Chapter 3 Chapter Three

Luca.

HOURS BACK……

I slid the photograph into the inner pocket of my backpack the same way a priest might tuck away his relics.

Her face was my only scripture.

Jun stood by the cell door, bouncing on his heels like he had swallowed electricity. “Fuck, thirty minutes,” he muttered. “The guards will rotate. If we are walking out, it’s during that window.”

I nodded at him once. My pulse didn’t change a bit. I had imagined this night so many times that it almost felt boring now. I had paid all dues to ensure I wouldn’t be looked for.

Jun exhaled sharply. “Can’t wait to get the hell out of here. But—” he leaned in, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You are not killing anyone on your way out, Luca. Let’s not draw attention now.”

I lifted one brow at him. If he thought he could tell me when to kill, he was insane.

His gaze drifted to the picture half-tucked in my bag and he clicked his tongue. “You are really gonna end up back here if you find out some other guy’s got your girl now.”

I didn’t answer. This motherfucker gets away with a lot of bullshit.

But my head snapped somewhere else so violently that it made my vision blurred…….

FLASHBACK. Luca, 17 years old. Isabella, 16 years old.

I pushed Isabella’s door open without knocking. She knows never to lock her door because what if I needed to talk to her?

I flickered the light on and there she was, curled under the duvet on the bed.

“You are so annoying, can’t you do without me?” She muttered.

I sat beside her on the bed, “I can’t. Why didn’t you come down for dinner.”

“I don’t feel like eating.”

Her tone caught me off guard. I tilted my head, studying her. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Get out.” She pointed to the door with her too white fingers. Her eyes were wet but fierce. “I don’t have a brother anymore.”

A growl slipped past my throat before I could control it.

“Piccola, you can be angry. You can scream as much as you want. Break something, it’s totally fine by me, but don’t ever say you don’t have me.”

She pushed the duvet off herself and stood. Her hands on her waist as she glared at me. “Then maybe you should act like a brother! You promised me something, stupid Luca.”

I squinted my eyes at her.

“You said you were going to sneak me to that concert. But what did you do instead? You left with some bitch.”

“Language, Piccola,” I scolded lightly. “I had somewhere to be and she knew the place. I needed some information so it wasn’t like I ditched you.”

How was I supposed to tell her I didn’t like the outfit she got for the concert?

“You still left me. You left your sister!”

I stood up and crowded her, my jaw tight. “I didn’t have a choice, Piccola. And I will tell you what I went for when you stop being mad.”

Her eyes lit up. “I’m not mad anymore.”

“Liar.” A smile tugged at my lips. Only creature who could bring a smile to my face.

Her curiosity was the only thing more dangerous than her temper.

I pulled her against my chest, her hair brushed my chin.

She sighed into me, sniffing my cologne. “Stay with me tonight,” she whispered so quietly as if afraid I would reject her. “For long.”

I kissed her hair. “Forever, little sister.”

…………..

Jun shook my shoulders.

I came out so fast that my instinct took over, my hand shooting up to his throat. His feet lifted off the ground as I strangled him.

“Whoa, Luca. Chill! It’s me, dumbass,” he choked out.

I blinked once and quickly let him go. I hope he doesn’t die by my hands one day.

“Fucker, you zoned out again,” he coughed. “Guards are switching in two minutes, let’s go.”

I nodded and picked up my bag, Isabella’s picture pressed against my chest. Well, my heart pressed back.

The hallway was darker than usual, but I had stayed here in the last five years to know the route so well like I knew how much freckles my sister had on her neck.

Jun fumbled with the stolen key at the next door, “Luca, if this works, we are going home—”

“Stop talking.”

“Right, sorry.”

We stepped outside the hallway, going into the corridor, beyond the restricted wing.

Jun hurried ahead, and that was the first issue. Jun always hurried and his footsteps were loud enough to wake the dead.

I saw a guard stepping from the corner before Jun did. Shit.

I hissed his name. “Jun.”

It was too late.

The guard turned. Fuck Jun.

I moved fast, letting my hand clamped over his mouth, and dragging him back into the shadows.

His eyes widened like he had seen death. Not like he was wrong.

Oh. This guard.

The same son of a bitch who had once thrown away one of Isabella’s photos because according to him, it counted as contraband.

He laughed and mocked me when he did it.

I tightened my grip on his jaw. He choked silently and his eyes bulged. My fingers twitched, God….how easy and sweet it would be to snap, crush……

His phone suddenly rang. A familiar melody spilled from the speaker. A pop song from Isabella’s favorite band.

My rage short-circuited.

I pushed him aside and leaned in close.

“Dovresti cominciare a venerare Isabella da ora in poi, perché ti ha appena salvato la vita.”

“You should start worshiping Isabella from now on, because she saved your life.”

I spat on his face and he sagged like a puppet cut loose.

Jun shook his head. “You are insane.”

“And you talk too much,” I shrugged.

We ran.

We passed the yard, checkpoint and finally the last checkpoint.

Then we climbed the fence.

Jun dropped first, landing with a loud thud. And I followed.

When my feet hit the dirt and the freedom air hit me, Jun grabbed me into a hug.

I shoved him off.

“Such an emotionless dick,” he muttered.

“Forest,” I said with my head nodding toward the direction.

He jogged beside me. “Want to know the first thing I’m doing? Eat real good ramen. Then I fuck a girl.”

He kept rambling nonsense words. But, I wasn’t listening.

All I could think and hear was her name in my bloodstream.

Isabella. My Angel. La Mia Follia.

Jun nudged me, “So what’s the next plan boss? We regroup with everyone in a week, yeah? I badly need to see my girl.”

“Go,” I said. Meet her. Do whatever.”

“And I guess you are going to meet your Angel?” He teased me.

“She’s not like others.”

“Oh right. Everyone else is a bitch except this one.”

“Correct.”

He chuckled. “Can’t wait to meet this Angel who turned your brains upside down.”

I need to meet her first, stupid.

I pulled out the phone from my bag and stared at her number. My thumb hovered over it, and my pulse sped.

I clicked her name, and shot her a message.

I felt my world tilt.

Five years.

Five fucking years without her. She never picked the prison landline call. Never wrote back to me.

I was free now.

She would beg. She would break, and she would come back to me…….

And I would love every second of it.