Danny sat at the edge of the lake dock, admiring the lake and the shifting colors of the sky as the sun was setting. He thought of Nadia and glanced at his tattoo sleeve. He looked at Nadia's name and recalled the day he left the tattoo parlor with the newly inked text....

(Flashback)

Danny's POV

My older brother Christian and I were seated on the balcony of my cousin Matteo's house. The canal was right below us. It flowed throughout the city. It was cool outside and the breeze felt nice.

I noticed Matteo looking at my arm. "Nadia." He spoke aloud. "Chi è lei? (Who is she?) " he asked in Italian. Matteo knew English, he just spoke to Christian and I in Italian most of the time so we wouldn't 'forget the language in the States.'

"Nessuno. (No one.) " I shook my head as I mumbled, brushing off his question.

Christian smirked at me and placed his arm around my shoulder. I knew he was gonna say something. "Lei era il suo primo amore. (She was his first love.) " Christian teased, annoyingly ruffling my hair.

I chuckled, pushing him away from me. "Stop it."

Matteo looked confused. "Well, what happened?" He switched back to English, with his prominent accent. I sighed. "I left her, to come here. I just needed to get away from everything. I needed to breathe."

I knew I was being vague but I couldn't tell them the truth. My mind was in disarray, I didn't know what I wanted in life anymore.

"Really I think you just wanted to see Mamma and Papà again. And you just had to tag me along." Christian playfully grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Christian, you agreed to come with me. I know you wanted to see them too."

Honestly, I was glad Christian decided to come with me. He was the only person I really wanted to be around. Christian has always been there for me.

"Everyone is sad since you are leaving soon." Christian and I looked at Matteo. We could see the sadness in his eyes as he tried to mask it with a light smile. "Matteo, ci mancherai anche tu. (Matteo, we'll miss you too.)" Christian spoke softly. I nodded in agreement.

Christian looked at me. "Mamma's going to miss you the most. Sei sempre stata la sua preferita. (You were always her favorite.)"

"That's not true. She loves you just as much." I tried to reassure him.

Christian lightly shook his head. "No Danny. You know Mamma is more fond of you than me." He chuckled. "I bet she loves you more than she loves Papà."

Matteo and I laughed. Christian was right. I knew I was Mamma's favorite. She was always so nice to me, letting me get away with things more than Christian when we were little. Whenever I asked her for anything she would say yes most of the time. It wasn't the same way for Christian, but he had Papà on his side, we both did. He wasn't into favoritism like Mamma...

...

Danny missed her.

His mother wasn't dead or anything like that, he just missed her presence. Other than pictures and videos, the only thing Danny had to remember her was the lilacs on his arm.

Lilacs were his mother's favorite and he remembered how happy she had been when he showed her the tattoo. Her favorite flowers on her favorite son. Guess that justified everything.

He wondered if Christian loathed what their mother did. Danny never asked him if he hated their mother, but there were moments in their lives when her neglect effected Christian negatively. There was a time in Danny's life when he actually disliked his mother for how she treated Christian.

Nevertheless, Danny knew Christian still loved and respected her no matter how she treated him.

Danny checked the time on his phone, hoping it wasn't too early to call his mother, who was all the way in Lecco, Italy. There was a ten hour time difference. He dialed her number and waited to see if she'd pick up or not.

"Hello?"

Danny lightly smiled at his mother's sleepy voice.

"Hi Mamma, did I wake you?" He asked.

His mother sighed. "No, no, va bene. (it's okay.) Come va? (How are you?)"

Danny looked down at his reflection from the lake. He sighed. "I could be better."

"Why? What's wrong tesoro? (darling)"

Danny closed his eyes. "Nothing Mamma. It's a long story." He paused. "I miss you."

"I miss you too Danny." She said sweetly. "Perchè non torni a casa? (Why don't you come home?)" She asked.

Danny shook his head. "I can't do that Mamma. At least not now. I can't leave Christian remember?"

His mother chuckled. "Christian can handle himself, it's you I worry about."

Danny laughed at her remark. "Mamma I'm fine on my own, lo prometto. (I promise.)"

"A promise can only mean so much, but if you say so. I believe you."

Danny sighed. "Alright, Mamma I'll let you sleep. It must be early. I'll call you later. Say hi to Papà for me okay?"

"Ok tesoro, you have a good night. Give Christian my regards."

"Okay."

"Ti amo." She spoke softly.

Danny smiled. "Ti amo anch'io. Bye Mamma." He hung up, hearing footsteps behind him.

He slightly turned his head. "What are you doing here?"

Christian sighed. "I just came to check the cabin." He paused. "I'm going inside."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, yeah go ahead, I'll go inside later."

"Who was on the phone?" Christian asked softly.

"Mamma." Danny still didn't look at Christian. "She said hello." Christian didn't respond to Danny's statement.

He walked away towards the cabin. Christian kept looking back, making sure Danny wasn't looking at him or getting up to leave. He quietly entered the cabin, walking upstairs towards the room Nadia was kept in.

He slipped a note under the door and began to survey the cabin just like he'd told Danny.

As he approached the front door, Danny stepped into the cabin. Christian faintly smiled at him, suddenly narrowing his eyes as he noticed a healing laceration across Danny's right cheek.

"Danny..." Christian anxiously trailed off. "What happened to your face?" 

Danny quickly shrugged. "Nothing, I just cut myself on accident. No big deal."

"Cut yourself with what?" Christian's face scrunched up, looking at Danny in concern. "That shit looks serious."

"I said, it's not a big deal Christian. I'm fine." Danny muttered, clenching his jaw.

Christian stared at him, slightly hurt by the tone of Danny's voice. He sensed he was lying but decided to let it go. Christian sighed, placing a firm hand on Danny's shoulder. "Well, everything in the cabin looks good. It's clean. Let's keep it that way alright?"

"Ok Christian, I got it." Danny held the door open for him. "I'll be back later this week. See you then." Christian gave Danny a quick hug and left.

...

Nadia walked out of the bathroom that was connected to the room she was in. She saw a note on the floor near the door. She narrowed her eyes in curiosity, slowly walking towards it. She picked it up, seeing Christian's name on the cover.

Nadia hurriedly walked onto the bathroom again, locking the door and carefully began to read the note.

Dear Nadia,

I've come up with a great plan to help you escape the captivity of my brother. I've decided to contact your friend upon you receiving this letter. I'll let her know the location of this place, instead of the address to my cabin. It's safer that way. She'll stop by the lakefront, waiting for you.

I'll need you to bring Danny's guard down. Once you've done that, you're gonna need to really hurt him. It'll give you time to escape. Head for the front door. I'll be outside the whole time. I'll give you directions to your friend and hold Danny off until you escape. I hope my plan gives you hope. I wish you all the best on your way home and deeply apologize for my brother's actions.

Sincerely,

                                         Christian

Nadia smiled to herself, quietly thanking Christian as she clutched his note to her chest.

Finally, there was an opportunity to escape and she was closer than ever.

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