Luca’s Inferno by Karima Sa’ad Usman

Chapter 21

21 Can I Let Go? Luca. I wanted to take Emma to visit my parents, but I decided to spare her the drama and asked her to stay. My mother still blamed Emma for Roberto’s death. She said I would have hung out with him if she wasn’t in my house. She said I turned Roberto down to be with Emma, claiming she was a distraction and could lead me to my death. She did not even understand that I had almost died, and Emma saved my life. She didn’t know that I was resting after recovering from the gunshots. I wouldn’t have left my house regardless. But she was right about one thing. I prefer to spend my free time with Emma than my brother, and I do not regret it. That one decision saved my life. So if Emma was a distraction, then she was a damn good one. My mother did not understand how grateful I was for turning Roberto down. I would have been killed along with him. Goddess knows who he pissed off because I doubted that had anything to do with the power struggle. Emma being in my house saved my life. I warned my mother to stop and threatened that I would cut off if she didn’t leave Emma alone. I had had enough of her bad-mouthing the poor woman for nothing. After my contract with Emma is over, I will remain single. I do not want to keep Emma because I do not want her caught up in the mess that is my life. She would have been the perfect companion for me. She knew everything about me, and she understood. She wasn’t difficult to be with or love. She was perfect, my soulmate. My world is a dangerous place for a gentle soul like Emma. I will be doing her a huge favour by setting her free even though my heart beats against it. When I returned home and saw Aldo and Castelo with Emma, I was slightly jealous because she was wearing just my shirt and nothing more. I knew they must have caught her off guard. Still, I was jealous. I should be the only one to see her like that. I knew Aldo was lusting at her. I could see it in his eyes, and as I sat down with them, I was seething with anger. I linked Aldo to caution him, and he apologised. I heard Catalina insult Emma, and I intended to scold her for it after I attend to my guests. Still, Castelo had to blow it out of proportion. I knew I was in trouble when Emma stood to excuse herself. I was furious. She came down the stairs a few minutes later and walked past us. I called, but she did not answer and went out the front door. I was calm because I knew she wouldn’t go off my land wearing my

shirt and boxer. Knowing I had fucked up, I linked Catalina to join me downstairs. I saw her walk down smiling as if she had done nothing wrong. I motioned her to come and sit beside me. My friends were quiet; they knew I was angry. Catalina sat and smiled. “So the Omega slut left,” she said, and I did not know when I raised my hand and slapped her. She held the spot with shock registered on her face. Tears began to stream down her cheeks. “You speak about my wife like that again, and I will throw you out and cut you off. What gave you the nerve, Catalina? If you cannot respect Emma, then you should leave. Disrespecting her is as good as disrespecting me; I will not have that. Am I clear?” I asked her, and she wiped away her tears and nodded. “Leave my sight,” I told her coldly, and she shook and scrambled up the stairs. “Fuck, Luca, you must love this girl to slap your sister like that,” Aldo said, and I sighed. “It doesn’t matter how I feel. I am letting her go after a year,” I said, and Castelo began to

laugh. “If you feel nothing, then let her go now. She does not have to be with you for a year. You don’t have to screw her for a year,” he said, and I frowned at him. “She reeks of you,” he said, teasing me, and I looked away. “She is not cut out for this life,” I confessed, and Aldo sighed. “Do not let this life rob you of your heart’s desire, Luca. Emma is tougher than she looks, and she is brilliant too. We asked her where you were, and she did not give the information. She lied to us and claimed she did not know where you went. She can handle this if you let her. “I do not want to put her through pain. Look at what happened to Roberto. If ..” I said, unable to finish my sentence, and Castello cleared his throat as if he had something profound to say. “About Roberto, we need to tell you something,” they said, and I was curious about what they had to say. “We have proof to back everything we are about to tell you. We could not come to you without proof, so we avoided the whole ceremony. Now that we have proof, we can tell you. Whatever you choose to do with the information is all up to you,” Castelo said. “Roberto was working with Diego Gallo,” Aldo said, and I exclaimed.

