“Luca. Speak to me.” I can hear Grayson talking; I just don’t have it in me to respond. I’m dead on the inside. What was that?
“I am going to rip every single one of those assholes limb from limb for this. We have to get Rosa out of there. Call Frankie, get him to meet us,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Already done. He’s on his way. We have to be clever here.”
He’s right. But I don’t care. First up, I want to slice Maria’s throat. And watch as the life drains from her body, followed swiftly by Dante. I can’t face Keller. I can’t be the one to tear his heart out, too.
“Fuck!” I slam my fist on the console in front of me.
“Luca. Rosa is alive, the wedding is going ahead, right? He has a motive for this wedding, we know this. So we go back to the house, we fill Frankie in, and we plan our next move. You’ve seen what they’re capable of. Rosa played the game, Luca. She did you proud up there. She didn’t mean anything she said. Get your head back.”
She might not have, but it hurt, that’s for sure.
“I want to kill him, Grayson.” My hands shake with rage.
What if he’s hurting her? What if I can’t save her?
“You will. Doing anything right now puts her in even more danger. Trust me, I dealt with my fair share of hostage situations.” Grayson glances over as he turns the car into the driveway of the safe house.
My throat starts to close up. I can’t breathe.
He reaches out and puts his hand on my shoulder. “Luca. Calm down.”
I can barely hear him. I keep pulling at the door and swivel in my chair to start kicking at it.
“Fuck,” Grayson shouts.
I jolt forward as the car comes to an abrupt stop. He disappears out of the driver’s side. My door flies open, and Grayson grips my arm and pulls me out of the car.
“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up and a glass of scotch.”
He releases me and I look down at my shaking, blood-stained hands.
Mom.
The contents of my stomach rise up into my throat. I’m so dizzy. I turn away from Grayson and throw up all over the pavement.
He pats me on the back. “It’s okay, Luca.”
“This is not okay,” I croak out.
My world is crumbling.
He grabs my arm. “Come on.”
He guides me past the armed guards outside the safe house. Leading us into the kitchen, he pulls out a white leather seat at the dining table. The house is eerily quiet. Everyone must be asleep.
Sitting heavily, I lean forward. My head falls into my hands and my hands knot at my hair. The memory of her lying there in a pool of blood is on repeat in my mind.
“Grayson? Is that you?” Maddie whispers.
“In here, sunshine,” he calls back.
She stops dead in her tracks, “Luca, oh my god. What happened?” she cries, rushing towards me.
I shake my head soundlessly. I can’t say the words. If I do, that means she’s truly gone.
Grayson places a large glass of scotch in front of me, and I tip my head, downing the contents in one burning swallow.
Grayson touches her hip gently. “Baby, can you go get Keller for me?”
It’s like I’m living in someone else’s body. I’m here. But I’m not.
Maddie leaves the room and Grayson sits next to me, bringing the bottle of scotch. I hold my glass out to him and he pours me another.
I don’t know how many I get through. But, it still hurts, so I clearly need more.
“Grayson, what’s going on?” Keller’s deep voice echoes through the house. “Fuck. Luca. Tell me.”
He takes the seat next to me as I take a deep breath. “Mom is dead, Keller. She’s gone.” My voice cracks.
“No,” he says bluntly.
Keller looks between Grayson and me. The realization hits when he spots the blood on my shirt.
My heart fractures as he screams, throwing the bottle of scotch against the wall.
“I’m going to kill them!” He kicks the chair back and paces behind me.
I laugh. I actually laugh.
I’m breaking everyone around me, and I can’t stop it.
“Keller. Sit,” Grayson warns in his military tone, running a hand through his hair.
“Grab another bottle of scotch, Grayson.” Resting my elbows on the table, my head in my hands, I let the tears erupt.
All I can see is her.
Grayson pours another drink.
“The bottle, not a glass.” I put my hand out.
“No. We don’t have time right now. Frankie will be here any second. Getting drunk isn’t the answer. I’m sorry to both of you. But if you mess this up, you could lose Rosa. I’m not letting that happen.” Grayson stands like a statue, the scotch firmly in his hand.
Keller firmly grips my shoulder. I can see the tears brimming in his eyes, but he holds them back. “I don’t care what I have to do, brother. I will help you get her back and avenge Mom’s death.”
How is he even still looking at me right now? Why hasn’t he beaten the shit out of me? This is all my fault.
“If you even say what I think you’re going to, Luca. I will knock you the fuck out. You didn’t do this.” Keller pats my back and downs his scotch.
I look down at the crusty blood on my hands. “I’m going to shower.”
Frankie reacted as well as expected. Grayson filled him in while I cleaned up. By the time I get downstairs, glass shards cover the kitchen floor. That bottle of scotch is nowhere to be seen.
Frankie’s head snaps up as I step into the room, a darkness flashing across his features.
“You should have told me, Luca. A long time ago. If anything happens to Rosa–” He storms towards me with his fist balled in front of him.
I hold up my hand. “If anything happens to Rosa, I give you full permission to kill me, Frankie. Now, sit down and help us figure this out. We only have a few hours before the wedding. Dante is holding something pretty big over her head, I’m assuming, so we have to play this the right way.”
I take my seat next to Keller. Frankie sits opposite me. “Tell me everything Rosa said to you. She’s a smart girl, she always has been.”
She is, but she is also vulnerable, haunted by her past. I tell him word for word. He leans back and I can see his mastermind working.
“She needs you at that wedding for a reason, Luca. And we need Romano and Maria there.”
He rests his elbows on the table. I light up another cigarette.
“I’ll speak to Romano. I’ll beg him to get Maria to take you back–one more shot. I can play this off, especially if Rosa goes through with this wedding. She isn’t a threat to Maria if she’s married to Dante. They will think they have the upper hand. Then we follow through with our plan. We get them to that warehouse. You get the commissioner filled in. We need their men stopped, so let Jax and the crew deal with them. We end Romano, we end Dante, we take back Rosa.”
I scratch at my stubble. “You are an evil genius, Frankie.”
“I worked with Romano long enough, I can get him eating out of the palm of my hand if I need to. I just need you to play along with Maria for another twenty four hours. Can you do that?”
Grayson pins me with a look.
“Yes.” I don’t know how, but for Rosa, I’ll do anything.
He pushes himself up to stand. “I’ll go make the calls. Grayson, ready that army.”
“On it.” He pulls out his phone.
Frankie looks at Keller. “Look after your brother and make sure he doesn’t do any stupid shit in the next half hour.”
Keller cracks his knuckles and winks at me. “Handled.”
Time seems to crawl by as we wait for Frankie. Every second I’m without Rosa is a lifetime. I don’t know how many times I’ve tried that breathing technique, but it turns out there is no cure for this level of pure rage, grief, and heartbreak.
Frankie waltzes back into the room. “Luca, go take a nap, then get your ass back home. Maria is waiting for you. They will all be attending Rosa’s wedding. You will put on the fucking show of your life. Don’t let them see your weakness. If they do, this is over.”
My weakness is my love for Rosa.
I have to watch her marry another man.
“Remember why you are doing this, Luca. For all of us, for Rosa, for our empire, for revenge. She won’t be married for long.”
“I’ve got this.” I pull up the commissioner’s contact on my phone, my knuckles turning white as I grip the phone.
He answers on the second ring.
“Luca. This better be good, it’s the middle of the night!” His croaky voice echoes through the room.
At least he can sleep at night.
“Change of plans. Romano dies tomorrow. I’ll send you the details. We need all the help we can get.”
“What, why?” He suddenly sounds wide awake.
“Because if I don’t, I lose everything.”
