He hangs up.
Damn it!
Still no word on Lina.
I drop my phone to the ground, and grabbing both my guns, I aim. First the ones with weapons, and then one by one the others. As I lower my weapons, everyone is laying on the floor.
Dead.
With one click of the button, I ensure that their families meet the same fate.
I unlock the door to find Amelia in the hallway. Her eyes widen when she sees me, and she stumbles on her words.
"I... I heard the gunshots and..."
Interesting. Usually people run away from gunshots, not towards them. But then I replay Nicolo's words in my head. The hand that feeds you.
"Of course." I smile at her. "Can you come help me?"
She nods, following me back into the drawing room. She comes face to face with the dead bodies, but I can see she's trying very hard to control herself.
"Tell me, Amelia, why is it that you left my father's employ?"
She lowers her head, her almost silver hair falling over her forehead.
"He forced himself on me, sir." She confesses, and for a moment I feel a twinge of guilt. Yet another victim of my father's. But then I think about Lina.
"And where did you go after that?" She suddenly looks at me in panic.
"Amelia, Amelia. You know, you were my favorite growing up. You were always the kinder one to me. But now?" I make a tsk sound with my tongue, and she pales. "Why did you do it? Why Nicolo?" I ask, half-bluffing.
"I..." She stammers, and I can see the guilt on her face.
"Why, Amelia, why?"
"I love him." She bursts out, more emotion coming out of her than I've ever seen before.
"You love him." I repeat, tilting my head and studying her.
"I was pregnant and alone and he helped me. He was so kind, so thoughtful. Even when I miscarried he was there for me, supporting me. He even confronted your father on my behalf. And you know what Giovanni did? He laughed." She curls up her lip in disgust. "He laughed for raping me and ruining my life!" Her eyes are tearing up and she lifts a hand to catch the tears. "Nicolo was so good to me... so good."
"So good that you basically served my wife on a platter to him. You were the one planting those messages, weren't you?"
"He won't harm her. He promised."
"Amelia, Amelia." I shake my head, seeing that there's no reasoning with her. In her mind, Nicolo is a character larger than life — her savior.
"The moment you targeted Lina, you lost." I say, regret swamping me as I turn on the only person who made my childhood a little more bearable.
But no one messes with my Lina. No one.
JUST A FEW MONTHS AGO I'd been here, at Tino's grave. It feels like a bad joke that Nicolo's chosen this particular spot. My family's crypt is the size of a double-story house, a big vault accentuating the height of the construction. Four generations of the Lastra family make their place of eternal rest here, including mother and what should be father's empty tomb.
As I push open the screeching door, all I can think of is Lina.
Please let me be on time!
The crypt is built just like a house, with a few different rooms. After checking the ground floor, I head towards the basement where the tombs are located.
"There he is!" My uncle exclaims as I make my way down the narrow stairs. At the bottom, the basement fills out into a wide room with four thick pillars. Nicolo is standing in the middle, his arms wide open, a wicked smile on his face.
My eyes immediately roam around the room until I settle on Lina's slight figure. She's in a corner, her hands tied around a pillar, her face resting on the icy surface of the column.
"Lina?" I call out, taking in her disheveled appearance and the way her entire being shirks away from my presence.
Does she hate me that much?
I turn back to Nicolo, hurling the present I'd been holding towards him.
Amelia's head rolls on the ground, her eyes wide open and staring at my uncle.
"So you figured it out. Pity, she was a good lay." He shrugs, kicking the head further with his foot. Catalina shrieks when it rolls past her and stops at a close distance.
"I think your wife may be more disappointed in this than me." He chuckles as Lina's eyes widen with fear. Even when she turns to me, her entire being seems to be revolted by my presence.
And it breaks my heart.
"Let her go. She has nothing to do with this."
"Ah, see, there you're wrong. She has everything to do with this. She is your main trigger, isn't she?" Nicolo asks, amused.
Lina's eyes turn to me, and the pain I see reflected in them makes me want to take on the king of hell himself.
I try to convey with my gaze that I will take care of this, but I'm not sure even I believe myself at this point.
"What do you want, Nicolo? You want my position so bad you'd resort to this? Take it, it's yours." I state, my eyes moving from him to Lina.
Nicolo's eyebrows shoot up a second before he throws his head back and laughs.
"You'll give me your position?" He jeers at me, still laughing. "See, this is why you were never fit to be capo. You always put her before everything." He remarks in derision. "Don't worry, your position will be mine by default after you die." He shrugs his shoulders and casually walks towards the end of the room to pick up a rusty knife.
"Why don't we try this..." He twists the knife around, tasting its strength. "I may let her go, if you submit to me."
"What?" I blurt out, a maniacal smile appearing on his face.
"Submit to me. It's the only way she'll go free."
"Fine. I'll do it. Just let her go."
"Not yet" he shakes his head and motions towards another pole. "Go and handcuff yourself."
I pause for a second, and my eyes meet Lina's. Her eyebrows are drawn together in confusion. Just seeing her there... I walk, and sitting down, I secure my hand to a metal pole. One half of the cuff is wrapped around the metal for support while the other is now circling my wrist.
"Why, why are you doing this?" Lina's voice is but a whisper as she asks.
Nicolo smiles slowly, and I suddenly see father in him.
"Blame it all on your husband. He is, after all, the reason for all your misfortunes." He happily tells her, delighted when her face falls. She turns to me slightly, and her expression is one of fear mixed with disappointment.
I've failed her. Repeatedly.
Nicolo casually walks towards me, shifting and playing with the knife in his hands. He stoops down in front of me, wielding the blade close to my face.
"It's time to pay up, boy." One swoop of the knife and the material holding my shirt together falls. He trails the knife down my chest, the tip tantalizingly close to digging in my skin. He does that a few times, trying to trick my senses. Then he cuts.
I grit my teeth at the pain. After all, it's something I'm used to. Catalina, though, lets out a loud gasp as blood stars pooling down my torso.
Nicolo continues to make slight cuts all over, but I don't give him the satisfaction of reacting. No, all I can do is keep my eyes on Lina, my only reason to keep on fighting.
It doesn't take him long to stop, seeing that he's not getting any reaction out of me. He stands up and frowns, looking over my bleeding body with a question in his eyes.