La Rosa Del Sur (The Rose of the south)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17
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Our flashlights shone on the grimy floor and walls of the sewers. My foot splashed into a murky puddle, and I jerked away quickly. Shuddering, I trudged on after Luca, skirting around all the wet spots I saw. At least there weren't any rats.

"Yeah, watch your step," Luca mused next to me.

"Well, at least it's not New York," I said. "The subways there are even nastier than the sewers." I hopped over another puddle as I spoke. My foot spun in the slick grime and I grabbed the fabric of Luca's shirt. He wrapped his arms around my waist and hoisted me up before I could fall into the sludge. As I positioned my arm around his neck to steady myself, I realized how close we were.

We stared into each other's eyes, and it felt as if a million butterflies were doing somersaults in my stomach. Luca blinked and his breath hitched. His eyes held something I couldn't quite pinpoint, like the night we'd first met, and he'd dropped me off in the parking lot of the hotel at one in the morning. My eyes flicked down to his lips and I let out a shaky breath. If one of us just leaned forward...

And then a sound broke the spell over us. Our heads snapped down the hall where the sound came from. A set of footsteps slapping on the wet stone floor. Luca yanked me over to a pillar, blocking me from view. I cringed at the feeling of slimy stone on my back. Luca put a finger over his lips and simultaneously drew a gun from within his jacket. He waited until the footsteps were close to the pillar, and jumped out, gun raised with the trigger ready. There was a moment of silence.

"Now, is that any way to greet your father, boy?" A voice emitted from the darkness. I watched as Luca's expression changed from confusion to relief. He lowered his gun. His face broke into a wide grin and he surged forward with his arms extended.

I poked my head around the pillar to find Luca in a tight embrace with none other than Giovanni. I exhaled in relief. Giovanni broke away from Luca and smiled widely at me.

"Ah, I see you've brought the smart girl with you," Giovanni mused. To my surprise he rushed over, and pulled me into a tight embrace.

"Good to see you too, Mr. Marino," I squeaked. Giovanni pulled away and looked between the two of us.

"But, I thought you were captured," Luca said, scratching his head. "The man said over the phone that he had caught one of you."

"And you assumed it was your old man? I thought you knew me better, boy," Giovanni gave him a light smack on the head. "Lorenzo may be the brains between the two of us, but he isn't much of a fighter." He began smoothing his shirt out and looked at us questioningly. "Wait. You two aren't on a rescue mission, are you?"

"Yes we are," I said confidently.

"But there are only two of you."

"We've enlisted some other people to help," Luca said quickly, clearing his throat. "Right now we've got six other people infiltrating the house from various entrances. We believe our friends are being held in Lorenzo's study and we're coming in from different angles to surround their captors."

Giovanni nodded, impressed. "Well, you're right. That is exactly where they're being held."

I smiled. "Amazing, everything is falling perfectly into place."

"We'd better keep going," Luca said, checking his watch. He shoved the gun back inside his jacket. "Father, if you'd like to join us, please come along, we could use all the people we can get." Giovanni considered him for a moment. Then he straightened up and smiled.

"On with the mission, then," He said. He pulled out a gun of his own. "I mean, I haven't had a good fight in a while."

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