Chapter Twenty-Three

Elena

This is the next step of the plan, and now I’m one step closer to Sicily, and to slitting Matteo’s throat. Being a newbie to New York, it’s all new to me on how to navigate the traffic here. It’s nothing like Italy. It’s crazy maniacs on the road, and all these stops with bright lights, smelly sewer streets, and people trying to get everywhere. The thing is, I’ve come to love it, and I understand why Nikk would want it to be the city the Bratva runs. There’s endless possibilities here. For me, I can’t sleep at night knowing the fate of the Sicilian Mafia is hanging on by a thread. This is not what my father would have wanted.

I’ve already called ahead to my uncle on my father’s side for a place to stay. When I see him, that’s when I can work out a plan. The problem I’m having is I don’t know who is connected to Matteo, and who else I’m going to have to get rid of.

Sharon is a lady of her word, and she came through with my passport in the eleventh hour. I look inside the purse she gave me, and it looks exactly like mine. I’ve got enough money to cover me as well, but when I get back home, there’s a stash of cash available to me.

Shaking my head, I realize it’s a stash that Matteo knows about as well, and he knows enough about me to think I would probably try to come and take it back. God. Why did he have to do what he did?

The pain is like a deep knife wound, and I don’t want to think about how much I hate him right now, but all I’m imagining is his unmarked grave in the Palmero cemetery. He doesn’t even deserve to be buried unless it’s alive and screaming. As I switch lanes, a glimpse of the faded bruises on my wrists from the rope he tied me up with send me into a deeper spiral of twisted hate.

I know it’s only going to take me just over thirty minutes to get to the airport, and it gives me plenty of time to go through customs and wait in the boarding lounge. I have a long list of people to call, and there’s going to be a meeting. Oh yes, Matteo is going to meet his downfall. If he thinks he can overthrow me as Donna without a fight he has another thing coming.

As I hit the Grand Central Parkway, I stay in the same lane, traffic thankfully moving at a reasonable speed. Adjusting my mirror, I feel a stab of pain hit my heart. I’m leaving Nikk behind, and I don’t know what’s going to happen to me when I get to Sicily.

“Why didn’t you believe me?” I demand out loud, thumping the wheel, wishing he would have listened. I was trying to help him. Things were changing between us, and I’m carrying his baby. I think I’ll be able to give it a better life in Sicily once I sort out this mess.

Readjusting my front rear mirror, I take note of a large black van moving erratically across lanes. My mental radar switches on, along with the hairs on the back of my neck.

Am I being followed? Keeping watching on the traffic in front, I conduct a subtle test by switching lanes, and as I do, the car switches with me.

One, two, three, four. The vehicle is a few cars back, and that’s when I notice the others. There are more vehicles that look to be the same car brand. When I look again, the car has crept closer to me, and my heart sinks when I realize who it is.

“Fuck!” I curse, gripping on to the steering wheel, nervous butterflies fluttering in my stomach. He knows New York like the back of his hand so to outrun him in a car chase is going to be difficult, but goddammit, I’m going to try.

Pressing my foot to the gas, I accelerate, swinging left into the left lane, prepared to hit the closest next exit and then get back on track if I need to. It’s a smoggy New York day, so if I can evade him for long enough, I can fade in among the other cars.

But as I look at the bridge, I’m on, I can see it’s the wrong move. There are no exits, because I’m stuck on Robert F. Kennedy Bridge—instead, I panic, continuing to swerve between vehicles, but the two cars Nikk and his team are occupying are gaining fast, and basically, I’m gridlocked now as the other vehicles on the bridge somehow have inched ahead, giving Nikk the opportunity to slide his vehicle in next to me.

Thumping the heel of my hand against the steering wheel, I grit my teeth, not looking over at the vehicles. If I see Nikk’s face, I know he’s going to distract me, and that’s the last thing I need. So instead, I keep my eyes centered forward, my heart in my throat.

We’re playing a game of cat and mouse, and it’s getting harder to not get caught. Pushing forward, I manage to hold on and get over the bridge. Once we do, I cut off to a suburb called Astoria.

Beeping sounds off, and I feel myself wanting to vomit. How am I going to get away from them. There’s too many, and the incessant honking is getting worse. Shit! I have to catch this flight. Get out of the fucking way, Nikk! Please. Don’t try to stop me!

Losing my composure, I accidently jump a curb, and have to quickly pull myself back into line so I don’t hit the parked car in front of me. A man rolls down his window, giving me the middle finger.

I can’t do this. Nikk’s black sedan pulls up beside me and he waves his finger to an open parking lot where there is a dead end. No. No. No. This can’t be the end. I have to get to Italy, but what’s worse is I’m probably going to die once Nikk gets ahold of me.

Frightened more than I’ve ever been in my life, I pull over, but I’ve got one last shot at escaping. If Nikk didn’t kill me over the baby, then that means he wants me to keep it. There’s one more thing I can do.

Dropping the glove compartment down, I pull out the paring knife I saw earlier as Nikk jogs over to the car door, opening it. I can’t tell the expression he’s wearing, but it’s not just him. It’s Nikk and his team of three other men.

“Don’t come near me! I will cut this baby right out of my stomach if you touch me! I have a plane to catch! I’m going back to Italy!” I scream, pointing the knife towards my belly as Nikk holds his hands up, backing away. Yegor, and the two other men stand behind him with grim masks on their faces.

“Elena. I know,” Nikk adds with pain laced in his voice.

“What do you fucking know?” I ask him, my voice wobbly as I keep hold of the knife. I could never stab myself with it. It’s the last resort, and I’ve taken it.

“I know everything. I know what Matteo did to you,” he says, his face tortured with anguish. “I wish, Elena,” he says, shaking as he walks towards me, his arms open. “I wish I was there to protect you,” he whispers, thick emotion riding through the bass of his voice.

The knife slips from my hand as I stare at the ground, my bottom lip quivering. “Nikk,” I blurt out, relieved that he realizes I didn’t betray him.

“Elena. Come to me. I know the truth. I know what he did to you.” I see the guilt on his face, and I want to explain, but I’m too broken from the last few days. I fall forward into his arms about to collapse. As I raise my arms to hug him, he pulls up my sleeves, taking note of the bruises. I flinch because there are still tender spots on my body. Nikk frowns rolling up my sleeves to reveal more of the bruises that even I didn’t know I had. I was too out of it at the time.

“What the hell?” Nikk’s face hardens as he shakes his head. “This…,” he trails off, his rage palpable as I find the words to tell him everything.

“He didn’t get as far as he wanted to, Nikk,” I tell him bravely, looking up at him as he sweeps loose curls of hair out of my face. “I fought him off when he tried to have his way with me. He tried to inject me with something—I don’t know what it was, but I kicked him hard in the balls, and I managed to escape. I can’t remember everything. It’s foggy.” Shaking my head at Nikk, I see his face relax. “He didn’t do it, Nikk. I wouldn’t let him. I escaped.” There are no more words left inside me, and I’m tired to the bone. All I want to do is fall into a heap and never get up, but the flame burns inside me for Matteo’s scalp. I can’t lay down and die. There’s a price to be paid, and it hasn’t been.

Nikk says nothing, instead pulling me into the safety net of his arms and kissing the top of my head.

“Elena, I’m sorry I didn’t believe you when you were trying to tell me about it. Let’s go now. But don’t worry, Matteo is going to die one of the most painful deaths a man can.”

This isn’t the ending I’m hoping for; Nikk doesn’t understand what’s at stake, and if we wait too long Matteo might just get his wish to take over the Mancini empire.