POV: KATHERINA
“Angola is under attack, and there is no way Parker could make it out alive,” said Rickard, who’d been ignoring me since we arrived. “The cops are giving them a hard time.”
“That’s why I want you to let me go with him, Luca,” Edward tried desperately yet again. “Parker will definitely need a helping hand.”
“You are no use to me when you’re wounded, Edward,” Luca said, “I thought I already made that very clear to you.”
Edward huffed in annoyance and looked away from him.
“How did the cops dare to enter Nnamdis territory?” Luca questioned Rickard, recalling his previous statement.
“The cops never dared to enter Nnamdis territory, Luca. It’s Nyota’s territory now, and before he can rule like his father, the cops want to finish them all,” Rick replied.
“This is no good,” Luca said. “This is no good to us at all with everything that’s happening. The boss won’t be happy to hear this from us.”
Luca cursed under his breath and ran his hand through his hair. We were at Alberto’s party, one of Luca’s business partners in the illegal liquor trade.
From the conversation Luca had with Alberto when we came here, I found out that at least 4500 liters of spirit will be shipped now as Luca talks about his diamond business.
“It’s going to be fine. Parker won’t fuck up, won’t you?” Rickard asked Parker, who was busy checking out the girls in the bar section, paying no attention.
“Yeah, I wanna fuck all of em,” Parker mumbled, waving at the girls.
Rickard rolled his eyes and stood up. “He’s going to make it, Luca.”
“Stay with Edward,” Luca whispered in my ear before standing up and leaving with Rickard.
“He thinks I’m weak,” Edward said.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” I replied, but Edward shook his head, running a hand through his blonde locks. “He just doesn’t want you to get shot again.”
“It’s nothing new. We’ve all had our wounds, Cruz especially. I can’t sit like a pussy and do nothing.”
“Damn you, Eddy. You have no idea of pussy power,” Parker exclaimed and got up. “And guess Imma feel some tonight.”
Parker smiled at one of the girls and quickly sprinted to her.
Edward sighed and refilled his glass. He was disappointed that Luca wouldn’t let him go with Parker, and I could see why since he flinched in pain every time he had to move his left arm.
Edward kept filling his glass even though he was on medication. I sat here watching Luca converse with the men, scared to even imagine what would happen if he ever came to know about Chris.
I hadn’t contacted Chris yet. There was a landline at Luca’s house, but I remember Rick warning me not to use it as an escape plan since all the calls were tapped.
Luca would know if I tried anything foolish. I tried to get one of the maid’s phones, but I had never really seen them use their phones. I didn’t know if any of them even had one.
I needed to contact Chris as soon as possible and find out what he was up to.
I’d seen Luca’s men and how brutal and clever they all were, with people working for them in the police department and every important field.
He had a huge network, which made it hard for enemies to reach him. Even when they did, he never spared them.
I wanted to believe that whoever attacked us in the hotel and at his home were his enemies, but with Chris being here for God knows how long, I couldn’t be sure.
Whatever Chris had in store, he couldn’t outnumber Luca’s men, and he definitely couldn’t bring Luca down, so I didn’t see how Chris was going to win against him this time.
Before I could get my hopes up, I really needed to ask him to leave and not put his life in danger for me again.
If he actually succeeded and later asked me the truth about Luca and me, I couldn’t lie to him.
The truth would break him, and things would become messier. He deserves more than I was and ever will be.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Edward’s voice snapped me out of my reverie.
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been staring at Luca for a while now. He’s not going anywhere,” he said and filled a glass with wine for me. “Here, take this.”
“Thanks, I wasn’t really staring at him.”
Edward chuckled. “You’re growing on him,” he said softly.
“No,” I scoffed, taking a sip of the wine.
“Yes, you are. And he’s growing on you,” Edward said casually and went to refill his glass again, but I took the bottle away from him.
“I don’t want to piss you off, but I think that’s enough for tonight,” I said, giving him a tight smile.
“I’m fine, Katherina. We’ll be heading to the harbor once the shipment arrives and gets loaded tonight, and I don’t get drunk at work. It’s just that it numbs the pain, better than any painkiller.”
“Do you guys have a hand in every illegal business in the world?”
“Not really.” Edward gave me a boyish grin.
“Our main business is drugs and women. All the rest is done with collaboration with these businessmen. They need us in spite of having the government in their hands.”
“And Luca is your boss?”
“No, not really,” said Edward. “We all work together as a team for one big head, who rules Italy, just the way Benjamin rules England.
“We all form allies with neighboring gangs that want to work with us, and the rest all are against us. Luca is our leader.
“We follow him. We listen to him. Hell, every fucking one of us all around the globe is begging to work for him. Didn’t you see the news after the hotel incident when he finally came back to life?”
I nodded quietly, wrapping my arms around my body. The night air was chilly, and even with the drinks in our hands, the backyard of Alberto’s mansion wasn’t my favorite place.
“That’s the power of Luca,” Edward smirked. “Every criminal all over the globe started an open war with the cops when they heard the news of Luca’s death two years back.
“Hell broke loose, and there wasn’t peace anywhere while we kept Luca hidden from everyone.”
