Deadly Vows

by Haley Stuart

  “No one could be prouder than me. And now he gets to start his life anew with a beautiful wife and, hopefully soon, lots of children.”

  The choice noises that echo across the table make me blush heavily.

  “To the perfect soldier and the perfect son, Luca. You have made your family proud.” His father lifts his glass, and everyone else follows suit, cheers emitting from every corner of the table. Luca’s smile couldn’t have been brighter at that moment.

  I lift my glass bitterly.

  These people are all brainwashed idiots. Congratulating a man for being a murderer. A killer in cold blood. It sickens me how much they make this seem like it is a good thing. And his father sits their promoting it. Bastard. It is his fault his son is a sick masochist. And he is proud.

  The sound of glass shattering pulls me from my thoughts. I look up and see Luca’s father has dropped his glass on the table and is holding his side. Luca immediately tenses up and begins looking around. I gasp as red slowly spreads across his father’s suit from underneath his hand. Luca looks immediately to his father, and for the first time in my entire life, I see fear in his eyes.

  I immediately jump up from the table, as do the others that are there, as screams of terror fill the room. Luca is quick to spring into action. He pulls out his gun and scans the room. Another shot rings out, whizzing right past Luca, hitting his father again. He staggers and falls to the ground. Luca shouts something and runs to his father’s side, his eyes wide and desperate. I watch as he cradles his father’s wounded body.

  “No, no, no. Papa, no,” he is mumbling repeatedly.

  He has called him Papa. Usually he says Father. But at this moment, when he is vulnerable and open, he is saying Papa. He looks so small and broken sitting there holding on to his dad, begging him not to die. His father’s men are already in place, scanning the room, the guests of the party already filing out of the dining room in a panicked frenzy. The room is silent, all except for Luca’s incoherent mumbling.

  I hear his father take a ragged breath.

  “Listen to me, figlio.”

  He reaches slowly and grasps Luca’s arm, pulling him down to his level. I can see Luca’s eyes widen as his father whispers his dying words in his ear. Then his body falls limp. Luca doesn’t seem to grasp that he is gone. He shakes his body, even getting angry and shouting at him to come back. It is heartbreaking. He squeezes his father’s lifeless body and throws his head back, letting out a loud cry filled with pain and agony.

  I immediately throw my hands over my mouth at the sight. Luca is hurt, almost broken. I take a step toward him.

  “Luca,” I whisper.

  His head immediately shoots up, and he looks directly at me with a murderous expression. He raises his gun quicker than I can register and fires it. I squeal and close my eyes, waiting for the pain to hit me, but am shocked when I hear a loud thud behind me. Before I can turn, someone snatches me and pulls me close into their body. I feel the cold press of steel against my throat.

  Luca still has his gun raised, an expression of hatred on his face. The deep voice behind me reverberates through my body.

  “I would put that down, unless you want to lose your precious wife here too.” Just to show he isn’t bluffing, he presses the blade into my throat just enough to draw blood. I whimper in pain.

  Luca doesn’t waver, though; he still has his gun raised.

  Footsteps echo into the massive dining hall, and I can hear Luca’s father’s men threaten the guy.

  “Tell them to back off, or she dies,” his voice whips out.

  “Abbassate le armi!”3 Luca begrudgingly growls out.

  My heart is thundering so loudly in my chest, and I can hear my panicked breathing as Luca tells them to lower their guard. The man holding me laughs and takes a breath, ready to speak.

  “These are the negotiations—”

  Everything happens at once. A shot echoes through the room, and excruciating pain explodes through my lower stomach. I look down at my dress and see the red quickly staining the once-white fabric. My knees and the knees of the man behind me buckle, and we both fall to the floor in a heap.

  My head feels so heavy it takes all my energy to look to where Luca is standing. I raise my hands slowly and try to press into the wound, my ragged breathing coming out panicked. He has shot me. Luca has shot me.

  His footsteps echo off the dining room walls as he walks closer to where I and the man lie in a wounded heap on the floor. I can see his face in the corner of my eye, and what I see there will haunt me in my dreams forever. Luca looks terrifying. His face is calm, expressionless. Yet it radiates hatred and anger. He walks completely past me to the man, who is trying to catch his breath.

  Luca squats directly next to his head.

  “There are no negotiations.” I don’t know if it is from the blood loss or the sound of Luca’s voice, but my body runs cold, and I begin to shiver.

  “That”—he motions to me with his gun—“is my wife. You are nothing to me. So imagine the fun I have in store for you.”

  “You’re fucking crazy!” the man shouts out.

  Luca throws his head back and laughs. He fucking laughs. A chilling laugh that echoes off the walls, piercing me to the bone. I hear footsteps and look to see people dragging the man away. Luca finally comes over to me, and I take what little energy I have trying to crawl away from him.

  I cry out and scream and gasp in pain and desperation. I have to get away. I just have to. Luca easily catches me and elevates my head slightly.

  “Don’t move, baby. You could rupture something if you keep moving.”

  I take deep, quick breaths. “You … shot … me …”

  He looks at me and still has no emotion on his face. I can feel my heavy tears running down the side of my face, over my temples, soaking my hair.

