Once We Were (27 page)

“
Do you mean to tell me you knew all about this?” Ioan demanded.

“
Miss Harlow begged me not to say anything. Why would I? She found her rightful place. You can drag them from the streets and put a pretty dress on them, Ioan, but they will always crawl back into the gutter. It's more natural for them.”

“
Where did she go to?” Ioan questioned.

“
What happens to Miss Harlow is out of my hands,” Lavinia replied. “We're no longer playing house together.”

“
You have three days,” Ioan warned. “Take whatever you find necessary to support yourself. We are done, Miss Appleby.” He grabbed his coat and Lavinia's heart shattered. Her worst fears awakened. Despite her greatest efforts, nothing would convince him to stay. She was helpless.

Suddenly, he stopped in the hall. His black dress shoes fogged over. Smoke curled from the wooden floor. It danced along the walls playfully. He searched the house for the source. The smoke led him to the door which opened to the wine cellar. He tried the door. The hinges swelled against the billowing smoke. Ioan threw himself against it. The black haze choked his lungs.

“Mr. Saier!” Lavinia cried, pulling his shoulder. “Don't just stand there! Get yourself out!”

“
Get out to the courtyard!” Ioan ordered. “Find some help!” Lavinia slumped against the wall as the smoke attacked her. “Go!” he shouted, guiding her away.

“
Where are you going?” she cried.

“
I'm not standing around watching my house burn,” Ioan declared. He snatched a pail from the garden. “Stay out of the smoke.”

“
Ioan, don't!” Lavinia cried. He ran back inside. Her heart sped. It wasn't the fire that troubled her. It was all part of the plan, but the mastermind lurking in the cellar would not spare anything in his path. Especially Ioan. He had no permission to take Ioan. Ioan was hers to deal with. She had to stop it.

Lavinia trailed around the house, and found the window to the wine cellar. Cora sat in a corner, holding her knees against her chest as she prayed into her sleeves. Lavinia watched from the window as the flames devoured the room around Cora. “This is exactly how it should be,” Lavinia told herself. “This is where you belong, Cora Harlow.” Lavinia waited for the flames to finish her off. Cora's lips slowed and her prayers ceased. Her arms slipped from her knees. Her dizzy head fell against the shelf next to her. Lavinia decided against putting the fire out. The Saier house could not be saved.

Ioan filled the pail with water. He grabbed the flour jar, and draped a handful of potato sacks over his shoulder. He marched for the cellar door, and stepped onto the winding path to the basement. A hand seized his collar and shoved him into the wall. He couldn't see his attacker, but his swings were heavy and clumsy. Ioan dodged the blows and scrambled back into the hall. Gianni towered over him.

“
It's done, signore,” Gianni wiped the ash from his brow. “I've finished my work. The signorina did not die in vain.”

“
Who are you?” Ioan demanded. “Have you set my house on fire?”

“
I'm the one who makes things right,” Gianni answered. “I am your ghost.”

“
You damn well better be, or there's bad news for you, sir. Your life is over,” Ioan informed him. “You broke an entry, destroyed my home, and may have seriously injured someone. I'll see to it you spend your remaining life in a prison cell.”

“
You must feel accomplished, Mr. Saier,” Gianni congratulated. “Searching for so long, and now you finally have me. I will gladly go with you to the authorities. My work is complete. Our nightmares are over.”

“
Good,” Ioan answered. “Do find a chair a moment, gino? Presently, I can't be mithered by a madhead rant. In case it's escaped your notice, my house is on fire!”

Gianni nodded and leaned against the wall. “Thank you,” Ioan said, picking up the pail again.

“Did you really mean to kill that man on the dock a year ago?” Gianni asked. “Did you think it was me?” He chuckled. “I admit I was surprised when I heard about it. I never had any hard feelings for you. I forgive you, for that man's sake. You were bewitched. We all deserve forgiveness, signore. I'm giving you the opportunity to walk away. Say we call it squared?”

Ioan stared at him. “You murdered my Cora?”

“Cosi, cosi,” Gianni answered reluctantly. He glanced at the cellar door. “I'm improving.”

“
Cora!” Ioan charged for the door, but Gianni pushed him back. “Go to the devil, you fucking louse!”

“
Don't be foolish, signore. You know she's gone by now. Remember the practical man you are. She deserved it. I had to kill her. She sent an innocent woman to her death, and watched so many die for her sake. Doesn't that sound like a monster to you? I know love, signore. I know it destroys you, but do not fret. Fire is merciful. It won't hurt her long. In time, it will cook her skin and she won't feel it anymore.”

“
I'll do ya' in good you rotten vermin son of a bitch!” Ioan cried, shoving him into the wall. Gianni was quicker. Ioan felt the sharp, cold blade tear into his side. It ripped out of his flesh. The blood dyed his fingers. “You should've just taken that chance I gave you, signore.” Gianni stabbed him again, hatefully twisting the blade. He pressed it to Ioan's throat. “It hurts, doesn't it? Pain, it's just so constant. You beg for mercy but nothing stops it. You suffer alone and no one cares. You're fortunate, signore. I am a merciful man.”

A gunshot exploded. The blade grazed Ioan's neck as Gianni jumped back. Blood oozed from a hole in his ankle. Lavinia pointed Ioan's pistol at him. She slipped Cora's arm from her shoulder and rested her body against the wall. “Let my husband go, Mr. Antonelli,” she warned.

