Omerta (The DeLuca Family #1) (8 page)

Chapter 16

Mia

Three years later…

I settled into my seat in first class, finally on my way home. I hadn’t seen Carlo in nearly six months. He had been away on business when I had come home for spring break earlier that year. I had been away for most of the past three years, coming home for Thanksgiving and Christmas but I had opted to stay at school and take summer courses instead of coming home so I could graduate a year early. It’s not that I didn’t love my home, I did, but it was hard to be around Carlo.

My crush on Angelo had been short lived. I chalked it up to teenage hormones. My infatuation with Carlo, however, had not fizzled over the years. In fact it had gotten worse and that made me uncomfortable. It wasn’t fair to Carlo. He had taken me in and thought he was gaining a sister, but instead he gained a lustful teenager who became an even more lustful woman. I wouldn’t let that stop me anymore though; I was a college graduate and a grown woman damn it. I could put a lid on my libido and enjoy my summer at the only place that had ever felt like home.

Sal and Enzo would be there to pick up Angelo, Gina, and I up from the airport. At Carlo’s request, Angelo had followed Gina and me to college, coming home only when he absolutely needed to handle something for Carlo. Even then, Enzo would fly out and stay with us in his absence. We all shared a house in Chicago for the added security and privacy that the dorms couldn’t afford.

It was comforting knowing we were protected, but having a constant shadow consisting of a large, exceptionally scary man was a bit of a buzzkill for a college student. It didn’t stop Gina though. She was as vivacious and wild as ever, not letting the muscle interfere with living up to her party girl persona. While she was able to drag me to the occasional frat party, I was decidedly less willing to ignore Angelo’s looming figure. Dating had been nearly impossible. In an attempt to get over my stupid crush on Carlo I had gone out with a handful of guys over the past three years, most of which never saw a second date. 

…

I started dating Zane, my one and only college boyfriend, towards the end of second semester freshman year. I met him at the first party Gina had managed to drag me to. Angelo came too but was kind enough to hang back in the shadows giving us some semblance of normalcy. After an hour of avoiding spilled drinks and drunken frat boys trying to stare down my shirt, I had escaped to the back porch for some fresh air. Surprisingly, the back deck was vacant, or so I thought. 

When I shut the sliding glass door movement to the right caught my eye, a tall guy straightened from his hunched position over the railing and turned toward me. He was hot, that much was obvious. He looked like James Dean on steroids; black t-shirt stretched across wide shoulders, perfectly fitted jeans, black boots, strong jawline, and piercing eyes. Check, check, check, check, and double check!

“Oh sorry, I didn’t know anyone else was out here,” I said looking wearily at him. He was intimidating for sure, but thanks to my training sessions with Angelo I was confident I could take him down if he tried anything. Still, I turned to leave, he seemed like he wanted to be left alone.

He appeared to relax at my hesitation, “No worries, there’s enough room for the both of us, my ego isn’t that big,” he responded, making me laugh.

I stepped up to the railing a few feet from him and let the muted music from inside wash over me.

After a few minutes of only slightly awkward silence he spoke, “Not much of the partying type are you?”

Another chuckle escaped my lips, “Meh, just not really into drunk assholes trying to cop a feel.”

His brow pulled down as he turned to look at me. “Someone giving you a hard time?” he asked, looking like he was ready to defend my honor once I gave the word.

I shook my head, what was it about me that made all the men in my life want to defend me? Did I look that helpless?

“No, I can handle myself.” It came out snarkier than intended.

His eyebrows shot up at my tone, “I’m sure you can, wasn’t trying to insult you.”

“Sorry, kind of a sore subject for me,” I winced.

“Brothers?”

I laughed again, “Yeah, older brother and cousin, how’d you know?” That was the story we had come up with to explain Angelo’s presence, he was my overprotective cousin, which I guess was partially true since I was Carlo’s pseudo sister.

