Undressed By The Mafia God

David looked completely untouched by what he had done. He bent over and picked up the gun. "Time to give Luca our location, don’t you think?"

Vee’s stomach clenched. "No."

David ignored her, reaching into his pocket with the hand still stained with his mother’s blood. He pulled out Veronica’s phone and did not even bother to wipe his fingers before unlocking it.

Veronica watched helplessly as he typed. Giving Luca just enough information to bait him. David sent the message.

"There," he said pleasantly. "He knows you’re in Italy. Less than forty-eight hours to get into town."

Vee yanked against the chain. Pain shot through her wrist but she barely felt it over the panic crawling up her spine.

David slipped the phone back into his pocket. "I’m going to be out for a couple of hours. Need to rally the old troop in handling Luca." His eyes gleamed as he looked at her. "Do you know what I intend to do with his body?"

Veronica forced herself to meet his stare. Her hands were trembling. Her heart was a mess. Her husband was walking into a trap because of her. But if David thought she would sit there and politely discuss Luca’s corpse, he had overestimated his charm by a criminal amount. "Go to hell!" she spat.

David laughed, turned and walked out of the warehouse office, stepping over his mother’s body on the way as if she were nothing more than clutter. The door slammed shut behind him.

Veronica yanked uselessly at the chain around her wrist. The hook in the wall held firm. The cuff bit deeper. Her breath came fast and terrified. She had to get out of here. She looked at her thumb and wondered how it was Luca used to get out of these things. She gave a testing pull at it and rolled her eyes.

She probably should have asked him to teach her how he did that without screaming his lungs out.

*****

Luca landed in Italy exactly ten hours after the message from Veronica’s phone came through. It had taken ten hours for distance to turn unbearable. He had spent the flight staring at nothing, one hand closed around the chain at his neck where her rings rested against his chest.

Veronica was in Italy. How did he get her across borders? Someone was still helping him. Someone with influence. Don says he believes Enzo’s claims of not knowing. Luca didn’t buy it.

Marco had made arrangements. Men ready to follow and do all the useful things Luca knew would be useless if David was even half as careful as he had proven himself to be.

David had stalked his wife for months. He had watched, waited, planned and killed right under their noses.

A man like that would not invite Luca to Italy and then forget to check for a tail. This was not amateur hour.

Right now, Luca had to rely on himself to get his wife out of David’s clutches.

A man met him just outside the arrival doors. He simply looked at Luca and said, "Follow me."

Luca obeyed without a word. That, more than anything, would have horrified anyone who knew him. Luca Genovese commanded and occasionally negotiated. But Veronica’s life sat on the other side of this obedience, so he walked. His eyes moved through the sea of travellers. Luca scanned faces, exits.

He did not see his father’s men hiding in plain sight. In fairness to him, he had not slept in five days.

Sleep had become one of those ridiculous hobbies other people enjoyed. His body moved because rage was operating it now.

The man led him to a waiting vehicle. Luca got into the back seat. The door shut. Only then did he notice the phone mounted on the dashboard.

The screen was already lit. David’s face stared back at him through a silent video call. Luca said nothing.

He satisfied his thoughts with images of stabbing David repeatedly in the face. The driver who had picked him up glanced at Luca through the rear-view mirror.

"There are cuffs under the seat," he said. "Attach them to your feet and wrists."

Luca turned his eyes to the phone mounted on the dashboard. David was still watching from the screen. He looked proud.

Again, Luca said nothing. Words were useless here. Besides, every sentence in his head ended with David choking on his own blood.

He bent, reached under the seat, and pulled out the chains and cuffs. Luca fastened them around his ankles first, then his wrists.

The driver leaned back to check, tugging once at the cuffs between Luca’s wrists. Then he examined the chain at his ankles, making sure they were secured properly. Luca let him.

When the driver was satisfied, he nodded at David. Only then did David send the location. The driver started the vehicle and pulled away from the airport.

Luca’s attention stayed on the rhythm of the journey. Turns, distance. Every little detail his exhausted brain could hold.

There were four car changes. At each change, Luca was searched. His jacket was removed. His belt taken. He was scanned for tracking devices. One man even checked inside his mouth.

David had been thorough. By the time Luca finally came face to face with him, it was on an abandoned street where the buildings stood empty, their broken windows watching like dead eyes. The last car stopped beside a cracked pavement. The driver opened the door.

Luca stepped out in chains. David waited a few feet away, dressed in dark clothes, hands relaxed at his sides, smiling.

"Hello, Luca..." David said. "It’s nice to officially meet you." His smile widened. "Surprised?"

Luca lifted his eyes to him. "No, not really. I always knew you were filth."

"Well, guilty as charged then," David drawled, spreading his hands. "I have quite the display waiting for you. I’m sure you would be impressed."

Luca’s eyes stayed on him. The chains at his wrists and ankles were heavy, but his rage was heavier.

(100 power stones! Another Chapter coming soon. Bear with me)