Endless Love

by Drake, Tabatha

  She nods, taking a deep, soothing breath. I let her exhale fully before pricking her again with the needle.

  “Ouch!”

  I halt my stitch and glance across the motel room at Dante. He sits on the second bed in nothing but a t-shirt and boxer shorts with a tiny bottle of mini-fridge booze in his giant palm. Lucy sits beside him, cringing constantly as she watches Lilah attempt to dig the bullet out of his leg with a tiny pair of tweezers from Elijah’s medkit.

  Lilah grunts with frustration. “Oh, my god. Will you please stop being such a baby?” She gestures toward us. “Even Dani’s barely flinching.”

  She plunges the tweezers deeper into Dante’s thigh.

  “Okay!” He snatches her wrist. “Can I get someone else on bullet extraction here?”

  Caleb stands up from the chair by the window. “I’ll do it,” she says, extending her hand.

  “Fine.” Lilah rolls her eyes and gives Caleb the tweezers. “Take care of my baby brother. He’s very fragile.” She plops into the chair across from Boxcar and his laptop, ignoring Dante’s glare. “How’s the noggin, Box?” she asks.

  Boxcar adjusts the icepack on his head. “It’ll be fine once all the cartoon birds stop buzzing around.”

  Lilah chortles and picks up the revolver off the table between them.

  I turn back to Dani’s wound, paying close attention to her breathing to monitor her pain. She sits still with closed eyes, her brows giving the occasional twitch but, overall, she takes it well.

  “What would Fox do, huh?” I ask, my voice only for her.

  Her eyes open and she smiles. “Yeah, just something I started asking myself recently.”

  I lean in and kiss the edge of her mouth.

  “Hey, Caleb?” Lilah asks.

  Caleb keeps her eyes on Dante’s leg. “Yeah?”

  “What’s the deal with this gun?”

  “What do you mean?”

  Lilah spins the empty cylinder and snaps it closed. “Boxcar told your dad it was your good luck charm,” she says.

  “Yeah, it was.”

  Lucy snorts. “Not was. Is. If it didn’t jam…” She closes her mouth and shudders without finishing the thought.

  “It, uh…” Caleb pauses for a second. “It didn’t jam, actually.” She leans back and reaches into her pocket.

  Lilah tilts forward, opening her palm as Caleb drops something into it. I look over, spotting the small, triangular piece in the middle of Lilah’s hand.

  “A firing pin?” Lilah raises a brow. “You disabled it beforehand?”

  I stop stitching.

  “No,” Caleb answers. “Not me.” She continues her work on Dante’s leg. “My father did.”

  I look at Boxcar as he lowers his icepack.

  Dani turns her head, careful not to stretch her new stitches. “What happened to your dad?” she asks.

  “He took off through the tunnels,” I answer.

  “Cal,” Boxcar says slowly, “do you want me to try and find him, or…?”

  “No,” she says, her head down. “Just let him go.”

  Boxcar glances at me before he rests his icepack against his head again.

  “Got it!” Caleb announces as she pulls the bullet out.

  Dante exhales hard. “Thank you,” he says.

  Lilah smirks. “Does the big boy want a lolli?”

  He glowers at her.

  I tie off Dani’s final stitch. “You’re done, too,” I say as I reach for her bandaged hand. “How’s this feel?”

  “Itchy mostly,” she says. “Doesn’t hurt as long as I don’t move it.”

  “Good.”

  Dani relaxes and looks down, trying to get a good angle on her stitches. “That’s definitely gonna leave a scar…” she murmurs.

  “Didn’t you hear?” Lilah quips. “Scars are cool.”

  I smile as I stand up. “Not nearly as cool as finally getting some sleep.”

  Dani takes my hand and I help her off the bed. “Yes, please.”

  “Not so fast…” Dante says as he points a finger at me. “I believe I promised to kill you.”

  “Oh, right,” I say.

  Dani blinks. “Wait, what?”

  Lucy nods. “He did. That’s a thing.”

  I touch Dani’s side as she starts to look worried. “But…” I gesture at his leg, “it wouldn’t be much of a fair fight in your condition.”

