Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
“How did you get them to be on your side?” He referred to Konstantine’s men watching from the sideline, “Were you and Konstantine friends before this?” Richardo wanted to know, at least before he died. Perhaps, he might be able to offer them something better if he knew the deal Daniel striked with them.
“Friends?” Daniel scoffed at the thought, “Sure, I have met the man once or twice but we can not even be close enough to be referred to as friends, not to mention allies. But then, you’re just a kid, what do you know about running the Bratva?”
He went on, “The Russian mafia might be known for their brutality, but like every other crime organization out there, they desire one thing. Profit. But you, Richardo, was never going to give them that. Instead, you killed a reigning member of the commission and was about to start a war you can’t even finish. There’s no permanent friend nor enemy in this business, so they reached out to me instead in the name of apprehending me according to your orders. They needed me to get rid. They already killed Konstantine, and if they did the same, they would get a reputation and it might not be incentive enough for their future leaders. So they needed me to give them a good cover story instead, and here I am. “
It was over, that was Richardo’s conclusion when Daniel finished. All this while he thought he had a team that had his back. Who knew that he was the sheep amid wolves? Just like predators, they had been preserving their prey for dinner.
Richardo broke into a historical laugh. There was nothing to do any more than to think about how pathetic his life had been and how he must be right now. But then, he doesn’t regret a thing. If given the chance to find vengeance for Macy, he would do it over again.
He turned to Lukas, “I guess I would wait for you in hell then,” The corners of his mouth quirked.
Bang!
The sound of the gunshot echoed across the hall and Lukas squeezed his eyes shut, somehow wishing he could erase the image from his head. Even in his death, Richardo’s eyes was set on him and the blood from the bullet wound in his head trailed down his face and looked like something out of a horror movie. Lukas sighed knowing deep down that this scene was probably going to haunt him for the rest of his life.
But then, it was over.
At least for Richardo.
Because when he looked back up, Daniel was hovering over him.
“What? Are you about to end me too? If that’s what you’re going to do, just get it over with already. Unlike Richardo, I already saw this coming.” Lukas glared at him with blazing intensity. He was not going to show an ounce of fear, Daniel derived joy from it. He refuses to give him the satisfaction.
But to his surprise, Daniel burst into laughter instead. He laughed so hard that tears slipped from his eyes and was unable to explain his mirth, stopping only when his stomach began to hurt.
“Really?” He gave Lukas a long look, his gaze branding him as stupid, “You think that I would kill my own son? Even my brother died in the hands of my uncle, not fallen by my own weapon. Do give me a little credit, Lukas.”
“As if,” Lukas growled, unable to believe it. His father was evil, a monster. There was no way he was sparing him, not after what he did to him.
“Then what is all of this? You were in cahoots with Richardo!” There was no way this was all a ruse, he couldn’t believe it.
“I believe you meant to say, thank your ungrateful ass for helping me get rid of Richardo. And did I forget to mention, saving you from the claws of death as well? You’re welcome.” Daniel said with deep sarcasm, his eyes flashing with annoyance. To think he had hoped Lukas would kiss his feet when this was over. Okay, maybe that was exaggerated a little.
“Oh please, spare me that!” Lukas dragged himself up, not minding the pain that shot up his calf or his sides and supporting all of his weight on his uninjured feet.
He said to his father, “Richardo wouldn’t have found me if my most trusted soldier…” He pointed at Luca, “was not working for you. He abducted me,”
“Stop being such a sore loser and just admit that I’m the reason you’re standing here. While you allied and dallied with your commission friends, Richardo grew stronger and do you even know what he had in plans for you? For our family all thanks to your carelessness!”
Daniel hissed, “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have an organization to rule! Richardo planned to destroy everything in his path just to get to you, I gave him a wiser and more creative idea and thanks to that, everyone in the family is safe.” He snorted, “Also, why do you think I never wanted anything to do with the commission? Their rules and decorum would bring you nothing but regrets. We are not puppies under their control, Lukas, but wolves that scavenge and there are no rules to survival!”
