To Play The Devil’s Game

Chapter 6

As soon as she left Mateo, Luciana hurried towards her car, jumping in like her life depended on it. Actually, it did because whatever she found out in the mansion would one way or the other affect her.

Alessandro wouldn’t be expecting her to come straight to the mansion and that was the element of surprise Luciana wanted to give all of them. She crisscrossed the building traffic that was slowly making its way on the roads. Luciana was an expert driver and even the cops could hardly catch her if they were to give her a chase.

‘’goddammit get off the f*****g road!’’ Luciana screamed, honking her horn desperately at a cab driver.

The driver had just dropped off a passenger on a busy street, blocking the path Luciana was to follow. On a good day, it would take her about twenty minutes to get to her father’s house from the club they owned but now, a quick glance at the car’s dashboard told her that it was pulling close to half an hour.

Finally, the cab driver left the road at a snail's speed. Luciana bypassed him quickly but not without giving him the middle finger. The cab driver muttered curses with a thick french accent, horning to show his disapproval of Luciana’s attitude.

The rest of the journey took her a little above ten minutes and soon, she was parking her car in a haphazard way not caring if she was blocking the entrance or not. She jumped out quickly, rushing towards the door that led to the large living room.

Just before she got to the balcony, Alessandro appeared before her with a worried look on his face. Alarm bells began ringing in her head as she stared at him. She had no doubt now that something was definitely wrong. For one, not many things scared Alessandro and if he was acting this way, it only meant that something or the inevitable had happened.

‘’Alessandro.’’ Luciana said.

‘’Something has happened.’’ he said.

‘’I know and that’s why i’m here.’’ Luciana said.

‘’Your father.’’ he murmured.

Luciana’s heart was beating an overdrive and she knew her heart was pumping more blood faster than its normal rate.

In school, Luciana had been a very bright kid and so, she knew all about the body’s mechanism and how many components the heart was divided into. Due to her increased heart rate, at this point, her heart would be working extra hard to pump in more blood that could calm her nerves which no doubt had gone into an overdrive.

‘’Walk with me.’’ Alessandro said.

He led her inside and towards the hallway that led towards her father’s chambers. The mansion was so big that each important member of the group had their own privacy. Luciana didn’t think that she could stay any longer with Alessandro because every minute she didn’t know what was happening left her feeling worried and depressed.

‘’What happened to my father?’’ Luciana asked.

She was getting more agitated every minute she spent without knowing what exactly was happening to her father. Her father meant everything to her and not knowing what was happening to him left her in shambles.

‘’Please Alessandro, just tell me what is going on.’’ Luciana begged.

She was almost at the balls of her feet, preparing to dash towards her father’s room if need be. Alessandro sighed, a deep tired sigh that left her feeling more agitated by the minute.

‘’He had a stroke.’’ Alessandro said, finally.

That was all Luciana needed to hear and soon, she dashed towards her father’s room at lightning speed. Even Alessandro who was very fast couldn’t keep up with her as Luciana was practically unstoppable. There was really no way he could have stopped her because she was a woman on a mission.

Luciana burst through the doors to find her father reclined on his bed. His eyes were closed and the only thing that indicated that he was still alive was his shallow breathing which was a bit irregular. It was even clear to a blind man that her father was living his last days on earth.

‘’Father.’’ Luciana cried out, rushing towards her father’s side.

Alessandro who had rushed in after her sighed before exiting the room and closing the door firmly. They needed a moment and he wasn’t going to intrude in a family affair. He felt really sad for Luciana and her father, the don because he knew that all this was as a result of what the Fontana’s had done.

‘’Mija, is that you?’’ he asked.

Apparently, her noise had woken him up and now, he was trying to adjust his eyesight to the bright fluorescent bulb that gave the room light. He looked so tired, more tired than Luciana had ever known him to be. It just seemed like he was carrying the whole weight of the world on his shoulder without any help from anyone whatsoever. It was really depressing as she thought about it.

‘’Papa, you look so sad.’’ Luciana sniffed.

