I think about Angela and sigh contentedly. I feel lighter than I have in years. And it’s not just because of the sex. I believe talking about my brother helped. Sure, I still feel guilt over what happened but it’s not as bad. It’s like I’m sharing some of that guilt with Angela, or rather, she’stakenit from me and assumed part of the burden. I appreciate that she’d do something like that for me.
When I kidnapped her, I only planned to make her my toy before I sold her to the highest bidder. But now I just want to find a way to let her go. I want her to be free of me. To be with a man worthy of her. But also, I want her to be free of The Cleaver.
I’m going to have to kill him at some point, I think. Maybe her father, too, if he changes his mind and decides to marry her off again. In fact, I’m still not entirely sure if I won’t simply end him two days from now. That’d be killing two birds with one stone: I’d have my revenge and free Angela at the same time. She’d hate me, but it’d probably be for the best.
I think about tomorrow. I’m supposed to be looking for someone to stand in for Angela when we do the trade with the Rizzos. This can’t be a volunteer. It’ll need to be a kidnapping, because no one would willingly volunteer to be traded to a mafia family. I consider calling Enrico—he loves snatching girls from his clubs. But then I remember the clubs aren’t open tonight.
I intend to spend a good portion of tomorrow with Angela. It’s my last day with her, after all. So I’ll have to delegate the kidnapping to Luciano. He hasn’t let me down yet. I’ll talk to him tomorrow morning.
I close my eyes, wondering if the Rizzo family will send The Cleaver to deliver the ransom—again, two birds with one stone. I kill him, take the money, and go home.
With that last thought on my mind, I go to sleep with a smile on my face.
* * *
The next morningas soon as I get up I head toward her bedroom. I unlock the door and peek inside to make sure she hasn’t tried to escape again, but she’s still sound asleep. Her chest rises and falls peacefully, and she has a dreamy expression on her face.
I close the door and lock it again.
I seek out Luciano next. He’s an early riser like me, and I find him in the weight room.
Luciano finishes his incline bench set, then sits up. “Hey.”
“Hey.” I fist bump him.
“How’s my big bro today?” he asks, toweling the sweat from his forehead.
“Doing well,” I reply. “I slept like a baby.”
“Really?” A sly expression appears on his face, and I wonder if he heard me fucking Angela last night. “Well that’s good. Me, I was tossing and turning all night.”
“This will be over soon,” I tell my brother, and momentarily rest a hand on his thick shoulder.
“I know,” he says. “Though I’d be lying if I told you I won’t miss the excitement. It’s kind of fun, kidnapping someone, and then collecting a ransom for it.”
“We haven’t collected anything yet,” I remind him. “But that’s what I’m here to talk about.”
He gives me a cautious look. “Oh?”
I don’t know how best to tell him this, so I just blurt it right out: “I don’t want to give her to the Rizzos.”
Luciano frowns, then an angry glint comes to his eyes.
I raise a defensive hand. “Hear me out. We kidnap someone else… someone of similar height and build to Ang… our current captive. Then we trade her tomorrow to the Rizzos. They’ll only see her from afar, with a bag over her head. By the time they realize we’ve fucked them we’ll be long gone with their money.” When he hesitates I decide to add: “We can sell her to the third highest bidder, making the ten million Euros I want.”
That last part is a lie of course, and I immediately feel bad because lying to my brothers doesn’t come easily for me. Still, I need something to sweeten the deal in his eyes, even if I have no intention of ever trading Angela to the third bidder.
He shakes his head. “This adds whole new layers of risk, overcomplicating what’s supposed to be a simple plan. We already have someone. I’m not sure it’s worth the trouble for only an extra one million Euros. Besides, why bother with a stand-in? We didn’t plan one to fuck over Giovanni.”
“Because the Rizzos are greasy fuckers,” I tell him. “If we show up without a hostage, I wouldn’t put it past them to have hidden snipers mow us down. Giovanni won’t, because he needs us alive. He wants his daughter back, remember.”
Luciano shakes his head, still reluctant, for obvious reasons.
“Look,” I continue. “I can only trust you to do this for me.” Plus I want him out of the house, but don’t tell him that. “You’ve never let me down.”
He raises an eyebrow. “You haven’t told the others yet I assume?”
“Not yet,” I agree. “Look at how much of a fight it was to get you onboard.”
