Merciless Union by Faith Summers

6

Lucca

“The premises have been secured with my men and yours who came up clean after I questioned them,” Aiden explains as we pull up on my drive in his Range Rover.

The grounds have been cleaned up; clean of dead bodies and the conflict that occurred here a mere twelve days ago.

What happened here could have been a replica of the massacre that transpired fifteen years earlier when my family and the staff who worked here were killed.

Now there are more ghosts to haunt the place.

I turn to Aiden and nod my thanks.

“Thanks for all you’ve done for me.”

“I keep saying don’t mention it, Merciless. Anyhow, Damien should be inside waiting. Alexei is briefing the new guys. I’ll call you if I come up with anything on Aria’s whereabouts.”

“I appreciate that.” More so because I no longer have anyone who can track people down the way Jon could. The only other person who came close was me, but I can’t do half of what he could.

I step out of the truck, cane first, then me next. The cane is just for support because my body is still fucked up. The advice the doctors gave was to stay with them for a month to six weeks, and then they’d review possible discharge.

All I heard, though, were the other parts of their summery about my wounds that had healed up, and my organs were intact. That meant I could move.

“Take care, friend.”

I dip my head, and Aiden drives away.

Turning my gaze to the front doors of the house, I take measured steps. The slowness isn’t because I’m weak. It’s more about reflection. I’m aware the situation is bad, and it’s about to get more fucked than it is.

I can’t imagine what good could come from any of this. Right now, I feel like that boy I was when I returned home after the massacre to get my belongings to move in with Damien.

The difference between then and now is that there’s no Marylin to greet me and tell me things will be okay.

I’ll never forget her swollen eyes and grief-stricken face filled with the loss of her husband. While she grieved my family too, her husband was her everything. The same way my parents loved each other.

I had so many good examples of love around me. I should have been able to treat the one person I loved better than I did.

Instead, I made so many mistakes along the way I don’t think I can fix them. Aria and I were destined for disaster before we began. All I can do to make up for my errors now is keep saving her.

I get to the doors, and memories of her hit me.

Those last few moments when she watched me on the ground bleeding out, she tried to get to me even though she saw the danger. She didn’t care about danger. She cared about me.

I find Damien in the living room, standing by the window.

The sound of my footsteps makes him whirl around. The look on his face is that of the worried parent whose child had gone missing and has now returned.

I feel like my prior thoughts of Aria betrayed him too. He’s not going to like that I fell for our enemy’s daughter.

“Lucca,” he blurts, rushing up to me. He takes in the wooden cane I rest on and looks me over. “What the fuck happened to you? I’ve been going crazy with worry.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Aiden only called me this morning. You’ve been gone for twelve days. The whole brotherhood is looking for you.”

“I was shot and in a coma. I’ve only been awake for a little over two days. We didn’t tell you where I was for your safety. I needed to make sure nothing happened to you.”

He searches my eyes and studies my face. “What is happening, Lucca?”

“Jon betrayed us. He’s working with Raphael. He shot Marylin and me, then took Aria.”

His face goes ghostly pale like someone siphoned the life out of his body. I’m sure he’ll look worse when I tell him about Timothy.

“Jon? No… it can’t be true. Lucca, you’re talking about Jon, the man we trusted with everything?”

“I am. I’m sorry.”

“Marylin… where is she?”

“She’s still in the hospital in critical condition.” There were no changes to her condition when I left the hospital.

When the doctors told me to prepare for the worse part of me died.

With my head hung down, I make my way over to the sofa to sit.

Damien joins me. “Jesus Christ, Lucca. I’m so sorry. I can’t believe this. I never thought Jon would betray us and work for Raphael. How the fuck did we miss this?”

“I never saw it coming, and it doesn’t make sense. But we can’t worry about that now. I have what we need to take down Raphael, and with that, I hope to find him.” Finding him will find Aria. She’s all I’m worried about. “I’m going to disclose it to Grigori tonight at the Brotherhood meeting. They all need to see what I found. I want the element of surprise, so please don’t make anyone aware of my return.”

With that information, he straightens up. “Of course I won’t. What did you find, moy syn?”

“All manner of shit.” I pull in a staggered breath. “We knew he’d been dealing in organ trafficking, but I found out he’s stolen millions from the Pakhan’s bank, and he’s been working with the Mendes Cartel for over twenty-five years to carry out his business on the black market. He used the Bratva to get closer to his ultimate goal, which is a seat on the Camorra Syndicate. Damien, he’s working for Tobias Rivera.”

Damien’s eyes go wide, and he stares back at me open-mouthed. “You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m serious. Clearly, he was up to something bigger than what we ever imagined. I have proof of the embezzlement and the organ trafficking contracts, but I no longer have proof of his alliance with Tobias. Jon took it when he shot me.”

“That fucking bastard.”

“I’ll deal with him when I find him. His betrayal stemmed from the information he took.” This part feels harder already.

“What was it? I don’t understand why information on Tobias would cause him to switch and behave the way he did.”

“I don’t either. The only thing I can think of is that they wanted that information kept secret. I got a chip with a fuck ton of information on there, and without it, all there is my word about his affiliation with Tobias. The information on the chip also explained a few things about the past I never imagined.”

