Page 40 of De Luca: The Saint

Part Two

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Damian

Present-Two Years Later…

The mother fucking Bianchi family is a shit stain on humanity. We should’ve wiped these assholes from existence years ago. Before our father died, he taught us to ‘never start an unnecessary war.’ My father feared no one, but he knew there would always be casualties in war. One side doesn’t win and retain all their men. Both sides have losses. That was a risk he wasn’t willing to take unless it was an absolute necessity.

My brother, Domenic, killed Enzo Bianchi because he kidnapped and raped his wife for a fucking year. I’d call that necessary, my father would’ve agreed.

However, the choice to wait and eliminate the rest of the Bianchi family? We don’t often make mistakes, but this one is monumental. The biggest fuck up the De Luca brothers have ever made. Who is going to pay the price for this one? That’d be me.

Those assholes stormed into Devil, where I was working, picking up the slack for Domenic, so he could continue his year-long vacation and take his wife on the honeymoon she never had, on account of being kidnapped. Before I had a chance to draw a gun, a hood was pulled over my head, and drugs were injected into my neck. Now here I sit, in a basement, chained to the floor like a goddamn animal. They better leave me that way. Otherwise, I’ll kill every fucking Bianchi on my way out.

I look up from my spot on the cold as fuck cement when I hear a commotion, “Please. I’ve never done anything to you,” a woman cries as the man I know as Wolf drags her across the basement by her head of dark hair.

“Sit the fuck down,” he screams at her as he pushes her down by her shoulders.

She falls to her knees, her dark hair, sweaty and bloody, sticking to her face. Her gaze travels from the floor to my face and Jesus Christ. The bluest eyes meet my dark ones. The kind you could drown in and not even notice. Her cheeks are red with dry tears, and it’s then that it fucking hits me. This isn’t a random woman. It’s my Kitty Kat. My love and hatred for her runs deep. She ruined me like no one ever had before. Not even the death of my parents gutted me the way she did.

Wolf smiles, “I brought you company, but don’t get cozy. The entertainment will start soon.”

I cock my head to the side, arching an eyebrow, “If you’re planning to carry on Enzo’s fight night you can kill me. I don’t hurt women.”

I don’t mention I know her, on the very odd chance that this is some random shit, although I know better. The Bianchi’s are vile human beings, but they are all intelligent, and everything is planned out.

He chuckles, “No fight night. That was my brother’s hobby, not mine. Let me ask you, Saint, you’ve beaten people, stolen from them, killed them. What’s the one thing you’ve never done? The one thing that makes your skin crawl?”

Kat and I both know he’s talking about rape. It’s true, I’ve committed nearly every crime known to man except that one. I’ll die before I ever do that to a woman. “I don’t rape women. If you think I’ll try to save her you’re wrong. She’s a complete stranger to me,” I lie, “Why would I care?”

This is my worst fucking nightmare. Two years ago, when she left me I let her go, not because I didn’t love her but because I did. I knew she deserved a better man than I’m capable of being. Even though she’s been out of my life for so long still, she has a goddamn target on her back. Worse than that. The Bianchi’s are going to hurt her in every possible way. Because they know it’ll kill me. Watching Wolf kill the only thing I’ve ever loved will destroy me. All humanity will be gone. She whimpers in response, knowing she is truly fucked, while Wolf grins wide, “Because you’re the saint.”

“I’m second in command for a mafia family. I’m hardly a saint.”

He turns to walk back upstairs but throws over his shoulder, “We’ll see.”

She's been quiet for so long that I begin to wonder if she remembers me. Her ocean blue eyes trail from the floor to my face as she darts her tongue out and licks her lips, “Damian,” she whispers like she can’t believe her eyes.

I never saw her again after the night in the rain. I made myself stay away from her. It wasn’t easy, but I knew I had to let her go. “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. If not, it was never meant to be.” After months of waiting and drinking myself to near death, I came to the conclusion she was never mine. If she were, she would’ve come back to me or never left in the first place.

I look at her now and want to feel angry, but I don’t. I’m still in love with her. Nothing has changed, but the gaping hole inside my chest is getting bigger. The heartbreak is unbearable because I know exactly why she’s here. The Bianchi men are going to hurt her to get to me, and it’ll work.

Everybody in this room, apart from Katherina, knows she’s the best way to destroy me. Beating me? Taking my life? No, I’ll take that like a man, but this won’t kill me. It’ll only make me wish they did.

“Are they going to kill me?” She asks so quietly I can barely hear the words.

I did hear them, and for a moment, I wish I weren’t a brutally honest man. I want to tell her no, that her life’s not in danger and that everything will be fine, but the truth is nothing is fine. This is as bad as it gets.

“I’m sure that’s the plan, Kitty Kat.”

Her head snaps back at the use of my old nickname for her, almost like she has been hit, “I didn’t do anything.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath before I tell her why she is here. The words don’t come easy. They feel like a fatal dose of poison on the tip of my tongue, “Angel, I’m sorry, this is my fault. I’m the reason you’re here. I won’t ask for forgiveness because I don’t deserve it.”

She shakes her head, “No. You wouldn’t do that to me, besides you’re chained up too. I know you didn’t tell them to do this.”

Opening my eyes, the sweetness in her face is overwhelming. One look at her, and I know she still believes in good. Today is the day that all good things die a tragic death.

---