It’s fascinating and terrifying to know what kind of man had kidnapped me. Such great power he had in the world he lived in. The thought of what would happen if he fell scared me to death.
“What really happened two years ago?” I asked carefully.
Sheriff Newman had told Chris and me whatever he knew, but I really wanted to know the whole story.
“We were in Bangkok. Bright, sunny day…just the team and our boss. There was a meeting, and the cops found out where we were and attacked us.
“We never wore bulletproof vests and shit like that, so we were naturally bound to get ourselves killed. When we were outnumbered, Luca sent us away with our boss.
“It was just him, Cruz, and Rickard fighting the cops. I don’t know what exactly happened there, but Bill shot him, just a few inches above his heart.
“Cruz fled, and Luca was taken away. Since we had our men in the police department, they informed us that Luca wasn’t dead.
“They kept him in the mortuary and treated his wounds so the real cops wouldn’t find out. Rick did the rest, replacing Luca with some other man’s corpse.
The pathologist gave the cops a fake autopsy report, and Sheriff Newman closed the case, just like that.”
I finished the rest of the wine in one swallow, making Edward chuckle.
“Who’s your boss?” I asked, vaguely remembering the sheriff mentioning him.
“Accardi De Gasperi,” Edward said in a low voice, and just then, a panicked scream of a woman interrupted us.
I turned around to see a man choking on his blood as a gaping hole in his throat gushed and poured blood down the front of his suit.
People started to flee the place even before the man who got shot hit the floor.
“Come on.” Edward was quick on his feet and held me in a firm grip before dragging me away from the commotion
“Edward, wait. Edward, wait!”
“We can’t! I need to get you to a safe place!”
Edward pushed us through the crowd, trying to get me out.
“No! Luca is out there!”
Edward was deaf to my protests and took us out of the backyard into the house.
Instead of running with the others toward the exit, Edward ran in a different direction, through the sumptuous mansion into a huge kitchen.
The chaotic screams of the crowd faded away as they all ran out of the mansion.
Edward walked over toward the tall glass door leading outside to the backyard and much closer to what caused the commotion.
Luca’s back was facing us with Parker, Rickard, and Alberto standing in a semi-circle, looking down at something… someone.
A horrible thought crossed my mind though the man kneeling in front of them was unknown to me.
He had a wicked smile on his face as he looked up at Luca without an ounce of fear. Only a man with a death wish would do that.
He started to talk, and a hard punch came his way from Luca, knocking him to the ground.
Parker quickly pulled him back to his kneeling position, and I saw blood smearing the side of his mouth, a few strands of his shoulder-length hair stuck in it.
“Stay here,” Edward said and opened the door.
“But―”
Edward cut me off. “Stay here.”
I watched him go out, closing the door behind him.
Luca screamed back something at him, but the man gave him a smile, with blood dripping from his mouth.
He daringly spoke yet again, and this time Rickard threatened him with a stern face, and the smile on his face vanished, turning to a scowl before he shouted something.
Everyone tensed, and I knew whatever the man had said had affected them. Edward took a step back and immediately looked me in the eye.
Before anyone could make a move, the man’s hand came up to his throat, and a thin vertical line of blood started to gush out as he slid the knife across.
I gasped, watching his blood drip copiously from the cut as he fell sideways.
No sooner did he fall than Alberto stepped back from the body and started to scream at Luca. I couldn’t hear the words, but Luca didn’t seem bothered as he looked at the dead man in front of him.
Rickard started to shout back at Alberto, and I could see Parker talking. Edward placed a comforting hand on Luca’s shoulder.
Luca took a step back while Alberto was trying to get to him, and Rickard was trying to calm him down. Without warning, Luca raised his hand and shot Alberto several times till he hit the ground.
The gunshots made the guards of the mansion run toward the dead owner, but they didn’t dare to attack Luca.
I started to tremble and rose to get out, but Luca’s angry voice stopped me from moving.
“Where is she?” Luca screamed, and the voice traveled to me where I stood.
The fear I felt was unbearable, and when Luca’s hard, cold eyes landed on me, I knew I was caught and that the man who killed himself worked for Chris.
I stood rooted to the spot instead of running for my life. Luca was approaching me with such a wild fury that I stumbled back when he pushed the door open.
I let out a shriek and got ready to run away from him, but Luca grabbed my arm, forcing me to face him, before slamming his lips on mine.
I was stunned for a few seconds because I expected him to beat the hell out of me for getting in touch with Chris again, but he did the unexpected, giving me whiplash.
I remained still as he shut his eyes tight and kissed me urgently. His hand came up, and I saw the gun still clutched in his deadly grip—the same gun he used to kill Alberto without mercy.
“Luca,” Rickard’s voice interrupted him, and he immediately cut off the kiss.
“He delivered his message and killed himself, Rick.” Luca spoke softly even though I could feel the storm inside him threatening to rise up.
He didn’t look at Rick or the others who came in. Instead, he stared into my eyes.
“I don’t know who the fuck they are, and I don’t even care. They can’t take my queen from me.”
Luca rubbed the back of his hand on my cheek.