De Luca

Chapter 24

This chapter is off the top of my head. I hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think, comment, and vote. Happy readings, everyone! P.S. I think I'll do one more chapter or this might be the last one.

This body is the bearer of my soul. The voices try to consume me; the hands try to drag me down, but here I stand as I fight to breathe in another day... Can you say you survive?

Nathalie watched as De Luca continued stabbing Trent. His body was blocking the view from what truly lies before him.

Loud footsteps approached the room that they were in. Hendrick, De Luca's right-hand man, Jason, De Luca's cousin, and one of De Luca's men came into view. All three men scanned the room before stepping in.

Jason approached Nathalie, assessing her injuries. His right hand gently slid around her, resting on her back as his left cupped her knees. Jason spoke to Nathalie, telling her it would hurt when he moved her. True to his word, a pinching pain shot through her stomach.

Jason briskly walked with Nathalie in his arms, shouting orders to the few men outside to hurry.

Hendrick and Logan, one of De Luca's men, cautiously walked towards De Luca. The site made bail wanting to escape Logan's mouth. De Luca had stabbed Trent multiple times to the point where half of his neck was ripped away, and you were now seeing Trent's cervical.

"De Luca," Hendrick called out. "We have to go. If we stay any longer, you will get caught," He continued. De Luca nodded his head in acknowledgment. Breathing out calmly, De Luca unclipped the vest that Trent wore. He took his gun out, pointing it directly at Trent's heart and emptying the clip.

"Start the cleanup," De Luca told Logan, who nodded in understanding. Trances of Santini and De Luca had to be erased in under mere seconds before the cops arrived. How is it they were to do so, Logan knows not, but they're very skilled at their jobs as 'Cleaners.'

"Hendrick, our cover story is that Nathalie, the girl everyone in the precinct knew I was..."

"Still is," Hendrick quickly corrected. De Luca rose a brow at his right-hand man. "She's on her way to the hospital. Jason is taking her there right now as we speak," De Luca turned on his heels to only now notice that Nathalie was gone. He scratched his chin, thinking to himself.

With a firm nod, he turns back and begins his exit from the warehouse, Hendrick right on his heel. "My girlfriend got taken away, and I looked into her past to see that her ex-boyfriend, Trent, kidnapped her. The kids who run drugs for drug dealers helped with the information I wanted. Hence why I was heading to the crime scene," De Luca continued with their cover story.

"You were there to talk some sense into me, you arrived on the scene just as the gunshots began and you called in for backup only for the signal to be jammed because no response was coming from dispatched," Hendrickson knew that their story could not collide with each other. Or everything would sound as if they sat around for hours practicing their lines.

Hendrick took the information that De Luca gave him and began making it into his own words. De Luca instructed his men to get all his shipment and await further instructions. He took out his phone to call his parent's house.

"Is she alright?" His mother asked the moment she picked up. She has been pacing the floor for hours, waiting to hear back from him.

"She's injured. Jason took her to the hospital. I'm on my way there but after I've made a quick stop to freshen up,"

"I'll meet you at the hospital,"

"No. Stay at home and make sure Olivia doesn't escape. As much as I would love to hunt her down, someone has claimed her head," he stated firmly to his mother. Sophia sighed out.

"Fine. Be careful, Mio bambino," he hung. Resting his head against the car seat headrest. He needed to prepare himself to act the part of a distorted boyfriend. Things between Nathalie and De Luca moved quickly. But it's not like they haven't known each other. They've known one another for over three years.

The very beginning for him was unexpected. Time was money. Although he understood what most girls go through, some only wanted to dance for cash to help pay off debts. He placed a man of high respect to run his strip club.

He remembers the first time Nathalie took the job as a stripper; her confidence was like nothing he'd seen before. Most women would break down after they've danced. He's seen Nathalie punched guys that were disrespectful to her and other girls.

So that night, when he caught her in the private room taking a nap, he let her off with a warning. But then it happened again and again. Until he asked her for her company, he would visit the club just to see her. They would speak about anything, and she would randomly give him information about herself.

The conversation then led to physical contact when he first offered to give her a foot massage. The moans that escaped her lips sparked a flame within him.

From that moment on, they began getting comfortable and had moments that made his heart race. His relationship with Olivia caved not long after. Their break up to make-up cycle finally broke.

He knew he could never have a white picket fence with her. His lifestyle was all the reality he needed. And Nathalie proved to be that Queen he was searching for in Olivia.

Trent took her from him; he was far from calm. The wheels in his head spinning and preparing for different outcomes.

He knew there was a possibility of him dying. Nathalie could have died; the police could have caught him.

De Luca was lost in his thoughts as his body mindless did everything. His driver took him to one of his houses far out of the city, far from wandering eyes and ears. He went into his shower, letting the water run over his head. He breathes out deeply as the thought of losing Nathalie crosses his mind.

Once he cleaned all of Trent's blood off of him, he wraps the towel around him. He calls for his driver, giving him the clothes to burn. De Luca changes into a grey long sleeve sweatshirt with 'Die with memories not Dreams' written on the back pairing it with black sweatpants.

He walks out into his yard, and he asks his driver and another one of his men to do him a favor. By the time he reached the hospital, De Luca had a busted lip, his clean clothes now dirty and torn. He ran into the hospital, frantically yelling at the receptionist. The receptionist called for the doctor, who came out a moment later.

It was his sister, Angelica, who guided him to Nathalie's room. As he enters the room, the act was gone, and his stare at his Queen hooked up on the machine. He ran his finger along the side of her face as she rests peacefully.

"Rest up, Princess, you and I are not over until you break my heart by dumping me," he took a moment to himself, embracing the silence. "To hell with dumping me, you're stuck with me," he licks his lips. He kissed both her cheeks, her nose, her forehead, and finally her lips.

A knock sounded. De Luca turned on his act, telling them to enter. 'His captain' Douglas, a man and a woman wearing FBI jackets.

"Officer O'Brian Ferdinand, we have a few questions for you," De Luca looks at Nathalie -longingly -before turning back to the agents in front of him, giving them a firm nod.