“So Domenico made it?”
* * *
“Yes… And he gave me…”
* * *
Nico didn’t seem to be listening. He interrupted her, “We need to move. We need to get out of here soon Eve.”
* * *
“And go where?”
* * *
“Away. You don’t have a choice. My father is furious. He will kill you. I’m sorry but… We need to leave.”
* * *
“I’ve already packed.”
* * *
“Good. We should have an hour before he gets here. Let’s just say I’ve set him back a little bit.”
* * *
“And what about your nephew?”
* * *
“He’s fled the city. Domenico has all the money he needs now. He can take care of himself.”
* * *
“Even if he’s only sixteen?”
* * *
Nico smiled. It was the same half smile that Eve had seen on Domenico earlier. For the first time, Eve saw just how much they looked alike. She knew she had to trust that Nico would protect his family. He’d certainly protected her.
* * *
“Trust me, he’s not like a normal sixteen year old.”
* * *
Eve thought about Daniella and how different Daniella was from Nico’s nephew. Maybe Nico had a point and the boy really would be okay.
* * *
Nico continued, “And were you really alright here?”
* * *
“Yes. But Nico… I missed you.”
* * *
“I missed you too.”
* * *
Eve wrapped her arms around Nico again. But this time she kissed him. As Nico’s warm lips touched hers, she got the sense that perhaps everything would be alright. She had the key to Domenico Riccardi’s fortune in her pocket. She had his knife. And most importantly, she had Nico.
* * *
“I’m doing everything in my power to avoid taking you to bed right now,” Nico whispered.
* * *
Eve nodded and pulled away.
* * *
“We should really get out of here then before the temptation overwhelms you.
* * *
“Do you have the pouch that I gave you?” Nico asked.
* * *
Eve nodded.
* * *
“Bring it with you.”
* * *
That was one thing she hadn’t packed. With Nico downstairs standing guard, Eve fled to her bedroom and found the pouch exactly where she’d left it. Now they were really ready. Eve arrived downstairs and she saw Nico standing there, looking around her living room.
* * *
Again, she was struck by how handsome he was and by how much she loved him. While she still hadn’t told him, Eve had a feeling that he felt the same way. That’s why he was here, wasn’t it? If he didn’t give a damn, Nico could have very easily left her to Giuseppe’s devices. But why didn’t he just say it? If Eve knew that he loved her, she would do anything for him — including move to Italy.
* * *
But she wouldn’t uproot her life for a man who could kill but who wasn’t brave enough to say those three little words.
* * *
“Are you ready?”
* * *
“Yes. I think I am.”
* * *
“Eve… You realize that you might not be able to come back here?”
* * *
Eve hadn’t fully realized that, but she’d suspected it.
* * *
“And… What happens to my stuff? What happens to my store?”
* * *
Nico took her hands and brought them to his lips.
* * *
“I promise you, I’ll take care of all of this. I will keep you safe. Do you trust me?”
* * *
“Yes.”
* * *
“And Eve… I… I know we haven’t had time to chat about what’s going on between us. But we will, alright? I just need to make sure we get out of this.”
* * *
Just need to make sure we get out of this alive. Eve didn’t need him to say that to understand. Whatever had happened between Nico and his father had put all of their lives at risk. That’s why Nico had encouraged his young nephew to flee across the country. That’s why he was moving her from Boston in the dead of night. It was this, or suffer at the hands of a cruel man. A man who had already killed someone that Nico loved.
* * *
Eve left her house and didn’t look back. She was afraid if she looked back, she wouldn’t be able to follow Nico. She’d feel too attached to her old life to take the risk of leaving it all behind if she dared look back. Eve got into the passenger seat of Nico’s Audi and she never said goodbye to her home.
* * *
Eve had a sense that this was goodbye. She’d built up so much in all her years in Boston. Her chest heaved and Eve fought back tears as she came to the realization that this was goodbye. She didn’t know where she was going or if Nico would even be there at the end of it all. Nico sensed her tears and reached his hands over, squeezing Eve’s thigh as they peeled off from her home.