“Things like what?” he demands, seeing my hesitation.

“The person I got the chip from told me Raphael eliminated anybody who got in his way of joining the Camorra. He said there was a hit list of the people who found out about a big secret he’d been hiding. Damien, my father’s name was on there, and so was Timothy’s.”

He stands up as if someone pulled him up with invisible strings. His face contorts with a gamut of emotion, and the look in his eyes is indescribable.

“What are you saying to me?” he mutters, his voice barely audible. “Your family and my son died for the same reason?”

“Yes.”

He hangs his head down and shakes it. When he lifts his head, he claps a hand over his mouth. “My God. My God in heaven.”

“I’m sorry, Damien.”

“I’m… sorry for you too. What was the reason?” His gaze clings to mine.

“It was in regards to Raphael’s mistress, Gina Delatorre.”

He stiffens at the mention of that name. “Gina Delatorre”

“You know of her?” I bite down hard on my back teeth.

“Yes. I knew she was his mistress. She went missing fifteen years ago. Did this man tell you what the secret was?”

“No, he didn’t know. Nobody but the dead knew what the secret was. And nobody can find her. That secret is why our loved ones died. Raphael sent his men to kill them. We know though he was there for Timothy’s death.”

A murderous look fills Damien’s eyes, and he balls his fists. “I thought knowing the answer would give me some peace. All it’s done is filled me with rage.”

“Me too.”

“What are we doing now? Raphael is missing, Lucca, and you look like you can barely walk?

“Give me a day, and I’ll find myself. Raphael went missing the same day I was shot. My men who are still loyal to me have been gathered, and I have the help and resources of Aiden and his men. When Grigori learns of Raphael’s crimes, the whole Brotherhood will be after him and Jon. Then I will deal with them both accordingly.”

“Execute them all. The daughter included, she can die after her birthday, so we don’t fuck up the plans for the business. Let her watch her father die first in the same manner she will. Then we’ll hold her in the dungeons until it’s time to execute her. That is the punishment I want.”

I stand now. I stand without the aid of my cane and shake my head.

“No.”

He eyes me head-on, stunned by my answer. “What do you mean by no?”

“Raphael dies, but not her. She’s, my family. My wife. She does not need to die.”

The rage he spoke off glitters his eyes. “This has to be some kind of joke, right, Lucca? Tell me you didn’t fall for a piece of ass.”

“Damien, she’s an innocent in this who got caught in the mess. She had nothing to do with her father’s crimes.”

“How fucking dare you tell me she’s an innocent who got caught in the mess?” His brows furrow so deep every aged line on his forehead becomes more pronounced. “How dare you? Shame on you, Lucca. Do you know who the innocents were in this? Your brother, your sisters and your mother, my daughter-in-law, and my grandson. They were the innocents. You saw them in life and in death. You saw what that man did, and you stand there telling me his daughter is innocent.”

I close my eyes and think of what he’s saying. He’s not wrong, but he’s not right either.

“Damien.” I look at his reddened face and flared nostrils. “Killing her makes us no different to him. I am the harbinger of death. There is nothing good in me, but if I can say that, it means you can understand it.”

“This is nothing to do with death or understanding. You love the girl, and she has made you weak.” He lashes back. “Do not think I didn’t sense this years ago. You never miss a target. That’s not you, so when you came back and told me you did, I knew something was off, but you redeemed yourself by finding out about the business transfer to her. I never argued because I wanted Cervantes more than anything. I hoped you would come to your senses by now.”

I’m not surprised he knew all of that. And I’m not surprised to know of his desire for Cervantes either. This whole marriage is about that. I just never knew the weight he placed on it.

“Damien, there is much I have done for you. Please respect my wishes.” I’m sure if we measure up who did more for whom, it would actually be him who did more for me. He didn’t need to invite me into his home after my family was killed. I can’t repay him for that. I’ve just done more for him in my later years where he could use me as an instrument to get revenge.

“I don’t think you’re really asking to respect your wishes. Are you, Merciless?”

He’s right to ask me that. Only someone who knows me would catch on that I never ask anybody for anything. I state my cause and claim, and you either follow my command or get out of my way.

Nobody knows me better than this man. So the real question is, is he going to follow my command or get out of my way?

“No, I’m not. My plans to give you Cervantes have not changed; nothing I promised you has changed. I just won’t kill my wife.”

“I’m not okay with this, and you shouldn’t be either. I have no choice in the matter other than to follow you. That is the position you have put me in. There is no choice for me if I want to get what I want but to do as I’m made to do. You call that woman your wife with such pride when she’ll always be the devil's daughter.”

With that, he marches out, the thud of his boots echoing on the walls.

He’s not wrong about Aria. She is the devil's daughter, but her hands aren’t dirty by association.

There was already enough to worry about, and I’ve just added to the plate. I know Damien, and he knows me.

I won’t think for one moment he won’t strike when he gets what he wants. He bows to no one even when they think his knees are bent. They really aren’t. I’m no different, and he’s always been real with me.

I guess that means I’ll either have to be ready for his retaliation or get out of the way.