“Luca is the future Capo. He must earn the respect of his soldiers, and respect is not earned with words in our world. He killed and tortured the first person on the same day when he was thirteen.” The revelation made me let out a strange, startled noise, and my heart squeezed.
“Thirteen?”
“The mansion was attacked. The soldiers and Don Henrico managed to contain almost all the invaders, but one got into the house. He went into Luca’s room and tried to kill him. Luca was already being trained and about to be initiated, so he knew how to defend himself; when the man attacked him, Luca woke up and attacked back. He was always clever and realized that before killing him, he needed to get information, so he tortured him right there in his room; when they found him, the room was covered in blood, up to the ceiling, and the man was giving all the information he knew and begging to die.” Paolo reveals expressing admiration, as if he was proud of the words he was saying, maybe he was. But Luca was a child when he did this; this fact only proves how brutal he can be.
I see my brothers talking to my security guards, who are still in a long conversation about the several mafia shades. And all I can think about is how a thirteen-year-old boy was able to not only immobilize an adult but also torture and kill him. I remember Luca’s words, never to leave the gun away from me, and I know that in the event of an attack, I would never be able to do what he did. Unlike Luca, I need security to defend myself. We are different, perhaps too different.
“When are the girls arriving?” Vincenzo asks, waking me from my thoughts.
“Tomorrow evening, why?”
“Francesco and Paolo have to increase the security of the house and explain to them how the exits will work,” Lorenzo says.
“What do you mean, how will the exits work?”
“If they go out with you, we have to ensure their well-being, and there are some rules they have to follow,” informs Paolo like it was the most obvious thing ever.
“That’s ridiculous, rules to follow? These are my best friendswe’re talking about. No offence, but have you following my every move it’s already annoying as it is, now you want to control my friends too? Who set these “rules?” I inquire and drunkenly, drinking some more wine.
“Luca!” says Paolo, shrugging his shoulders and sipping his wine.
“He can’t do that. I’m going to call him right now and get this story cleared up!” I take out my phone and look for Luca’s number; just as I’m about to press call, someone knocks the phone out of my hands. I look up and see Francesco with my phone in his hand. I try to reach out and retrieve it, and he puts it back in his pocket.
“As your security guard, I feel I have to do this. Believe me, you don’t want to argue with Luca at this hour, and don’t worry; I’ll pass the information on to him.”
I look at him a little annoyed and just shrug open a bottle ofchampagne andstart drinking from it until I can’t really remember why I’m so upset. I look at my brothers and the security guards, and they’re discussing something about football. I look up at the ceiling and smile. My body feels a little numb, and my head is in the clouds, clearly a consequence of the large amount of alcohol I’ve drunk.
I wake up with daylight hitting me in the face, my head hurts a little, and I feel my stomach turn. I don’t know when I came into the room; probably one of my brothers brought me. I try to slowly remember what happened last night, and suddenly, all I can see is a thirteen-year-old boy defending himself, trying to save his own life and then slaughtering and cruelly taking the life of his attacker; I feel my body quiver. And I can’t help wondering if that’s why those blue eyes are so cold. I close my eyes and try to get some rest, even though that image keeps haunting my mind.
“Wake up, Chiara, your happiness has just arrived!” I hear a voice, and before I have time to open my eyes, I feel the bodies oftwo people fall over me. I open my eyes, and Leticia and Aurora are looking at me with big smiles on their faces.
“Weren’t you supposed to arrive in the late afternoon?” I ask, a little confused, sitting down on the bed and looking at them.
“Change of plans. We saw the news about what happened in Rome, and we thought you might need a distraction, or rather two!” Aurora says with, smirking, hugging me tightly.
“By the way, we met your body guards? Since when do you have security?” Leticia asks with clear confusion spreading across her face.
“Since the Camorra were attacked in Rome, Don Henrico and Luca thought it would be better for me to have them around because of the engagement!”
“But the engagement hasn’t been made official yet; only a few people know!”
“I know, but according to Luca, it’s better not to risk it.”
“From zero to ten, how bad is it to have two body guards with you?” Aurora teases with a smirk on her face.
“Considering that it hasn’t been twenty-four hours with them around, I can’t give you an exact answer. Plus, they’re nice, so I guess it could be worse.”
“Okay, let’s stop beating around the bush; what do you really think of Luca?” Leticia suddenly asks, making me look a little surprised.
“I… Luca, he… I don’t know, to be honest; as I’ve already told you, he was a jerk when we met, but then at that dinner, he helped me with my anxiety crisis, but yesterday at lunch, he was cold again. And it’s not as if he should be affectionate or anything; after all, it’s an arranged marriage, but I… I really can’t understand him!”
“Luca is a “man of honor,” or whatever they call mafia men; it’s obvious that he’s cold, he kills and tortures, and you can’texpect a prince charming because he’s closer to a villain. But that doesn’t mean he’s completely evil; as you said, you both gain from this marriage, and although I think you should marry for love, I’ll be here to support you. Besides, you’ve seen each other three times, that’s not enough to get to know a person. You’ll only know what he’s really like with time,” Aurora has a special way of looking at things, or maybe it’s the way she lays things out that makes everything clearer. She’s right. I don’t know Luca, and yet I’m engaged to him.
“I think we should go shopping for some new clothes to get us off to a good start at university!” says Aurora super enthusiastically, jumping out of bed and heading for mycloset, surely to pick out an outfit for me to wear.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea. Paolo and Francesco will have to go with us, and to be honest, the idea of shoppingwith them following our every move doesn’t appeal to me at all!”
“The fact that they’re following us even seems to make the idea more tempting if you ask me; we finally have someone to carry our shopping bags!” Leticia says with a dreamy look on her face, lying down on my legs and smiling.