* * *
Goodbye. It hurt more than Eve had expected. She’d wanted to make a move. She’d wanted something different. She just hadn’t expected it to come like this. She reached for her pocket and felt the piece of paper still inside. That paper would give Nico access to millions. But he’d need her to get it. Perhaps this meant they’d be bound together until this was all over.
* * *
Maybe Eve could still have hope.
* * *
At Nico’s place, he started packing. He never mentioned to Eve where exactly he planned to go or what was happening next. She had a feeling she’d find out. As she sat in Nico’s bedroom, watching him pack, Eve’s mind was swimming.
* * *
“Nico?”
* * *
“Hm?”
* * *
“Are we leaving here tonight?”
* * *
“I hope so.”
* * *
“Where are we going?”
* * *
“New York.”
* * *
“New York?”
* * *
“Not forever. Just until… Nevermind.”
* * *
Eve didn’t want to “nevermind”. She wanted answers. Pushing Nico right now might not be the best idea. Eve realized that. But she couldn’t exactly allow him to uproot her entire life without at least asking a few questions. She loved Nico, but she was no fool.
* * *
Before Eve could fix her mouth to ask another question, she heard a loud slamming noise downstairs. The front door had opened. Nico rose to attention.
* * *
“What was that?” Eve whispered.
* * *
Nico pressed his fingers to his lips. Eve started shaking. Oh God. This was it. She would die here tonight. An unknown local shopkeeper, somehow mixed up right in the middle of a criminal family drama. Nico reached into his bedside table and pulled out a gun. Eve’s eyes widened when she saw the weapon.
* * *
“Nico…”
* * *
“Sh.”
* * *
Nico moved towards the stairs. Eve couldn’t help but follow him. She had Domenico’s knife and she couldn’t allow Nico to head downstairs alone. Once the two arrived downstairs, Nico whipped around and saw exactly who had broken down his door.
* * *
His father. He also saw Eve positioned behind him. Nico chastised himself for not locking her upstairs — far away from where she could be hurt.
* * *
“Good evening my son,” Giuseppe said with a grin.
* * *
“Buona Sera,” Nico spat.
* * *
“I suggest you lower your weapon.”
* * *
Nico’s eyes darted around the room. Giuseppe hadn’t come alone. He had replaced Luca during his months in the United States. A young, fat and hideous man stood at Giuseppe’s side with a gun pointed directly at Nico’s chest. One wrong move and his guts would splatter all over Eve. Nico lowered the gun.
* * *
Giuseppe stood up and opened his blazer. Eve’s stomach turned when she saw the blood seeping out of Giuseppe’s chest.
* * *
“I came here for revenge. You thought your little stunt worked eh? But I’m like an angry bull… And I’ve come to collect. One of your little pigs eventually squealed. Nice hide out my son…”
* * *
“What do you want?”
* * *
“I want the vault key.”
* * *
“I don’t have it,” Nico spat.
* * *
Giuseppe cackled.
* * *
“Oh, but you do have it. I know that little shit gave it to you.”
* * *
Eve tried to steady her breath. The vault key. Nico wasn’t lying. Domenico had given the key to her, figuring (correctly) that it would be safer in her hands than in Nico’s. She was on Giuseppe’s mind, but she had always been an after thought.
* * *
Eve took a step back. She noticed the fireplace behind her was burning brightly from after they’d stepped into the apartment. She’d burn it if she had to. She’d burn the whole thing down and die if she had to.
* * *
“I don’t have it father,” Nico snarled.
* * *
Giuseppe pulled a gun out of his waistband with his good arm, wincing as he held the gun up and pointed it directly at Eve.
* * *
“Give it to me, or I’ll shoot her.”
* * *
“Stop!” Eve cried out.