  “I only shot through you. I made sure to miss any main arteries. Although I had to get a spot that would knock him on his ass and not let him move, so you’ll be feeling weak for a while.”

  He pulls off his stained red jacket and balls it up, pressing it into the wound. I let out a scream of agony from the pain. It feels like someone is taking a match to my side and burning me but won’t take the match away.

  Luca does this to me. Like he always does. And I can feel a new emotion festering up deep within me, clawing its way to the surface.

  “I … hate … you.”

  That is the last thing I can get out before my world turns dark.

  * * *

  1 “My son.”

  2 “Son.”

  3 “Lower your weapons.”

  Chapter 11

  Elise

  Life is cruel. It is cruel and unfair. I didn’t ask to be born. I didn’t ask to be married. I didn’t ask for any of this. Yet here I am, enduring it.

  I lie in bed staring at the ceiling. I can only move the minimum. Even though Luca has missed major organs and arteries, the skin is still sore.

  Luca’s father’s funeral is today. Lucky for me, I have been shot by my husband, so I have the perfect excuse to skip the funeral. Like I want to go, anyways. Luca and his father disgust me. And I am glad the bastard is dead. But this also means that Luca’s position as capo is here. It is his time to take over and be the world’s most notorious crime boss. The thought makes me shiver in fear. Luca is probably going to be ten times worse than his father ever has been.

  I know he heard me when I told him I hated him. And I meant it. I hate him with every fiber of my being. Luca gives no fucks either. To him, I am his wife. His property. He loves saying that. He loves proving it. He loves every single bit of it.

  Luca’s mood has been indescribable. He doesn’t have personality anymore. He walks in the room with a straight face, will ask the doctor for an update, and leaves. He doesn’t even sleep in the same bed as me. And today, he has come in, gotten dressed, and left without a word. I have no idea what his thoughts are. And I know he isn’t going to open up to me. Not after what
he has done to me and what I’ve said to him.

  I lift my shirt and look at the now-stitched skin. My eyes begin burning as tears begin to fill them up, spilling over.

  What am I supposed to do? I have no one. No one but Ari. And I don’t get to see her anymore. There is no way I am ever going to see her either more than likely. Not if Luca has anything to say about it. That is when an idea hits me. Ari is just the person I need. I slowly sit up and wince from the pain of the stitches. I ignore it as I roll out of bed and walk to the door. I pull it open with enough room to stick my head through. With it being Luca’s father’s funeral, only a handful of guards has stayed behind to watch over me. So that means they are posted at the gate and won’t be in the house more than likely. My perfect time to make a phone call and not be afraid of getting caught. I slowly make my way out the door and down the stairs to Luca’s office.

  The giant mahogany door is shut, but with all the strength I can muster, I push it open. There is sweat forming on my brow from all the energy I have to use to get to the office and open the door. I am still weak from the bullet wound. I make my way through his office slowly.

  It is strange being in here without him. The room is dim, except for the light coming in through the glass. I make my way to the massive desk that I have been pinned against so many times before. I look at my empty chair in the corner. I can feel the rage boiling up deep within me. How many times I have sat in that chair, playing, as he has spoken, tortured someone, or just done work.

  I finally get to the desk and pick up the phone. I dial the number that I have known by heart all these years. It rings a few times but is finally picked up, and Ari’s voice comes through.

  “Hello?” The tears immediately spring into my eyes from the sound of her voice.

  “Hello?” she asks again, her voice getting irritated.

  I stifle a sob as I finally find my voice to speak. “Ari?” I breathe out.

  “Elise?” she asks, obviously very shocked. “Elise! Oh my god, are you okay?” I can hear the panic in her voice. “I heard what happened to Luca’s father. Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Why aren’t you at the funeral?” She is firing one question after another, and I can’t explain everything to her fast enough.

  “Ari, I need your help.”

  * * * * *

  I lie in bed thinking of my future and what it will hold. I am not going to sit back and take this from Luca anymore. The plan Ari and I have come up with will take a while to be put into play, but once it is here, it will work, and I will be free.

  I hear the bedroom door open and immediately close my eyes, pretending to be asleep. I can hear footsteps, which I can only assume are Luca’s. He is back from the funeral. The steps come closer to where I lie and pause next to me. After a moment, they move away, and I can hear the rustling of clothes.

  The bed dips, and instead of him pulling me close like I’ve expected him to, I can feel him laying his head on my stomach, careful not to be near my scar. Then I can feel him shaking. I open my eyes and look down to see Luca facing me, but he is not looking at me. It is almost as if he were looking through me. He is seeing nothing. Like he is not even there. And there are tears falling out of his eyes and onto my exposed stomach.

  Tears fall onto my stomach and roll, followed by another, and another. Then the sobs begin. Luca’s sobs. Luca is crying. He is crying as he lies on top of me. I don’t know what to do. So we lie like that, Luca atop me as he cries. What can possibly make a man like Luca cry? I have no idea.