She was a hard girl and nothing ever made her cry but seeing her father this way was enough to break down her restraints. This was her father, her father who had given everything he had for the betterment of the group.

‘’’The doctor said I have just a few months to live with Mija.’’ he coughed.

That wasn’t what Luciana was expecting but now that she was hearing it, she was left feeling shattered and hopeless. Now, her father’s faith was sealed and there was no going back.

‘’No! You can’t die.’’ Luciana sobbed harder.

This could not be happening. Her father who she had cherished and loved so much was finally going to leave her and she would be left alone in the world.

‘’My time is up principessa and it's left for you to carry on with our plans. Do not fail me Luciana.’’ he said.

Right there and then, Luciana knew she couldn’t afford to fail her father. He had put in so much hope in her and she knew she couldn’t afford to fail.

‘’Deal with the Fontana’s with everything you have because they are the ones who put me in this mess. They took my wife, your mother away from me in the moments when i needed her the most and that is something that is unforgivable.’’ he snapped.

Even with his failing strength, the venom in his words was unmistakable. It was raw and very strong which just buttressed the fact that her father wanted them dead with none of them alive. That was the way he wanted it and Luciana would be a fool not to adhere to those instructions.

‘’I will Papa, with everything i have.’’ Luciana said.

‘’Do not fail me child, I am counting on you to destroy them all.’’ he said.

Luciana remained quiet as she held her father’s hands in his. Tears of pain and anguish streamed down her eyes as she thought about the injustice of everything. Why should it be the good people that had to suffer? Why couldn’t the Fontana’s be punished for the evil they had done? All these thoughts and more were what swirled in Luciana’s head as she held her father’s hands in her warm grasp. His hands were so frail that she could practically see the veins crisscrossing within his hands.

‘’I promise i will do as you say Father.’’ Luciana said.

She dried her tears with the sleeve of her shirt, sealing her heart to become hard. She realized that this was not the time to cry but the time to fight and fight she would. It was the time for revenge and she sure as hell wouldn’t be caught slacking.

‘’I have begun the operation by making contacts with some people. Be rest assured that i am on the right track.’’ Luciana smiled.

‘’That’s good Mija, I am proud of you. Thank you.’’ her father smiled.

‘’I will stay here in the mansion and nurse you back to health. You will not die father, you will not.’’ Luciana said.

She didn’t know where the boldness came from but she was glad she had it. It just made her feel better to be able to assure her father that nothing would happen to him.

‘’Okay.’’ he said, coughing.

Soon, he fell into an uneasy sleep. Luciana rose up on her feet, watching him some more before walking out of the room. She shut the door silently before going in search of Alessandro. She found him at the mansion’s bar, holding a bottle of espresso.

It didn’t take a minute for Luciana to find out that he had been drinking from the bottle. She couldn’t blame him because the situation they were currently in was very strenuous to say the least.

‘’When was the doctor here?’’ she asked.

‘’About an hour ago. One of the guards had to call him in when your father slumped.’’ he said.

‘’I need to speed up the operation as fast as possible. There is no way i can slack any further.’’ Luciana said.

She grabbed her phone from her bag, dialing her maid’s number. She instructed her to pack as many of her clothes as possible because Luciana didn’t really know for how long she would be staying. She had promised to nurse her father back to health and that was exactly what she would do.

That done, she joined Alessandro on the bar stool, filling up her glass with some of the drink. Even though she had just had a drink not quite long with Mateo back at the bar, she didn’t care.

Luciana was one of the few women who could handle her drink without getting drunk. She had picked that up from her father and she loved it. It made her tougher and being tough was what she wanted to feel everytime.

‘’The ball, when did Mateo say it would happen?’’ Alessandro asked.

‘’He didn’t say but he said it wouldn’t be long now.’’ Luciana said.

Already, the gears in her mind were already turning as she slowly hatched a plan, a plan she knew wouldn’t fail.

‘’Are you thinking what i’m thinking?’’ Alessandro asked.

Luciana smiled, downing the rest of her drink in one gulp. She knew exactly what Alessandro was saying. At the ball, she could finally begin with Reed then take it up from there.