He looked at Luca, “At least, your second in command had the foresight to do something that you couldn’t do.”
Lukas and Lucas’s gaze connected and he quickly explained to him, “I know what you’re thinking, but that’s not it. The truth is that I caught Daniel’s mole and he communicated the plans to me. I knew it was risky but it was better than going to a war that would spill more blood and probably expose us to the authorities. So I took the risk and brought you to Daniel myself. I knew there was a chance of this being a trap, but I already had other plans and would never let you come to harm.”
While Lukas felt the sincerity in his words, he still couldn’t trust him entirely, not after what he did. He said,
“You stood there while Richardo pointed a gun to my head, what was your plan then?”
“I emptied the chamber myself. It was never going to happen. I had to make sure that we were in the same league.” He tipped his head in the direction of Konstantine’s second-in-command, who merely shrugged in response.
“No!” Lukas shouted, “You could have told me! Didn’t you trust me or what?!”
“Richardo can’t suspect a thing. We needed everything to be real. It was a perilous situation.” Luca said and Daniel chortled as if taking pleasure from his son’s misery.
Lukas whirled upon him, eyes blazing, “You!” He called, “You could have killed Richardo before this went any further, but you let Richardo torture me on purpose. He fucking broke my leg,” Lukas hissed with the pain even as he spoke.
“Of course,” Daniel admitted it without shame to his shock, “I could have killed Richardo before he laid a hand on you, but then, you took my authority in the family, I needed you to feel my pain. Broken pains heal, but not my reputation.”
Lukas’s jaw fell open in disbelief. How could he admit that?
He muttered,” You’re a psychopath, “
“I can’t believe you just realized that today,” Daniel didn’t even take his word to heart.
Almost immediately, Konstantine’s second in command came to him and said, “We have to move now. They are already here.”
“Where are you going?” Lukas frowned when he heard that.
“Away from your men who think they are about to play the hero when I saved your ass or perhaps….” Daniel stopped momentarily only for a dark grin to appear, “They are here to take your body.” He hinted his men must assume he was dead.
Lukas shut his eyes and drew a deep breath. Daniel was simply a lost cause and to think that he had wanted to ask him to stay.
“You still have a chance.” He told him though, “It’s not going to be easy but you can change for the better. Restitute for the things that you have done.”
“What a great idea, Lukas. But no, a leopard can’t change its spot.” Daniel told him finally, “Goodbye Lukas. From now on, it’s you alone. I would love to see how that turns out to be. Good luck.”
Lukas didn’t stop him. It was for the best anyway. Daniel was right, a leopard can never change its skin. But strange enough, Lukas felt a hollow feeling in his chest as he watched Daniel’s shadows till he disappeared entirely.
“We should go too.” Luca threw his arm around his shoulder and let Lukas rest his entire weight on him.
But Lukas peered over his shoulder, Daniel was gone.
“Hey, baby,”
Lukas heard that familiar voice as he stirred to life, breaking through the haze of blurriness. The sight finally cleared and he was finally treated to the sight of Rhea hovering over him with concern drawn all over her face.
“Rhea…” He meant to call her but his voice came out weak, and husky and did he forget to add that he was thirsty? Extremely thirsty.
As if Rhea knew that he wanted, she turned to the side table and poured out clean water from the bottle into the glass.” Here,” She reached beneath his pillow and pulled him up a bit so his head was raised as she helped feed him water.
“More.” He demanded when he was done with that one and she gave him just what he wanted.
By the time Lukas was done chugging the rest of the water, he felt revitalized, the strength finally returning to him. He looked around his environment and came to discover that he was in a hospital, a private room to be exact. It had to be Natalie’s hospital, she was the only one that could treat him without the police asking questions.
However, that was the least of his problems because when he tried moving, a sharp pain cut into his side and he winced, unable to hide the reaction from Rhea.
“Three broken ribs just so you know,” Rhea told him and for some reason, he sensed a bit of resentment mixed with sarcasm in her tone.