  Dante nods slowly. “That’s a good point.”

  “I’m willing to reschedule.”

  He thinks for a moment, his smile sliding upward. “How about if we ever find ourselves in the same area of the world again, you owe me a drink?”

  I walk over and extend my hand. “Sounds good,” I say.

  Dante shakes it, squeezing my fingers extra hard in a display of comical dominance.

  I look at Lilah. “And you? Are you going to shoot me in the back as I walk out of here?”

  Lilah glances up, considering it. Finally, she shrugs. “Nah, we’re cool. Just don’t talk to me ever again.”

  I nod. “Fair enough.”

  Lucy stands up and hugs Dani. “You’re really fucking cool, Roxie Roberts.”

  Dani chuckles. “You, too.”

  They break apart and Lucy grabs a motel room notepad off the bedside table.

  “Would it be weird if I asked you to sign this for me?”

  Dani takes the notepad. “Got a pen?”

  Lucy squeaks as she snatches the nearest pen by the phone.

  Boxcar closes his laptop and pulls out the flashdrive from the side. “Here, Lilah.”

  Lilah takes it from him. “Thanks, Sparky,” she says.

  “Say hi for me,” he says.

  “I will.” She nods. “Congratulations, by the way.”

  Boxcar looks at Caleb and smiles. “Thanks.”

  Dani gives her autograph to Lucy and the girl grins as she hugs the pen and notepad.

  “We’re stealing these,” she says to Dante.

  He furrows his brow. “I think I’ve been a bad influence on you, Lucy Vaughn.”

  I take Dani’s hand and we walk to the door. Boxcar and Caleb follow us outside and we all voice our goodbyes to Lucy and the Harts one last time.

  We walk around the outside of the motel, quickly reaching mine and Dani’s room. I search my pockets for the room key and Boxcar nudges my arm.

  “Hey…”

  “Yeah?” I ask.

  “About what I said in Paris.”

  I turn to face him. “Box, you don’t have to—”

  “It was harsh,” he says. “A little too harsh, maybe.”

  “No, it was well-deserved,” I say. “I’m glad you said it.”

  “Still, I’m sorry. With everything you’ve been through, who am I to judge?” He flexes his jaw. “Are we cool?”

  I smile. “Of course.”

  Caleb squints at Boxcar. “Wait, what did you say?” she asks.

  Boxcar hesitates. “I might have… told Fox that I didn’t want him around you anymore.”

  Her jaw drops. “You what?”

  “Or our baby.”

  Caleb’s face screws up. “Why?”

  He stutters. “It was a thing that happened after I saw some shit and I freaked out but it’s okay now. We’re fine. Well, not fine fine, but we’re growing. There’s growth involved. We’re gonna work it out. Right, Fox?”

  I nod. “Right.”

  Caleb gawks at him. “What?”

  “Anyway…” Dani taps the door behind us with her foot. “I was kidnapped by a very handsy mobster and his creepy mom, so I would like to get some sleep now.”

  I blink. “Wait, how handsy?”

  Boxcar tugs on Caleb’s arm, guiding her away from the door. “Goodnight, you guys.”

  “Yeah,” Caleb says, looking back. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Dani waves. “Bye.”

  They continue toward their room.

  “So, honey,” Boxcar says, “since you’re already kind of mad at
me, you think now would be an okay time to bring up that I don’t want to live in Los Angeles?”

  Caleb’s head tilts. “You don’t?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  I slide in our keycard, but Dani and I linger in the doorway to eavesdrop.

  “Because I really hate sand, Cal,” Boxcar says.

  “Oh, come on. That’s not a real reason.”

  “It’s pretty high up there.”

  “Then, where do you want to live?”

  “Boston.”

  “Boston?!”

  Dani and I crack up as we step into our room. I lock the door behind us, sliding the chain into place to make sure it’s nice and secure.

  I turn around and Dani stands there, gazing up at me with her big eyes.

  “Hey,” she says.

  I smile as I take a step closer. “Hey.”

  She turns her head up, offering me her lips. I kiss her slowly, extending the quiet kiss for as long as possible.

