Page 6 of Luca
I headed for the dance floor, my eyes traveling over the crowd of bodies dressed up in costumes. Most were dancing, or trying to anyhow, as music blasted through the speakers and the floor vibrated with the bass.
It was only then that I spotted her. She was dancing with a redheaded girl dressed as Wonder Woman, the two of them laughing and grinding against each other.
Ignoring Wonder Woman because Black Widow was always my thing, I watched them and waited for a break. Women usually never danced together for too long. The moment they’d get some space between them, I intended to pounce.
As I stared at the woman moving sensually on the dance floor, my memories took me back to the first time I saw her.
Moaning and groaning came from the bedroom, my father’s grunts louder and louder.
I hated this shit. Who expects a twelve-year-old kid to stand guard while his father fucks someone?
Cassio was in his first year of college, leaving me to deal with our father alone. I hated him, but I knew if I fucked this up, he’d beat me black and blue.
So, I stood and waited, ignoring the squeaking sounds of the bed and the voices that came from the bedroom. My eyes roamed the large hallway, the door of one of the rooms left wide open. I slowly walked over, keeping my footsteps silent like I had been trained, and peeked inside.
It was a girl’s room. Lots and lots of pink.
There were bears, dolls, ballerinas and more bears.
Whatever girl occupied this room had a serious obsession with bears.
Before I had a chance to set foot into the room, I heard a soft commotion downstairs. Whispers. Pink and bears forgotten, I pulled out my gun from the back of my pants.
My hand shook a bit, but I instantly steeled myself. I couldn’t show weakness. Father would not approve, and if he saw it, he’d make me regret it.
Gripping the cold metal, I took a step towards the stairs. Then another. Until I was almost at the top of it, looking down.
It was then that I saw them. A man and a little girl.
He climbed the stairs, his own gun in his hand and the little girl with hair the color of darkest night stared after him. Her eyes flickered over him and our gazes connected.
My chest heaved. A wave hit me. It was almost… peaceful. Like laying under the sun in Nonno’s yard. Or swimming in Sicily.
“What are you doing here, boy?”
Paradise forgotten, I met the man’s gaze and my heart sped up. It had to be the girl’s father. He had the same blue eyes, but they weren’t as beautiful as hers.
“Motherfucker,” the man hissed while my heart beat hard against my chest. It was painful. “You’re Benito’s son.”
I blinked. The murderous expression on his face hit me wrong. Father said everyone wanted us dead. Cassio said to think before reacting.
It was too late. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Instantly, red stained his chest. He tumbled down the stairs and it felt like my whole world turned over as if I was falling right alongside him.
Loud laughter shattered the memory and brought the world back into focus.
I blinked my eyes, then inhaled deeply. Margaret Callahan danced, those same blue eyes that had haunted me for years flickering my way briefly before darting away.
The break came in from an unlikely source. My brother. Cassio, who rarely came down to the dance floor, schmoozed his way with the red-haired Wonder Woman. I was so fucking flabbergasted to see him dance that I missed my goddamn chance. Some fucker had swooped in on Margaret and was dancing like a striptease was a vanilla thing. Like he was some kind of fucking Chippendale.
Red mist marred my vision.
The guy moved fast. His lips were on my Black Widow, his hands roaming her ass, touching her everywhere. His mouth moved against her earlobe and by the pretty little blush of color to her cheeks, he wasn’t telling her a bedtime story. At least not the kind your mama would read to you.
It was then that I decided I’d kill the guy.
I’ve committed many sins and cold-blooded murders in my life. All men but one, my first kill, deserved it. Today was the first time that I’d kill someone because of jealousy.
