Hot Set

by Ivy Blake

“Is that why you had her killed? Because she was too weak?” I snapped.

  Papa’s eyes grew wide. I could see that he was shocked to hear that I knew the truth. Now the blinds had fallen from my eyes and he had nowhere to hide anymore.

  ***

  “Your mama thought that she could hide it from me, but I knew all along,” Papa said as I sat beside him, burning in my own wrath for him. This was important; he was finally on the verge of telling me the truth, but I didn’t want to hear the actual words coming out of his mouth.

  “Why couldn’t you just let her go? Why did you have to take her life?” I couldn’t stop the tears. Mama’s beautiful calm face floated up in my eyes and I remembered how much she loved me. I still remembered her face as though I had seen her yesterday.

  “She got pregnant soon after we were married, and for the first few months, I thought it was mine,” Papa continued. I whipped my head around to look at him. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He was gritting his teeth. Was he talking about me?

  “But then that baby disappeared. She told me she had lost the child, and from somewhere, out of the blue even though he never married, Andrei Cavallini ended up with a newborn son,” Papa continued. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Was Papa telling me that Gino was my half-brother?

  I stared at his face as he spoke. He was looking past me, at the wall behind me.

  “I knew it instantly. She’d been sleeping with that bastard Cavallini and gotten herself pregnant. She was afraid that kid would grow up to look like Andrei and together, they decided that the boy should live with his father,” Papa said and he finally met my eyes.

  “I said nothing. I forgave her for that one mistake. I decided that it was Andrei’s fault, that he had forced himself on her,” Papa continued and I gulped. My throat had gone very dry. I had a half-brother. Gino Cavallini was Mama’s son!

  “Then she got pregnant again and this time I was willing to kill her, but I waited until she had the baby and you were born. You had my eyes, my smile. I knew that you were mine and I decided to forget about her betrayal. I thought we could finally be a happy family; me, your mama and our little baby girl,” Papa said.

  I was watching him speak, speechless, my throat dry and chaffed. I still couldn’t wrap my head around everything he was telling me.

  “Then, one of my men told me that he had seen my wife at Cavallini’s house, leaving at the dead of night, kissing him on the cheek at the door. And I knew they had never stopped. She may have had a daughter with me, but she hadn’t stopped sleeping with him,” Papa hissed and he bunched up the bedsheets in his fists angrily.

  “So, you killed her?” I cried and he finally met my eyes again.

  “It was fifteen years of deception, of lying, of pretending to be my woman when the whole time, she was sleeping with my enemy!” he barked and I stood up and stepped away from him.

  “You killed him, too! You killed the man she loved and then blamed everything on him!” I screamed and Papa glared at me, his lips stretched in a sour grimace.

  “You think I was just going to let them go, let them live out their happy lives together? While I burned away in the corner?” he growled and I shook my head, tears streaming down my cheeks.

  “You could have divorced her, you could have let them be together. You didn’t love her anyway!” I screamed again and Papa sighed.

  “Your mama was weak and stupid…but she was the most beautiful woman in Naples and she was mine,” he continued, in a calmer voice now.

  “I don’t want to stay with you. I won’t let Sofia grow up around you. Just let us go!” I shrieked and Papa shook his head.

  “You are a foolish little girl, just like your mama. You think you can find anything better than what I have to give you?” he hissed.

  “Leo will find us. Just like he did this time, he won’t stop until he’s found us again and the next time, he’s going to finish you. You have my word,” I screamed.

  Papa nodded his head, a thick smile was spreading on his face now.

  “Yes, he is going to find you. That is exactly what I want him to do,” he said and slipped his cellphone out of his pocket. I watched in confused horror as he dialed a number.

  “Hello Leo,” Papa said and I screamed.

  “Leo! It’s me! Papa has us on a plane!”

  Papa was laughing, keeping the phone away from me.

  “So, now you know that I have her. If you want to see Isabella or your daughter again, come to Naples and bring two million dollars with you,” Papa said and he snapped his phone shut.