“I drive my little sister crazy. She gets that same defiant look on her face whenever I insinuate that she needs protecting.”

“You would think that you’d learned your lesson by now then,” I quipped.

This brought out a soft chuckle from him, “You’d think but,” he knocked on his forehead, “Thick skull.”

I smiled at him, all earlier agitation fading away.

“I’m Zane,” he said, extending his hand.

“Mia.”

He made me relax, all the buzzing in my head faded to the background and I was just Mia. This guy didn’t know anything about me, all he saw was a normal college girl with a defiant streak. I wanted that, I wanted to live in that world, if for only just a little while.

Zane was a local and we dated through the summer and into the fall. Even though I didn’t want to admit it at the time, he was the primary reason I stayed through the summer and took extra classes. Not that I thought we would have something permanent, mostly because I just didn’t want to go back to my reality yet. I wanted to pretend for a little longer.

He was the perfect boyfriend; kind, patient, and always understanding. The sex was great too. Even if I felt like he was a little too careful with me sometimes, he was passionate and doting. I loved the attention he gave me. It was easy being with him, even Angelo came to like him, it was hard not to.

He was the perfect distraction, until my real life caught up to me.

…

One night during the fall of my sophomore year Angelo was back in Seattle handling business with Carlo and Enzo was taking on the role of my personal security. I had been studying late at the library, which was normal for me, and I still had a ton more to do that night before a huge test the next morning. It was going to be an all-nighter. After we got home and Enzo swept the house, I asked him to go pick me up some supplies for the night, meaning pizza from my favorite restaurant across town and chocolate gelato. About fifteen minutes after he left I heard Gina come in with her douchebag of a boyfriend, Chris, they were fighting again. I turned up my music and tried to tune them out as I studied.

A few minutes later there was a loud thump and I heard Gina scream. I jumped off my bed and barreled down the stairs to the main foyer in a matter of seconds. When I turned the corner into the kitchen Chris was standing over Gina kicking her over and over again, her crumpled body slamming into the cabinets with each brutal strike of his boot. Her face was bloody and she was whimpering as he continued to beat and scream at her.

I lost it, looking around the kitchen, I spotted the knives but they were too far away. Without thinking I grabbed a skillet from the stovetop and swung. Chris hadn’t heard me come in and when he turned around at the sound of my scream it was just in time to catch a face full of cast iron, over and over again.

Chris fell after the first swing, but I followed him down to the floor with my strikes until he resembled something you would find on the side of the road. I knew head wounds bled profusely but I had never seen anything quite as gruesome as the scene that lay before me.

The heavy pan had crushed his skull and split the skin on his face. The underlying flesh was exposed along with what I could only imagine were bone fragments and brain matter swirling in an unbelievable amount of gore. It was as if all the blood in his 22 year old body had been pumped out onto the floor in a matter of minutes, creating a large crimson halo.

Gina’s screams pulled me from my reverie, she was shrieking between hiccupped sobs. The skillet slipped from my hand and dropped to the floor, echoing off the tile with a deafening clank. My heart was racing from exertion, but my hands remained steady as I slowly made my way over to where she was huddled against the cabinets.

I gently pushed the hair that had fallen from her ponytail off her face, my voice calm and soothing when I spoke. “Gina? It’s okay, everything is going to be okay. I’ve got you.” Taking stock of her injuries, I noted along with her battered face and a large bump that was blooming at her left temple, her arms were wrapped around her middle as if she could hold the pain in.

“Come on, up you go. Let’s get you cleaned up,” I said as I helped her to her feet. She was still sobbing but the screeching had subsided. She huddled close to me and I supported her weight as I guided her from the room, her face buried in my shoulder to avoid the brutal sight of Chris’ body.

Once we made it up the stairs I ushered her into the bathroom. “Here, sit down,” I said gesturing to the toilet. Her body was wracked with tremors as she made her way to the proffered seat. “Honey, you have to try to take some deep breaths for me, okay?” I asked as I squatted in front of her. She attempted to draw in large gulps of air in between her erratic pants. Her face was pale and her eyes wild with terror.