“Did you lose a phone a little over a month ago?” Castelo said, and I remembered my phone that went missing during the annoying matchmaking meeting with the Bianchis, and I nodded. “Your brother took your phone. They got your itinerary from your calendar. You are a difficult man to track, and your house is impenetrable. Still, with your itinerary, they could easily know where you will be. He wanted Deigo to help him take you out so he could take over the family business. He would give Celio to Deigo in exchange because business is good there. They traced your activities through your itinerary and could get someone in your office when they knew you would be there because you hardly go to the office. That was how they were able to attack you in the office. It wasn’t successful, and Roberto was mad because Diego was supposed to place three moles instead of one in your company to ensure they were successful. Diego promised to correct it. Your brother was impatient and said he could not wait for another opening. He told Diego he would invite you to the club so they could finish you off there. Roberto later called Diego to inform him you weren’t coming, and their deal was off. Maybe he had another plan or a change of mind. We would never know, but his decision did not sit well with Deigo. He was already invested in it and had lost men in the process through the office shooting. Unfortunately for him, Deigo did not plan on letting Roberto live either. They thought Roberto was with you at the club and that you had caught on the trick, and Roberto might have confessed everything to you hence his sudden change of mind. That was why they sprayed Roberto and his friends blindly with silver bullets in front of the club that night. They thought you were with him, and he had told you the truth, Luca,” Aldo explained, and I was in shock. I remembered how persistent Roberto was about us clubbing that night. I honestly thought it was odd. I was tempted to go, but Emma was incredible, and I wanted to enjoy every moment with her. She had literally saved my life, again. “How do you know all this?” I asked, and Castelo leaned forward. “After we had that meeting and realised we were being framed, we started investigating the people around us and you. They were the only people that would be able to frame us successfully. When your brother got killed, we knew you would be too distraught to investigate properly. Instead of paying our condolence, we decided we would catch the culprit as a gift to you. One of the people that did the heist was sloppy, and someone in the club saw him. Our guy in the

homicide department called us once the sketch artist was done, and we hunted the bastard down. We questioned him personally, and we were able to pick up the other four guys that worked on the job with him. They told us who contracted them. A Gallo henchman. We picked him up, and he told us everything. Deigo has gone into hiding since, and we are yet to catch him. We know you’ve been on a killing spree for weeks; we hope that now that you know who did this and why you, can have peace.” Aldo said, and I was grateful to them. I knew they were not lying. I could see it. I was grateful. This news had just made my heart light and soul glad. “I want all of them to die,” I said, and Castelo nodded. “We know your men are stretched thin because of the underground attacks. We will gladly lend a hand if you want,” Aldo said, and I nodded. At this point, I did not want revenge. There was nothing to revenge. I just wanted peace of mind. With the Gallos wiped out, I would no longer have to watch my back. “We will wipe the Gallos out.” Aldo agreed, and I was grateful. How could Roberto be so stupid? Diego was a bloody small timer that thought he could hit big by taking Roberto and me out. What did he believe, that the other families would let him claim all my territories and power? He would have had a lot of people to contend with. The guy didn’t think it through. It wasn’t long before we finished talking, when Emma walked in. I could feel she was in pain, and I understood why. Catalina had really embarrassed her. I was grateful for Aldo asking her to join us, but when she turned him down, I knew my work was cut out for me. “It will be unwise to let her go, Luca. She has a hold on you,” Castelo said and stood up. I wanted to see them off, so I glanced in Emma’s direction, and she was going up the stairs. “Go after your woman, Luca. Don’t miss the moment. We will show ourselves out.” Aldo said, and I went up the stairs. I did not know what I would tell Emma, but I needed her to be alright. Hearing Emma pour out her heart got to me. The fact that she said she might have been better off being Tomas’s mistress got me. She was wife material. If my life wasn’t so dangerous, I would have kept her with me till death did us apart. I had grown fond of her within the few months we had been together. I did not know she was dealing with so much until she poured her heart out. When she told me what Catalina told her, I was mad. I was angry at myself for allowing Catalina that much liberty. I needed her to know

she had nothing to worry about where I was concerned. I kissed her to show my gratitude. My soul was grateful she came into my life. If not, I would have hung out with my brother with my guard down that night, and I would have been dead by now. “Emma, I am sorry I did not do enough to protect you, but please do not talk about Tomas or going back to Celio again. I have reprimanded Catalina, and she will never trouble you again. Please let us get back to where we were before Roberto was killed.” I pleaded with her. I kissed her again, and this time she returned the kiss sweetly and moaned for me. Goddess help me. I knew I could not let her go when the time came.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .