Mafia Men: Nikolai's Inferno - Chapter 95: Chapter 95

-Evangeline.
I embraced the challenge and trained day and night, battling tough opponents twice my size.
No matter the odds, I pushed myself to no end. I sparred with opponents bigger and stronger than me, and though I endured a few defeats, I also savored some hard-won victories.
Here, away from the rest of the world, I embraced complete autonomy. I was liberated to unleash my potential. No one hindering me. No one belittling me. Nobody could dictate how far I could go, nobody could dim my confidence, and nobody could make me succumb to doubt.
I felt liberated. No dissuasion. No shackles.
When I first started I didn't even know what I was doing but I always ended up surprising my own self.
I was shocked to discover how much I had in common with him. Although I had initially thought our personalities were quite distinct, I eventually realized that a dark part of me lurked beneath the surface. I discerned that I was just as convoluted inside. There was a certain darkness within me. I'm not sure if this sinister side had always been part of my character or if it was something that he had stirred up within
me.
I didn't cower away from the sight of the blood. I have killed men and slept through the night like a goddamn baby.
When I had my first kill, It was like I finally understood what he was. It was as if, at that moment, I finally grasped the true nature of Nikolai and my parents.
As I began to realize my own strength and capabilities, the more I was emboldened to stand on my own. I had finally had enough of being controlled by others, so I started to become more and more comfortable in my own skin each day. It was a liberating feeling, understanding that I was no longer a child, but a woman to be reckoned with.
It is truly astonishing what one can accomplish in a single year if one focuses on personal growth and development.
Realizing the benefit of my heightened focus, I was able to make the most of my shooting lessons; however, I found myself gravitating all the more towards training with a variety of weapons, such as knives, nunchucks, and practically anything else imaginable.
Enzo was my partner, my trainer, and a good friend. We fought with one another like savages, he made me this good. He had been with my uncle since he was a child, my uncle trusted him, treated him like a son, and he was the best assassin the Moretti's had.
He kicked the knife out of my hands and before I knew it, he grabbed my arm and slammed me to the ground, and held a sharp little pocket knife against my throat.
"I think I taught you better than that, you were unguarded, distracted; never let your guard down in a fight, Evangeline. All it's going to take is a second before someone jams this knife right into your delicate throat and ripped it apart," he whispered in my face.
My chest heaved up and down, I closed my eyes and remembered him-hovering over me, his bluish-grey eyes dark like the night sky, the devilish look on his face as he uttered the four simple words. I killed your parents.
I opened my eyes as a fire brewed in them, I slammed the top of my head into his forehead making him lose his concentration. The knife he had to my throat cut into my skin, I could feel a trickle of blood running down between my breast.
I turned our position while pulling the knife from the side of my shoes and slammed him to the ground. I elbowed his wrists which made the knife fall out of his hand as I placed my knife over his throat. All it took for me was a single second to get the power back.
Enzo's eyes darkened, I noticed how his eyes followed the blood trailing down into my shirt, "That was stupid, I could have slit your throat."
"Even in death, I refuse to give up, Enzo," I told him.
I felt his hand on my bare waist, I was wearing a sports bra and tights. His fingers softly explored the area and my hold on the knife slacked.
I got off him, sitting over my butt with my arms placed over my knees, my back facing him. I felt him getting up behind me, I felt his hot breath over the back of my neck. I swallowed and got up, heading towards the water bottle..
"Evangeline..."
I slightly shook my head, "I can't, Enzo... please."
Silence hung in the air, thick and suffocating. I unscrewed the bottle and gulped down the water, relishing the feel of cold water running down my throat.
"You don't belong to anyone."
I scoffed, "I just took off the ring-"
My words got stuck in my throat as I felt his finger sliding up the curve of my back, "Do you have any plans to go back to him?"
I frowned, I didn't know what I wanted. Nikolai Costello was the only part of my life that had a big bold question mark pasted over it. I had no idea what will happen, what I want once I see him.
do with it, and what I will do
There were so many unanswered questions, about the way I left things, the way he treated me throughout our whole relationship and so many more problems we had that I wanted to sort out. I sighed, "He will come for me..."
Everyone knew that one of these days Nikolai Costello will burst through these doors and he will try his best to get me back-not because he loved me or cared for me but because a man like him can't stomach the idea of being betrayed and the fact that someone had the nerve to steal his wife away from him. He won't rest until that vengeful man get what he wants. 1
"And you are ready to face him, heads on. I have trained you for more than a year now. I know what you're capable of, Evangeline. You have a sharp mind, and a strong will. When you set your mind to something, you don't rest until you finally do it. You don't have to be scared of Nikolai Costello-"
I cut him off, "I was never afraid of Nikolai Costello, not when I was a sheltered girl, not now. If you think my hesitation my decision, Enzo."
be with you
because I'm afraid of him finding out about it then you're wrong. This is
Enzo was a good-looking man, in his late twenties, with dark black hair, dark eyes, full lips, toned beautifully, tall and charming. Any girl would be lucky to have him but I don't want to be that lucky girl. Having a man in my life was the last thing on my mind.