Fuck! She’s going to have a full blown meltdown.

I quickly stood and grabbed a washcloth, running it under the sink. I didn’t have time for the water to warm up, I needed to get her cleaned as best I could and in bed before she had a panic attack. It’s not like I could leave a dead body seeping God knows what onto my kitchen floor for very long. I had to get a hold of Enzo and get a cleaner out here to dispose of my mess.

“Sweetie, look at me, I’m going to clean you up the best I can,” I said as I gently wiped away the blood and tears from her cheeks. Slowly but surely Gina’s breaths became more even and the vacant stare in her eyes faded. Glancing down at her clothes I noticed they were covered in blood, especially her jeans, which were stained a muddy brick red. “Let’s get you out of these,” I said and helped her out of her clothes until she was standing in front of me in only her bra and underwear.

Catching my gaze, Gina noticed the smears of blood that had seeped through her clothes and stained her skin. She let out a strangled cry, her chest heaving with the effort to keep up with her rapidly increasing breaths. Snatching the washcloth from the counter where I had placed it she began manically scrubbing at the blood. “Off, off, off,” she whimpered, “It won’t come off, why won’t it come off?” The sobs returned full force, her body quaking with her increased panic.

“Whoa, calm down, we’ll get it off. Here get in the shower.” I pulled her over to the shower stall, cranking the water onto full blast, and shoving her in. By the time I was finished scrubbing all the blood from her skin, the entire top half of me was soaking wet and Gina was huddled on the floor of the shower shaking even worse than before.

Once I got her out of the shower and changed into some dry clothes, I tucked her into bed. I handed her an Ambien. Plagued with night terrors since the attack at the club, her doctor had prescribed her the pill to help her sleep. It was supposed to be a short term solution, but Gina had become dependent on the drug and unable to sleep without it.

She’ll have even more shit haunting her dreams now.

When I was confident she was fast asleep and not going to wake up, I walked down stairs and looked at the gruesome scene I had left in the kitchen. Reaching for my phone I dialed Enzo.

“Jesus woman, I’m almost there I had to run all the way across town, you’d think you’d die without your damn gelato fix—“

“I need a cleaner,” I cut him off mid-rant.

“Shit! Wha—“ I disconnected the call before he had a chance to berate me with questions. I wasn’t going to discuss this over the phone, he would be here soon enough and I would explain then.

I sat on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island and surveyed the scene. This was the third man I had killed and again, I felt no remorse. I wasn’t scared. Even in Chicago I knew Carlo had connections and this would never come back on me, more than anything I was pissed. Not at Chris, he got what he deserved, but at myself. This was my life. This was who I was. I couldn’t deny it anymore, and I couldn’t go on pretending. I knew I had to end my relationship with Zane. Otherwise I risked him getting too close, or worse, caught in my crossfire.

In the months that followed I buried myself in every distraction I could find. Taking a full load of coursework, I doubled my training sessions with Angelo and even tried to get a job, but Carlo quickly squashed that idea saying it caused too many variables in my security.

My relationship with Gina was strained, I resented her for bursting my little bubble of normal. If it wasn’t for her reckless behavior and complete shit taste in men I wouldn’t have been put in the position to have to do what I did. I knew deep down that I was actually angry at myself but I wasn’t ready to address my self-loathing and run through all the ways that scenario could have gone if I didn’t have a penchant for doling out my own brand of justice.

Because of my self-alienation I hadn’t noticed how bad Gina was spiraling. She had turned to partying a little too hard after Chris’ death. Officially, it was a mugging gone wrong, but we knew the truth. Gina didn’t hold it against me but she couldn’t really handle it, she was traumatized to say the least and turned to drugs and alcohol to numb the pain. It took finding Gina passed out on our front stoop at one in the morning to pull me out of my indifference and realize that my friend was in trouble.