Chapter 46 THE MAN IN THE HOLDING CELL II
“Luke,” Rafael had called, interrupting his train of thought.
Luke looked up at once, matching Rafael's gaze like he could die if he did not make that move.
“Tell me, what is my favorite event to attend? The one I love to grace the most?” He asked calmly as he began to play with the lighter he had pulled from his pocket, flipping it shut and open as each second rolled by.
Luke's heart tightened within his chest at Rafael's question, his eyes dabbling within their sockets with a wave of fear washing over him like rain as he tried to focus on Rafael, trying so hard to maintain a balance with his emotions as well.
“Santiano- I-” Luke tried to say, his voice failing him as he watched Rafael in his seat, exuding an aura that dictated him as unbothered, but he knew it to be something else.
He could already imagine what was going on in Rafael's head. Maybe not all, but what the boss was capable of doing. He knew the boss was already plotting a thousand and one ways to carve out the information he needed to know from him in order to find Vanessa at all cost even if it meant pulling each layer of skin from his body.
Luke was indeed terrified of what Rafael could do to him. He had seen what he had done to other people that had crossed Rafael and he himself had been a part of the torturing process for these people, so what more could he expect now that the table had been turned against him?
He was very much aware of what he was getting into when he signed up in the plot for Vanessa's escape when Leah made it known to him about a week ago.
After all, he was in love with Leah and their relationship had been a secret they had been sharing for a very long time.
When Leah had told him about her plan to help Lady Vanessa escape and disappear from Santiano Rafael Devereaux's life for good, he had been against it, considering the consequences they would face once the plan failed and they got caught in the web of Rafael.
But Leah had insisted, wanting to repay Vanessa back for her kindness at all cost even if it meant going against Rafael whom she claimed to be loyal to. Leah had persuaded Luke to not stand by and watch a woman get claimed against her own wish, citing an instance if Luke could ever watch the same happen to her if she was in Vanessa's shoes.
In the end, Luke had been able to convince Leah to give you the idea that she could be of help to Vanessa. He had told her Santiano would find Vanessa at all cost if she went missing in his life again and he reminded Leah of a lot more trouble she would be getting into with the family if her name appeared on the lips of any of the servants.
And with that, he had managed to convince Leah, and she had given up the idea to help Vanessa plan her escape from Santiano Rafael Devereaux. Soon, she had begun to sort after a way to tell Vanessa the truth; with Luke's help of course.
But one day, Luke had received a letter, marked and claimed to be from Leah and his heart sank as he read the letter, folding it into his palms into a crumple.
According to the letter, Leah was still bent on helping Vanessa plot her escape and this time, she had an escape route and plans that would aid Vanessa's escape seamlessly.
Before Luke could get things under control with Leah again, the situation of things in the mansion that night had turned dire, an uproar coming into existence as Vanessa had been declared missing from the mansion and Leah— she was nowhere to be found at that moment.
Luke, immediately realizing Leah's plan for Vanessa's escape was already in motion, rushed out of the mansion, maneuvering a car out of the estate and bursting into the city.
He drove hastily into the city through the heavy, unforgiving rain that night as he headed to where the exit of the tunnel led to, but when he had arrived, Vanessa was no longer there or could he say, there were no signs of her there.
He had arrived too late.
Luke bowed his head in disappointment, balling his fists in anger as he began to blame himself for what had happened.
“If only I had been a little faster,” He growled at himself as he stood under the rain, getting drenched without an attempt to take cover. “If only I had gotten here sooner than I have.”
Now, he knew he had no other choice to make and he knew he couldn't run away from Rafael's wrath. Stowing away into the night was also impossible as no one could run from Rafael— considering the fact that the woman he loved was also missing, Luke knew he had to stay in Sicily city until he had found her.
He was at a crossroad where he was bound to make choices that could cost his life in the long run. He had genuinely rushed to the exit of the tunnel Vanessa would have crawled out from just so he could take her back to the Devereaux family mansion, take her back to his boss— to save his own head and Leah's from his wrath.
“Cat got your tongue, Luke?” Rafael asked another question after a long while of being patient with Luke's sudden silence, reminding him he was still waiting for an answer to his previous question.
“Funerals, Santiano.” Luke finally responded, his eyes firmly shut closed as the brewing anger seething within him continued to grow enormously, not at Rafael, but at his own mistakes, his own sloppiness and incompetency to the boss— Santiano Rafael Devereaux.
If, just if he had been there a little sooner, he would have found Vanessa just in time and he would have brought her back home where Rafael had always wanted her to be.