Fugitive (Deceptive Series Book 2)

by M. D. Melai

  I chased him through the gate and down the street. I finally understood what it must have felt like for him the day he chased me. He had been running and screaming that day too. It was the day before Thanksgiving. I had snuck out of the house, and it was the first day I had met Nikolas.

  I finally stopped running when I couldn’t see his car anymore. I didn’t know at what point I had started crying, but now I stood in the middle of the road and tried to catch my breath as tears fell down my face.

  What the hell had I just done? My heart was breaking for Emilio, myself, and for Lucas. I had left Emilio in the middle of the night, after he bared his heart to me, and I had told him I loved him. I did love him, but I loved Lucas too. I could only imagine how Lucas felt as he watched me run out the door, screaming for Emilio.

  I walked over to the curb, sat down, and buried my face in my hands as I started to cry hysterically. Everything was my fault right now. Everything. Violet was missing, because I had been selfish and walked away, instead of staying here and dealing with my life. Emilio would probably never look at me again, and Lucas, I wouldn’t be surprised if he never spoke to me again. On top of that, Dante hated me too, and he had made it perfectly clear this was all my fault.

  I needed Violet right now. I cried as I thought about her being all alone. If they treated her like they treated me, then I would never forgive myself for leaving her or this place.

  “Liliana,” Benito said softly.

  I kept my head down, but I heard him take a seat beside me.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  I turned my head to look at him.

  “Do I look like I’m okay?” I said a little more sarcastically than I should have. He was the only person who had come after me. “I'm sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “Its fine,” he said as he half smiled at me. “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Earlier, Benito about fell over himself to hug me, and now he sat beside me on a curb and asked me if I wanted to talk about things. Why was he acting so different?

  “What is there to talk about? I mean, as you can tell, I’m an epic failure in life right now. I can’t seem to do anything right. And my best friend is missing.”

  “You’re not a failure, and we will find Violet. Everyone is already on it.” He hesitated for a moment before he put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in. “We will find her,” he whispered into my hair as he gave me a gentle kiss.

  We sat there quietly for a few more minutes before Benito spoke up again. “So, you and Lucas, huh?

  “What?”

  “You and Lucas?” he asked again.

  “Yeah, for a while now.”

  “So, he has been with you for a while?”

  I probably should have stopped talking at that point, but it was like I was on zombie mode. My words rushed out as I continued to explain.

  “He’s been with me for about four months now,” I replied.

  “Well, that explains a lot.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, still in a daze.

  “Nothing,” he said as he pushed up off the curb and held his hand out to help me up. “Let’s get you home and see if they have a plan or an idea about where Violet is.”

  We didn’t talk the entire walk back to the house, which ended up being more than a quarter of a mile away. I couldn’t believe I had chased Emilio that far.

  When we walked through the door, everyone was sitting at the dining room table looking at a map and talking in hushed voices. Lucas looked up for a moment to acknowledge I had just walked through the door, but he didn’t look happy to say the least. I mouthed I was sorry, but he just shook his head, before dropping it and rejoining the conversation.

  Benito pointed me towards the kitchen, and for once, I kept my mouth shut as I headed to help my mother, who was fast at work cleaning the dishes.

  We worked in silence as we washed the dishes and put them up, and then we cleaned the kitchen. The whole time the men worked on trying to figure out where the Heinrichs might have Violet tucked away. They developed several plans on how we would get her back. I tried to listen, but only caught bits and pieces of their conversations.

  My mother and I headed upstairs when we were finished. Her exact words were, ‘let them do what they do best.’ It made me wonder exactly how many times my brothers, father, and their men had done this sort of thing.

  Dante passed us on the way up. He looked less angry, but still very much tired. I knew he was worried. I was too, along with everyone else.

  My suitcase was sitting on the bed when I entered my room. As I looked around, everything looked the same, but it didn’t feel like home. I felt like a stranger. Maybe it was because Violet was missing. Her absence left a hole in my heart that wouldn’t be filled until she was home and safe.

  “Are you going to unpack your things?” my mother asked as she entered my room.

  “I don’t think so,” I said turning to face her. She looked bewildered.

  “You’re not going to unpack?” she asked confused.

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  My shoulders shrugged. “Because I don’t think I’m going to be here long enough.”

  “What?” my mother’s voice rang out. “No! You will not leave again!”

  “We will see Mamma,” I said as I forced a smile. She stared at me for a few seconds with her lips pressed together before she quietly turned and left me. I could tell she wanted to say more, but maybe she thought now was not the best time to do so.

  ***

  I laid on my bed and watched television until after two that afternoon. It felt weird watching shows not in Spanish. I had become pretty fluent and started watching more Spanish channels than English over the last couple of months.

  I had heard the front door open and close a couple times, and my mother came and checked on me every so often. Each time she looked at me it was like she wanted to ask me questions, but she never did. She would just ask if I needed anything and then leave again.

  “Liliana,” Benito’s voice called before he knocked on the door.