  I was panting hard, feeling dizzy from the horror and the exhaustion. The throbbing ache at the back of my head where I’d been hit felt even worse now. I felt like I needed to lie down.

  I collapsed on the bed, my eyelids growing heavy again.

  “That’s good, Bella, you should get some rest. We’ll be in Naples soon and then you can wait and see if your big love will arrive for you or not,” I heard Papa say. My eyelids drooped, I could feel myself losing consciousness. Papa was walking out of the room again but I couldn’t move; it was like all my limbs were frozen. Had he drugged me while I was unconscious earlier? Poked me with a sedative in a needle? I couldn’t put anything past him.

  As I passed out into another deep dreamless sleep, I was filled with the realization that Papa had set another trap for Leo. If I could, I would have tried to let him know to not come to Naples.

  Leo should save himself.

  Chapter 23

  Leo

  A few days later, Gino and I landed in Naples and a man came to meet us at the airport. He handed us the bag of two million dollars which Gino had arranged for. Without it, there was no hope for me to get back Isabella or Sofia.

  We stood a while, smoking our cigarettes and talking. So much had happened in the past month. There was something to celebrate—we had managed to disarm the human trafficking trade that Marco had been in the process of building up. However, we hadn’t been able to capture him and neither had we been able to keep Isabella or Sofia safe.

  “You know he’s setting a trap for you, right?” Gino asked, taking another drag of smoke. I nodded my head. I knew that two million dollars, even though it was a lot of money, didn’t mean much to a man like Marco who probably had millions more stowed away in some off-shore account in the Canary Islands. He had demanded the two million from me because he needed some kind of leverage. Without demanding something from me, it would make me very suspicious.

  But I knew that it was just an excuse for me to come closer to him.

  “I mean, he might not even have Isabella or Sofia with him. He might try and kill you today,” Gino continued and I nodded my head again. That was exactly what I was expecting would happen. However, I had to try. I had no other options. I wasn’t willing to wait another three years trying to hunt them down, knowing that the whole time my girls would be living in misery and torture with him.

  The time was now, I had to do something now.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you? For backup?” Gino asked and I shook my head, dropping my cigarette to the ground.

  “I need to do this alone. At least one of us has to come out of this alive to go after Marco,” I said.

  Gino patted my back and I nodded my head at him.

  Marco had already sent me a text earlier about where to meet him. The place of meeting was set in an abandoned scrap yard with strict instructions that I was supposed to go there alone.

  I got in the car that Gino had arranged for me and I threw in the bag containing the cash.

  “Thanks for the money. If I get out of this alive, I promise I will pay back every cent,” I told him. Gino rapped the side of the car and gave me a half-salute.

  “She’s my half-sister. Sofia is my niece. It’s the least I can do for my family,” Gino said and with that, I was off, driving to the scrap yard with Isabella’s voice ringing in my ears. The last time I’d heard her voice was when Marco had called me
from his private jet, when she’d been screaming in the background. It sent shivers down my spine.

  ***

  When I arrived at the scrap yard, I saw that the scene had already been set. Marco wasn’t taking any chances this time; he was the one to arrive first to the scene. He had two men flanking him, not Matteo or Francis because we had taken both of them out in America already.

  I parked the car and got out, pulling the bag of money out with me. I couldn’t see Isabella or Sofia yet.

  “Marco,” I said, walking towards him while he stood a few feet away with a smile on his face, the breeze making the lapels of his coat flap.

  “Right on time, Leo, as always,” he said and I clenched my jaw.

  “Where are they?” I growled, narrowing my eyes at him and Marco looked to the side. I followed his gaze and my eyes settled on a small yellow car, which looked rundown.

  I saw their faces inside it immediately. Isabella and Sofia were in the back seat, huddled together, fearful and screaming but their voices were muffled by the windows. I made to run towards them but one of Marco’s bodyguards fired a shot in the air, making me stop in my tracks.

