Would she forget me?

Would she forget me?
Luca’s POV

Everything hurt... every breath scraped my lungs, every step sent fire through my body... but I pushed through it anyway.

Why?

Because this had to end. I didn’t have much time left; I could feel it in the way my vision blurred at the edges, in the warmth soaking through my clothes. Noel had to die today.

If I didn’t end him now… Aria would never be safe.

If he survived this, he wouldn’t stop. He would hunt her, torment her, destroy everything I loved.

I couldn’t let him survive.

“Boss…” Payson ran toward me the moment he spotted me. His relief was brief, replaced almost instantly with panic. I struggled to stand straight, forcing my spine to lock, forcing my face into something neutral... but the pain won. My expression twisted despite my efforts.

Payson noticed immediately. “Boss… Are you… Are you alright?”

“No.” I said, clutching my abdomen as my breathing turned heavy and uneven. “But I have to end Payson first.”

He didn't agree with my logic... I could sense it from his hesitation, yet Payson nodded before helping me towards where Noel was last spotted.

It was an empty building... One that wasn't completed.

I motioned to Payson to search the premises.

He only took a step and then Noel's pained voice shook the walls. “Luca… How dare you kill Viola?!" He yelled... He wasn't trying to hide his pain. "How could you kill her?!”

I turned slowly, ignoring the sharp protest from my body.

So he actually cared about her that much?

“If you love her so much, why don’t you come out so you can follow her?” I replied with a snicker, my hand firmly holding my gun while I scanned the building, trying to trace his voice.

A humorless laugh echoed from somewhere unseen.

It sounded lost... As though he had lost all hope after seeing Viola drop to the ground.

“You always thought you’re the most powerful, you thought you have everything under control… How did it feel to find out that the woman you loved was a spy for me!” Noel taunted.

Rage surged through me, sharp and blinding, momentarily overpowering the pain.

I knew he was saying it to get me annoyed, but I couldn't help it.

I gritted my teeth in anger. “Just shut the fuck up Noel… you don’t know Aria.”

“Oh, I do." Noel laughed again. I took a step forward, and then another... slowly walking towards the sound of his voice, my gun pointed forward. "Her father… Diego Bellani, one of the craziest man I know who is willing to do anything for money." Noel continued. "She had a mother and two brothers, but they were all killed to get to the father, yet that man didn’t blink.”

My jaw clenched. My fingers trembled... not from fear, but from the effort it took not to collapse.

My entire body was too weak... Yet I had to keep on going.

I turned a corner, my gun aimed... Hoping to see Noel seated there on the ground... He wasn't there.

I cursed inwardly, exhaling sharply while holding the nearest wall for support.

Payson kept on talking, as though daring me to find him. “There was only one time I had seen him afraid… That time when he witnessed Jared’s death… Oh, did you know… Viola was the one who killed Jared.”

The world seemed to tilt.

My breathing stopped for a moment...my rang in disbelief.

“W…What?” I stuttered.

V... Viola did what?

“Yeah…" Noel laughed again. He was happy that I was so shocked. I could hear the excitement in his voice as he said. "That time she was so in love with me. When she heard about you and what you did to me she was mad. She killed him for me.”

My chest tightened painfully.

Memories flooded back into my head of how Aria tried to explain back then six weeks ago when we returned back to the mansion.

Shd had insisted that Viola was the one who killed Jared...

She had...

Fuck!!!

How could I have not known this?!

I had been living for directly with the lady who murdered my brother, and yet I didn't know.

I almost bloody married her!

I suddenly felt like I hadn't killed Viola enough. I shouldn't have ended her so easily... I shouldn't.

“I helped her clean it up…" Noel's voice was lower now, he inhaled sharply as though talking hurt, but he kept on doing it to spite me. "Diego was just there. He was supposed to make sure the truth never came out, but somehow you traced it to him and he just admitted it.”

“Shut up… just shut the fuck up!!!”

My voice echoed, raw and fractured.

I turned another corner and shot before looking.

He also wasn't there.

That bloody bastard...

Noel chuckled again at the sound of the gunshot.

Just where the hell was he hiding?

“I knew Aria would be the girl to get to you. She’s a fiesty one, yet she knows when to be calm… Plus, she had a pretty skin…”

Something inside me snapped.

“Stop talking! Get the fuck out here!” I yelled, the veins in my neck bulged out, my chest heaved up and down rapidly...

God... I wanted nothing but to kill Noel right now with my bare hands, but I wasn't strong enough to do that.

Silence followed, heavy and suffocating.

Then Payson returned, his footsteps light.

He motioned towards me and pointed at a corner of the house I hadn't searched.

He had found him.

Slowly, I walked over while holding on to the wall for support.

Noel didn't talk for a few seconds, then he spoke again... he tone sadder now, and a bit more quiet. “You started this war Luca, you hurt my family…” 

“I made it even.” I replied, still walking towards him.

“By hurting my mother the way you did? Do you know what Aria said when I sent her the video? She called you a monster.”

My breath hitched.

He sent her the video...?

A monster.

Which meant Aria had seen me at my worst.

A pause. Then Noel spoke again, even quieter now... almost reflective.

“Ahhhh…" he groaned and then hissed. "You know, when we were kids, I looked up to you. I wanted to be just like you, but you’re not worth it.”

I finally saw him. He was loosing blood fast.

He was seated on the floor, leaning against a wall. His gun was pushed to the other side...

It looked as though he tried to get up and get it, but his body refused to move.

“… coming from you, that means a lot.” I said, then all of a sudden, blood filled my mouth.

I coughed, blood spilling onto the ground.

Noel looked up at me and smiled. “It looks like you’re not going to last either…”

I could feel my consciousness slipping away from me.

I wanted nothing more than to torture him... To make him suffer for everything he had done, but I didn't have the time.

I had to make sure sure that he never came close to Aria again.

“I guess we would see each other on the other side.” I answered. Slowly... I rose my gun and pointed it at his head.

My knees buckled slightly.

I had to send him away from Aria…

And if possible…

Our baby.

Pa!!!

A deafening shot rang out.

His eyes were still wide open as though he was shocked. His body fell limp to the floor.

He was gone.

Finally...

“Argh!” I gasped, suddenly coughing harder as pain exploded through me. I clenched my chest, gritting my teeth hard.

“Boss…” Payson ran towards me.

Another wave of dizziness hit me, stronger than before. I fell to my knees.

“Boss, let’s head to the hospital, we can still…” this was the second time I was seeing Payson panic... He looked so scared as he tried to help me.

I tried to stand again. Tried to force my legs to obey. Tried to hold on... just for Aria. Just a little longer.

But this time was different.

I could feel it.

My strength wasn’t fading... it was leaving.

“Payson… Payson…” I called to him to stop, but I was almost breathless... I couldn't recognize my surroundings anymore.

Payson shook his head, “Boss, you can’t just…”

“It’s okay.”

My voice barely sounded like my own.

“Luca…” he called me by my name.

I forced a smile at him... my eyes slowly closing. “It’s… It’s o… it’s okay.”

The world narrowed, sounds blurring together.

“Boss… Boss!”

My body swayed to the side... Payson caught me.

“Luca!!!”

Aria...

She was the last person on my mind.

Maybe this was for the best.

I didn't deserve her.

All I could hope was that our child would survive this... That way, she would never forget me.

She... She wouldn't want to forget me... Would she...?

Darkness swallowed everything, I couldn't feel, see or hear anything anymore.