Repaying the Mafia’s Dept

Emelia

I signed the contract.

One more contract of sale. This time as I sign, all traces of humanity leave me.

Dad watches in excitement. Of course, he would. He’s going to be a rich man.

He must be on cloud nine.

Thirty million just for selling me, and all the syndicate’s wealth. I heard him talking to someone on the phone. I don’t know who it was, but they sounded like they were in on it. On this grand scheme of shit.

“Wonderful. My dear girl. I never knew you’d be such an asset to me,” Dad says.

“I don’t know how you could do this to me. How were you going to get me to sign this before? I was supposed to go to Florence. What would have happened there?” I really want to know.

“Your uncle was going to take care of it.”

“How?” I push.

“By threatening to kill you. Getting you to Florence was the easy part. You were so excited to go and fit right in. At least you would have gotten to go to school.” He raises his palms and shrugs.

“My God. You are truly despicable. I don’t know you. I don’t know who you are. What else did you do, Dad?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. I have questions. Questions I want answers to before I’m taken away and there’s no one left to give them to me.

“I did many things, Emelia.”

“Were you responsible for Jacob’s death?” I ask outright. That’s the most important question on my mind. “Did you know he was going to die?”

“Emelia, Jacob always had a habit of sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. I think he was my toughest kill,” he reveals. A cry falls from my lips.

I’m so stupid. There I am, asking him if he knew Jacob was going to die when he was the one who killed him.

Fuck… fucking hell.

“You killed Jacob! Dad, you? It was you?”

He actually looks a little sad.

“I prayed at the wedding that he’d keep his mouth shut. I prayed he’d keep his nose out of shit it didn’t belong, but when it comes to you, that kid couldn’t see straight. Friendship and love. That was what he had for you. Even when he was warned by your beloved husband to keep out of trouble, that very same night, he went hurtling himself back into trouble’s arms. He heard too much. Saw too much when he saw me talking to Vlad. He knew about my plans to wipe out the syndicate. He had to die.”

“You shot him. You killed Jacob.”

“I did. Sad but true.”

The door flies open, and Andreas rushes in.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” he urges in a hurried voice. “My brothers are here with a team of men. Think we might be outnumbered. Backup won’t get here on time.”

“Fuck!” Dad snarls. “Where is Vlad?”

“Dead,” Andreas answers. Dad’s face grows pale. As pale as Andreas’. It’s understandable because of who Vlad is.

Vlad’s death means that contract of his no longer exists. No thirty million to buy me.

Dad gazes back in disbelief. “Damn it, damn it to hell.”

“You go. I’ll keep them occupied to give you a head start,” Andreas promises.

Dad seethes, grabs me with one hand and his briefcase with the other. Without another word, we leave through the side other door leading out to a narrow tunnel.

As he pulls me along, I know Vlad’s death means nothing. All this man has done is sell me from one man to the next.

He’ll do it again.

He’s got his back against the wall and greed running through his veins. It didn’t escape me that Dad completely snubbed Andreas’ offer to stay behind while we escape. Without so much as a thank-you.

Dad rushes down the tunnel, pulling me along. He’s using his bad arm now, which is just as strong as his good one.

When we get to a set of stairs leading up to an even darker tunnel, I try to wrench my hand free of his grasp.

“Let go of me!” I yell, but he takes pleasure in squeezing my hand until it feels like it’s about to break. I scream so loud the sound seems to be pouring from my soul.

He’s hurting me just like that day back in his office. I was so foolish to ever consider that Massimo and Giacomo were forcing him to do anything. They weren’t. That was the first time he showed me his true self, but I failed to see it.

“Stop it, Emelia. Fucking stop it,” he snarls, shaking me. I realize he’s too strong. I can’t fight him.

Fighting him is only going to result in me hurting myself. I glance back at the tunnel we walked down thinking of Massimo, wondering if he made it. I wish I could do something to save myself. I can’t though. I’m too weak.

Ahead, the tunnel is dark. It looks like somewhere we shouldn’t be going. Dad stops when we get to a crosscut, confusion filling his face.

He looks from left to right. We both hear a sound, like someone running, and Dad decides to go left.

He pulls me along frantically. When we see a light ahead, he starts running. The worst thing we could ever do in a place like this, where everything is unknown. Dad runs forward on shaky ground as the earth beneath us gives. There’s a rail track ahead, with a rusty mining cart with some old ropes attached to it.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Twice we nearly fall over because the earth is moving so much. He’s heading to the rusty cart. I think that’s a bad idea. The track ahead looks old. Who knows when it was last used or even checked?

“Dad, where are we going?” I cry. “It doesn’t look safe.”

“Shut the fuck up!” he yells.

Before we can get to the cart, the track we step on breaks. Then we’re falling. The briefcase Dad was carrying goes flying past me, and I scream and scream as we go down, certain this is it. I’ll die now. But then I’m jerked to a stop and hanging in the air. Dad’s still holding me. He’s hanging from a rope. A rope so old it looks like it used to be white but is now brown with age and raggedy.

I manage to grab a part of it and hold myself up.

“Come. It won’t hold,” Dad urges impatiently.

He released his hold on me and tries to climb up, slowly. He’s right. The rope won’t hold. I don’t dare look down. Terror has me panting and thinking of pulling myself up as fast as I can. Out of danger. Out of fear.

The rope jerks and starts snapping.

Shit, shit, fuck. We’re nearly there. So close, but it can’t hold the two of us.

Dad stops midway and looks back at me as I try my best to make my way up when the rope gives again. He’s ahead of me, but our combined weight is just too much.

“I’m sorry, Emelia. I can’t die here,” he says. “I have too many plans.”

Before I can process his words, he pulls a knife from his pocket and starts cutting the section of the rope beneath his grasp. The section I am holding on to.

“No, please. Please don’t do that,” I beg.

He ignores me and continues sawing through the twine.

“Dad, please, no!! Don’t kill me,” I cry.

A wicked look washes over his face as the twine pulls apart. Just a few more, and I’ll fall right to my death. I’ll die.

Tears blind me as I look up at the man who’s supposed to be my protector. My father. He really evil incarnate.

I scream when the rope jerks, and now I truly feel like this is my end. I see parts of the rope snap away. Then a roar pieces through me.

Massimo comes launching through the air, hurtling himself at my father. His foot connects with his jaw, snapping his head back with a bone-crunching sound. While Massimo grabs the rope, Dad falls backwards, screaming as he tumbles past me. Falling, falling to his death.

At the same time, the rope snaps and I fall too, but Massimo catches me.

With a strangled cry, he lifts me and secures an arm around me. I don’t know where or how he finds the strength, but he manages to lift us both back up onto the platform and move us away from the shaky track.

I throw my arms around him and hold him, crying and shaking.

“I got you. I got you,” he says, hugging me hard.

“Oh, Massimo,” I cry into his chest. I never thought I’d have this moment again when we’d be holding each other like this. “Thank you so much.”

“Don’t thank me. God, Emelia.” He cups the back of my head and holds me close to him.

Turning my head, I look at the dark abyss my father fell into, and that’s when I see Andreas stepping out from the path with his gun aimed at us.