Page 96 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

Ignoring them all, I watched Grace disappear behind the heavy, plush red curtains.

“What’s back-” Turning to face Ella, I realized she was gone. “Where is Ella?” I questioned Massimo.

“Goddamn it,” Massimo gritted. “Why is it that those two always sneak away without being noticed?”

“Probably because they got good at it,” Alexei answered, unperturbed.

“Can you all split up, and keep an eye out?” The Romano’s better not touch one single hair on my wife’s head. I’d tear them up limb to limb.

“Go find your wife,” Cassio uttered. “We got this.”

I rushed towards the curtain that Grace disappeared behind, but the room behind it was empty. A large backstage had a single wooden chair placed by the window, and nothing else.

I rushed across the wooden floors towards the single door. They had to go through it, there was no other way out. Either through this door or back through the ballroom.

The door took me to the back of the hallway, the marble back stairs leading to the staff area. The waiting staff was busy going back and forth, not paying attention to the fact they had a stranger hanging out in this area. It told me it probably happened often.

While the front of the house shone, the servants’ area was darker with lifeless colors. It reflected Romano’s disregard for those lesser than themselves. At our house, we often spent time in the kitchen, along with our staff. They were pretty much part of our family.

The sounds of the staff working bounced off the bare walls, the sound traveling both ways. An older woman, with wrinkles and pain etched on her face, passed by me for the second time. She threw me a curious glance but said nothing.Years of training and fear, I presumed.

“Did you see Grace, the Romano niece, pass by here?” I asked her.

Recognition flashed in her eyes and her eyes darted around us, as if she wanted to ensure nobody was around.

“They went to the back gardens and through the maze.”

“Thank you.”

“I can’t find a sign of them,” Massimo’s voice reached behind me and the woman paled.

“You have nothing to fear from us,” I assured her. “If you want to leave this place, we can help.”

She nodded her acknowledgement. “Help Miss Grace first. Miss Ella too. They don’t deserve what Mrs. Romano has in store for them.”

I intended to. Both Massimo and I rushed through the back door, while Massimo sent a quick message that the ladies were somewhere in the back garden. The second we stepped outside, I spotted the maze and ran towards it. I wore a tuxedo, but I always combined every outfit with combat style shoes that would allow me to run. I never depended on my men to protect me. We protected each other.

The green bush of the entrance into the maze was empty, but a shred of black material hung ripped on one of the branches.They took her this way!

Up close the hedgerows are roughly eight feet tall, a perfect manicured green maze with the lingering scent of the last days of the summer. The maze would be my path to my prize.My wife.I would find her, protect her, and cherish her with my last dying breath.

On the second turn, both Massimo and I came to a halt. Alphonso Romano waited for us with ten guards at the second turn into the maze. That piece of shit was expecting us. His gun raised, he pointed at us and his men mimicked the movement.

Fucking coward!Always hiding behind his men.

“Not a step further, Vitale,” he spat out. “Or your wife will get a bullet into that pretty skull of hers.”

“You lay a finger on her,” I gritted, “and there is nowhere on this Earth you can hide. I’ll burn this world down till I get my hands on you and kill you. You fucking piece of shit.”

His beady gaze glanced at his men to ensure they were still there.Yes, you piece of shit, better pray they don’t leave you.He was a dead man; it was only a matter of time.

Massimo and I both had our guns trained on Alphonso and his men. Eleven against two; I had worse odds before. I would pull through, if only to save my wife.

A gun echoed in the distance and a woman’s scream pierced through the night. Without another delay, both of us drew guns simultaneously and started shooting.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Grace

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