by Jolie Damman
To save Alide, I was willing to do anything and everything.
She looked alright for the most part. No bruises or cuts. She wasn’t harmed by him, and that was good.
I’d never forgive him otherwise.
He was holding her to him like she was something dangerous that could decimate New York if she were let loose, and that made my blood boil.
I didn’t want to hate my brother, but he was testing my patience right now.
I was kneeling in front of him, and had my hands behind my head.
I did it just like he wanted.
He made it all pretty clear.
If I didn’t obey his orders, I knew he meant it when he said Alide wasn’t going to come out of this alive.
And for her, I was willing to sacrifice myself.
“Give me your word you are going to let me escape the city. You make it happen, she will live.”
“I give you my word. I’m not going to hunt you down again. I’ll set up something for you in one of our checkpoints.”
“That won’t do!” He barked, shaking the hand with the pistol. “You are taking me with you in the trunk of your car.”
“Okay, Okay,” I breathed in and out, hard. “I’ll do anything. Just don’t harm her.”
“And there’s more. She’ll come with us, and you will leave a car just past the border after you drop me off. I can’t risk anything. I have to consider all the details. I know you want to kill me.”
“I won’t try that, and I’m going to do everything you are asking.”
His voice was alarmed, like his mind was finally envisioning a possible escape from New York.
It was just like he said.
One thing he did wrong and he could end up finding himself in our father’s grasp.
“She’ll be in the trunk with me. Call one of your soldiers to leave a vehicle past the border, and now walk with me to your car. We are doing this now.”
A moment of unnerving silence.
“You want her alive, right?”
I nodded. My eyes locked with his. Despite the gravity of this, I was calm and composed. I finally made up my mind. Vinicio didn’t even have to push me hard to make me do what he wanted.
I understood him.
I wanted him to flee.
That would be much better than letting father have him locked in a dark room.
“Stand up and walk with me. Drive, and no funny ideas. I’ll pull the trigger if I feel you are going to betray me again.”
With my hands still clasped behind my head, I slowly stood up and locked my eyes with Alide. She was scared. It was as clear as day. She’d never been in a situation like this.
And more than anything right now, I hated myself.
Had she never involved herself with me, she would be alright at this moment.
She would have the money and the treatment for Luca, and a good job so that she could continue providing for him.
I nodded to her.
She needed that reassurance.
I was going to get her out of this one way or another.
If Vinicio’s plan had a flaw or not, I couldn’t figure it out. Despite being calm, my mind could think of one thing only.
To get Alide out of this.
And to tell her how much my love for her meant to me.
I padded to the car and Vinicio followed me, his arm still holding Alide tightly. I then heard an explosion and a scream. My heart skipped a beat.
He couldn’t have done it.
I gave him no reason to believe I was lying.
I was merely walking to my car like he’d asked.
I spun around and found Alide thrown on the ground, her hands trying to get the gag off her mouth.
Vinicio was shrieking as his gun slid on the cement floor far away from him. His hands were covering a wound in his leg, and he was bleeding. A lot.
His expression was one of absolute pain.
And I had no idea what’d just happened.
All I could think of was to get Alide out of this.
I sprinted to her and helped her take off the gag. Her eyes locked with mine and I believed I could read what she was thinking.
But the moment of clarity turned out to be short-lived.
Vinicio was crawling to his gun.
He was thinking I did this.
He was going to get his gun and shoot us dead, and I didn’t bring any weapon with me – just like he demanded on his call.
I put Alide’s arm around my shoulders. She couldn’t walk by herself right now. The mental trauma of being kidnapped was too much for her.
More than anything, I detested myself.
She would never ever be here if she hadn’t fallen in love with me.
I was right about my world and hers being too different.
I was far too hazardous to her.
Vinicio was still crawling to his gun when a man’s voice roared, “Stop right there, or I’ll put a bullet through your head this time.”
My head snapped to the direction his voice came from. My eyes picked up a glint and the long barrel of a sniper rifle. Behind it was standing the guy who had just saved me.
And he was none other than Prudenzio.
A surge of warmness flooded my heart.
I had no idea he’d followed me here. I didn’t want to involve him because I didn’t want to give Vinicio a reason to think I wasn’t going to be truthful to my word.
Risking Alide’s life wasn’t a choice I could have made.
And now, with her hugging me, and Vinicio on the floor, I knew I could make things right.
It didn’t have to end the way our father wanted.
