Chapter 152 Isola delle Femmine
It's been two days since Kael learned about Lilia's pregnancy and it kills him to think that he has to leave her there. But for some reason, he also felt at ease knowing that Vittorio loved her dearly.
It shocked him that his doll is related to the De Luca’s. It never occurred to him that their lives would be linked through a single innocent person such as his wife.
Ah, his wife.
The sound of it makes his chest swell with unexplainable happiness. Not only that, on the night of their honeymoon, he received the most wonderful news.
He's going to be a father now. Well, it hasn’t been proven yet, since they haven’t run a test, but the symptoms were quite accurate and Lilia never missed her cycle, as he noticed.
The thought thrilled him and made him the happiest. However, there's a huge barrier before he could be with his wife now.
Vittorio and Ronan. Those two cretins he did not expect to be related to Lilia.
Kael had already taken care of the Committee. Dimitri Antonov finally found his place in this fucking world, which is six feet underneath the ground.
Yes. He killed him, brutally and coldly and made others watch. He learned that he was the one whose been fucking with their cargo and the dealings outside the Russian border. Slicing up a huge amount of stash in his pocket and blaming the small mob present at the time. Marrying his daughter to him was one of his plans to take over his mob.
The fucking bastard took him like some simpleton he can manipulate.
Kael stripped the Antonovs of anything they owned. All their liabilities were deducted from their assets and what was left of it goes back to the mob. And as for Sabina, he gave her a million dollars to start her life somewhere away from them. He also made her sign a non-disclosure agreement and swore to never disturb them again under any circumstances, especially Lilia. As much as Kael hates the woman, he couldn't hurt her. Scare her maybe, but he was taught not to lay a hand on a woman no matter what the reason is.
The Committee didn't dispute his judgment. They were scared enough to challenge him and follow Antonov’s fate. That one obstacle is out of his way, but there’s a bigger one to face.
The De Luca. And Lilia is bound to them by blood. His wife, and in the eyes of the law, he is too, now that they are married. Kael didn't regret a thing, though.
Kael’s trance broke as he felt a presence coming his way, though he didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Val. He was sitting in the waiting room on his private runway waiting. “Boss, the plane is ready.”
He put down the latest newspaper he was holding, though he wasn’t reading any of the articles written on them and then he stood up.
“Are you sure she’s okay there?” Val suddenly asked soon as they settled inside the aircraft. They were bound to Italy, to make things right and put an end to all of this.
“They won’t harm her, that’s for sure.” Kael responded to his worried friend’s inquisition. He and Lilia had been good friends and Val couldn’t be blamed if he feels this way.
Though moping would do them no good. He must focus on what is ahead of them, and that is the main reason why they were sitting here on his plane.
“The meeting, I set up. They agreed with it?” Kael asks without any preamble and heads straight to their plan.
Val nodded and took something from the inside pocket of his coat. “Yes, we got a reply.”
“What does it say?”
Kael watches his friend flick the plain white card open and reads the scribble inside it written in cursive print.
“They choose the location.”
“Where?”
“Isola delle Femmine, Sicily.”
Kael whipped his head to his friend with brows furrowed and plucked the card from his hand, seeing the address for himself.
“Sneaking bastards.” He cursed angrily and fisted the card on his palm into crumpled.
Isola delle Femmine is a small island in Palermo in Sicily, twenty-five kilometers from the mainland, and can be traveled only in half an hour. Not too far, but it is enough distance to keep the De Luca’s in control over what’s going to happen, putting Kael and Val in a precarious situation.
“One more request,” Val added, pulling out his phone, and scrolling through the screen before he stops at an encrypted message. “They only want you to go in there, alone.”
Kael already expected something like this would happen. He knows how Vittorio’s brain works, and surely he would choose a move that will give him the advantage. But this time, they were not contending for a shipment or a cargo that would go past their territory. It would be the life of the woman he loves, that happens to be his granddaughter, and Kael would take every chance he got no matter how risky it would be.
“I’ll go.” He stated firmly, which immediately earned a contending glare coming from Val.
“Kael, what if this is all just a trap?”
It has been a while since Val called him by his first name. It didn’t come out uncalled for, but an indication that his friend for a very long time whom he trusted is serious about this matter. However, Kael had already set his mind and there was no changing it.
“Trap or not, I'm going to get my wife and my unborn child.”
Val knows about their secret wedding and that Lilia is now carrying his own flesh and blood.
“You can't even know if she's there.”
“The old bastard will be there, that’s for sure. He will listen to me first. I have my documents to prove my claim.”
Only the photocopies of their marriage contracts, certified and signed with his lawyers for legality. Which is quite ironic, they do their work illegally but still, respect some kind of paper that means to bind them.
“Just be careful, I’ll stay on the boat and have the helicopters ready. Just the outskirts in case everything goes wrong.” Val stated conceding to his notion. No point in turning back now, might as well prepare their escape if any goes sideways.
Kael simply nodded in agreement. “Yeah, you do that.”
They arrived in Palermo earlier than the stated time on the message. Val and he were both standing on the bobbing speed boat, watching the island from afar. Kael peers through the lenses of his binoculars, observing the ongoing activity in their surroundings. Noting if there is anything that would catch their suspicion.
Right after the moment of waiting, a sound of an inbound chopper caught their attention whirring in the sky. They both followed its direction and it headed directly towards the island.
“It’s time.”
Val didn’t say anything. He turned on the speedboat and trailed behind the chopper.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the island shore, just in time the chopper had landed and a group of five men climbed down the aircraft, loaded with guns and in full battle gear.
Kael’s brows furrowed, immediately sensing that there is something wrong.
Something is missing.
Lilia and Vittorio weren’t with them.