Mafia Legacy

Chapter Twenty Three- Luca/Charlotte

Luca

When the guard came and got me out of my cell, I thought it was for another ambush. It had happened two more times since the first. I needed to find some allies in here quickly, but that was hard to do since we had been on lockdown for the last five days.

The day it started, Charlotte and I had had a terrible fight and I hadn't been able to even contact her since. It was fucking killing me. As tough as it wasn't here, I could only imagine what she was going through on the outside. Every single day I questioned my decision to remain loyal, or to roll over on my friend and get myself out of here. I was still confident I could get out of this without becoming a rat, but even I had to admit that each day was getting harder and harder.

Marco was just as pissed at me as Charlotte was, and I couldn't blame him. He had to shoulder the repercussions for Angelo and me being arrested, and I knew he was picking up the slack for me at home as well. Every piece of evidence they had was fabricated, and it was just a matter of time before that came to light. I could wait it out.

When the guard took me to the visiting room instead of the basement, I was completely shocked. I was even more shocked when I saw Charlotte sitting at one of the tables. It still made me cringe to see her in this type of environment. I never wanted anything like this to happen.

She stood up the second she saw me, mustering up a smile.

"Hey baby." I smiled, taking her into my arms and pressing my lips to her quickly before the guards could tell me no.

"I'm so glad to see you." She nestled into my chest.

"I've been trying to call, but we've been on lockdown." I explained as we sat down at the table.

Char nodded. "I've been trying to call, too. What happened?"

"I don't really know. They don't tell you very much." I said. "It was on another unit."

"How are you? Are you doing okay?" She frowned, eyeing some of the healing bruises on my jawline.

"I'm fine, babe. I promise." I squeezed her hand. "How are you doing?"

Char's face fell, tears pooling in her eyes.

"What is it, Char?" My heart broke for her. I hated putting her through this, but I didn't have much choice.

She bit her lip, shaking her head."I'm sorry, I told myself I wasn't gonna break down like this. It's just been really hard lately."

I kissed the back of her hand.

"The boys are at each other's throats right now. They're all so resentful of what's going on. And I don't know what to do. I don't know how to make it better or fix it at all."

"I'm so sorry, baby. I'll call tonight and talk to them."

She shook her head again. "Marco did already."

"Good."

"But he's not their dad, Luca. And a phone call isn't going to fix anything. They need you home. We all do. How much longer are you gonna let this shit go on?"

"Char, there is no place I would rather be, but..."

"But nothing!" She snapped. "Who the hell are you protecting? I can't take this anymore."

"Charlotte, I understand that you're upset..."

"Upset?" Her eyes widened. "Luca, you're rotting in a jail cell to protect someone who literally threw you under the bus. I talked to Hunter. Whoever you're protecting literally planted a gun in our house, so you would go down for this. I'm fucking furious."

"Why are you talking to Hunter?" I clenched my jaw. I never wanted to see that prick again, and the thought of Char talking to him made my blood boil. I didn't believe a word that he said, certainly not that the gun had been planted by my friend.

"That's what you got out of that?" She glared. Every muscle in her body was tense.

"Look, we already know that we can't trust the kid. He's lying to you about that gun."

"No, he's not." She spat. "He came to our house to try to help me help you. Way more than you're doing."

"I'm trying. Angelo and I are working on it, I promise. You've just got to be patient."

Char let out a heavy sigh. "I've been patient Luca. Our entire lives together, I have been patient. I had deferred to you and I have let you take the lead on this shit, but it's gone on too far. I'm done."

"So, what are you saying?"

Char reached into her purse and pushed a packet of papers towards me. All I could see on the top was "DIVORCE."

I grabbed the papers, not even looking at the words. "What the fuck is this, Charlotte?"

"I can't do this anymore, Luca. It's killing me and it's killing our children. You're keeping shit from me again, and I am not going to let it go on."

"Charlotte, I'm keeping shit from you to protect our family." I hissed. This was absolutely insane. Obviously, she wasn't thinking straight.

"And I'm doing this to protect my family, too." She bit her lip, fighting back tears.

"You're out of your fucking mind if you think we're getting divorced over this. You're angry and you're overreacting, like usual." It was out of my mouth before I knew what I was saying, and I immediately regretted it.

"Jut sign the damn papers, Luca." She glared. "You're putting us all through hell because you have some twisted illusion of loyalty and it's bullshit. It's selfish." She stood up and grabbed her purse. "You can give them to the guard, and I'll pick them up later."

She turned quickly and disappeared out of the room before I could stop her.

"Charlotte!" I bellowed, calling after her. "Don't do this!"

She wasn't hearing any of it. I sat back down at the table, feeling like I was about to pass out. Divorce? Had I really pushed her too far this time? Was she really ready to give up everything we'd created the last 20 years together? She had to just be overreacting.

I looked at the papers with a sinking feeling in my stomach. Both of our names were listed, everything was filled out.

She was serious.

Charlotte

I rushed out of the prison as fast as I could. I couldn't bear to stand there and see him any longer. He was mad now, but it was quickly turning to hurt and I hated putting him through it. I had battled all night with this decision, but Marco was right. Something needs to kick start Luca and nothing else was getting through to him. He didn't understand how serious it was and, as much as this was killing the both of us, it was for the best.

I threw myself over the trashcan, dry heaving. I hadn't eaten anything so there was nothing in my stomach to come up, but I was disgusted. With myself and with Luca. Once I composed myself, I headed to the car and climbed inside.

"How did it go?" Marco asked.

"How the fuck do you think it went?" I covered my face in my hands, not able to keep my composure any longer.

Marco reached over and squeezed my hand. "I know how hard that was. I'm sorry."

"The good news is, it worked exactly how it was supposed." Hunter chimed in from the back seat. "The visiting room was bugged, just like we thought. Whitaker just heard you ask him for a divorce, watched the entire thing. He thinks it's real."

"This better work." I cried, staring out the window. Luca was inside of those walls, probably losing his mind with pain, pain that I had caused. I hated every second of this.