To Play The Devil’s Game

Chapter 31

Chapter 31

‘’Where the hell have you been?’’ Alessandro seethed as soon as Luciana walked into the mansion.

There was a noticeable glow around her but for now, Alessandro wasn’t going to dwell on that. He could get to that soon but first, he needed to know where she had been for the greater part of the day.

‘’I told you i went to see the accident victim.’’ Luciana said, rolling her eyes.

‘’Well. I’m afraid that’s not the case because i sent the boys to check out the location and there was nothing like that Diabla.’’ Alessandro said.

It was at that moment that Luciana blew up. She was sick and tired of being treated like a child and Alessandro was making it worse by making her feel guilty of even going out.

‘’What the f**k is your problem anyway?! I’m a grown woman and I can go anywhere as I please. So the earlier you realize this, the better for you.’’ Luciana screamed.

The men keeping guard within the hallway knew better than to interfere in matters like this. It was an internal affair, something that didn’t concern them.

‘’I am doing this because I want to keep you safe. That is a promise i made to the don, your father and i will continue to do so until i take my last breath.’’ Alessandro said with squinted eyes.

‘’Then f**k you! f**k you and your care!’’ Luciana said before stomping away.

Alessandro watched her leave because there was nothing else he could do. She was hot headed, that much he knew but at times, she needed to calm down so she wouldn’t lose her head completely.

He sighs, walking outside and towards the massive compound. The moon was out and it was a full moon, one that was hardly seen especially in times like theirs. Alessandro couldn’t help but think of it as a sign. He didn’t know what the sign was but it was there regardless.

‘’Don, how did you manage her? She gets stubborn by the day with no hope of ever going back.’’ Alessandro said.

He sat down by the curb, overlooking the large pool at the far end of the massive compound. Alessandro wanted more than anything to be able to take care of the daughter of his best friend who had left her in his care but now, Luciana was making things difficult for him.

‘’She gets so wild everyday and without control and today, I highly suspect she sneaked off to go see a man but I really don’t know who that man is. What if he’s a traitor?’’ Alessandro mused.

The wind at that moment picked up speed, blowing everything on its path. Suddenly, a large cloud covered the bright moon which made everywhere dark and ominous. Now, Alessandro was convinced without any reasonable doubt that this was surely a sign.

‘’This is a sign. What is it Don? What are you trying to tell me?’’ Alessandro said, rising to his feet.

He paced about as the wind picked up more speed. This time, it was fiercer than the last which forced him to move inside. All he needed to do now was to find out what it was and get to the root of it.

Back in her room, Luciana was pacing in apparent anger as she thought about what Alessandro had told her. She wasn’t a baby anymore so why should he treat her as such. She was beyond frustrated because deep down, she didn’t ask for any of this.

‘’Why was I born into this feud? I didn’t bargain for any of this so why am i being dragged into this?’’ Luciana sighed.

Tears of frustration slid down her eyes as she thought about how her life would have been if she had been born a normal girl. One thing she knew was that she wasn’t a normal girl, she was born to fight and keep the family name alive.

Just then, her phone gave a large beep which indicated she had a call. Glancing at the Caller ID, Luciana discovered the call was from Reed. Even in her insane world, he made it sane. In the short time she had spent with him, he had taught her what it meant to love and be loved.

‘’Hey.’’ Luciana smiled.

‘’Hey? No hey love? Or even hey Fontana?’’ Reed chuckled.

He had picked up on her sadness the minute she spoke to him. He didn’t know what went wrong but he was determined to find out what it was.

‘’I’m sorry, i just had a crazy time.’’ Luciana sighed.

‘’Even after spending it with me? King of jokes. Wow, i feel insulted.’’ Reed sighed.

Luciana couldn’t help but laugh. Reed always had a way of making her laugh even in the most unpleasant situations. The little time she had spent with him was filled with nothing but joy. Luciana decided to tell him what changed her mood and she was quite happy he was attentive.

‘’You know, he’s just looking out for you. He made a promise to your late father and he wouldn’t want to go back on that promise. I actually understand him because i was once like that.’’

Luciana was quite surprised to hear this. She had no idea what he meant by this and was quite inquisitive to know more about it.

‘’What do you mean?’’ Luciana asked.

She put the phone on speaker, walking towards the bathroom. A quick glance at the clock told her that it was twelve a.m . It was a new day and she had no idea how the time had flown by.

‘’Look outside your window.’’ Reed said.

That wasn’t what Luciana was expecting to hear. She momentarily froze when she heard a noise coming from her window. It seemed like someone was hitting the glass with a small pebble.

‘What?!’’ Luciana said.

Her voice was so loud it could almost be regarded as a shout. She heard some noise from the background from the call.

‘’Just look outside your window.’’ Reed chuckled.

‘’I’m in the middle of a bath.’’ Luciana said, lathering her hair.

‘’Ohh, all the better.’’ Reed said.

‘’What do you mean? Are you here? If you are then you’re making a huge mistake. My men will pounce on you like rabid dogs. Do you have a death wish on your head or something?’’ Luciana said.

