Mafia Men: Nikolai's Inferno - Chapter 93: Chapter 93

-Evangeline.
It's been more than one month in this hell hole. I haven't seen sunlight, I haven't breathed in fresh air. This is the worse kind of isolation I ever had to endure. Every time I feel like I'm finally gonna be free, I end up in a way worse confinement.
I heaved a sigh and played around with the scrambled eggs on my plate. We have limited electricity down here, we have an oven, a microwave, and a refrigerator that we can use in the kitchen. In the storage room, the clean drinking water bottles, boxed ready-to-make meals, cereals, beans, and so many more things were available but I didn't feel like eating anything. I'm so sick of everything.
I glanced at Leo, who was silently eating his food. Without even looking at me, he said, "Eat, Evie, you need food to survive."
I blew out a breath, "What am I even surviving for? More confinement and isolation? Even if the people-who you refuse to name-will be here and take us out of here, what then? It's not like I can live freely and do whatever I want, because apparently, he has eyes everywhere!" I stabbed the fork into the egg and shoved it into my mouth.
Leo stopped eating and looked at me, "It will get better."
I scoffed, "I highly doubt that because now it feels like a mistake!"
"What feels like a mistake?" he asked.
"Leaving him... leaving him feels like a mistake! Maybe, I shouldn't have left because at least I had fresh air to breathe. I can't even go back now because he will probably kill me."
Leo sighed, grabbing my hand that was resting on the table, "Evie, sweetheart-"
The loud pounding on the trap door caught our attention. I jumped up in my seat, looking at it with wide eyes. For a second, it felt like my worse nightmare was coming true. That Nikolai would burst through that door and kill me. I didn't want to go back to him, I was just complaining to Leo.
Leo placed a finger over his lips, shushing me. He walked toward the ladder and looked up. The pounding resounded again, I swallowed and got up.
"Stay back!" Leo whisper-yelled.
He went up the ladder and knocked back but in a specific sequence, the person outside knocked back in a different sequence and that made Leo smile.
"They are here..." he said to me before he pulled out his keys and started to unlock the padlocks. One by one, he opened up every single lock on that door and then stepped down the ladder.
Leo walked back to me, "Don't worry about anything now, okay?"
A man in black clothing with a black mask over his face stepped down the ladder. He looked at me and then at Leo, and nodded to himself.
"It's them," he said into his phone before he pulled out a gun.
"Leo!" the words were still in my mouth when a dart jabbed into Leo's neck but before I could do anything or run into my room another dart jabbed into my arm.
It paralyzed me for a second and we dropped to the floor like puppets released from their strings.
I was faintly aware of multiple men tying us with ropes and putting something over our faces as they took us out of that place before everything went completely dark.
I woke up to the sound of a truck moving, I squint open my eyes and saw Leo sitting in front of me. His hands were tied behind his back but still, he looked calm.
I coughed, shaking my head, "Leo?" I croaked out.
"You're awake..."
"Where are we?" I asked as I got up with difficulty, I didn't know how bad it was to get up when your arms are tied behind your back. We were in the back of a truck with big boxes all around us. They were stacked up to the top, hiding us.
"You were complaining," he laughed slightly, "Maybe, they heard it."
The truck stopped moving and I heard the faint voices of multiple men coming from outside of it. My eyes went wide with alarm.
I frowned, "Are they speaking Italian?"
"Yes..."
The backdoor of the truck opened and a man jumped up, he was wearing a police uniform. He looked around all the boxes and then at us. He nodded at Leo and then went back out, shutting the door.
He slammed a hand over the truck and shouted, "il cessato allarme"
"Are we in Italy?" I asked.
"Yes..."
I shook my head, my mouth dropped open. "Are you crazy? You brought me to Nikolai's country after I just got away from him?"
Leo rolled his eyes, "It's not Nikolai's country, It's ours too, Evie."
I slammed my head back in frustration. I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, I wanted to utter a string of profanities; that's how angry and frustrated and tired I was. "Nikolai is going to find us here in a second," I sneered.
"He won't, you are free here, Evangeline. Free of Nikolai Costello," he grinned.
"I highly doubt that," I mumbled under my breath.
The truck came to a complete halt, the engine died and a few minutes later, the backdoor was opened. A man came in and covered up our faces again with a bag or something. They made us stand up and pulled us out of the truck. I walked with them silently, not saying a word because I trusted Leo with this but I don't think his plan is going to work anymore, I have given up. Nikolai will be here and he will take me back. I don't know what he will do to me now but I know wherever he is, he isn't so far behind.
They took off the bags and I saw a middle-aged couple standing before us with big smiles on their faces. The men untied the rope from behind our backs and then left.
I rubbed my wrists as I saw the bruises forming over them. I looked around the luxurious mansion, whoever he was he must be rich. I stepped near Leo, looking at the couple with skeptical eyes.
"You must be Evangeline," the man smiled.
He stepped closer and offered me his hand, "I am Luca Moretti. I'm Mary's brother."
I furrowed my eyebrows, "My mom's?"
"Yes..."
I reluctantly eyed his hand, "She never talked about you."
He could be lying. Maybe, he too worked for Nikolai and he was trying to make a fool out of me. I glanced at Leo and he nodded at me.
Luca shook his head, "Of course, she didn't. Your mom and I weren't on very good terms when she was alive."
If he wasn't on very good terms with mom then why would he take care of me and protect me from Nikolai? I wasn't stupid enough to just trust anyone for their word alone.
