"The damage was done the moment our eyes collided."
~Xavier De Luca
***
One life-altering night ignites a soul-scorching passion between a gangster and a good girl...One that could burn everyone they know and love to ashes.
Loyalties and legacies...
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I saw two people killed right in front of me, one after the other.
Then, I got pulled out of the back of my family's church under a hail of gunfire and sirens.
After that, I watched my uncle administer emergency care to Matteo on the way to one of the houses on our block.
From there, I helped Laoise's sister, Mary, dig the bullet out of Matteo's mangled arm and watched while she stitched him up.
I also realized my uncle was never a welder, and I saw him shoot a man's eye out from fifty paces without flinching. Oh, and I learned that Gael and his brother commanded a much bigger legion than I could ever even fathom.
Then, I saw Cillian show genuine affection for Laoise, unbothered by my gaping because he was so worried for her safety.
Stranger still, I learned that my name wasn't my name and that my parents didn't die in a car crash. They were murdered in cold blood.
However, when my uncle told me that Xavier was engaged to another woman, and we were leaving town within the next few hours, I lost my ever-loving mind.
My muscles gave up all at once, trapping me in a ball of angst on my family's sitting room couch.
"Gracie," my uncle's fingers dug into my shoulders like he was going to shake some sense into me. "You've got to get it through your head. He doesn't love you. He can't, my girl. Men like Xavier only love power and money."
Every word felt like a kick to my already bruised ribs and battered heart. I wanted him to stop. I wanted to quit seeing dead bodies every time I closed my eyes to sob into my kneecaps. I wanted to unlearn the gruesome truth around my parents' deaths.
"Your uncle's right," my Mammo shuffled past us, tossing knickknacks and photo frames into her leather duffel bag. "That gorgeous piece of arse isn't worth the tears you're spending on him. Forget the De Luca boy. You've got to go upstairs and pack now."
"But you're not my uncle, are you?" I sniffed from behind my knees.
"What did you just say to me?" My uncle's red eyes swelled to twice their size.
"I said," I took a breath to steady my voice. "Y-you're not really my uncle. You adopted Gannon and I, oh, excuse me, Giovanni and me, because your best friend, and fellow assassin-for-hire, called in a favor. So, you don't have to feel obligated to protect me anymore. I'm sure our parents didn't ask you to hide us away for the rest of our lives."
That was possibly the hardest part to know, that my name wasn't Grace, and my brother wasn't Gannon. We'd been christened Gianna and Giovanni Bianchi.
The fact that I was related to the twisted son of a bitch that murdered my entire family made me vomitous. It also made me very scared.
"Jaysus!" My uncle crossed our small sitting room in two steps to wrap me up in a hug that warmed my hard exterior. "I'm not doing this because I feel obligated to your da! I'm doing this because I love you like my own, Grace! I'm doing this because you're my daughter, regardless of our blood or a piece of paper! You will always be my Gracie girl."
His choked voice caught me off guard and I melted into his embrace. I'd missed that aspect of our relationship so much that I just wanted to stay in that moment. His tears wet the top of my hair and I realized I was going to need a tissue of my own soon.
"Now," he continued. "The same psychopath that murdered your parents and your brother is coming for you, so you have to go upstairs and pack a go-bag. Do you hear me?"
"Yes," I nodded into the swell of his chest, inhaling his aftershave like smelling salts.
The tickle of Old Spice made me feel like might be able to get through the next twenty-four hours.
"OK, go, then!" He gave me a gentle push to help me off our couch.
I shuffled past my mammo who was still selecting the most important trinkets and mementos to take on the run. Cillian emerged from the kitchen with Laoise tucked under his arm and I paused to admire how adorable they looked together.
"I wish I'd known you two like this," I smiled at my cousin, unable to hold back the regret in my voice.
"We were going to tell you, but then, Gannon," Cillian tried to explain but his voice faded out.
Laoise stood on her tiptoes to give him a supportive kiss on the cheek that made my heart fracture in ways I couldn't show. I wanted to be happy for them, not upset that they didn't tell me or sad that she didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth.
"Ah," I nodded. "Well, I'm glad it's really happening. You two were like the Ross and Rachel of our block."
That pop culture reference lit Laoise's face up like a star at Christmas. It was more than I deserved.
"Aw, sod it!" Cillian unhooked his arm from his girlfriend to encircle me in one of his amazing hugs. It took Laoise less than five minutes to join us. "I'll miss you so fucking much, Gracie my girl! I'm gutted we're not going to the same safe house."
"Me too," I whispered with the last of my breath.
"Me three!" Laoise squealed as they crushed me even more.
"Get packing!" My uncle bellowed from the other room.
We separated with meaningful looks as I turned and trudged up the stairs towards my room for what was possibly the last time. My ankles felt leaden, and my heart ached like it was slowly breaking into a million jagged pieces.
I wasn't ever going to see my home again, or teach my students, or hang out with my friends from our block, or say my name for that matter. Everything in my life felt like it was on an awful tailspin headed straight for a fiery crash.
And I wasn't just losing everything I'd ever known. I was losing my future with Xavier too. Without even so much as a goodbye.
According to my uncle, he was engaged, and it wasn't too hard for me to guess who the lucky bride to be was. Xavier was going to marry my long-lost relative, Mia Bianchi like he was supposed to do before I came along. They were going to be a gorgeous power couple, trotting the globe like billionaire versions of Bonnie and Clyde while I faded from existence.
I was nothing but a temporary distraction from the life he'd been borne to. I was a thing for Xavier to discard when he was done. At least no one had said 'I told you so' yet. They were letting me be fully in my feelings before they pointed out how very right they'd been all along.
Pushing my bedroom door open, I flicked on the light and almost managed to scream when a strange-smelling cloth rag blocked my mouth.
After a frightening lungful of the heinous fumes, my head started to spin, but I vaguely recognized the scent behind me.
Someone was jerking me into their body like they were wrestling a gator. Adrenaline flooded my veins to make me shaky and lightheaded as I tried to wriggle out of their death grip.
Another breath made my head start pounding like a sledgehammer.
"Hello, Grace," Detective Nowak's pleasant greeting in my ear sent a shock of electricity up my spine. Only, his voice was slightly lower than usual and had an inflection like Natalia's. Another deep breath made my vision blur considerably. "Looks like I missed the big fight, but I'm still walking away with the spoils of war."
I don't remember blacking out.
A/N ~ I am so, SO sorry that I am late to post this week. Unfortunately, there's some terrible stuff going on in my professional life, which has stolen any and all time I have for writing and posting (side note: It's stolen my happiness too, if any of you can relate, you are not alone ❤).
