“You know for someone so smart, you are so dumb,” she said mockingly.
“Watch yourself,” I seethed at her. “I’m not always going to be tied down.”
“Feisty,” another man’s voice said as he walked into the room. “I like that.”
I took my eyes off Faith for a moment to look at the new person who had just walked in.
“Nikolas,” I said knowingly.
“Hey brother,” Faith said as her eyes shifted to the side.
“Brother?” I stuttered.
“Oh yes.” She backed away and walked to him. “How rude of me to not have introduced you to everyone. Liliana, this is my brother Nikolas, and since you already know my other brother, Lucas, I don’t have to introduce you to him.”
Brothers? Lucas? A Heinrich?
“You’re a Heinrich?” I asked as I turned my attention back to Lucas.
He nodded.
All I could do was stare at him. How was I going to respond to that? I felt tears pulling at my eyes, but I was not going to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I had been attacked, cut, bruised, and now tied to a chair. There had to be a reason for all of this.
Pull yourself together!
I took a deep breath.
“What do you want from me?” I asked as I looked back up at Faith and Nikolas.
“We need you,” Nikolas said as he walked over and knelt in front of me. “Your family has something we want. We’re just negotiating our terms, and then you will be free to go.”
“What are you talking about? Is it a piece of property? Did my family take something from you? If so, I’m sorry my family took properties of yours, but did you really have to go through all this trouble to kidnap me over property!”
“You naïve, stupid girl,” Faith yelled at me. “You think we would take you over a piece of property! What exactly do you think your father and brothers do?”
“My father’s a business owner, and so are my brothers,” I said matter of fact.
The whole room burst into laughter, all except Lucas, who was expressionless.
“Let me explain it to you,” Nikolas said. “You see, my father and your… father used to be friends. They had a mutual agreement on each other’s territory. They did business together and even helped each other out of some… binds.”
I listened intently.
“You know it’s rare that the German and Italian mafia would even work together and share such a bond.”
Did he just say mafia?
“Then some years back, our two families decided to merge and become a family themselves. They were going to rule the New York area. The Heinrichs, German Mafia, and the Dapprimas, Italian mafia, were going to be unstoppable.” Nikolas’s eyes drifted over my shoulder, like he was remembering. “But then tragedy struck and with it… your father took something very precious to us and we would just like it back.”
“My family is mafia?” I laughed and rolled my eyes. “Sure and I’m the Queen of England. Lucas tell them that isn’t true.”
He looked at me, his eyes telling me I was wrong and that Nikolas was right.
“My family is the mafia,” I whispered trying to wrap my head around this new accusation.
I started thinking about everything in my life: the secrets over the years, the bodyguards, protection every time we stepped out of the house, the attacks, always keeping me close yet so far away, and the bruises on Emilio and my brothers over the years.
“Do we have to spell it for you?” Faith broke my thoughts. “Coming from such a brilliant family, I thought you would be a little bit smarter than that.”
I wanted to strangle her. I wasn’t a stupid girl. It just all seemed so hard to believe. I felt like my whole life had been a lie. Was I the only one who didn’t know this? I guess I had been in deep thought, because I hadn’t even noticed Lucas pin Faith to the wall.
“Don’t you ever talk to her that way again!” he screamed at her. The way he held her by her throat up against the wall sent chills down my spine. I flashed back to Halloween.
“Stop it you two,” Nikolas yelled as he stood up and walked toward them. “It’s time to get the show on the road.”
I sucked in a deep breath when Lucas turned his head to face Nikolas. Those eyes, so blue and filled with anger, burned into my soul.
“Faith, why don’t you come and help me get the video camera ready? We will leave these two lovebirds here to hash it out.”
I didn’t see them exit the room. I was honed in on Lucas and his eyes, pure hatred filled my body.
“You,” I hissed at him.
“Me?” he said as he pointed to himself.
“You were the one who attacked me Halloween night!” I screamed at him. His eyes widened and sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
“It… it…,” he stammered.
“It was you! The stance you just had was the same stance you had Halloween night! You almost killed me Lucas! What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Lily, I can explain if you just give me a minute,” he said with a low voice as he moved toward me.
“Explain? Are you kidding me? How can you explain this to me? Look at me Lucas!” I moved my head up and down. “You made me fall in love with you! I freaking loved you. I gave up everything to give you a chance!”
I couldn’t help it anymore, tears started pouring down my face, and then a realization hit me.
“You killed Roman! You’re the reason he is dead! You may not have pulled the trigger yourself, but you might as well have! Are you trying to hurt me until my heart shatters into a million pieces?”
“Lily, please stop,” he pleaded with me. “There are so many things you don’t know. If you will just listen to me, please, for one minute, I can explain.”
“Save it Lucas! You’re dead to me!” I screamed.
“Always the drama queen,” Faith said as she reentered the room.
Lucas’s eyes pleaded with me as he walked around behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. I shrugged it off and glared at him.
“Okay. Lily,” Faith began, “in a moment, we will be video chatting with your family so they will know you’re still alive. We’re also going to give them a deadline for the documents. Then, hopefully, our family can proceed as planned.” She winked at me and turned back to setting up the computer.
How was I going to get out of this? I pulled on the ropes around my hands, trying to wiggle out of them, but they were so damn tight. I was actually going to have to sit here, strapped down to a chair.
My mother was going to flip when she saw me. I didn’t want that to be the last image she saw of me. What the hell was so important to the Heinrich family that they would do this?
I felt Lucas’s hands slide down my arms and grab ahold of mine. I jerked them trying to get him to let go.
What was he doing?
Then one of my hands fell free. He was untying my hands. The other one fell free seconds later. He held them in place behind my back, and then he leaned forward. I could feel his breath on my ear.
“When I give you the signal,” he whispered, “run out the door, turn to your left, and go through the sliding glass doors and—”
“Okay,” Faith spoke up. “I’m almost ready to connect. I sent them an encrypted message. It should be any moment now.” Faith clicked a few more buttons, before Lucas squeezed my hands and let them go.
He headed toward the wall where the computer was plugged in, bent down, and quietly unplugged the connection cable before slipping around to Faith’s side.
“What the… I just lost the connection!” she proclaimed a moment later.
“How?” Lucas replied. “You were just connected.”
“I don’t know,” she huffed. “Let me check the wire.”
She turned and bent down to check the connection, her back turned to me. Lucas looked over and winked at me, and then turned his back to me.
“Maybe it’s this,” h
e said as he picked up a cord.
I quietly jumped up from the chair. The door was left open, so I headed straight to it and found myself in a hallway. I could hear voices coming from down the right side. So, I did as Lucas said and turned left, quickly making my way down the hall.
There were a few doors on my way down. I could see the light shining through the sliding glass doors as I neared the end of the hall. I slowly peeked around the corner, no one was there. I didn’t even care about being quiet at that point anymore. I threw open the door and started sprinting across the yard, before I even looked up to see what I was facing: trees everywhere.
Straight? Left or Right? Think Lily, which way!
Then I thought about what Emilio once told me: “When in doubt always go left. Always.”
I turned left and made it to the tree line when I heard people starting to yell.
“Spread out! Find her!” Faith screamed. “Lucas go left, Nikolas go straight, and I’ll go right.”
I started pushing myself harder and faster. I prayed I wouldn’t have a Violet moment and trip over something.
“Lily!” I heard Lucas call out. I could tell that he wasn’t far behind me. “Wait, Lily! Please.”
I didn’t listen to him. I wasn’t stopping for anyone. I couldn’t let him catch me. I pushed myself harder than I ever had before.
All I could hear was the cracking of the tree’s foliage under my feet. Dodging the trees and trying not to fall, I was running as fast as I could. I didn’t hear him anymore, but I knew he was still behind me. I could feel him getting closer. My heart felt like it was going to explode from my chest, but I kept running. When I saw an opening in the trees, I turned and headed toward it. As I made it, I felt like maybe everything was going to be okay.
I was wrong, though. Four strides out of the tree line and I found myself teetering on a ledge.
A cliff? Are you kidding me?
I looked from side-to-side, only to find the same thing. It was like a scene out of a movie, trees behind me, rocks beneath me, and a huge rocky cliff in front of me. It had to have been a good three hundred foot drop, if not more, into a canopy of trees. I wouldn’t survive the fall. I started searching for a way, any way out of this.
“Liliana,” he yelled, drawing out my name. Lucas was getting closer.
I started to panic. He was going to catch me. As the realization set in, I saw him. And before I could take off, he emerged from the tree line. I immediately took a step back almost losing my balance.
This moment, I had dreamt it over and over again. I was living my nightmare. I knew how the dream ended, but that was not going to happen to me. Not here, and not now.
Lucas’s eyes locked on mine for a few seconds. I hesitated for a moment before breathing deeply. I wondered if he could catch me. I knew he was in better shape than I was. I also knew I had to keep going.
“Don’t…,” he started to say, but I was already gone. I headed down the cliff’s edge. If he was going to catch me, then I wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
“Lily! Please wait!” he yelled as I lost my balance by sliding on some loose rocks. I caught myself before I slid off the cliff.
“Don’t come near me!” I yelled when I heard him approaching.
“Lily, you have to listen to me,” he said between breaths.
“It doesn’t matter what you say Lucas! The damage is already done.” I slowly pushed myself up off the ground. My lungs felt like they were going to explode from lack of oxygen, and I could feel the blood trickling down my leg.
“You don’t understand Lily. I do love you!”
“You love me?” I huffed. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but one does not kidnap, trick, or manipulate the one that they love.”
“Everything is not what it seems. It may have started out like that, but the truth is I did fall in love with you. Everything changed after that.”
“Why do I have trouble believing you?” I asked sarcastically.
“Listen to me!” he yelled before putting his hands out and taking a deep breath.
“My family,” he started more quietly, “they had a plan. I was supposed to meet you, make you fall in love with me and eventually merge the two families together. It was a good plan. I was all in, because I didn’t know you. I didn’t care, but…,” He paused and took another deep breath.
