But I knew the answer.
She had finally seen the truth.
I couldn't blame her for not being able to handle it. I thought if anybody could, she was strong enough to. She should've understood that I killed her father to help her. To keep her safe.
My father emerged from downstairs. He didn't look happy.
“Luka, we need to talk.”
I pushed all of my emotions about Vienna away and I followed him outside. He left the security at the door.
“Pops, what's going on?”
“You tell me. I just received a call that Vienna was seen at Armani’s bar. You know about that?”
Armani and Vienna, what did they have to do with one another? Suddenly, it hit me, and my heart fell into the pit of my stomach. Fucking Roberto. That kid at the church was right. They were working together.
She wasn't answering her phone. She hadn’t come home. It wasn't that she was done with me, it was that she couldn't come back.
He had her.
Oh my God. After everything I had done to get her back, to make her mine, they had fucking taken her? Like she was still theirs. Hell no.
“What do you know?” I yelled at him, enraged.
Pops squinted at me. “Tell me first. How long has she been in Baltimore?”
“A few months, maybe, I’m not even sure.” I didn’t know enough of the truth to answer honestly, and it made me crazy. “The Agnellis sent her to set me up. To find out the truth about her father. She knows all of that now. And she still chose not to kill me.”
“Why the hell would she kill you? Has she even seen you?”
I saw the realization dawn on his face. It might've taken the old man a minute, but he knew what was going on.
“You're sleeping with her, aren’t you? God, Luka! We don't have any kind of time for this shit. Armani is playing both sides, and we've got the Agnellis on the move. And you want to get into bed with an old flame?”
“The Agnellis were only on the move because of her. But Marco and I took care of Roberto. Unless he got away, she asked me not to kill him Pops. So I didn’t. But that kid at the church, he said Armani is running guns under the Agnelli’s, taking his business when he was only supposed to be here to watch me. To watch us. He’s been ratting, and now he has her!”
My father pulled a 9mm out of the back of his pants and cocked it. The loud click of the gun filled the silence between us. “You love this girl?”
I nodded. “I have since the moment I laid eyes on her.”
“You are a rebellious little son of a bitch, do you know that? I specifically remember telling you to leave that girl alone.”
“I know. But I couldn't.”
“Fine. If she means that much to you, then she is part of the family now. Let's go blow up some of these bastards. It's been a while since I've gotten blood on my hands, and I don't like to get boring in my old age.”
He signaled to the security, and they came out of the building. The town car pulled up, and the driver got out to open the door for both of us. My father got in first, and I slid in after him.
“It's just us?”
“There’s security in the SUV behind us. Marco will follow that unmarked car. As far as the rest of the family goes? Yes. It's just us. For now. If things go south, the family will respond. You know they will.”
“I do. But Pops, I don’t want you to get hurt over this. That's not how this has to go down. It’s my fight with them. Let me deal with Armani. I can handle him on my own.”
“No. This is family. No one is allowed to touch our family. You understand?”
No one could command a response like my father could. I didn't respect anyone more than him. “Yeah Pops, I understand.”
He put his gun in his lap and he looked out the window. I knew we would ride in silence the rest of the way there. Both contemplating what we could gain, and what we could lose from this fight.
I couldn’t lose Vienna.
But I couldn’t lose my father either.
I knew I was going to have to kill a lot of men. And that was fine with me.
Blood on my hands wasn't new.
26
Vienna
I sat in the dark with my knees hugged against my chest. I had been there almost the entire day. I had never left the pub. I was such an idiot for walking in there. I should have just stayed with Luka.
Armani had taken me upstairs and put me in a private apartment. If you could even call it that. The place was the size of Luka’s bedroom. It was a small studio with a bed, kitchenette, and attached bathroom. He had some thug watching over me the entire time. When I had asked to go to the bathroom earlier, I checked to see if there was a window I could escape out of. Unfortunately, there wasn’t. I was trapped, with no way to warn Luka about what was about to happen.