“Where are you going?” Sal asked as he stood.
His voice was grave and dark when he answered, “Suiting up.”
Now he had grounds for war.
He opened the door on the top floor of the casino hotel, not waiting to be invited in.
Dante was in the process of bringing a full glass of dark liquid to his lips, but stopped the moment he saw his son entered his office. His cold, icy blue eyes became colder as he took in his son’s appearance, immediately knowing nothing good was about to come out of his son’s mouth.
Lucca pushed back his freshly cut hair that highlighted his trimmed and shortened beard. Then he adjusted his all black suit while he stood menacingly in front of his father. You could practically smell the rage and thirst for blood coming off of him in waves. It was a rare and frightening sight for anyone to see. The image even gave grown men nightmares.
It was never a good thing to see Lucca dressed in a suit and tie. When the boogieman did put on his black suit, it always meant one thing … Death would follow.
“Explain,” Dante demanded.
“You wanted proof before you wanted war …” The door opened again, and Sal brought in a bound and blind man. “Here it is.”
Taking in the deformed and tortured man was another sight many weren’t ever privy to. Lucca’s masterpieces were works of art, and he was a true artist.
Leaning back in his chair, Dante smiled. “This the man who broke into Nero’s, trying to get to Maria?”
“Yes, but he wasn’t there for Maria.”
An eyebrow raised. “Then who?”
Lucca looked down at his malnourished dog that was silent. “Chloe Masters.”
“Nero’s girlfriend’s scared little friend?”
Lucca adjusted his suit again, those words pissing him off. “You will not speak about her in that way.”
Dante saw it then. “You’re not fucking serious,” he scoffed.
“I am very fucking serious.” The words were spoken in a low growl.
“She’s still practically a child, Lucca.” His father’s face became furious, knowing the severity of how his son felt about her by the look in his eye alone. Dante was bewildered, which made him angry. Lucca didn’t express feelings toward his own family, let alone a girl. “You expect her to stand by you and handle the life you lead? She’s damaged and weak.”
“I told you not to speak about her in that way. Next time, I will make sure those words are your last,” he warned him one final time. “She is neither damaged nor weak, and she will learn to stand beside me.”
The boss shook his head, making it apparent he would never give his blessing. “You are forgetting something …”
“What, that she’s not Italian?” Lucca smiled. “A rule that will end when I take your place.”
“What did you just fucking say?” Dante’s icy eyes steeled into him.
“You heard me. We’re getting tired of choosing women based on blood.”
“You think I’m fucking stupid?” Dante huffed. “I know this, but the higher-ranking members in this family must always be full-blooded Italian men. You, most of all.”
“We do not have time for this right now,” Lucca growled. He had wasted enough time getting to Chloe already.
Filling his father in quickly, he told him about Lucifer being the one to scar Chloe, him protecting her and keeping her at the house, Drago going down for her, and how Lucifer was now holding her captive.
Dante listened to the story, realizing how far down the rabbit hole his son had gone, and all for a girl.
“My men are not going to go to war for you right this second over some girl, not when we don’t even know if Drago is still alive or not!” He had raised his voice, hitting the table, before he got his anger back under control. “Even if I told them to, we’ve been at peace for years. They will not risk that and their lives. They would retaliate against us.”
Lucca kicked the blind man at his feet. “Tell him why he marked her.”
“Heee wanted Maxwelllll in his pockket, to give him information on youu orrr anything that coullld take you down.”
The fury Dante held was now turning from Lucca to Lucifer.
Lucca continued the explanation himself, “The only reason he hasn’t gotten to you yet is because Sal has outsmarted him and Drago has blocked him for all these years. We just never knew it was Lucifer then. When we suspected him, we needed the evidence.”
“Fuck.” Dante took a swig of his drink, trying to simmer himself down. “We have to think carefully and plan even more carefully. I am not taking my men to war right this second, not for her. That’s the price you will pay for putting her above Drago and the rest of the family.”
I thought he would say that.
This was exactly why Lucca had needed the final piece, why he’d had to wait and plan carefully, just like his father had said. Otherwise, he would have made Lucifer’s death more imminent.
His haunting voice gave the command, “Sal …”
Sal pressed a button on his phone.
“Don’t worry; I’m not going to hurt her… like I did your mother.”
Dante leaned forward as he stood up, his ice-cold eyes promising retribution. “The Caruso family goes to war. Now.”
Forty-One
The Darkness in Its True Form
Chloe was back where it all began four years ago, in the cold warehouse that sat in the middle of nowhere. The same men who had taken her before brought her here, except for one of Lucifer’s three men, the one who had worn the horseshoe ring.
She’d had nightmares of this moment ever since he had first let her go. I always knew this day would come.
Her wrists and ankles were tied with tight ropes. Her hands constantly moved, wringing, which only caused the ropes to burn her skin.
The devil placed her freezing body on a chair that sat in the middle of the desolate building. As he stared down at her, she could see the victory in his sick, black eyes.
“They’re here,” one of his men told the devil as she heard several cars pull up in a distance.
“Lucca?” the little girl in her helplessly whispered for the only man capable of saving her.
“You really think he’s going to save you?” Lucifer pulled a long piece of fabric out of his pocket before tying it around her head to cover her mouth as she struggled against him. “That didn’t work for you the last time, did it?”
It was dangerous thing to have hope. For her to hope to be saved this time when no one had come for her the last. This time, however, she now knew a man like Lucca existed, and the feeling they shared kept telling her one word over and over. Believe.
Lucifer ran his fingers roughly down her face. “I have dreamed of getting you back ever since I let you go. I’ve waited a very long time for you. Too long. I made myself sick over wanting you.”