  “Come in,” I said. Moments later he came into view.

  “We’re at a stopping point at the moment and would like for you to join us downstairs please?”

  I got up and turned the television off, before I passed Benito and headed downstairs.

  Everyone was gone, except for my family and Emilio, who all sat in the living room and waited patiently for me to join them.

  “Where are all the others?” I whispered to Benito halfway down the steps.

  “They are out scouting for us.”

  “Oh,” I said as Benito patted my shoulder. He quickly made his way over to my father and sat down before I had even stepped off the stairs.

  “Have a seat Liliana,” my father said as he motioned towards an open spot on the couch between Giovanni and Giorgio. I made my way over, took the seat, and looked around at everyone. I still had no idea what I was doing here.

  “We will discuss Violet in a moment,” he spoke again.

  I was just about to ask that, how did he know?

  He continued. “First, where have you been the last six months?”

  Everyone turned and looked straight at me, all of them waiting to hear my story.

  “I went to Italy for a while, Germany for a few days, and then back to Italy. But for the past four and half months, I was in Spain.”

  “Spain? Why didn’t we think of that? It’s one of her favorite places,” Giorgio spoke loud enough for all of us to hear, but it was more for himself.

  “And why did you feel the need to leave in the middle of the night?” Emilio asked from behind me.

  I froze in place. I couldn’t even turn around to look at him. Shame washed over me as all eyes were wide with curiosity. I dropped my gaze to my lap and nervously played with my locket.

  “Are you going to answer me?” he asked again, this time closer.

  I didn’t look up a
s I answered him back. “Because I knew… I knew you wouldn’t let me go. No one would, and I needed to get away. I was suffocating.” My own shaking voice betrayed me.

  “You’re right, I wouldn’t have. Nor would anyone in this room have either. But I do remember a conversation we had, when I told you,” his voice started to get louder, “that if you needed space to let us know, so what happened that day would not happen again, but you did it anyway!” He was screaming now. “You promised me, Liliana, that you wouldn’t do it again!”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, already feeling remorseful. I looked up to see him standing in front of me. His face was red with anger, and his eyes were full of pain. “I thought it was the best thing at the moment, and I’m sorry it hurt you...,” I said as I stood up and looked him in the eyes before I turned and looked at everyone else in the room.

  “I’m sorry I left everyone the way I did, but you all are so protective over me. You still hide things from me. You keep me in the dark about everything. I’m hiding and running from the Heinrichs and I don’t even know why. I must be the key to something important for them to go to such great lengths to get me.” I paused for a moment before beginning again. “I’m sorry that I hurt you all, and made you worry, but I don’t regret leaving.”

  I stepped closer to Emilio and made sure he was looking straight at me. “I only regret how I left.”

  “Well, you had Lucas to comfort you, so you obviously didn’t feel too bad about it,” Emilio seethed at me and shook his head. “I should have known, maybe I did and didn’t want to admit it. I knew he was stalling for some reason. He left so abruptly after you were gone.”

  “I didn’t call him,” I yelled at Emilio. “I didn’t even know he was there watching over me until after two months had gone by. I don’t have to justify my actions to you, and I won't have you falsely accusing me of calling him.”

  “I told you not to come back,” he said sternly before he turned. I reached out and grabbed his hand, but he just shrugged me off. I just stood there and watched him walk away. I couldn’t believe he had just said that to me.

  “We are all on high alert,” Benito said as he cleared his throat, which made me tear my eyes away from Emilio. “We all need to be careful what we say to each other until things around here aren’t so heated.”

  “I agree,” Marcello spoke up. “You’re home now and safe, and that’s all that matters.”

  Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Dante?” Benito called as he motioned his head towards me. “Don’t you have something to say to her?”

  Dante stood up and walked over to me, before he took my hands in his. “I’m sorry for telling you this was your fault. I know it’s not. I was just mad and worried.”

  I threw my arms around him and hugged him as tightly as I could. “We will get her back. I know we will,” I whispered in his ear. “I love you Dante.”

  “I love you too,” he said as he hugged me. “Oh, and here. I think you have been missing this.”

  Dante pulled my locket out of his pocket. I could only guess that he and Emilio found it when they ransacked my room. I took off my second string locket and put my original one back on. It felt right having it back around my neck.

  “Okay, now that everything is settled, I need you all to listen up,” my father spoke up as Dante and I took our seats again. “This is how we are going to get Violet back.”

  We spent the next several hours going over everything. They had everything planned out. I would be going too, along with Elle as a decoy. When my father explained that, both Benito and my mother mumbled under their breaths. Emilio, who had stayed in the foreground, didn’t seem to like it either. There were a few details that weren’t polished, but when Lucas and the others returned, my father said we would have a final meeting and go over the last minute details. I just couldn’t believe they were actually going to use me.

  When my father was done, my mother and I headed towards the kitchen. It was close to dinner time and my father wanted to make sure everyone had ate before we headed out. They weren’t going to waste any more time.