  “Where do you think you’re going, son? You’re going to do as you are told or there will be consequences,” Marco hissed. I looked at him, fire raging in my eyes. I could hear Isabella slapping the glass windows of the car from inside, desperate to get out.

  “Let them go and we can talk,” I growled and Marco smirked.

  “I have every intention of letting them go. Those are my daughter and granddaughter in there. I don’t want to have to kill them, but if you don’t do as you’re told, I will have no choice,” Marco replied and then he looked up.

  I followed his gaze and saw the car crushing crane that was positioned right beside the car that Isabella was in. It could crush the car within seconds. My heart was racing in my chest. One wrong move and the machine would destroy the car, killing both of them instantly.

  “You see, Leo, you are out of options. If you try any funny business right now, all my man in that crane has to do is press a button, and then your darlings will die and you will have to watch their little bodies burst into nothing,” Marco said with that sizzling laugh in his voice still.

  I clenched my fists at my sides.

  “Let them go. You have me now. You are free to do what you want,” I growled and Marco looked pleased, nodding his head with a smile.

  “For starters, my dear boy, hand me the money,” he said.

  I didn’t even think twice. I threw the bag to him and one of his bodyguards caught it and unzipped it. He grunted and Marco smiled.

  “Good, you always knew how to follow orders, didn’t you, boy?” Marco hissed with a smile.

  “You have the money now, let them go,” I said and Marco nodded his head.

  “Yes, I do have the money and I will let them go, but see Leo, I didn’t plan on getting this over so easily,” Marco replied. The two men on his sides clicked the safeties off their guns, pointing them at my head.

  “I will allow Isabella and Sofia to get out of the car but you have to take their place instead,” Marco said.

  I glared at him with raised brows and Marco smiled.

  “You could have done so well if you’d stuck with me, Leo. I had big dreams for you. You were like the son I never had,” Marco continued. I shook my head in anger.

  “I was never your son. I was just a street kid you picked up and brainwashed for years to fight your battles!” I spat and Marco nodded.

  “And not just any street kid, but one I carefully picked. I was lucky that your head injury made you forget everything that happened, otherwise you wouldn’t have been so loyal to me,” Marco said and clapped his hands together with joy.

  “What do you mean? What happened?” I growled, glaring at him. Marco sighed and then shrugged his shoulders.

  “Yeah, you might as well know now. I killed your parents. Your father owed me money which I knew he wouldn’t ever be able to repay, so I used them as examples. I did to them what I’m going to do to you now,” Marco replied and I gritted my teeth with anger.

  “You crushed them in a car!” I spat and Marco grinned and nodded his head.

  “Yes, I did and now you’re going to feel what they felt, pure trapped fear. Funny how we’ve come full circle,” Marco commented and I lunged at him. I couldn’t control my rage any longer. One of the men beside him shot at me, and the bullet pierced my arm but I grabbed Marco by the neck, pulling him to me and using him as a shield.

  “Let me go, you filthy sonofabitch, or I’ll give my man the order to crush that car!” Marco growled, while I kept him tightly held in front of me so that his men couldn’t shoot at me.

  “You don’t have let him go, Leo!” I heard Gino’s voice and we looked over to see him shooting the man in the crane. He fell out, landing on the ground with a bone crushing thump. Isabella and Sofia were out of danger.

  Gino charged towards us, shooting at the bodyguards, getting both of them in the chest. They dropped like flies around us and now only Marco was left; he was all alone.

  Gino grinned at me.

  “I wasn’t going to let you have all the fun by yourself, was I?” he said and he pulled Marco out of my hands, grabbing him by his collar. Marco was growling, struggling to wriggle free from Gino’s grasp.

  I ran to the car and pulled Isabella and Sofia out of there. Sofia was crying and Isabella clung tightly to me. I lifted our daughter up in my arms, stroking her hair and telling her that it was all going to be fine.

