Luciano
Fear was such a shitty feeling. It had this way of clawing at your heart, nicking it so that it bled in the wrong places. Two whole fucking hours and I hadn’t seen Raven yet. I hadn’t heard a thing either. Not Ater that scream from earlier.
Fuck!
I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t even want to. It would be all morbid thoughts and I refused to think or imagine in the slightest that Raven was dead.
But that gunshot. Fuck. And that Scream. She better not die. I would not allow it. I would never allow it.
As if you could do anything about it, the nagging voice in my head, my only companion in the past two hours, nagged again and I wish it was a real human so I could smack the shit out of it. I was coiled with so much tension. The only way to ease it was to find Raven.
“Cara!” I yelled through the forest.
This was my fourth time going through the entire damned place and I was either walking in circles or this forest had malicious intent. Perhaps it was because I was faint. I’d lost blood, I was damned hungry and I’d expended so much energy running around.
But I could not stop. Not until I found Raven. Not until I found her. She could be in a ditch or something. She could be waiting for me to save her and here I was, running in fucking circles.
“Fanculo!” I swore, closing my eyes briefly trying to get my brain to fucking cooperate. Dawn was approaching, it would be morning soon. Once I found Raven and I dealt with the shitty ruckus that Luca had created for the mafia, we were getting the hell out of Sicily. I wanted her safe, far away from anything that could cause her stress. A vacation sounded good. Very fucking good.
Ruffling in the forest got my attention and my eyes snapped open, tracing the direction from which the sound came from. I clenched the rifle in my hand tighter and cocked it. Just in case it was that Castello bastard, I would make him die a thousand fucking deaths!
A hand parted through the branches and I aimed. Show your face you son of a bitch. The person groaned as they shoved the branches aside and two people stumbled forward.
“Fanculo! You’re heavy!” Giorgia’s voice reached my ears.
“Sorry,” came a weak reply. It sounded more like a whisper.
But I had never been so fucking relieved to hear a whisper before.
“Cara!” I bellowed, slung the rifle back on my arm and raced towards her. Giorgia stepped aside so I could see her and I gasped at the sight and caught her quickly before she fell.
Rage tore through me as I took her in. She Looked like she would break into pieces the next fucking minute! Her hair was matted and bloodied. Blood soaked through her clothes and her face was rather bruised. She smiled up at me weakly and became limp in my arms.
Fear surged alive within me. I shook her gently, afraid, terrified that she was dead.
“Cara,” I whispered. “Raven, fuck Raven wake up.”
“We need to get her to a doctor,” Giorgia said beside me, a nonchalant look on her face. “Or she’ll die. She was hanging off a cliff when I saw her, with that Castello bastard hanging on to her.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.” Giorgia replied. “As he should fucking be. I’ll tell Enzo and the boys to get rid of him later.”
I shook my head. “There is no need. He’ll take the fall for this,” I glanced down at Raven iny arms. “All of this. Did you call the boys?”
Giorgia nodded. “They should be done cleaning proof of your existence in the cabin by now.”
Satisfied, I hurled Athena over my shoulders and sprinted towards the cabin with Giorgia in tow.
We reached the dilapidated building and a butter taste filled my mouth. I had seen that place as our sanctuary. Every minute we spent away from the world was fucking precious. But the world was that fucking cruel wasn’t it? Whenever someone precious to me exists, they’d try to snatch them away from me. My parents, my life and now, my woman.
Like hell I was going to allow that to fucking happen.
My men were waiting, they had gotten rid of our clothes and everything that could link I and Cara to the scene. Enzo approached me quickly as soon as he saw me, his eyes wide.
“What happened to the lady?”
“Get the car,” I grunted, “And call the doc. The one on our side. Tell him to meet me in the west house in fifteen minutes. Not a minute late!”
“Yes boss!” Enzo replied and hurried off to do as I said..
“Cara,” i called, tapping her legs lightly. “Please wake up. Please. You can’t leave me, Cara. You know that right? You can’t fucking leave me. I will not allow it.”
All I got in response was silence. And it terrified the shit out of me.
Enzo brought the car around and without hesitation I slid in. Before I could leave however, Giorgia tapped on the window.
“What about Luca?”
I glanced at Raven beside me, unconscious, limp and pale. Her lips were white and it seemed she turned as pale as death every fucking second.
“Untie him,” I ordered and kept a blank face when Giorgia smiled. “But leave him there, he’ll find his way home.”
“Thank you Luciano!” She grinned and sauntered off. I rolled up the windows.
“Enzo?”
“Yes boss?”
“Call one of the boys to knock Luca out after Giorgia leaves. Then call the Carabineri. Pin the blame of this shootout on Luca and the fucking Castello. And tell them Luca’s the head of the mafia.”
He glanced back, with his eyes wide in disbelief. “Boss?”
“Trust me Enzo,” I said, pulling Raven towards me and wrapping my arms around her. “This is the only way we can get rid of all those who support Luca and scatter the damn Castello.”
And it was the only way I wouldn’t hae to kill my best friend. If he took the fall for me, the mafia should be able to fucking forgive. Time in prison ought to give him enough tome to reflect on his foolishness.
“I trust you boss,” He replied and stepped in the accelerator.
****
We arrived at the west house in fifteen minutes exactly. The doc stood outside the gate, all dressed and holding his kit in his hands. He was one of the best doctors in Italy. If anyone could save Raven, it had to be him.
I wasted no time in helping her get settleda and watched from the side as he examined her.
“There’s a bullet lodged in her arm. And several wounds down her body. She’ll need a proper scan to know if there are fractures-”
“Just keep her alive first,” I hissed. “She looks like death!”
He nodded and gestured at the door. I laughed at his antics. He had to think I was a fucking joke.
“I’m not leaving, Doc,” I grumbled, folding my arms in anger.
“You are,” he deadpanned. “I know you Luciano, you’d become restless and most likely try to wring my neck. I can’t work under such conditions.”
“I need to see her,” I defended. “I need to see her awake.”
“And you will,” Doc promised. “But you need to leave first,”
I glared at him, he glared right back and for a minute that was all we did. Sighing, I dropped my shoulders in defeat and walked out of the room.
“Fine, you win, old man” I grumbled and heard him chuckle as I walked out.
I planted my ass in the living room, knees knocking together as I waited for him to be done. For him fix her because I couldn’t. I hoped she would be fine. I desperately hoped so. If I had to spend the rest of my damned life, trying to help her forget all that had happened, I would. I fucking would!
Enzo walked in about an hour later. I had abandoned the damned chair. The doc hadn’t stepped out at all. Not once and even though I knew better than to disturb him, the itch to burst into the room and find out what exactly was going on, was strong. I had been so fucking close to tearing down the door when Enzo came in.
Masking my anxiety with a blank look, I watched him approach me. “Done?”
He nodded. “All done boss. How’s the miss?”
I sighed and glared at the door. “I don’t know. Doc won’t let me know.”
“I’m sure she’ll be fine boss,” he urged. “I think you need a doctor yourself too.”
I dragged a hand down my face and sighed. “Non. Just get me something to eat, and whiskey, need to stitch this damned shoulder wound myself.”