33 - Cleanup

Mia's POV.

When another loud bang rang out in the room and I still didn't feel like I'd been shot anywhere, my eyes sprang open.

"Rico!" I shouted, seeing him, Dante and Gio stormed into the room, guns drawn.

Rico's eyes blazed in anger as he looked at me, his gun pointed straight at Luca.

"Untie her," he said to Dante who sprang forward at once, doing as was asked of him.

"What- how- how did you-" Luca sputtered, unable to form a complete sentence.

"Even you, Luca, do not know everything. Every car we have is trackable. I was tracking the car bringing Mia back home when it changed directions," he said, glaring at Luca.

"And this, the very place you're standing at belongs to my family. In fact, I was the one who bought this years ago, way before you got married to my sister. It's rigged with hidden cameras everywhere, I heard every fucking word that came out of your filthy mouth," Rico said to him, his mouth set into a thin line as his eyes blazed with fury.

"But, Rico, you don't understand. You're still new to this. I did what I had to for the sake of the family! For our future!" Luca explained stubbornly as I rubbed my now raw wrists.

"You betrayed me, Luca. I treated you like a brother, and you betrayed me," Federico said, his jaw clenching hard as he looked at Luca.

"I did not! I'm loyal to the family, Rico. I've always been. After your father died, I did what I had to in order to make sure everyone accepted you as their new leader, that everyone believed in you," Luca explained, his voice raising in pitch as he tried to justify taking an innocent life.

"And you think killing Julia was the way to do it?" Federico asked, his aghast expression conveying just what he thought of Luca's actions.

"It had to be done. It was the only way to ensure stability then. And ending Mia's life is the only way to ensure it now. Look at her, Rico. She's not even Italian, for God's sake. She can not give you pure Italian children to carry forward the legacy of our family," Luca said, pointing at me with malice written all over his face.

"Enough! You have broken my trust, Luca. You have lied to me, manipulated me. You're a fucking traitor, and for that, you must die," Rico said, raising his gun and aiming it at Luca.

I sprang forward at once, grabbing onto Rico's arm. "No, Rico. You can not kill him," I said to him. Despite the steps he had taken to ensure stability within the family after the sudden demise of Rico's father, Luca was right. The family needed stability, and good leadership. Luca was the one who took care of business along with Enzo here in Italy.

The men here, like Alfonso, were loyal to Luca. If Federico killed him, it would shake the core of the business here in Italy. It could start a civil war within the family itself. And we could not afford that. Not when we had more important enemies to handle, like the Russians. Besides, what about Angela and Emilia? I'd come to love the two in the short time that I'd known them as my own family members. If Federico killed Luca, not only would it shatter the two, it might also put a rift between Angela and Rico. Sure, Angela would understand once everything was explained to her but the fact would always remain that it was Rico who killed her husband and her daughter's father.

"Look at you, cara," Rico said, pulling me out of my thoughts and making me look up at him. "He's hurt you. He needs to die," Rico whispered, gingerly touching my swollen cheek with his hand.

"No. You can not kill him. You need stability, Rico. If you kill him now, it might just turn your own people against you. We do not want a war because of internal conflict when there are other bigger enemies out there for us to deal with," I reasoned with Rico, trying to make him see where I was coming from.

"You might not be an Italian, but you sure talk like one. Maybe I have underestimated you, Mia," Luca butt in, his brows raised in surprise and what looked like begrudging respect as he looked at the two of us.

"Did I ask your opinion on anything, Luca?" I spit out, glaring at him as the throbbing in my head intensified. "And you said there was no space for love in the life of a Boss," I said, striding towards him until I was standing right in front of him.

"But you see, Luca, there is. It's his love for his sister and this family you're so hell-bent on protecting that he has not shot you just yet. It's what's keeping you alive today. If he didn't love them, he wouldn't have listened to any of what I said. He cares about the family, and wants the best for everyone. So, you're wrong, Luca. There is plenty of space for love in the life of a Mafia Boss. In fact, you should be thanking whatever God you worship that there is, or you'd be dead by now."

Luca swallowed, lowering his eyes, not saying anything. Good.

"Then, what do you suggest I do with him? I can not trust him anymore, cara," Rico asked, looking at me.

I pressed my temples where the pulsing ache in my head was increasing with every passing second. "We'll think of something. The tiles in our bathroom looked particularly dirty, he can start there."

"Tiles in your bathroom?!" Luca sputtered out, incredulous. "You're going to make me clean bathrooms now, Rico? I've served this family for years! I'm not going to fucking clean bathrooms for you!"

Good God. Why did he have to screech so much? My head felt like it was going to split into two and this motherfucker wouldn't stop talking.

Grabbing Federico's gun, I shot a bullet straight into Luca's arm. He screamed, staggering back as his hand went to the hole in his arm.

Gio lurched forward to help a shocked Luca. I held up a hand to him. "No, don't help him. Get him a bunch of paper towels and disinfectant," I said to Gio, feeling marginally better now that the room was silent.

"Clean up the floor, Luca, you're getting blood all over it," I said to Luca, giving him a small smirk.

He didn't say anything, his jaw clenched as he stared at the floor.

Satisfied, I handed the gun back to Rico.

"Fucking hell, Mia," Federico whispered, looking at me with something akin to awe mixed with shock on his face.

"Let's go home. I need some Advil," I muttered, looking up at Rico.

"Whatever you want, baby, just don't shoot me," Rico replied, raising his hands up in surrender even though he was the one holding the gun now.

I shot him a small smirk before I strode out of the room, ready for the day to end already.

I briefly wondered what we would tell Angela, or how much of it we should tell her, if at all. But the pain in my head did not allow for much rational thought.

All I wanted right then was a huge bed with the most comfortable mattress in the world and hours of undisturbed sleep. The world and everything else in it could wait while I recovered.