  I was nervous as I helped my mother prepare dinner. Emilio eventually joined us and quietly helped.

  “Lily, I think the lasagna is almost ready. Will you get it out of the oven?” my mother asked moments before the timer was set to go off.

  “Sure,” I said as I made my way over to the oven and grabbed an oven mitt and opened the door.

  When I reached down and pulled the tray out, it was heavier than I expected and I lost my grip on it. I pulled my other hand up to rebalance the tray. It was too late for me to realize I had not put a mitt on it and the pan seared my hand. I took a sharp breath in and quickly placed the pan on the stove.

  “Ouch!” I shouted as I shook my hand.

  “What happened?” Emilio asked concerned as he rushed towards me.

  “I just burnt my hand on the pan,” I said as I looked at my right palm. Sure enough there was a huge red mark on the palm of my hand and a couple of fingers. I couldn’t believe it was already starting to blister.

  “Oh Liliana,” my mother said as she rushed to my side and examined my hand. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, I just need some aloe,” I said.

  “I’ll be right back,” Emilio said as he headed toward the bathroom. He returned with some gauze and aloe. He sat me down on the kitchen stool and quickly went to work. I protested at first, telling him I could do it myself, but he insisted on helping me. In no time he had rubbed the aloe carefully onto my hand and swiftly wrapped it.

  “Thank you,” I said, meeting his eyes for the first time since he had entered the kitchen.

  “You’re welcome,” he replied before he cleaned up the mess and headed back towards the bathroom.

  Lucas and the others came through the door as we finished preparing dinner. I could tell by the look on Lucas’s face that he was not happy to see Emilio standing beside me in the kitchen.

  We hadn’t had a chance to talk about what had happened earlier with Emilio. I could only imagine what Lucas thought. If his looks were any indication of how he felt, then I would have to do some serious apologizing. It was a conversation I was not looking forward to, but I needed to explain myself.

  Lucas didn’t know the way I left Emilio, and after seeing him for the first time in months, I felt guilty. I just needed to make myself clear with Lucas that what I did didn’t change anything between us. I was still fully committed to him.

  At dinner, everyone asked me what happened to my hand. I just explained that I had burnt it trying to get the lasagna out of the oven and that it wasn’t a big deal.

  After dinner, my mother and I cleaned up the kitchen while all the men headed downstairs. Lucas stayed behind for a second and pulled me away from drying the dishes.

  “I know we have to concentrate on Violet right now, but once all of this is over with, we need to talk,” he said before turning and following the men downstairs.

  Chapter 20

  By the time we hit the highway, I had put my bulletproof vest on under my shirt as I was instructed to do. It was uncomfortable to say the least. Lucas hadn’t looked at me once since he had thrown the vest at me, and told me to put it on. I knew he had said he wanted to wait until after all this was settled to talk, but I couldn’t help myself.

  “Can we talk now?” I asked. I could see Marcello glance at me in the rearview mirror. I didn’t care if he or Benito heard our conversation. We needed to talk.

  “We’re not having this conversation right now,” Lucas said through his teeth.

  “Yes, we are.”

  “No, we’re not. I said we would talk about it later.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, hoping he could read between the lines.

  “I know you are, but what now?” Lucas said as his voice rose. “Are you going to throw me to the curb now that we are home? Have these last few months with me been a nice filler until you could get back to him?”r />
  “No,” I said as I grabbed his hands, trying to make him understand. But he shook his away.

  “Well, earlier today you about killed yourself trying to get to him, and there I stood like a damn fool thinking we could come back here after spending all that time together and actually be a couple again.”

  “Lucas you don’t understand—”

  “Oh I understand completely. You just keep me around until he gives you the attention that you want.”

  That hurt.

  “You’re not a filler Lucas. I love you. When I left here, Emilio and I had a huge conversation about so many things, and the last thing I told him was that I loved him and then I walked out on him. I left him no explanation. And I can only imagine how hurt he was seeing us standing there and you putting your arms around me after our last conversation.”

  “It shouldn’t matter how he felt when he saw us. Are you that ashamed to be around me like that?”

  “Of course not!”

  “Really? Because it sure does sound like it,” he snapped.

  “Lucas I’m with you! And when Violet is home and safe, you and I can leave again. I only want to be with you.”

  “Then prove it,” he said to my face before looking out the window. I knew Lucas well enough to know that was the end of the conversation, for now.

  He was hurt and I would have to figure out a way to prove myself to him. Even though I loved them both, I wanted stability and to be away from all the craziness. Lucas could provide that for me. Emilio could not.

  The rest of the drive into the city was awkward. I was sure my brothers didn’t want to hear our conversation. There was more we had to say to each other, but, for now, Violet was the most important person, and I needed to focus solely on her.

  I could tell when we were getting closer. The tension in the car started building. I looked around at the buildings not recognizing any of them. I had never been to this side of town, and I guessed this was the Heinrich’s territory.

  “Be safe,” Benito said not looking at anyone, and then. “Will do.”