I pursed my lip, "Why? Why weren't you on good terms with my mom?"
He laughed and gestured for us to sit. I made my way toward Leo and sat down on the couch with him. Luca Moretti and his wife settled opposite us.
"She ran away from home to marry your father twenty-two years ago. She wanted to marry the dirty American. Our family cut ties with her, we didn't talk after that, not until recently when she called me and told me that she wanted to move and needed protection," he sighed, "The next thing I heard was the news of her murder."
"How do you know about me?" I asked.
He smiled, "Your mother told me all about you, Evangeline. When I heard about your parent's death, I contacted Nikolai Costello. I tried to ask about you-quite indirectly-but he isn't the man you could mess with. I heard that they had found out about Mary's daughter, I wanted to find you."
"Then why didn't you?"
"Do you know when was the first time I saw you?" he asked.
"When?"
"When Nikolai Costello announced that you were his wife. I attended his wedding with Grace, Grace Russell is my goddaughter, that's when I saw you but before I could talk to you, he took you with him," he explained.
"Do you know that your goddaughter tried to kill me, she sent her hitman to shoot me!" I gritted through my teeth.
"Grace can be a little nonsensical, she had been missing since she tried to shoot you. I guess your husband took his revenge."
I raised an eyebrow, "Why are you helping us now?"
He eyed me up and down, I was in dirty clothes and I'm pretty sure my face was also covered in dirt, "Why don't you go, freshen up, and then we'll have dinner together. I will explain everything to you, everything you need and want to know. You are important to me, Evangeline, way more important than Grace ever was."
"Come on," Leo placed a hand over the small of my back.
We both got up and Luca Moretti's wife took us to different bedrooms. I showered up, dried my hair, and wore the comfortable pajamas that his wife gave to me. She made small talk with me, she didn't speak much English and I didn't know how to speak Italian.
After that, dinner was served. It was good to eat real food after so many days instead of packaged, microwavable food.
Luca Moretti then asked me to go on a walk with him. I asked if Leo could join us but he refused. Leo assured me that it will be fine, he was my uncle. He didn't want to hurt me.
I still couldn't trust him because I have been hurt by my father, my mother, my husband, and my friends. All the people who were supposed to love me betrayed me, used me, and locked me up. I wasn't going to trust another person to do the same to me again.
I had made up my mind. If Luca Moretti tried to cage me, tried to gaslight me into thinking that he was doing everything for me because he loved me, I'll run away.
I won't trust another person ever again.
I nodded and we went out of the villa. I looked around with skeptical eyes, the men, the women, and even the children. I glanced around the walls, the hidden cameras, and every little detail that my old self would never notice.
"Costello has no power here. It's Moretti's land, it's your land," he voiced.
I frowned, "My land?" I said incredulously.
"You, Evangeline are the only heir with the Moretti's blood. I don't have any children, Mary only had you. We may not have much influence in the United States but here, in Italy, we are just as good as Costellos."
"I don't understand..." I shook my head.
"What there's to understand, Evangeline. I'm handing you our family, our fortune," he stopped and grabbed me by my shoulders, "You have no idea how ecstatic I was to find that Mary had a child. I thought the Morettis were over until I heard about you. I wanted to bring you here, I wanted to train you, I wanted-"
"Excuse me?" I took a step back, looking at him with a deep frown, "Train me? What do you mean train me? And why would you just hand me everything you've built? I don't want to sound rude but it all sounds like loads of bullshit."
If he was thinking of making me his puppet then he was wrong. I was no man's puppet anymore. I refuse to let any man tell me how I can live my life and what should I do with it. I have had enough of it in my nineteen-year lifetime.
"Don't you want to avenge your mother's murder? Mary may have left but she was still a Moretti."
I let out a dry breath, "Of course, I want to avenge my parent's murder but you really think I can cross Nikolai? Do I look strong enough to fight him? To destroy him?"
"You will be, Evangeline. You can be as strong as Nikolai Costello, we have the money, the resources, the links, and we have an army of men loyal to Moretti's name, we have everything and it's yours, Evangeline, if you want it. Now you can choose, do you want this or not? I'm not going to force you. You have all the time in the world but please, think about this," he held my hand and softly rubbed his thumb
over the back of it. 2
I squinted my eyes, "How many men do you have?"
"More than two thousand-"
I cut him off with a laugh, "Nikolai has more than ten thousand men all loyal to him. He will squish your little army under his thumb."
"You think I don't know that?" he asked, "There are other ways to fight a war, Evangeline."
"What ways?"
"You're still legally married to him, aren't you?"
I nodded, glancing at my empty finger where my wedding ring used to be. "I am."
"Tell me one thing, then, Evangeline. Do you want to go back to him or do you want to take charge of your life?"
I stared at him, "Of course, I want to take charge. I'm done taking orders."
Luca Moretti smiled, "You can't take charge by simply running away from the problem. You want power, Evangeline? Seize it. Face your fears, you think you can do that? No, the question is-Are you willing to
do that?"
I shook my head, "It's not that simple..."
"All Nikolai Costello has right now is the semblance of power he still has over your mind. It's an illusion, Evangeline, an illusion that your mind created, only you have the power to break it. You're here. Nikolai has no power in our land."
"You don't know what he's like-"
"We don't need an army, we only need one single weakness."
"He has none..."
That made him laugh, "Everyone has a weakness, Evangeline, everyone..."
I watched him once more I couldn't help but think if there was something else he wasn't telling me...