Page 37 of A Wife’s Duty

She ignored him, opened the door, and then looked around on the closet floor. Sure enough, she found the little guy that must have fallen out of the bed as she dragged it along. Holding him close, she made her way back into the panic room. The moment she did, she heard them enter the main bedroom.

There was no choice for her to make. She entered the panic room and attempted to close the door, quietly. She pointed a finger to her mouth to silence Frank, and then went to the cameras. The two invaders were in her and Boone’s bedroom.

“She’s here,” one of them said.

Lucia recognized that voice. She had spent her whole life listening for it, attempting to avoid him. Her father had invaded her husband’s home.

Lucia looked toward Frank and he gave her the okay signal. He was looking pale.

She couldn’t look away from the screen, though. One person was on a cell phone, and the other looked around the bedroom as if what they saw was fascinating to them.

The man with the cell phone entered the closet. As he did so, he pulled the clothes out of the way, and without hesitation came straight to the panel of the panic room. He removed his face mask, and Lucia looked into the face of her father.

“The man installed a panic room,” Enzo Valdez said.

“Can you get into it?”

She didn’t recognize the other voice. Knowing her father, it was either one of her brothers, or one of his men. That wasn’t important.

“How good is this?” Lucia asked.

She couldn’t help but duck as she heard the gunshots ring out.

“It’s Boone, and he wouldn’t have built you anything but a strong panic room, Lucia,” Frank said.

He gritted his teeth, and she rushed to his side. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. It is all good, kid,” Frank said.

“Don’t do that. Don’t sugarcoat this for me.”

“It’s not good,” Frank said. “I need to get to the hospital soon, otherwise, I’m not going to make it.”

Lucia looked toward the camera. The men were still randomly shooting and kicking at the door.

“How much can it take?” Lucia asked.

“Enough. This is Boone, so they’re going to be trying for some time.”

“And if it doesn’t work?”

“Look, Lucia, this is not your fault. You’ve got to survive. Boone will be here.”

“What if they have killed him?” Lucia asked.

“It’s Boone, they’re not going to kill him. That man is the best.”

“But he was going after my brothers, the Bonaldis, all of them,” Lucia said. “That has risks.”

“Boone had already captured your brothers, Lucia. He had them waiting for him to deal with. As for Bonaldi, the man is dead, and each capo is learning a very valuable lesson. I would never have bet against Boone. The man is a fucking legend, and he always gets his target. He will come for you.” Frank looked past her shoulder. “If he’s not here already.”

Lucia looked behind her, and sure enough, there was Boone. The man that wasn’t her father was dead on the ground. Now, it was just Boone and her father. She looked at the screen as Boone held the gun up in front of him.

“You messed with the wrong man,” Boone said.

“You know, we could settle this,” Enzo said.

“Or, we could just settle this.”

And before anyone could react, Boone had sent a bullet straight into her father’s head. At first, Lucia couldn’t believe it. One moment she had been panicking, and the next, Boone had taken care of it.

Rushing to the panel, she quickly pushed the “exit” button, and the panic room opened. Boone was already there, and she fell into his arms.

“You came back,” she said.

“Of course I came back.”

“Frank,” Lucia said, pulling away from him.

Within minutes they had Frank out of the room, and Boone was already working on him. Lucia didn’t know what was happening, but Ronald had arrived, as had an ambulance.

She followed them down, and Boone with Ronald’s help, loaded Frank into the ambulance. Her head was starting to pound, and she turned to look at Boone.

Men were already starting to clean up.

“Is he going to be okay?”

“Frank, hell, yeah, he is going to be fine,” Boone said.

“I thought he was going to die,” Lucia said, tears filling her eyes. “My dad had come to kill me. How did he know where I was?”

And then Boone told her. She had a small tracking chip inside her.

Lucia touched the back of her neck. “He microchipped me?”

“That is what your brother said.”

“My brother?”

“Your family is dead,” Boone said. “I don’t know if this is the right time to ask you, but you have a choice, Lucia.”

She looked at him and waited.

“I can provide you with a new identity, money, a new life, and you never have to look back to the past. You can live your life the way you want. No one will come for you. Or, you can have a new identity and live with me. I don’t think I ever told you this, but I would love to have a family.

To be away from all this crap, to have a loving wife, to raise kids, to have some dogs, maybe some cats.

Also, before you make your decision, I think you should also know I am in love with you.

I have been in love with you for a very long time. ”

It was magical. Covered in blood, after fearing death, all she wanted to do was hold Boone, and she wished she had told him how much she loved him.

“I love you too,” Lucia said, and then threw her arms around him.

“Do you choose me?” Boone asked.

She couldn’t help but laugh. “Yes, I choose you. I will always choose you.” She cupped his face. “Besides, I’m your wife, and isn’t it a wife’s duty to always stand by her husband?”

He pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard. She just wanted to be in his arms, loving him, not going anywhere else.

Boone pulled away, and they walked back into their home.

“Do you want to come and meet the pups?”

“Hell, yeah, I do!”