Fugitive (Deceptive Series Book 2)

by M. D. Melai

  “Apparently they’re making threats to my family. She didn’t specify what the threats were, but just said that they seemed pretty serious this time,” I explained.

  “Okay. I’ll call Nikolas in a little bit. I know at this hour back home he is pretty busy, so in the meantime, what do you want for dinner?” he asked.

  “Surprise me,” I said giving him a smile.

  ***

  Lucas tried to call Nikolas and Faith for the next few days, but neither one of them answered, nor returned his phone calls. He was starting to get worried that either they found out that he was working both sides, or that the threat was real. He sat around for most of the next week, waiting to hear back from them.

  It was the beginning of May before Faith finally called him back. Apparently their father had forced them to break their ties with Lucas, and she wasn’t sure why.

  He didn’t talk very much over the next hour. I just caught bits and pieces of their conversation. I overheard him asking a question here and there. I was relieved when he finally said goodbye and hung up the phone.

  “So, what did she say?” I asked.

  “She said that Viktor has made several different plans. Apparently they list all the way down to a ‘Plan D’ just in case things don’t go the way he planned the first three times. Whatever he is planning, it’s big.”

  “Well, did she say what the plan was?”

  “No. She and Nikolas have been kept out of the planning since they failed when they kidnapped you. She asked if I had found out any information about your family yet. I told her every lead I had was a dead end and that it had been six months. I basically told her there was nothing.”

  “Let me call Violet, it’s been awhile. Maybe she has new information.”

  I picked up the phone and was about to dial her number when her face popped up on the screen. I answered it immediately.

  “Hey Vi, I was just about to call you. Lucas just got off the phone with Faith and—”

  “Lily, stop. We have a problem,” his voice echoed through the phone. I hadn’t heard it in months, and hearing it now sent chills down my spine.

  It was Emilio and he said that there was a problem. That meant that the Heinrichs plan had gone into effect.

  And if Emilio was the one calling me, then where was Violet?

  Chapter 18

  “Where’s Violet?” I asked, my voice trembling.

  “They have her.”

  That was all I heard. I dropped the phone immediately and heard the thud as it hit the ground. I could feel the panic starting to rise throughout my body as the realization started washing over me.

  “Lily?” Lucas questioned as he moved in towards me. It was like everything was moving in slow motion. “Lily?” he asked with more concern this time. He leaned down to pick up the phone, but Emilio’s voice rang through my thoughts. I quickly leaned over, picked up the phone, and placed it back up to my ear.

  “I’m here,” I said trying to take a deep breath.

  “Don’t do that!” he yelled. “Do not quit talking. You almost gave me a heart attack. I thought someone had grabbed you too.”

  “I’m here, and I’m safe.”

  “Where is here?” Emilio asked, but quickly recanted. “Never mind don’t tell me right now.”

  “Why did they take Violet? Where was Dante? Why was she by herself?” I insisted.

  Lucas was looking at me like I was crazy as I hurled my questions at Emilio. Did Lucas know?

  “Dante was with her,” Emilio began. “They were walking down the street when a van pulled up beside them. Three guys jumped out, one of them grabbed Violet, and the other two jumped Dante.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Yes, he’s fine, just on a war rampage right now for obvious reasons.”

  “I... I don’t understand,” I began. “Why would they take Violet?”

  “Because,” he said acting like it was already obvious, “they know you will come home for her.”

  “Of course I will come back—” I started, but Emilio quickly cut me off.

  “No!” he shouted. “Do not come back here Liliana! Do you understand me? Do not come back here.”

  “But—”

  “No buts! We thought they might had figured out Elle wasn’t you when their activity and chatter slowed down, but we weren’t one hundred percent positive. I don’t know how they would have figured it out. We’ve been so careful.”

  “How did you know to call this number?” I blurted out.

  “What?” he asked, taken by surprise.

  “How did you know that this was the number to call me?”

  “Violet dropped her purse when they grabbed her. When the purse arrived, the first thing I did was look for the phone, and then I checked the call log to see who she called the most. It was completely empty, and I could only assume that she deleted it after every phone call. So, the next thing I did was start dialing every number. I’m thankful it was in the C’s and not the Z’s, because Violet has about a lot of contacts in here.”

  “Back to Elle again, are you saying somewhere along the line they saw inconsistency? Maybe she ran into one of them? All they would have to do is look at her face. She is missing three scars. Even if they didn’t think of the last one, she is still missing two. I mean they all saw the cut on my cheek when I was kidnapped,” I said, trying to make sense of the whole situation.

  “We never even thought about that.” He sounded like he was deep in thought. “I never thought of someone bumping into her.”

  Emilio and I talked for a few more minutes before he told me once again not to come home and to stay where I was at. He said he would call me every time he got a new piece of information. I assured him that I was okay and that I would talk to him soon.

  As soon as I got off the phone with Emilio, I turned my thoughts back towards Lucas.

  “Did you know about this?” I screamed at Lucas. “Did you know they were going to take Violet? Did you tell them to take Violet?”

  Shock spread across his face as he took a step back.