  One Month Later

  I sit fidgeting in my dress on the stage. The curtains are drawn. Today is the big day. Well, for me, anyway. Today is the day of the symphonic orchestra’s performance. And my solo. On top of that, it is the day I am leaving. And I am nervous as hell.

  Life for me has changed dramatically in the past month. What with Luca’s big promotion to capo, everything is different. We have moved. To a house that is on an estate in the middle of nowhere.

  The day after Luca buried his father, it was almost as if he were a new person. He was colder than he had ever been before. It was almost as if the last shred of emotion he had died with him the day his father did.

  Now he is almost emotionless. Smiles are rare for him. Very rare. He only ever smiles if I walk into the room after not seeing him for a while, and even then, it isn’t a full-blown smile. More like an appreciative grin. He barely eats. He wakes up and goes through the motions of life, but it is almost as if he weren’t there.

  Even at the ceremony they held for him becoming the new capo. Men in this business, they are sworn in by blood oath. Once when they are “made a man,” and for men like Luca, twice. When they are made a man and when they are made the capo. Luca stood ahead of everyone and swore in blood his promise to the family. He was so shut off, though, it was almost as if he were a different person. But something was wrong with him, because when we got home that night, he was anything but gentle with me. It was like Luca’s father’s death had really hit home for him.

  The sound of the band director’s voice pulls me from my thoughts. He is on the podium next to me, speaking to us all and giving us a motivational speech. He has decided to set me standing in front of the band as I play my solo. And Luca has all been too excited to hear that news. He has immediately gone out and bought me a brand-new dress. One of the other rare times that he has smiled at me in the past month.

  The director signals for the band to begin playing, and the curtain is slowly raised. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and begin playing.

  Chapter 12

  Luca

  Elise stands atop the stage in her red gown, her eyes closed, letting the beautiful melody play out of the instrument she is so talented with. I have listened to her so many times before as she sits in my office, playing for me.

  She is stunning. No, stunning is an understatement. Her hair has grown in the past months since I’ve cut it, and she has large curls that barely touch her shoulders. I like her hair better short. I can see her face, and she can’t hide from me behind those thick locks anymore. The gown I’ve bought her hugs her figure perfectly. Her full lips are slightly parted as she plays, and her eyelashes are fanning her cheeks. She is swaying gently along with the music she is playing, clearly swallowed in her own world as she plays. The melody she is playing is enough to make a grown man cry. And I love her for it.

  The day my father has told me I am to marry is by far the worst day of my life. I remember it as if it were yesterday.

  “Luca, you know of the Trovoli family, yes?”

  I narrow my eyes slightly at him. Why would he be talking about them? Of course I know of them. Everyone does. They are a family of conniving cowards that do whatever it takes to get power. That was how the current capo lost his wife. By being selfish and careless.

  “The capo of the South has approached me with a brilliant idea. He wishes for us to grow stronger together, to form a union so we will be better armed against trouble if it arises.” The smile on his face grows, and I can only imagine what he is about to say. “We’ve decided a union between you and his only daughter will be a great way of showing that bond.”

  I jump up from my chair quickly, anger radiating off my body in waves.

  “Marriage? Fucking marriage! That’s your brilliant solution to us ‘growing strong together’?”

  He narrows his eyes at me, but I stand my ground. I am not fucking afraid of him.

  “You can just say that you’re going to work together, swear it, make an oath! You don’t have to drag me into this. You’re not about to tie me down with some bitch that’s the fucking blood of that coward!”

  “Luca, sit down!” my father shouts at me. Anyone else would have shut up and sat down in a second, but I am not anyone else. I am Luca-fucking-Pasquino, and I am not about to be ordered around by anyone. Especially not when it comes to my future.

  “No. You can do whatever the fuck you want, but I want no part of this.”

  “
Luca, you will listen to me!” he shouts. I can see the anger growing in his face.

  I smile, completely amused. “Or what?” I laugh out loud to show my amusement at how he believes he is in control of this when he is trying to make me marry someone without my consent. “Go fuck yourself,” I say as I stand and walk out of the room, my father’s voice following me out of the room as he shouts my name.

  I skip out on the rounds we are supposed to make collecting the money people pay us for protection. I just go to the bar and get drunk. I know I will have to marry this bitch. If not for my father, then for the good of the family. I’ve always known I will have to marry; I’ve just never expected for it to be so soon.

  I want nothing to do with the girl until then. I don’t even bother to seek her out. I don’t care to. I send her gifts out of courtesy, but that is about it. The Trovolis are a disgusting group of people. Stabbing their own kind in the back for years. Honestly, I am going to have them all done away with once I become the head. They have done too much to be forgiven for. But with the Russians and the Taiwanese coming farther into our territory, I can see how coming together will strengthen us. It will give us power across the United States and make us stronger.

  I’ll marry her, but I won’t give a damn about her. She is just another job, for all I care. I am not going to stop seeing my women, and I am not going to stop living the life I have before her. She isn’t going to change me.

  The day I finally meet my bride-to-be is a day I will never forget. I am walking through her home, actually, on my way to meet with her father about the negotiations of something. I stopped in my tracks as a sound I have never heard before caresses my ears. The door is cracked to the room, and I push it open slightly.