“You missed!” Gianni laughed.

“
That was practice.”

“
Signora,” he chuckled. “I know your heart. You're not an evil woman. You don't understand how to end a man's life. You couldn't bear to leave Mrs. Saier to burn in the cellar. How then will you shoot me?”

“
Because I too am a merciful woman,” Lavinia answered. She pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced Gianni's chest. He dived to grab the pistol, but Lavinia shot him again. The second bullet sent him against the wall. The third killed him.

Ioan trembled. His blood chilled as it stained his shirt. He pressed his hand against his wounds, and crawled to Cora's body. The pistol followed him. Cora was so beautiful, even in death. He wept when he saw her face. “Are you going to shoot me now?” Ioan asked. “Go on. Finish me off. I'll bleed to death anyway. Tell them it was him who shot me, and you'll leave with your honor. No suitor can turn you down if I'm murdered. You can still have  everything I couldn't give you.” Lavinia did nothing. “Damn you, pull the trigger!” Ioan ordered.

“I pray you find peace, Mr. Saier, but not by my hand,” Lavinia said. She turned and walked away. The fire crept from the cellar. It nipped the walls around Ioan. He held Cora close and kissed her hair. The blaze hungrily crawled around them. It would trap them inside. Ioan winced when a gunshot echoed through the walls. Miss Appleby laid still in the hall. The barrel of the pistol smoked at her brow.

He could feel no hate for the woman. She loved deeply and was deeply loved. Her family deserved to attend a respectable vigil in her honor. He had to get them both out. He carried Cora to Lavinia's body. Lavinia's wedding dress weighed him down. He couldn't carry them both. He gripped their wrists and dragged them down the hall. The exertion made his blood run faster from his wounds. His head spun. He couldn't bring them both women out at once. He had to come back. The flames danced at a safe distance. He must be quick.

He rested Lavinia against a door frame and took both Cora's wrists. He fought to keep his breath. The hallway  doubled and tipped. His legs felt fuzzy. He swore he was floating. The fire chased across the walls. He fainted twice, but didn't feel himself hit the floor. He finally found the door. He swung Cora into his arms and sprinted outside. The cool evening air soothed his lungs. He leaned her against a tree in the courtyard and ran back for Lavinia. He held Cora's handkerchief against his mouth as he searched the hall. The smoke left him disoriented. He had no idea how long he'd been gone or when he'd come back. Lavinia's wedding dress caught fire. The flame wrapped around her lower body. Ioan took the pistol clasped in her fingers. He caressed her hair and kissed her lightly. Firelight illuminated her blood running across the floor. It was the last anyone saw of her.

Ioan watched the flames swallow the house. The upper levels collapsed. The fire consumed his entire world. He never let Cora go. “Darling, forgive me,” he whispered to her. “I'm such a fool. I'm such a fool.”

He lost the battle to dizziness. Defeat felt so peaceful. He closed his eyes and rested his head against Cora's. He couldn't feel her anymore, not even the quiet beating of her heart.

Epilogue

All agreed that had Mr. Knightly been a second later, a third member of the Saier house would be lost. In addition to a medal of citizenship, he was awarded a large sum of the Saier fortune in exchange for his quick wit and courage. After Ioan gave his gratitude, and announced that he and his wife would return to Europe, he continued quietly, “Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Ioan Saier, former officer of White Star Line Shipping Company. In exchange for my early retirement from the sea, I have agreed to make the following statement.” The room waited. He felt Cora's strength behind him. “I hereby admit that due to my condition and mental state out at sea during the sinking of the Titanic, I have made a terrible mistake. I withdraw my claims of the ship breaking in half during the sinking. It has come to my attention that it is a claim that can not be proved with our current advancements, and that science suggests otherwise. I am sorry for the misunderstanding.” Mr. Henry and the other representatives nodded in approval. “I will continue to endorse the Titanic Widows Relief Foundation so no woman or child will be turned away due to class, reputation, belief, or circumstance,” Ioan concluded.

Mr. Henry took the floor. “We appreciate your consideration, Mr. Saier. I'm appreciate that you've come to your senses. You will always have a place with us at White Star Line Shipping Company.”

Cora tensely watched the waters splash against the deck. Ioan kissed her hair and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. “I know,” he said. “How can I put you on another ship after everything we've been through? I'm here, Mrs. Saier. It'll be alright now.”

“It's not the water that bothers me,” she said. “It's not right that you should have to lie to them about what you saw.”

“
They can't handle it any other way,” Ioan said. “It's the price we pay as survivors. There may never be another person who understands the true nature of what we endured. Not until the world changes its ways.”

“
It's already changed,” Cora replied. “I thought I knew the world, but now it moves at such a pace. Titanic fell and took with her all the beauty and innocence left in it. We belong to a different time, Ioan. What will become of us now?”

“
We live, as normally as we can, and eventually fade to history like a fog on the sea,” Ioan told her. “Whatever version they choose to accept, this will always be our story.”

Brooks Cabin

Nya always knew there was something off about Eric, but ignoring the voice in her head, she gets engaged and moves to Colorado to start her new life with him. As the only African American woman in white suburbia, Nya finds it difficult to adjust. Yet, darker secrets uncover about the man she married, forcing her to choose between saving her marriage or running for her life.

The perfect girl. The perfect husband. The perfect lie.

2014