And I was going to make use of this opportunity to show Vinicio I wasn’t like him.
He was going to live his life the way he desired.
Chapter 18
Letting it All Go
Angelo
Iembraced Vinicio and patted his back passionately. “Father can’t find you now.”
He smiled, not believing it was finally happening.
Likewise, I couldn’t believe I was helping him escape after chasing for so long. But things changed, and they did for the better.
“Thank you, my brother.” He paused. “I’m sorry I kidnapped Alide.”
I didn’t say anything. Not all of this felt right. I couldn’t absolve him for the things he did, but I could understand he was desperate. I pushed him too far. A couple more days, after all, and he wouldn’t have been able to escape our grasp again.
I nodded and stated, “I’ll tell father you escaped on your own.”
He bowed slowly, comprehending I had to tell a lie to my father, or that else he was going to have to put his men to pursue him throughout the country.
Just when he was going to turn, I grabbed my pistol and offered it to him.
“Take it. You are going to need it more than me.”
His eyes surveyed the gun like he couldn’t believe I was doing this. It had been mine for a long time. Father gave it when I turned 18. It meant a lot to me, but I needed to get rid of it now.
Alide was with us, her hand around my lower back. She was so close to me I could hear her breathing, despite the roaring of the cars on the highway. We were just outside the city. Manhattan stood in the distance, and the sun was casting long shadows all throughout the province we were in.
His hand grabbed the gun and then put it in his waistband. “Thank you. I’m not going to forget this.”
He turned and ambled to the car I’d left for him.
And since then, I never saw him again.
Alide’s arm enveloping my lower back was the only thing that comforted me. I guessed that one way or another I was always going to lose Vinicio. At least this way he had a chance to have a normal life.
He would have to get himself a fake ID and keep his guard up all the time, but it was better than being hunted down by the Mafia.
And father would believe me.
I never lied to him before,
after all.
And he always knew Vinicio was talented enough to fool me and the rest of the family.
Him finally escaping was an outcome he’d always considered likely.
Epilogue
Alide
Being with Angelo again just felt right. I couldn’t blame him anymore for what he did. I understood his reasons, and we talked about them. He didn’t think I’d take the marriage well. How could I have thought my father wanted me to marry the heir of a don?
Back when I learned the truth, it felt like he’d been lying to me that whole time, and he had been. That’s something I couldn’t pretend otherwise.
He did keep the truth concealed, and I was in the right to have felt the way I did.
Still, now I understood his reasons, and they made sense.
He hadn’t been courageous enough to reveal the plans for the wedding to me, and he reckoned it would destroy all the things that made me who I was.
But I forgave him.
I couldn’t continue to pretend I didn’t love him anymore.
I did, and love was such a blind and intense feeling.
It didn’t matter if he’d kept the truth hidden.
What mattered was that he regretted his choice, and was now eager to make everything right.
I unlinked my arm from Rita’s and padded to him. I’d never worn a heeled sandal like this one, but for a place like this – this church – it was more than required. I’d never put on a dress like this one as well.
Everything was so unfamiliar to my eyes.
The dress was bigger than what I’d seen in some movies, and so white there wasn’t even a speck of dust on it. Angelo made sure I was going to have the best for the marriage, and he was truthful to his word.
This felt right.
This felt what I wanted the most for my life.
Rita and Luca were now sitting on one of the front benches. She was using a handkerchief to wipe her tears while my little brother watched the scene in front of him with the utmost devotion.
He’s never been in a marriage, and so it was no wonder he was flabbergasted.
The church, which was located in Lower Manhattan, was of baroque design and origin. The outside and the inside of it composed a piece of art difficult to find elsewhere in the country, and more than anything, it was right for this moment.
I’d wanted to marry Angelo since I fell in love with him.
And now, he was going to become my spouse.
I padded to him, and some people were still finding their seats and talking. That gave us some minutes to talk.
His eyes were gleaming with joy, and likewise, I couldn’t contain my racing heart. It was as if everything was happening in slow motion to me.
I was taking in all the details of the wedding.
This was one of those things I would never forget.
His hands grabbed mine as he said, “You look undeniably beautiful.”
I giggled gently. “And you look so gorgeous in that outfit.”
A moment of pause as I took in his expression of happiness mixed with love. I couldn’t stop gazing at his lips and eyes. They were the most charming I’d seen in my whole life, and right now, I wanted to kiss him so much.
