Chapter 2 Chapter Two

Isabella.

I didn’t hear his words at first. Just a strange buzzing in my ears, like a swarm of bees battering against my skull. My father’s voice blended with Vivian’s annoying shrills.

My own breath dragged in and out, hitching and shallow.

“Luca escaped,” He said again, slower and quietly this time, like he was tasting the words.

Escaped. Luca escaped. It kept ringing in my head.

I felt my tongue glued to the roof of my mouth.

“H-how come?” I stammered, but before my father could answer, the reporter’s voice cut through the dining room.

Vivian gasped. My father cursed loudly and I…

I turned and locked my eyes onto the TV, and everything inside me stopped. I felt my whole world still at that moment.

His face.

It was right there, filling the screen like some evil hallucination.

LUCA VITRANO.

“A wanted fugitive. He escaped the Sundervyx prison after he caused some damages. He is dangerous and violent, please report sightings immediately.”

The name hit me like a punch. VITRANO. He used to say he hated that name, hated the man who gave him. But hearing it now….It sounded like it was made just for him. It had this heavy and sinister aura only Luca could have.

The picture was new. He wasn’t the nineteen-year-old guy they dragged away in handcuffs. Not the guy I was used to seeing.

This Luca was….

God.

He looked broader. Taller. His jaw was sharp enough to cut bone. He had rough stubble, framing that cruel, sexy mouth. And his eyes, those eyes were narrowed at the camera like he wanted the world to see him.

He wore a white tank top, and holy, I could see the traces of his abs. Real and hard lines. Veins on his arms. He looked like a man carved out of anger.

I couldn’t breathe.

My fingers dug into my gown as heat crawled up my face.

I had gone five years without seeing a glimpse of his face and now he was everywhere.

“TAKE THAT OFF!” My father’s loud voice rang as he picked up his phone. “NOW! I WANT IT REMOVED! Every website and every page. Clear his face and name. I will take care of him.”

My head whipped towards him. What did he mean by taking care of him?

No. No. No.

Not again.

When he ended the call, Vivian was already wringing her hands dramatically.

“Do you think he will come home, love?” She whispered, her voice trembled like she actually cared. But I knew she didn’t.

My father scoffed and adjusted his cufflinks.

“He doesn’t know this address but he is not dumb.” He pointed out. “It wouldn’t take him long to figure it out. I don’t know what kind of son you raised!”

Vivian’s face twisted in shame and annoyance, but my father wasn't done.

“A killer! An animal!”

At his words, something in me snapped.

“Dad….Please, calm down.”

He whirled at me. “Calm down?”

The table shook violently when he slammed his hand on it. My heart jumped painfully.

“How do you expect me to face my congregation?” He rasped. “How will they respect or listen to me if they know I have a son who went to prison and even escaped?!”

My stomach hurts. Always his reputation and image. Never me. Never Luca.

“Just make sure to get his face away from out there,” I whispered. “Then no one would associate him with us.”

His head turned slowly at me, way too slowly that hinted at danger.

Before I could understand what was happening, his long nails were digging into my arms, shaking me so hard my teeth clacked.

“You really think it’s that easy, Isa?!”

I gasped loudly as pain shot through me.

“I am TIRED, Isa! TIRED of cleaning up EVERYONE’S MESS!”

Spit hit my cheeks. “If not for Vivi, I would never allow that gangster into my house. I would have pulled strings to make him go meet his maker.”

I flinched hard. He didn’t mean that right?

Gangster. My brother. Monster. Love of my life. My everything.

All the words crashed against each other in my head. I shook my head and forced myself to stand, yanking my arms away from his grip.

“You don’t have to worry,” I said, steadying myself. “Luca won’t come here. I’m not sure he would want anything to do with us. With…me.”

Vivian glared at me from her seat. “Don’t include me,” she snapped. “I’m his mother and he will always come back to me.”

I couldn’t help it as a shard of jealousy stabbed me. I wished I could say the same for myself.

My hands trembled beneath the table and it caught my father’s eyes. He stalked closer to me as if wanting to carefully pull out something from me.

“Isabella.”

I swallowed thickly.

“Y-Yes.”

He stared hard into my eyes. “Did you know?”

My breath froze.

“Did you help your brother escape? Did you know any of his plans?”

“No,” I responded. “I swear.”

His jaw tightened as if deciding if to believe me.

“Dad, I haven’t spoken to him.” My voice cracked. “Not even once.”

He sighed and stepped back.

“Good.”

He pointed towards the stairs. “If Luca reaches out to you or he tries to, you will tell me immediately. Do you get that?”

I nodded.

“Go upstairs.”

I fled.

I couldn’t breathe until I slammed my door shut. I slid down the door, my back hitting the wood.

Luca was back. He escaped. Of course, he did.

My chest pounded so hard that it hurt.

I felt excited. I felt terror.

Luca was out there, maybe even closer than I thought.

I remembered his face on the screen and my inner walls clenched shamelessly.

I reached out for the small bottle under my bed and tossed three white pills into my mouth. The room blurred around the edges.

“Luca…” I murmured. “Luca….”

I didn’t know if I was praying for him or against him.

My phone pinged. I jerked, my breath choking halfway out of my lungs.

With shaky hands, I picked it up.

One message from an unknown number and my vision blurred.

“Miss me, little step-sister?”