“The day we met,” he continued, “it wasn’t by coincidence. Emilio had told me where you were and I showed up. Violet made it easier for me, finding me first. You were so beautiful and nothing like I imagined. I kept telling myself this is a job, do your job Lucas. But then things started to change.
“Our first date, at Coney Island, was one of the best nights of my life. I realized how remarkable and down to earth you were. I started questioning if this was the right thing to do. Halloween night, all I was supposed to do was get those damn documents from Emilio. When you came down the stairs, I didn’t know it was you, and when I did, I still couldn’t blow my cover, even though I was already having doubts.” He stepped forward. “I swear Lily, I never meant for you to get hurt that night. When I saw you a few days later, I couldn’t believe I was capable of something like that. I never imagined you looking that bad.”
“Bad?” I began. “You didn’t think I would look so bad? I chin planted on the steps, you almost suffocated me, and you threw me down the stairs! You didn’t think it would be that bad?”
“I’m sorry Lily!” he cried out. “Everything happened so fast. I felt horrible for what I did to you. I still do! It was one of the lowest points of my life. My family was satisfied with the results, but not me. I felt like shit afterwards, like a piece of my heart was ripped out. I’ve tried making it up to you. I talked to Roman a lot—”
“Don’t you dare speak his name to me!” I yelled at him.
“Listen to me!” he yelled back. “Roman was my friend too! I mean that! He did everything for us to be together. He defied Emilio, even when Emilio forbade me to date you. Roman still stuck his neck out for us. He risked everything!” He paused for a moment.
“So after I learned that my family devised a plan, I told them that we didn’t need it, that I was getting closer and closer to you. I warned Emilio and Roman that the Heinrichs were planning something. That it was big.”
I couldn’t help it. I started sobbing. This was hard to hear.
“I swear Lily, I didn’t help them get in. I didn’t help them. I told them I was out. I wouldn’t hurt any of you, and that we would find another way. But they did it anyway.”
My heart was beating faster than I ever thought it could, hearing all of this was overwhelming.
“Roman’s death killed me, a part of me died with him,” I cried. “And for what? For us to get married and for a couple of documents! What the hell is so important about these documents? What did my father take that was so important to your family?”
“I’m almost done.” He glared at me. “After Roman’s death—”
“Lucas,” I said as I cut him off, “nothing you say at this point can fix what you did. It’s unforgivable! If you would have just came and told me about this before it got out of hand, I could have helped you. I know my family could have protected you.”
“Lily,” he half laughed. “This life isn’t one to just walk away from. Family or not, you disobey orders and you will be given a first class ticket to the bottom of the river with a weight strapped to your ankles.
“I’m sorry. I can’t change what I have done. I’m ashamed of myself, and I can promise you that you will never hate me as much as I hate myself.” His eyes filled with tears as he looked at me.
I was hurt, but even with everything he had done, I still had feelings for him.
Everything that had happened to me over the past year stemmed from him. I felt like a fool. I would never be able to forgive him. He gave me this life of freedom, and with it newer, exciting experiences. I could be the person I had always wanted to be with him and
now everything was gone. He ripped it away in an instant.
“Lily,” Lucas spoke, “for what it’s worth, I did fall truly, madly, and deeply in love with you.”
“Liliana!” two voices called out. My eyes lifted from Lucas as I searched the area around me. The voices were frantic, not determined.
Dante was the first to appear. He came running straight out of the woods.
“Emilio!” he shouted once our eyes met. “I found her! She’s over here!”
I sprinted towards him and flung myself into his arms.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he pulled away from me and looked me over. His mortified eyes spoke volumes. I realized at the moment I must have looked like a complete mess.
“I’m fine,” I said my voice shaking as I grabbed him again and held him tight.
Emilio came charging out of the trees and was at our side in an instant. His facial expressions changing from terrified to relief and back.
“I’m fine,” I reassured him as well. I was far from fine, but what else could I say?
“You’re not fine,” Emilio said as his finger traced the cut on my face.
“Lucas, where are you?” Nikolas’s voice called out. My eyes flashed toward Lucas who hadn’t moved.
“Over here!” Lucas yelled.
“Get her out of here,” Emilio said pushing me toward Dante, who latched onto my arm.
“Come on, Lily,” Dante said as he started to try and pull me back towards the tree line.
“Lucas?” This time it was Faith’s voice that called out.
“Over here,” Lucas yelled again.
“Get the hell out of here,” Emilio yelled at us before he took off at a dead run towards Lucas.
“Emilio!” I screamed as I lurched towards him. Dante had such a strong grip on my arm that it almost felt like I had ripped it out of socket.
“Lily, please!” Dante said as he pulled harder.
Lucas was running towards Emilio now. I watched them as they collided into each other. They started rolling around on the ground. I could see fists flying.
“Let me go!” I demanded as I struggled to break free from Dante as he picked me up and pulled me into his chest before he took off back into the woods.
“We have to get out of here before the rest of that crew gets here. Emilio—”
The echo of a gunshot silenced us both. The silence that followed was deafening. Dante had stopped dead in his tracks. He stood there, holding me in silence, both of us listening for something. Anything. But nothing came.