‘’Don’t worry about that, i have my ways.’’ Reed laughed.

Just then, Luciana heard movements within her room but luckily for her, she was done bathing. She quickly wrapped herself in her big towel, grabbing her gun from the bathroom vanity. She tiptoed towards her room, keeping the safety of her gun on.

Pushing the door open, she was stunned to see Reed laying on her bed, flipping a magazine with careless abandon.

‘’Fontana?’’ Luciana said.

‘’Oh geez. Sometimes, i hate that name.’’ Reed sighed.

Luciana breathed easily now as she switched off the safety of her gun but she didn’t put it away. There were many things wrong with why Reed was here. First off, how did he get [ast the security men at the gates and within the grounds. Secondly, how did he scale through the high walls leading to her room windows.

Luciana didn’t want to dwell on it but she couldn’t help but do so. It only told her that her security men were weak and were incompetent which just angered her further. Even though she was getting along with Reed, she wouldn’t take their incompetency and she made a promise within herself to deal with the men who were on duty this night.

‘’Don’t think about it too much darling.’’ Reed smiled, walking towards her.

‘’You shouldn’t be here.’’ Luciana said, taking a step back.

Reed felt hurt but he stayed put. He actually understood why she was acting this way. He had no doubt that if Alessandro or one of her security details saw him, they would put a bullet to his head because the instruction given to them was to shoot him on sight.

‘’You should leave.’’ Luciana said, tightening the rope around her body.

Her vanilla scented shampoo did wonders to his head and in that moment, he just wanted to hug and kiss the living daylights out of her.

Luciana couldn’t understand it but in that moment, she felt very vulnerable around him. It just felt like he knew her darkest and deepest secret and having him in her room suddenly made the room feel smaller even though it was one of the biggest in the mansion.

‘’I’m sorry I just burst in on you like that. I wanted to surprise you but I guess this didn’t go as planned. I’m sorry.’’ Reed said.

‘’It's fine, just go. I’ll call you…’’ Luciana said, still clutching her gun.

Reed nodded, turning to leave through the window. Just before he disappeared, he stopped for a minute to face her.

‘’Talk to Alessandro. Apologize too, i heard everything you said to him and to be honest, it was some nasty stuff.’’ Reed said.

‘’Sure.’’ Luciana said, tightening the rope around her body.

‘’And Luciana, I want you to always remember that I love you and I will find a way to end this war.’’ he said before disappearing.

Luciana rushed to the window to catch a final glance at her but he had already blended with the darkness. She pulled her window close to keep out the cool breeze that made her shiver.

‘’Okay, what the hell just happened?’’ Luciana whispered.

She glanced at her gun before storing it away in the last cabinet of her drawer. Everything that had happened within the last ten minutes was very strange to say the least but one thing she brought out from it all was that she had to apologize to Alessandro.

The words she had said to him were downright rude and selfish. Luciana made a promise to herself to apologize to him first thing in the morning because she knew now he would probably be asleep.

She wore her pajamas before climbing into bed. The last thing on her mind before sleep took her was the image of Reed and his smiling face.

***********************

"Alessandro, good morning." Luciana said, walking into the kitchen.

She wanted to have an early breakfast and was quite surprised to see him already in the kitchen. Usually, he didn't bother himself with any of this, preferring to take his alcohol and a light breakfast then be on the move again but this time around, Luciana realized that he actually wanted to eat.

"Hey kiddo, good morning. How are you doing? I hope you slept well?" He smiled.

There was no indication that he was angry over yesterday's argument which just made her feel worse. If Alessandro wasn't showing that he was angry with her, it just meant he might be planning something against her but deep down, Luciana knew that he wouldn't do that. This was just her mind feeding her with things that wasn't possible.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for the way I behaved yesterday. It was a very stupid thing for me to do, please forgive me." Luciana begged.

For several seconds, Alessandro remained quiet, staring at her. Funny enough, that wasn't on his mind but he realized Luciana had been troubled over what she did which just informed him that she was truly sorry.

"I'm not bothered about that Diabla. All I want is your safety, that's all. If I don't keep you a safe, the don will haunt me till I die and that's worse you know." Alessandro laughed.

Luciana couldn't help but give him a big bear hug. He was very understanding and she made it a promise within herself not to anger him any longer. He was just looking out for her, something nobody else would do for her.

"It's okay kid. We're family and there's nothing I want more than your safety. So just stay safe and avoid getting killed." Alessandro said.

"Yes sir."

He rolled his eyes before putting some coffee beans into the coffee machine. He needed this liquid to kickstart his day.

"So I got some information." Luciana said.

"Okay, about what?" Alessandro asked.

Luciana didn't know if she should tell him what Reed had told her. For one, he would be angry, livid instead for him to even come here but with the way she saw it, there was no way she could tell him that without mentioning Reed's name.

"Kid, what's the matter?" Alessandro asked.

Luciana sighed, going over to the counter to fetch a cup. She also wanted to take some coffee before she began telling him everything Reed had told her. At that moment, Luciana knew there was no return.