Part 51

"Hey!" Nadia said with a smile, approaching Echo, who was holding out two coffees. 


It was cold out, very. Just the week before there had been snow and it was expected that there would be more after Christmas. Echo was concerned about this, especially since the evenings held a bitter chill and hers was supposed to be an outdoor wedding. Still, Nadia's mother, Daniela, insisted that it would all work out with minor adjustments. That same day, Echo stood still as a veil was being pinned and re-pinned, shaped and folded, while she listened to the long list of provisions her future aunt-in-law had secured to help make the wedding more comfortable despite the cold weather. 


Fortunately, there was no snow or rain expected on her wedding day but Echo still couldn't picture how they were going to keep the close to 200 guests warm in that garden. Even now, as Echo greeted Nadia, she went over and over the plans Daniela had given her but in the end, what could she do but give in? 


"Hey... here." Echo said with a smile, handing her one of the cups. 


"Thanks." Nadia said brightly. This girl was all surprises. She'd learned that over the last few weeks. Twice a week, Echo would drive out here and they would either meet at her apartment or at a coffee shop. 


They talked about all types of things- what it was really like being in the family, what it was like for children, what it was like for women, what she could and could not ask, what she should and should not say, what types of things she might volunteer to do to help the family and what type of things she would automatically be expected to do. But, usually, unexpectedly, they just laughed and talked. Being at ease around each other was so natural and so strange because neither of these two women was ever used to being at ease around... anyone. 


Today, they were meeting at Luke's house, where Nadia would try to paint the picture for her of the wedding and also talk her through what managing a house was like. 


"So, how was your day?" Echo asked, following her up the walk way towards the large porch that wrapped around the impossibly huge home. It was really something... breathtaking and beautiful, but equally foreboding. Echo was vividly aware that soon this would be her home, Luke had told her that he expected her to make changes to make it her own, but she still felt out of place here. 


"Good, long." Nadia said, sighing and thinking of Grace. Ever since she'd told her that Luke was getting married, Grace had completely shut herself off from her. She avoided Nadia as much as she could, which was hard considering she now worked in the same clinic. "Endless complaints today. I couldn't get anything right."


"Yikes. One of those days..." Echo muttered, stopping short of the front door and raising her fist. 


"Please tell me you're not going to knock." Nadia said, raising her brow. 


"Please tell me you don't expect me to just... walk in?" Echo asked, making Nadia frown. 


"Luke gave you the key, right?" Nadia asked, crossing her arms. 


"Yeah." Echo said, fumbling around her bag, "But I feel weird walking into someone else's house like that."


She looked around, noting how many people seemed to be on the grounds today, more than she had seen before. 


"In a couple of weeks, this will be your house." Nadia said as if what she was saying was silly. "Luke wants you to come and go, the staff expect you to come and go as you need."


"Yeah, but it's still weird." Echo repeated, still searching. "Damn it, where are they?"


"Ehem..." Nadia cleared her throat, prompting Echo to look up. Nadia reached out, placing her hand on the door knob and turning it. "Not locked."


"Oh." Echo said, watching as Nadia pushed the door open and motioned for her to enter. 


"Good Afternoon, Ms. Reid, Ms. Donato." 


The greetings continued as they passed several different people moving throughout the house. 


"Who doesn't lock their front door?" Echo said, "How does Luke of all people not lock it?"


"There's a lot of people moving around right now with the wedding, but trust me... someone is always watching the door and everyone is accounted for." Nadia said, signalling for her to follow. 


"This..." Echo said as they made it to the room at the very end of the hall... 


"is the kitchen." Nadia completed the thought. Echo looked around- she'd only glanced at it before and from a distance, had never been inside. Now she walked around the counters, smiling and greeting an older lady who was busy at work. "Luke is very particular about his food."


"I should probably have told Luke this but I don't know how to cook... anything." Echo said.


"Lucky for you, Luke does keep a full time cook." Nadia said with a smile. 


"Not that I wouldn't mind learning." Echo said with a shrug. "I've never tried."


"You've never tried to cook? At all?" Nadia asked. 


"There was never any need. I doubt I could properly make coffee." Echo admitted. 


Nadia laughed. 


"I doubt Luke will care about who cooks," Nadia said, "what matters is that the cooking gets done."


Echo raised her brow. 


"So essentially, I need to make sure the house runs smoothly." Echo said with a nod. 


"Yep." Nadia said, "Starting with making sure the right things are getting cooked. This is your household now, you can let the same people keep making decisions or you can make them yourself."


"Nadia... you have wife dialed in perfectly." Echo said, "I would have never thought of half of these things."


Nadia shrugged. 


"I was raised to be a wife." Nadia said, looking around the kitchen, "but I always knew this wasn't my thing."