* * *
She lifted the paper over the fire.
* * *
“I swear to God, I’ll destroy this!”
* * *
Giuseppe cocked the gun.
* * *
“Wait! Don’t shoot,” Nico said.
* * *
Nico lied, “She’s pregnant. Father she’s pregnant. She’s carrying your heir. A Riccardi.”
* * *
Giuseppe started laughing. The laugh started deep in his belly and emanated outwards, almost more like a belch than a laugh.
* * *
“An heir?”
* * *
He continued laughing for a few moments. Eve kept the paper dangled over the fire, ready to risk it all if she had to. She wasn’t sure why Nico had lied, but she was willing to back him up if Giuseppe probed her.
* * *
“You think I give a damn about an heir? I’m still a young man Nico. I could make another heir with any bitch that crosses my path.”
* * *
“Please… Papa… Don’t shoot…” Nico said.
* * *
Eve could see him getting weaker. She bent the paper to the fire and started to let flames lick at the edges.
* * *
“NO!” Giuseppe screamed.
* * *
He lifted the gun and Eve blew out the flames. None of the numbers had been harmed. Giuseppe held the gun up and as he caught his breath, the door of Nico’s apartment flung open again. There he was, sixteen-year-old Domenico — wielding a gun.
* * *
Eve heard a gun shot and she crouched down low, her eyes squeezed shut. Eve slowly opened her eyes and saw that Domenico had shot and killed Giuseppe’s guard with a precise shot to the head. Blood pooled away from the man’s head and Eve could feel her body trembling against her will.
* * *
Whatever was going on tonight was so far out of her world of experience that she didn’t know what to do.
* * *
“Domenico,” She heard Giuseppe snarl.
* * *
Domenico said something in Italian which must have meant “lower the gun” because Giuseppe dropped his gun to the ground. Nico walked over to his father, pushing him back in the chair with the barrel of his own gun.
* * *
“Nico no!” Eve said.
* * *
Nico turned towards her momentarily but then turned away. Eve had a feeling that her word meant nothing here. The three of them began speaking in Italian to each other. At one point, Giuseppe spit and it landed at their feet. Domenico slammed the butt of his gun into his uncle’s temples, causing a lot of pain but not quite knocking Giuseppe unconscious. Blood started to trickle out of his forehead, just as blood was pooling all over Nico’s floor at the head of Giuseppe’s former right hand man.
* * *
Eve tried not to look at him.
* * *
“You should go Nico,” Domenico said.
* * *
“No. I cannot leave you with him.”
* * *
“Tommy is coming. Others are coming… Take Eve and get out.”
* * *
“But…”
* * *
“She has everything you need. I promise you… Everything will be taken care of. Just leave.”
* * *
Domenico held the gun up to Giuseppe’s forehead. The man started trembling. He’d never anticipated being in a powerless position — not tonight especially. Nico took one last look at his cousin before kissing him on the cheek and turning away.
* * *
“Eve. Come.”
* * *
Eve followed Nico and they packed away the rest of their things as quickly as possible.
* * *
“Are we really doing this?”
* * *
“It’s now or never. If you want me to leave you behind Eve… I can…”
* * *
“No. I want to come with you.”
* * *
Nico nodded.
* * *
“And Eve… You know that I love you right?”
* * *
Eve felt her cheeks growing hot. Her palms felt sweater but the words slipped out of her mouth anyways.
* * *
“I love you too.”
* * *
“I promise we’ll be safe.”
* * *
“I believe you.”
* * *
Eve kissed Nico on the cheek and they ran downstairs. Domenico had given Giuseppe another wack in the head with the gun. This time, he was barely conscious and totally unable to speak.
* * *
“Nico. Say hi to my mama,” Domenico said.
* * *
Nico nodded.
* * *
“Dom? Make sure you get Paul to take care of this place, okay?”
* * *
“Sure.”
Mad Mafia Love Page 15