His touch doesn't fire up my entire body. His stare alone wasn't powerful enough to make me melt into the floor. His voice didn't go straight to my stomach. He didn't make my heart beat ten times faster. I didn't feel the throb, the need to be with him, not like I did with him. He had that part of me, that jerk!
I wouldn't call it love-I came to realize that what I felt for him wasn't real love; it was simply a fantasy I had created in my mind because I watched too many Disney princesses growing up.
I don't what was real and what was unreal at the time. I was so mixed up with all the new emotions he made me feel that I think it all clouded my rational thinking. I was new to the world, inexperienced, and dumb and he knew exactly what he was doing all along.
"We could try, Evangeline. We are good together, we make a great team."
There was so much more to love than just being a great team. I wasn't ready for it, not right now anyway. I was going to focus on myself, I was going to work on myself and I can do all that without a man in my life. I don't need a man to make me complete. I was doing great so far and I think I will do just fine in the future too as a single woman-but I wasn't a single woman
I was still his wife, legally.
The door opened and uncle Luca strolled in, followed by Leo and his men, "How is my favorite niece doing?"
I smiled, "Uncle, I am your only niece."
He laughed lightly at that but then it got wiped off and he stared at nothing in particular, "Evangeline, come with me, there's something I need you to see."
I nodded and looked back at Enzo. I gave him a smile along with a grateful look and went out of the gym room with my uncle.
"I think he knows," were the first words uncle Luca said to me when we were out of everyone's earshot.
"What? Who?" a feeling of dread crept up from my stomach.
"Nikolai, I think he somehow knows that you are here." 1
I inhaled sharply, "How do you know?"
"I got a gift, it didn't have a name on it or the return address, it was just a simple package."
"And? What did it say?"
He handed me a note and I took it from his hands. I smoothed out the piece of paper and read it.
"My Helen of Troy-The face that launched a thousand ships"
I swallowed. It was a cryptic message. A cryptic message that came from a cryptic mind.
"Do you know what this means?" Uncle asked.
I looked at him, not saying a word. I have read enough books in my lifetime, I knew all about Greek Mythology and who Helen was, and what happened when she was taken from her husband.
When I didn't say anything Uncle went on telling me about it, "Helen of Sparta, was a figure in Greek mythology said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world. She was the wife of Menelaus, the king of Sparta, but she was abducted by the Trojan prince Paris and was taken to Troy. Helen's jilted husband Menelaus convinced his brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, to lead an expedition to retrieve her. As a result, Menelaus led a war against Troy, resulting in Paris' death and the rescue of Helen. A massive war was mounted on her behalf, Evangeline."
I inhaled sharply, nodding, I was getting the point now. It must have come from him, there was no one else that could send us this kind of message. It was clear, god, it was crystal clear.
"Your husband might have just announced a war."
"You know, uncle, in some versions of the story, Helen may have gone willingly and her husband needed to understand that!" I snapped. 1
"The funeral for the Italian-American business tycoon Luciano Costello was held on Wednesday at New York City's St. Vincent Ferrer Church."
I stopped flipping the channels and raised the volume. I stood up and walked closer to the TV.
"The Italian-American billionaire, who died over the weekend at the age of sixty-three, was famous for his charisma, his cutthroat business policies, and for being allegedly involved in illegal business-and for his personal life, which was treated as tabloid fodder."
My mouth slightly parted as I saw him dressed in all black, his men were all around him, they walked into the church, and I could only see his back. The cameras were being shoved in his face but his body language screamed that he was the least bit bothered by all of it.
"Since Luciano's death, charities and fans have revealed that the billionaire was also a dedicated philanthropist-making large donations, and working hard to keep them out of the public eye."
"Luciano's son, Nikolai Costello delivered a beautiful eulogy at his father's funeral."
I tuned out the voice of the reporter as I stared at his face, standing up at the podium.
"Luciano Costello had donated millions of dollars over the years, and was determined that no one outside the charity know how much he had given..." the reporter's voice fell on my ears somewhere far away. All I could focus on was him, he looked just as I remembered him. It had only been a year and two months but I felt like it had been a decade since I last saw him. His loyal men were in the frame too as they walked down the street and sat in their cars; Scott and Marco.
Uncle laughed at the news of his father's death. "And that's something to be grateful for, Evangeline"
I passed him a small smile and turned my attention back toward the TV. A deep frown etched on my forehead as the message from yesterday crossed my mind. He was trying to scare us, scare me. He was inflicting fear but I won't fall prey to his little games.
I faced my uncle and stared into his eyes, "Uncle, he doesn't get to scare us. I'm not gonna wait around anymore, I'm not gonna count any more days till Nikolai gets here and sheds the blood of our men." Uncle frowned, shaking his head, "What do you mean?"
"I think it's time, I get a divorce..."