  Dani wraps her arms around my waist. “This brings back memories,” she says.

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Alone in a motel room with you…” She smiles. “Running for our lives.”

  I kiss her forehead. “No more running,” I say. “Just… our lives.”

  Chapter 28

  Sofia

  I stand with my back to the wall and wait.

  It’s been a long while since I’ve seen Gio face-to-face. The last time, it was full of fear and confusion, mere seconds away from being shoved out of an airplane by Fox Fitzpatrick. Truly, I prayed he’d died that day. I hoped his parachute was defective and he plummeted to his death. Then, I’d never have to worry about him or the Zappia way ever again.

  Fate wouldn’t let me be that lucky.

  He survived his fall. But the thing about survival is that it’s a skill. Gio survived once. I survived over five-thousand days under his family’s cruelty. Sooner or later, my skills would overwhelm his.

  I knew that I’d be able to look into his face again and smile.

  Gio stirs in his restraints, slowly coming to behind the wall. They left an opening for me. A few missing bricks in front of his face. Chains clink and echo inside as he tries to move. Finally, his eyes open wide. They shift around in his skull, growing angrier every second.

  “Hello, Gio,” I say.

  He stares at me through the dusty hole with gritted teeth. “Sofia... don’t you look liberated,” he quips.

  I smile. “More than you could ever know.”

  He coughs, his dry throat cracking. “What is this?”

  I glance around the concrete room full of rusted old shelving. “Do you not recognize it?” I ask. “I suppose you didn’t really spend much time here. You usually skipped the family visits to America to stay back home and torture me.”

  Gio grunts, trying once again to free himself from the locks and chains keeping him in place. “Let me out,” he says.

  “We’re in your family’s old smuggling tunnels beneath Chicago,” I answer, ignoring the request. “They haven’t been used in quite some time and, after today, no one will set foot in them again.”

  He rests his sweat-covered forehead against the brick. “Sofia, let me out.”

  “We’ll seal them off completely,” I continue. “Erase them from existence—”

  “Let me out.”

  “Why?” I ask. “Is there somewhere else you’d rather be? Something else you’d rather be doing other than being trapped behind a wall you can’t escape from? For the first time in my life, I feel empathy for you, Gio.”

  He glares at me. “What do you want?”

  “I want nothing from you. Nothing I don’t already have.”

  I take a few steps toward him, stopping to stand just outside the wall. I look up into his deep, hateful eyes as pure glee spurs in my belly.

  “But I thought to see you one last time,” I say. “I wanted you to be the first to hear the good news.”

  “What news?”

  I smile wide. “I’m pregnant.”

  His brow twitches as a giggle escapes from my throat.

  “It’s Luka’s, obviously. Again,” I say. “He always regretted not being able to watch our son grow in me. Now, I’m giving him that chance to embrace what you took for granted.”

  “Congratulations,” he spits.

  “Oh, don’t be so cold, Gio,” I say. “You should know that it was always me. Not you. You see, while you were fucking the midwife, I was with a surgeon. He made me so you and your rotten seed would never create life. Not within me. But...” my smile grows, “something out there has blessed us. Against all odds, Luka and I can still conceive.”

  He stares back, his cheeks turning a deep crimson. “You...” He inhales a seething breath.

  “I endured a thousand nights of torture in your bed knowing that you’d never have a child of your own.”

  “You filthy whore!”

  “Call me what you want, Gio.” I take a step back. “While you rot in this place, I will live out my life. And should we meet in hell, I will accept your apology.”

  “I’m going to kill you...” He struggles even more but never budges from his position. “I’m going to slit your throat just like your idiot little sister, you fucking cunt.”

  “I doubt that very much.”

  I turn toward the brick pile in the corner, enduring the strong smell of wet cement as I grab the small spade lying nearby.

  His eyes widen. “Sofia…”

  I ignore him as I lather cement on the opening in front of him and drop a brick on top.

  “Stop.”

  I watch the panic on his face as I grab another brick.

  “Sofia! Wait.” He lurches behind the wall as I obscure even more of him. “Please, stop.”

