Chapter 43: The Chase

Marco Orsini's POV "I will kill him." The duke mutters menacingly as he stares at the window of my private plane. He is probably plotting how to kill Paolo Ranaldi inside his head. "There is no place on earth that he could hide." "Tatiana will be fine, Lucca." A soothing voice of a woman reassures on his side. "That won't work, you know." I say to the woman across to me. "There's nothing you can do to stop him from killing that bastard." "Oh, shut up!" She snaps back. I hid my smile. Right now, I am trapped inside my plane with a murderous duke intent on killing the man who abducted his wife and an icy cool woman. When I should be in Los Angeles for a little vacation but then again, I cannot just ignore the request of my good friend in helping him rescue his wife. "You know what, Francesca?" I asked the ice queen, as I sip my whiskey. "Ranaldi sealed his fate the day he stole Tatiana. He is as good as dead the moment Lucca finds him." The woman shivers at the thought. "Stop saying that!" "Why not? It's the truth." "Lucca will not kill him!" She replies vehemently. "Want to bet?" I cock an eyebrow on her direction. Is she really that naïve thinking that Lucca Cavelli is a saint? She's deluding herself if that's what she believes. Lucca is anything but saint. Beneath that sophistication and good manners there is a demon that is slumbering inside him. I have seen it once and I don't want to repeat that experience. The demon duke—that's what they call him and Paolo Ranaldi stupidly tempting that demon to rear its ugly head and start a rampage. Every time I remember that fateful day when Lucca lost his composure a few years back it still left me shivering. I somehow feel sorry for Ranaldi for picking a wrong enemy. There is no place on earth that he could have hid and Lucca will not see him. He is safe as long as the duke has not been able to get his hands on him yet. But then again, Lucca is known for having a long reach. The stretch of his power and influence leaves an average man astonished. "I will kill him slowly." Lucca speaks again, dragging me out of my reverie promising in a deadly tone. "I will not give him the satisfaction of dying swiftly. I want him to experience such pain he could only possibly imagine." "Oh, Lucca..." The ever-supportive young widow says, touching our friend's hand in a reassuring way. "You mustn't say that. You are not a murderer. Tatiana will be fine." "How did you know that she is just fine?" I ask the woman dryly. "I know she's fine." She retorted back hotly but her hazel eyes glared at me with such ice on their depth. I muse sipping my whiskey. I never fail to let the opportunity in ruffling the feathers of this woman in front of me. "Then that's hardly comforting, isn't?" "Why this basta—" But before she could say her response Lucca interrupts her by giving me his full attention since this plane board. "How exactly did you know that Paolo Ranaldi took Tatiana in Las Vegas, Marco?" Still, I fixed my gaze on the icy widow. I give her a goading smile as I answer my friend's question. "Simple. I have my source." "Source?" Lucca scoffs. "What are these sources exactly?" "Ah. That's a secret, mio amico." "A nasty secret." Francesca murmurs softly under her breath. I give her an amusing look. "You will be surprised how nasty my secrets are, Signora." "No doubt!" She fires back. Lucca sighs loudly. His voice is like a stern father reprimanding his wayward children. "Will you two stop fighting each other? Need I remind you that we have to rescue my wife? I don't want to see you killing each other while saving Tatiana." "It is not me who is spoiling for a fight." I say a little defensively. I scowled. Why do I have to feel defensive about it? Disbelief shows in her face. "Are you putting the blame on me?" "Yes." "Enough!" Lucca roars in Italian and starts threatening us about throwing out of the plane without parachutes. It is on the tip of my tongue to kindly point out to him that it is my damn plane and I am the only one who has the right to throw whoever I want out of my plane. But since he's so occupied with his lecture, I just let it go. "Oh, We're so sorry, Lucca." The ice queen apologizes, looking genuinely sorry. "How thoughtless of us fighting nonsense when we are about to save Tatiana from that man." She looks at me. "We're going to call a ceasefire, aren't we?" I just raised my eyebrow in her direction. "Are we?" "Yes." She says her eyes shot like glacier ice. "We're having a ceasefire, aren't we, Signore?" She's not asking for a truce but more like an army general who is giving her subordinate a mission. Her eyes are silently telling me: Go ahead and refuse your head will roll on the floor. So, what choice do I have but to agree even if it is the last thing I want to do. I smile maddeningly in her direction. "But of course, Francesca mia." "Thank you, for your sacrifice." Lucca says sarcastically. "Don't worry, Lucca." The drill general encouraged me. "Tatiana will be fine. She will take care of herself and your baby—" "What did you just say?" Lucca faces her with deadly slowness. "Can you repeat it Francesca? Baby? Who is having a baby?" The darkness that surrounds Lucca since we boarded this plane is back with vengeance. Now the dark aura is literally pouring out of him. I silently groan. Great, apparently Lucca's little wife is also pregnant. "I—I...I'm supposed not to tell you anything about it." Francesca pale beneath her perfectly applied makeup. "Tatiana made me promise to keep it a secret she wants to tell you in person that she's eight weeks pregnant with your child." It seems that Lucca can't believe in the bomb that the young widow had just dropped on him. From the look on his face, he's really startled from the news. Abducting his wife is one thing but it is entirely different matter when you kidnap his wife with his unborn child. He will send you straight to hell. Then it occurs to me that their marriage is just convenience and having a baby is surely out of the question. Now everything else has trample about the news of an impending child. What a messy situation for Lucca. But then again even if they divorce, Lucca might seek custody if the baby turns out to be a boy, he will be Lucca's heir. The future Duke of Caprielle. "...we finally arrived in Las Vegas. Please remain seated while the aircraft stands still." The pilot says over the speakers. Hell, I haven't noticed that we have already arrived. "Let's go." My plane barely landed when Lucca removed his seatbelt and launched to the exit. Oh, you're dead Ranaldi, is my last thought before following Lucca on the exit.