Alexis

Viaggio in Due

Trip in Two

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"Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will stretch out mine hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherethims, and destroy the remnant of the sea coast."

Ezekiel (25:16)

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"Beware; for I am fearless and therefore powerful."

Mary Shelley

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Later that night, we were at my father's casino. I stayed halfway for the show. It was very glitzy. They had showgirls in sparkly flashy outfits. I found it very Las Vegas yet the singer was so New York. I knew my dad would be proud.

Lou was easy. He cracked swiftly. Gave all the information needed. Told me where I'd find Roberto. Where Luca was. That they were making it out to seem as if they were in New York when they were in Italy. It was suggested that I leave him an amputee, but I denied it. I didn't want a sex offender alive. More children could be hurt. All of this happened during the second half of the show in the back storage room.

When I got back to the room, I started packing. I wasn't going to stay another day when I could be using my time to get to Italy. This was a fight:

"Alex, put your stuff down," Freddie complained as he sat on my bed. "You're not going anywhere, Jesus Christ. We'll fly out—"

"No," I denied. "I'm leaving tonight."

"You're being fuckin' stupid," he remarked. "You leaving tonight versus three/four days from now changes nothing. You're fuckin' rushing things and your gonna fuck up with this goddamn fuckin' attitude of yours!" His cursing reminded me of dad.

"I know what I'm doing— God!" I sighed. "You're not gonna stand there and tell me what to do when you waited all this time to do anything!" I pointed out.

"Alex—"

"Shut the fuck up," I raged. "I literally don't care for what you have to say. It's meaningless!"

"Yeah, you're fucking stupid," he noted as he calmly pushed himself off the bed and walked out of the room. I grabbed my phone and headed for the door but it opened when I was about to grab the handle. I stepped back, confused. Vincent walked in. He hadn't showered yet and I could see the stain of blood that got on his shirt. There was none of Lou's blood on my hands. Vincent wouldn't allow me and I didn't mind, not for Lou. He already put his hands on me enough.

"Lex," he carefully addressed. "Where are you going?"

"New York and then to Italy," I explained. He was blocking my way. I eyed the door behind him. He shifted his weight so his body covered my gaze. I brought my eyes back to his. "Vincent, don't do this to me," I gave in, pleading in a whisper. I wasn't retarded. I knew he was trying to convince me to stay, the same that Freddie tried.

"You know I have to." He shook his head and glanced my body over. I had yet to change. He eyes lingered on my legs for a moment before he met my eyes. "We can leave tomorrow, if you want. I don't want you leaving right now, Alex. Please. Take it from me. I know how much it means to you but you need to listen to me."

"No," I shook my head. "You flew back to America immediately when Tito called you about . . ." I paused and when I restarted, I didn't specify what I was talking about. I didn't need to. "This is the same."

"No, no it's not, bella. You know that. If you leave tonight, hell— even tomorrow, you have a higher chance of getting killed. How are you going to get to Italy if you're dead?" he asked me.

I stared at him for a moment, forcing myself to hold back a glare because he hit me where it hurt. He used common sense. My hand held tighter on the suitcase. "You're a dick, do you know that?" I finally broke the silence.

He nodded. "Okay. Put down the bag and go get ready for bed. It's late."

"Don't even start telling me what to do," I complained as I set down my bag. "You piss me off," I muttered.

When I hopped in the shower, Vincent said he would go shower in his bathroom. I felt like he used it partly as an excuse to talk to Freddie but I didn't care. He came back into my room after and before we went to bed, we had sex twice.

We left two days after although it irritated me. Vincent was on the phone a lot. He was worried for him mother. I think what worried him was knowing that Luca was there as well. Our flight for Italy was in promptly three hours.

Vincent and I were in my bedroom. I had everything packed the moment I stepped inside my room. I wasn't messing around. I was mission-oriented.

"Are you going to see your mother when we stop in?" I asked him.

"Ovviamente," he agreed. "Her safety is important," he said.

"Yes," I nodded. "Is she safe right now?" I asked.

He nodded.

—

We landed in Italy at a very sinister time. It made my stomach hurt. I had turned off my phone yet I kept my wrist watch on— the one I had for work.

We landed at 2:14 p.m.

Or, 14:14.