  “How many times did I say that to you, Gio?” I ask. “Did you ever stop?”

  I push another brick into place.

  “Sofia, I’ll do anything,” he begs. “I’ll give you anything you want.”

  I stop and stare into his eyes through the missing piece of wall. “This is what I want, Gio,” I say.

  He lets out a scream as I slide the final brick into place. He continues his struggle, shouting nonsense and whimpering like a child.

  My heart thumps wildly in my chest as I turn away from him. I grip the nearby shelf and push it forward, forcing it to rest in front of the new wall. This old, rusted shelf will serve as his grave marker.

  It’s more than he deserves.

  I take a deep breath. As I do, my pulse settles back to normal. I find a bit of peace, the kind I’ve never felt in my life.

  A life without Zappias.

  I ascend the stairs as Gio’s muffled screams fade off behind me. The old, bland stench quickly dissolves from my nose, replaced by the fresh scent of waves.

  “Sofia.”

  Luka extends his hand to me, his eyes full of more love and concern than Gio was ever capable of. I cling to him as he leads me down the beach. I fill my lungs with the clear, lake air. When I exhale, I breathe out every dark thought, every horrible, painful memory of Giovani Zappia still etched in the back of my mind.

  I let it all go. The way he used to throw tantrums and shout that I was his. The way he used to hold me down and do as he pleased to me. That amused look in his eyes as Rosalie took her final breath in my arms.

  I let it all go.

  A Zappia no more.

  We come to a stop several meters down the beach next to a man who turns and offers us a smile.

  “Fox,” I greet, very happy to see him. “I thought you’d be gone by now.”

  “We’re heading back to LA today,” he says with a nod. “But I wanted to say goodbye before then.”

  I grin. “I would be offended if you didn’t.”

  I step forward and wrap my arms around him, giving him a great hug while my husband no doubt rolls his eyes.

  “Please, keep in touch,” I say as I step back. “I want to hear all ab
out your wedding plans!”

  Fox laughs. “If we even have one.”

  “You will,” I say. “Trust in me.”

  He nods, humoring me, but his smile fades as he looks at Luka. “And I wanted to say thank you. You know, for not shooting me after Marilyn told that story.”

  “Rest easy, Fox,” Luka says. “You’re more of a Lutrova than he ever was.”

  He extends his hand to Fox and I smile as they shake hands. My husband and my friend. Two soldiers finally parting ways after a deadly war.

  I pop up onto my toes to plant one last kiss on Fox’s cheek. “Addio,” I say.

  Fox smiles as he turns and walks off down the beach toward the parking lot.

  Luka raises my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles. “You know, for every kiss he gets, I should get two.”

  I chuckle as I peck both of his cheeks. “Happy?”

  “Remarkably.” He shows a tender smile as his bright, silver eyes study my face. “And you…” He runs a finger along my chin. “You look happy, too, lyubov’ moya,” he says over the crashing waves.

  “I am happy,” I say.

  He pulls me closer to whisper in my ear. “Where would you like to go now?”

  “Home.” I sigh. “I want to see my baby.”

  He nods. “And then?”

  I bite my lip. “Then, I want you to take me somewhere far, far away.”

  “Just the two of us?”

  “Finally.”

  “Then, let’s go home,” he says.

  I push my toes into the uneven sand. “Kiss me first,” I whisper.

  Luka does as I ask and offers me a deep, slow kiss. “Ya tebya lyublyu,” he says, his Russian tongue sending trembles down my spine.

  “Ti amo,” I say back, his lips curling at the Italian words.

  We kiss again and I wrap my arms around his body. My Luka. The light in my darkness.

  Let’s go home.

  Chapter 29

  Dante

  I open my eyes after a full night’s sleep and smile for the first time in weeks.

  I’m in my own bed in my childhood home. The spot beside me is empty but the scent of Lucy’s hair still lingers on her pillow among the undeniable, overpowering scents of bacon and fresh coffee wafting up from downstairs.

  I throw my blanket to the side to keep my leg from getting caught as I slowly turn and ease it down to the floor. The bandage is still secure. Might wait another twelve hours before taking it off again.