  “No,” he said as he kept his voice even and stern. “I swear, I didn’t know. I told you they wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  “If they hurt her Lucas and I find out you knew something about this, then I swear on everything in this world I will kill you myself!” I stormed off towards my room and quickly made my way to my closet to grab my suitcase.

  “What are you doing?” Lucas asked as he came into my room.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” I said as I threw my suitcase on the bed and started pulling my clothes out of the closet. “I’m going home!”

  “Emilio said not to come home.”

  “I don’t give a shit what Emilio said! I’m going home! I need to be there. I have to be there!”

  “You’re not going back!” Lucas yelled as he grabbed the clothes I had already thrown in my suitcase.

  “Lucas!” I shouted. “Either you can go with me or not, but with or without you I’m going back home. Violet didn’t deserve this. I thought this whole body double idea was stupid in the first place and now we are paying for it!” I turned around and started grabbing the clothes from the drawers of my small dresser.

  “I feel like such an idiot,” I continued. “I can’t believe I thought I could actually run away from my life. I’m halfway across the world still dealing with it, and still looking over my shoulder wherever I go. I’m never going to be happy or be able to feel free until all this is over with!”

  Whatever I had said worked. Lucas stopped fighting me over it and laid my clothes back into my suitcase, before he turned and headed towards the door.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “To pack my stuff. I’m not letting you go back into the lion’s den by yourself.”

  ***

  It hadn’t taken us long to get our things packed and the house cleaned up. I called my landlord and told her I was leaving, and that I left money on the table for t
he next month’s rent as well, so she would have plenty of time to find someone else. I thanked her for letting me stay there. She wished me well and told me to look her up the next time I came back into town.

  I called Emily and told her I was leaving, because of an emergency back home, and for her to tell Gabe and Miguel goodbye for me.

  The drive to the airport wasn’t bad, and Lucas and I were quickly able to get a flight back home. Thank goodness it was non-stop—I was already dreading the nine hour flight. I had yet to determine how I made it to Italy on a seventeen hour one.

  Our plane took off precisely on time. Lucas and I had already settled into our seats comfortably by the time we leveled off in the air. We would be flying through the night, landing around six thirty the next morning.

  I was just hoping Emilio would not freak out when he tried to get ahold of me.

  We didn’t talk much, and sometime after dinner, I ended up falling asleep.

  The sound of the plane’s P.A. system woke me up when the flight attendant started talking. “Good morning everyone, we will be landing at JFK within the next thirty minutes. We will be coming around to collect your headphones, before we make our descent. Thank you.”

  ***

  By the time we landed, collected our things, and went through customs, it was already well after eight o’clock in the morning. Lucas asked if I wanted to call my family, but I decided it was best to just show up at the house, so they wouldn’t force Lucas to put me right back on a plane.

  On the drive home, I thought about what coming home meant for me. I had been so worried about Violet and getting here I hadn’t put any thought into it, until now.

  I had been gone six months now. I had missed birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. I had missed winter in the city and the snow. My only contact to home had been Violet.

  As we drove closer and closer to the house, my anxiety crept in. Maybe I did make the wrong decision in coming home. What reaction was I going to receive from my family? Were they going to embrace me after all this time? I wouldn’t if I were them. I would be upset and hurt if someone had done the same to me.

  I started to have a mini panic attack as I thought about what I was coming home to. I had left Emilio behind, on good terms, and forced myself not think about him. I had also left my parents and brothers in the dark as well.

  “Maybe we should turn around and go back?” I spoke up as we entered the city limits of Monroe.

  “Why?” Lucas asked before he turned to look at me. “Lily, what’s wrong? You’re white as a ghost!”

  “I’m thinking maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. It’s been six months. What was I thinking coming back here? They’re all going to hate me for what I did.” I started fidgeting with my necklace as I ran the locket up and down the chain.

  “They don’t hate you. I know that for a fact,” he said with a smile as he took my hand and held it.

  “I'm pretty sure I know my family better than you.” I grimaced.

  We drove in silence for a few more minutes and, before I knew it, we were pulling up to the gate of the house. Lucas punched in his code and the gate opened. My heartbeat picked up as we drove closer to the house. It wasn’t hard to see all the cars parked out front.

  I couldn’t catch my breath by the time we came to a stop. I felt like jumping out of the car, and running and screaming all the way back to the airport. This was a mistake. I knew my family could handle this all on their own. They didn’t need me to be here. I was probably going to hinder them more than help them, but I needed to be here for Violet.

  Lucas got out of the car and came around to open up my door. I was about to demand that he give me the keys when the front door swung opened and there stood my mother. She looked confused, shocked, and then excited as complete recognition came across her face.

  “Liliana?” she yelled as she came running down the steps. “Liliana!”

  I jumped out of the car, almost knocking Lucas over. Seeing her run towards me with relief in her eyes, I knew, no matter what, I had made the right decision, and all my anxiety left me in an instant.

  “Mamma!” I yelled as I collided with her.

  “Liliana, my baby!” she cried as she held me close.