  “None of you are going to get away with this. My men are going to find you and kill you if you touch a hair on my head,” Marco hissed. I had an arm around Isabella and was holding Sofia up with another arm.

  Gino was smiling as he kept a steady grip on Marco.

  “Which men? You’ve lost everyone!” Gino shouted at him. Marco turned to Isabella now, who was shaking beside me in fear and exhaustion.

  “Bella, make them let me go. I’m your papa. You won’t let them kill me, will you?” he cried. I looked at Isabella. She was crying too now and her nostrils were flared as she tried to keep herself standing up.

  “I don’t care what happens to you. You destroyed all our lives; you were willing to kill me and Sofia for the sake of revenge!” she shrieked, her face turning red with emotion.

  “I wouldn’t have done it, Bella. You know it was just a game. This was just about the money. I got the two million and I would have let you go…you know that, don’t you?” he begged, while Isabella cried in my arms.

  “Don’t worry, Marco. You’re not going to die. Death will be too easy of a punishment for you. You deserve much worse,” I growled. Gino smiled at me and then started tugging Marco in the direction of his car.

  “Let’s go, old man. There are lots of people in this city who would love to pay their respects to you before I hand you over to the authorities,” I heard Gino say as he dragged Marco away.

  “Mama, please, I want to go home. I want to go away!” Sofia was crying in my arms with her little arms wound around my neck. I stroked her hair as I met Isabella’s eyes. A soft smile was finally spreading on her lips.

  “You came for us, just like I knew you would,” she said in a whisper and fell forward on my chest, pressing her cheek to my heart.

  “There was no other choice, Isabella, you are my only family,” I said. Sofia whimpered and I looked into my daughter’s eyes.

  “Do you know who I am, baby?” I asked her and she nodded her head.

  “You are Leo,” she replied, in a weak voice.

  “No, baby, that is your daddy,” Isabella said and Sofia’s eyes grew wide. She hugged me tightly and I kissed the top of her head.

  “Let’s go, we deserve a break,” I said, and grabbing Isabella’s hand, we walked slowly to the car.

  ***

  I drove all the way to the Amalfi Coast without stopping, with Sofia falling asleep in her mother’s arms in the backseat. None of us spo
ke; we were all shaken up from the events of the day. I stopped the car in front of a quaint B&B with a beautiful view, hoping that they would have rooms available since it was off-season.

  I helped Isabella and Sofia out of the car and we checked into a large room with a view. It was late evening already, and Sofia was exhausted. That shining cheerfulness was gone from our daughter’s eyes and Isabella laid down with her in the adjoining room.

  I could hear Isabella humming a song trying to get Sofia to relax. I remained in the main room, pacing up and down, trying to calm myself. I couldn’t stop looking out of the window and checking to make sure that Marco wasn’t there or any of his men. I still couldn’t believe that we were finally safe, that he was finally out of our lives.

  I didn’t hear Isabella come in. I was still standing at the window when she touched my arm lightly. She startled me and I whipped around to find her standing behind me with a soft smile on her face.

  “It’s only me,” she whispered and I pulled her into my arms. We kissed softly at first before we were both desperate…desperately relieved and happy. My fingers were running through her hair and her hands slipped in under my shirt to grip my back. We were kissing like we had never kissed before, my tongue sliding in and out of her mouth like I could devour her.

  When she pulled away from me, I saw that there was still some lingering sadness in her eyes.

  “Leo…I know this will not make any difference coming from me, but I want to apologize for everything Papa has done to you and to your family,” she said to me softly.

  My hands were still on her hips. I couldn’t let her go…never again!

  I weaved my fingers into her thick dark hair and stroked her head.

  “You don’t have to apologize to me, beautiful. None of this is your fault. You were as much a victim of his, as I was and so many other people in Naples and America,” I told her.

  Isabella sighed and she drew away from me, walking over to the window. I wound my arms around her waist, leaning my chin on her slender shoulder.