"I always thought the same thing... that I would never be married." Echo said, "I still can't believe it. I keep thinking I'm going to wake up from this dream"


"What's wrong?" Nadia asked. 


"Nothing, I just..." Echo began.


"What?" Nadia insisted. 


"Well... I haven't seen much of him lately." Echo said, "I haven't heard much from him either." 


"Don't worry too much about it." Nadia said with a nod, "It's part of it. Sometimes... he'll just be very busy."


"Yeah..." Echo muttered, "I suppose that's it."


---


"What do you mean nothing?!" Luke gritted through his tightly clenched teeth. It had been weeks and once again the search for the Russo brothers hadn't brought up any results. 


What was worse- he held in his hand more than half a dozen mysterious notes that had begun to arrive at him home. HIS HOME! How was it that no one had seen anything? He'd been over it hundreds of time with his staff, with his men and there was no one going in and out of the house without them being aware. Eventually, they'd been able to narrow it down to the mail, after all the notes did arrive in sealed envelopes that were settled nicely between the mail. 


But that was pretty much a dead end too. The mail came from the post office, just like everyone else. It was an understanding he had with local government officials- he would not meddle with government offices or federal posts. Instead of being mailed directly to his home, his mail was picked up by his men who checked it for safety reasons and then hand delivered it to his house. The same went with any packages or items he might have ordered. Even delivery services like Fedex, UPS, etc., did not deliver directly to him. The only things that would arrive directly to the house were items from private or local couriers, or anything that someone went by personally to deliver. All these were thoroughly and meticulously checked by his men, so it did not make sense that somehow these notes were sneaking into his mail. 


But it was the only explanation, wasn't it? They'd already spoke to everyone: grocers, laundry, his cook, his housekeeper, the gardener, the men who guarded the grounds, a couple of other domestics... no one had seen anything. This was probably the most sickening part of it all. If no one had seen anything, it meant that they needed to be looking closer to home. 


Marco could tell by the way that Luke gripped the back of his chair that he was tense. Anyone else in the room might miss it, but Marco could see right through him, and at this moment, he was very close to loosing it. Of course, there was so much going on. So many reasons to be nervous...


At the moment, Echo Reid was probably seated with Nadia in her apartment, going over a carefully planned list of dos and don'ts. One might think that it wasn't as complicated as it sounded, or that these were things that could be learned as you went along which was true, but Echo was a special case. Luke was taking special care to ease her into his life, aware of her anxiety and being as careful and considerate of her as anyone could be. Marco had never seen him this way but he could understand that someone would want to take special care with someone as special as Echo.


"It's been too quiet, I agree." Marco said.


"Quiet isn't exactly the word I would use." Luke responded, referring to the notes. Marco was the only person he'd told about them, concerned in case they were dealing with a mole.


"Did you get another?" Marco asked and Luke nodded. 


"And I have no fucking clue how they're getting through." Luke said, pulling the crumpled note from his pocket and tossing it at Marco.  


Marco stared down at the note for a moment. So far the notes had been nothing by simple observations, all alluding to Luke's upcoming nuptials. He cringed as he opened the note, careful not to tear it although it was already in a terrible state. It was obvious that Luke was struggling. 


She's a funny little thing, isn't she? Lost in so much lace, looking like an angel perched on a cloud... where she belongs.


Marco read the note over and over. It was disturbing. 


"He's talking about her." Luke muttered. 


"He says she belongs in the clouds." Marco said, his voice a small and strained whisper. This was a threat, a thinly veiled threat. 


"I want the Russo brothers... now." Luke said.


"Are you sure it's them?" Marco asked, making Luke turn to him. 


"I have a lot of enemies, Marco, but not many so stupid as to threaten my future wife." Luke said, "And we have circulated that information."


"I just don't see how they might be moving around right under our own noses." Marco said with a sigh, "but I can't think of anyone else."


"I can't fucking believe it." Luke said, pounding his fist on the desk. He could feel a migraine coming on, his head was splitting, his eyes burning. "I thought if I could get her here, she would be safe."


"She will be. We have men on her at all times, besides- it's true that someone is managing to get messages to you but," Marco said, standing and facing Luke directly, "no one will dare touch her while she's here. I can guarantee that."


"What time is it?" Luke said, glancing at the clock on the wall with a sigh. 


"She's still with Nadia." Marco said. "Why don't you go? Step away, clear your mind."


Luke watched Marco for a second as if contemplating his words. The truth was that he wanted to step away and see her. He couldn't think of anything else he would rather be doing right now. If he could see her, hold her, smell her... then she was fine and safe and he could maybe get some sleep. He counted the days until he could sleep knowing she was next to him and nothing could harm her. 


But there wasn't time. He needed to figure this out, needed to take care of this problem first. 


"Come on, there's a lot to do."



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