  “Mamma! I’m so sorry I left you!” I cried along with her.

  “We were so worried about you,” she said as she pulled away from me. “You scared us.”

  “I'm sorry. I just needed some time to live my life, normally.” I hoped she could hear the remorse in my voice.

  “Liliana?” I heard Benito’s voice come from behind my mother.

  I stepped aside to see him standing there, and just like my mother, relief flooded his eyes.

  “Liliana!” he exclaimed as he quickly made his way over to me. His arms quickly flew around me and pulled me in tight.

  “Where have you been?” he said, sounding choked up.

  Was he crying?

  “In Europe,” I said as I looked up at him.

  Yeah, those were tears. Why was he crying? This was very unusual for Benito.

  “I know that, but where?” he questioned.

  “A few weeks in Italy, a couple days in Germany, but mostly I was in Spain.”

  I winced as I waited for him to start yelling at me, but he didn’t. He hugged me again before settling me in to his side. He used his free arm to pull my mother in as we headed towards the house.

  “Have they heard anything about Violet yet?” I asked as we started up the steps.

  “No,” Benito said as he let me and my mother go before opening the door for us. “I just got off the phone with Giovanni and everyone is coming here for breakfast to regroup.”

  Benito’s tone became more hostile as he looked over his shoulder to Lucas.

  “I’m sure everyone will be happy to know that Lucas is back from his hiatus,” Benito continued. “He can surely be of help.”

  “Of course,” Lucas said as he walked up behind us, carrying our luggage.

  ***

  Shortly after, the four of us started working on breakfast. Benito said there would be at least fifteen men coming in, so we would need a lot of food. I could tell both Benito and my mother wanted to ask me questions about everything, but they didn’t. It didn’t keep them from constantly checking to make sure I was actually standing here. On the other hand, their demeanor toward Lucas was cold. I thought Lucas was supposed to be a welcomed helper, but I guess I was wrong.

  On top of that, every time my mother would walk by, she would hug and kiss me and start crying all over again as she mumbled in Italian. Those moments made me feel like the worst daughter ever.

  The men started slowly trickling in. The first few I didn’t know, and Benito had to introduce me to them. The next group had Giovanni, Giorgio, Marcello, and my father with them. Marcello and Giovanni both hugged and kissed me on the cheek, telling me it was good to see me and it was about time I came home. Giorgio, though, attacked me by swopping me up in his arms and holding me tight.

  “Don’t you ever, ever do that to us again! You scared us,” he said as he hugged me a little tighter before setting me down and kissing me on the cheek. He was always my favorite of my four older brothers.

  My father just looked at me, half hugged me, and kissed me on the forehead, before he pointed to Lucas and told him sternly that he would like to speak with him later on. My father looked very unhappy, and for once, it wasn’t directed at me.

  Lorenzo and Paolo came through the door next. I received the same welcome from them as I had from Giorgio.

  “Where’s Dante?” I asked about the time Dante stepped through the door. He looked worn and tired. I didn’t know what I expected when I saw him, but what happened next, I did not expect.

  “This is your fault!” Dante yelled at me as soon as our eyes met. I was stunned. “You did this!” he screamed as he stormed in my direction and bowed up to me.

  “What are you talking about?” I yelled back at him.
>
  “If you wouldn’t have been so damn childish and ran off, then they never would have taken her!”

  “Are you seriously blaming this on me?” I asked as anger pulsated through my veins. “This is NOT my fault,” I said as I poked him in the chest.

  “It is your fault! You’re a coward and—” He was cut off sharply by several voices, but only one stood out among them. His voice was distinct and rang louder than the rest.

  I watched as his hand grabbed Dante’s shoulder and spun him around.

  “I think you need to go upstairs, take a shower, cool down, and get some rest before you say one more word that you will regret later,” Emilio’s voice was stern as he pushed Dante towards the stairs.

  Neither of us broke our eye contact until he made it up the stairs.

  I had forgotten that Emilio had been standing behind me, and when I turned around, I was immediately met by his stormy gray eyes. They were wide and looking directly into mine.

  “Liliana,” he breathed out.

  Chapter 19

  I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath, until I felt Lucas slide his hand across my back, before hooking me around my waist and pulling me in close to him. My eyes had dropped for just a second from Emilio’s and I wished they never had. The moment my eyes met his again, I could see total devastation as it registered on his face, before he turned and headed back out the front door. I couldn’t move as I heard the door slam behind Emilio. My mind was screaming for my body to move, but it wasn’t listening. It took me a few seconds to slip away from Lucas and chased after him.

  “Emilio!” I called out as I busted through the front door and leapt off the front porch.

  It took me a moment to find him, and when I did, he was strides away from his car.

  “Emilio!” I screamed this time as I started to run towards him. “Emilio, please stop!” I knew he heard me. I watched him hesitate seconds before he flung the driver side door open and slid in.

  Why had he parked so far away from the house? How did he get to his car so fast?

  When I heard him rev the engine, I pushed myself harder and faster. I didn’t make it though. He took off when I was just two strides away from the back end of the car. I knew he saw me in his rearview mirror.