And I was conscious it wasn’t the right time.
But we were going to marry anyway, and who said I needed to follow every wedding custom.
It was with that thought in mind I pulled Angelo to me and sealed my lips with his.
The crowd in the church echoed their surprise mixed with shock, and all I could do was to continue kissing him.
I made the right choice, and I was never going to leave him for anything.
Angelo chose me to be his.
And I elected him to be my eternal husband.
The End
Don’t go just yet…
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Read it HERE.
Dad’s Decision
Natalie
Ithought I was going to like this job. Office environment, some friends here and there, opportunities to meet new people, find a future husband and everything else someone my age could strive for, and yet, I found myself hating this place more and more. There was nothing more fake than pretending we were all here cooperating toward a common goal.
No, there was competition and it was big. It was as big as the Earth itself, and it kept getting bigger and bigger. Worse, my boss was trying to find reasons to fire me. He was a bastard and a coward. Couldn’t even find a good reason to fire me. And there was a good motive for that. I was damn good at my job.
I smiled at that thought.
I typed a message to one of our clients when my boss gestured with his hand, calling me. I sighed. He wanted to talk to me again, seriously? And here I was thinking that today he wouldn’t beat his serious talk quota where he tried to make me feel down while dancing around the possibility of firing me.
I hated this place for a couple of other reasons, also. The white lights were so bright I felt like wearing sunglasses in here. I wished I could, but then everybody would be making fun of me in their WhatsApp groups. I was never invited to them and never would be. Despite trying to make friends here, I had only one, and she worked in another department. I was all by myself here.
Despite those things, I didn’t let this environment dictate the kind of person I was. No way I would ever allow something like that to happen. I was my own woman and despite not having many friends, I managed to have a pretty successful career. After all, I made more money here than most Americans did.
But, it was still not enough. I hated my life.
And there was so much typing and chatter in here I could never feel at peace. No wonder I always had to put on my headset and listen to some music while I worked. And also, no wonder people here kept ignoring me while the boss didn’t give up on finding reasons to fire me. Raleigh was a cool city, but soon I would be jobless like so many others.
I walked to the office and found my boss sitting behind his desk. In front of him he had his MacBook. Latest version with all the extra things a man like him could ask for, I noticed. He was quite a bit older than me – he had wrinkled skin and a huge opening on his head where hair was supposed to be. Despite those things, he still tried to look juvenile. The reason behind that was quite simple. Since most of his employees were around half his age or younger, he didn’t want to feel out of place.
He had some potted plants here and there too in his office. Gotta look I’m pro-environment. I could almost hear him saying that to everyone in the main room of his company. The only problem with that, though, was that nobody would ever believe him.
“You wanted me here, boss?” I questioned.
“Natalie, there is no need to call me ‘boss’.”
“It’s what
you are.” I smiled, but it was a fake smile.
“And no need to smile too. I don’t like lies.”
And I let my lips rest to their initial position. Not too much of a point with pretending that my boss was going to become a nice man all of a sudden.
“I’ve found something quite interesting about you…” he said.
“What about?”
My heart began to beat faster than normal. I had a lot of things about myself online and not all of them were good for an office environment like mine. And I didn’t try to hide or delete them. Why should I? I was nothing more than a ghost online.
He grabbed his MacBook and turned it to me, the content on the screen making me take a step back an instant later. I didn’t think. No, it couldn’t be. I had given up on that thing a long time ago…
“My YouTube channel…”
“That’s right, and I don’t like it one bit.”
“But I don’t even use it anymore.”
“And it’s enough to put the image of this company in jeopardy. You don’t us all going bankrupt because of you, do you?”
“I don’t want that to happen…”
I built that channel a long time ago to vent about some of the stuff happening in my life, like politics and national news. Never thought anyone would ever find it. There was a good reason why the channel never took off. The number of subscribers – less than 40 – was a testament to that. What I couldn’t understand was him thinking that was a good thing to bring up right now.
“I can delete it,” I added.
“Too late. I think I’ve made my decision.”
Alright Natalie, I thought to myself, you can either be a pussy right now or kick his ass. What is it gonna be?
“Pull the plug. I don’t care,” I finally said.
But I did care. What was I going to do without this job? It paid me a little more than enough and there were no benefits, but finding work here, after the Coronavirus pandemic and all that, was going to be pretty difficult. America was in shambles, and my father would be less than pleased to know I failed him at this job. He gave me this opportunity, after all.