Page 48 of Sworn to My Heart
“We did it,” I whisper into the air, finally releasing a breath that felt held for an eternity.
“Can you stop giving me heart attacks tonight?” Luca pants as he stops in front of me.
I glance around and see the sunrise painting warm colors across the water in the distance.
I turn back to him with a satisfied smile. “Yes, definitely the last heart attack for tonight. The morning has arrived.” He chuckles, and in the distance, we hear sirens.
“The police are here. We need to go, now!” Luca commands, finally noticing the girl clinging to me.
“Is this the girl? I can’t believe you saved her!” Luca smiles triumphantly and reaches out to the girl.
She looks at me, seeking permission. I nod immediately, and she lets go of me to hold his hand instead. I laugh at the sight of this muscular, intimidating man holding hands with a tiny, fragile girl, and we quickly run to the vehicles.
Luca seats her in the back between Pedro and Mariano, and I sit next to Luca, who takes the driver’s seat and speeds out of the port, followed by all his men.
“Stas will come for the girl. She’s a virgin and was probably already sold beforehand. That means she’s worth a fortune to them, and we need to hide her,” Mariano says, and I shudder at the thought of this little girl being sold for sex.
“He can’t get her, Luca. You have to do everything to make sure he doesn’t!” I declare and plead simultaneously. Luca looks at me, and I can see he’s thinking exactly the same thing.
I turn to the girl and put on a reassuring smile. “What’s your name?” I ask in Russian, and she answers in a fearful voice, “Violeta.”
My heart swells. “Violeta, I am Alin. This is Luca, and these are Pedro and Mariano. No one will hurt you here. You’re safe. Could you tell me how old you are?” I soothe her and ask.
She seems to calm down a bit and answers in a more confident voice, “I am ten years old.”
“Her name is Violeta, and she’s ten,” I translate for Luca. He nods, and a mischievous smile stretches across his face. “I don’t like the Russian language, but when you speak it, it’s fucking sexy,” he laughs and I blush a bit and chuckle at his constant need to say things like that in front of his brothers, but my heart dances with joy.
“Brother, we’re being followed,” Pedro cuts through the good mood like a knife, and I immediately look back. Five unknown cars are tailing us.
Luca steps on the gas, trying to weave through the traffic ahead to lose the cars behind us, but without success.
The cars close in on us, and Luca starts roaring in his earpiece, shouting orders to his men that are a few minutes behind us. Gunfire erupts as Luca accelerates, overtaking a few cars and making a sharp left turn.
One car manages to follow us, but Pedro and Mariano lower their weapons as another one of our cars rams into it from behind, forcing it off the road. Luca steps on the gas again, making another sharp left turn back toward the port, trying to think of a solution.
He closes the navigation app and heads to the far end of the port, navigating by memory. He gets back on his phone’s earpiece, “Good job. Follow me when the path is clear.” I take a deep breath and reach back to hold Violeta’s hand, happy that we managed to shake them off.
Relief floods through me; we made it through the night. I managed to keep them safe, and my secret remains hidden. I glance at Luca, and despite all the blood and violence I’ve seen today, I know I can fully trust him. He’s really not the monster everyone thinks he is, at least not to me. I smile as Lucaglances at me with a half-smile, as if he can read my thoughts, confirming that he feels the same way.
“We got away. She’ll be fine,” I say quietly, hoping someone up there hears me and can confirm my thoughts.
We’re getting close to the port now. I can see the quiet side of the harbor in the distance, and the proximity to the sea sharpens my senses again. The sea will always be a part of me, and sadly no one here could ever know.
Suddenly, I’m thrown forward and nearly crash into the windshield, but my seatbelt pulls me back into place. I look in the side mirror and see a car behind us accelerating and ramming into us again. “Pedro, Mariano,” Luca snaps, his smile gone.
Pedro and Mariano roll down the car windows on either side and starts shooting at the car behind us. Panic rises again. After this long night, my ears are hypersensitive to the gunfire, and they hurt. I realize that if I don’t do something soon, this would be the end for Violeta and them.
I cover Violeta’s ears with my hands as tightly as I can as a the gunfire gets closer, praying I won’t have to stop them myself. I want to believe that Luca can get us out of this, as he always does. But when I look at his face, he seems lost.
I can’t reveal my secret, we’ll get through this. They know what to do; it’s not their first time. I keep reminding myself. I feel Luca’s gaze on me, filled with worry. He needs to drive and get us out of here. I can’t have him distracted worrying about me.
We’ll get through this, I convince myself again, keeping my hands on Violeta’s ears as another volley of gunfire erupts from behind.
“More cars are coming. We need to lose them,” Pedro shouts amidst the gunfire. “At least six more,” he adds.
“We don’t have an escape route. We’re outnumbered, and theothers won’t get here in time,” Mariano immediately follows, pulling his hand back into the car to reload his weapon.
I look at Luca, my hands on Violeta’s ears, waiting for his response. Seconds pass, and I realize he doesn’t have a quick solution either.
