380 comments

Drama Suspense

I Knew Armand

By Heather Ann Martinez

By the time I stepped outside, the leaves were on fire. I had forgotten what they looked like this time of year in the United States. It had been a year since Armand’s unexpected death. It had been a year since I went into hiding. I have spent the majority of the last six months editing vlogs for friends who have been biking across Colorado. As much as the federal agents said I shouldn’t, I’ve been hiding in plain sight. No one out here is looking for Vesna Lombardi, wife of a now deceased Italian mobster. No, the only person they have met is Cat Sommers. I sit in the back of someone’s camper and post and edit video content, social media content, and write captions. Occasionally, I’ve left the camper. I’ve met locals at restaurants and campgrounds. I’ve gone unrecognized. No one sees that I am a witness waiting for a series of trials to begin for different members of my husband’s family. No one here knows that I once was a scared little girl who witnessed my father’s murder when I was six.

My father was murdered by his brother more than twenty years ago. I was sitting underneath the table in my father’s office when his brother came in and shot him. My uncle had no idea I was there. My mother came into my father’s office after she heard the gun shot. She knew I was underneath the table. It was one of my favorite places to play with my dolls. I could see my father sitting at his desk working. Every now and then, he would ask me to sit with him. He would give me a treat whenever I spelled a word correctly. He taught me both English and Italian. I learned Spanish in school years later. My father wanted me to know more languages than he did. He did not have hope for my brother Paolo. Paolo was nine and hated to study. My father knew I would leave Italy some day. He knew I would need to know more than Italian to live abroad.

Armand Lombardi came into my life when I was twenty. He was charismatic and charming. Paolo and I lived with our mother and grandmother after our father was murdered. No one except for me knew that our father’s brother killed him. I did not know much about Armand’s family prior to meeting him. I knew he was an only child and his father was well respected in our community. I didn’t know much about money laundering, drug smuggling or selling weapons. I didn’t know Armand was at the head of an organized crime family. Armand and his cousins were caught up in a world I dared not look into. Armand swept me off my feet. I loved him. I don’t know if he ever loved me. He never said the words. He would buy me new earrings and necklaces whenever someone told him something became fashionable. He gave me everything I ever wanted. We vacationed in the Virgin Islands. We had a summer villa in Venice and a house in Naples. I never asked where the money came from. I never visited Armand’s office or saw him use a credit card. He told me I did not have to think about those things. All I had to do was be happy. I was his arm candy, and he was my knight in shining armor.

When Armand died last year, the veil was lifted. My world, the world Armand showed me died with him. We were in debt. There were people who wanted to kill me because they thought Armand shared information with me. I did not know anything. I lived in a glass house that had been shattered. I knew something was wrong leading up to the day Armand was killed. He would come home from work agitated. He would go into his home office and lock the door. He was often on the phone screaming at one of his cousins. I still think it is a great blessing that we did not have children. I did not know that Armand had two children with someone else until his mistress came to our home looking for him. He had not returned her calls for several days. She told me Armand married me because I came from a respectable family. She did not. Her children would not be respected in the world of organized crime. She told me she did not have much time left. The people that killed Armand targeted her as well. She had accompanied Armand to several meetings and exchanges. She said they had made a couple of attempts on her life already. With tears in her eyes, she asked me to take her sons out of Italy.

Reluctantly, I did so and she died a few days later. Her sons have been cycling. We have been on a cycling tour through Colorado with a caravan of cycling enthusiasts.  I was given a new identity and my husband’s sons found a way to grieve the loss of both of their parents. They said they knew about me through the years. Their father did not hide me from them. He told them I was his precious jewel. He said he was often on stage for the world to see and I was the leading lady the world loved to see on his arm. Their mother was not beautiful. She did not have any money and came from an obscure village. She didn’t know who her father was and was not well educated. Armand used her background to his advantage. He would often have her meet his clients alone. She would pass messages, make phone calls, set up travel arrangements, and coordinate the trades.  

When the federal agents asked me about my husband’s crimes, I told them I didn’t know anything about them. I told them I chose to live a pampered life. I chose my words carefully around my husband. I did not see him every day and I chose to make the most of the time we had. I left out a lot of information for the American federal agents who were about to prosecute my husband’s cousins and the Italian government who allowed me to leave with my husband’s sons.

My mother was a shy beauty. She knew my father and uncle were in some underhanded business. When the suspicion had died down, she killed my uncle. I suppose I followed in her footsteps. I waited up for Armand to come home the night he died. He smelled like cheap perfume and had a smudge of lipstick on his tie. He was drunk and singing to himself. I stopped him before he reached his home office door. I told him he was pathetic to be seen with some desperate woman who came out of the woodwork. He came at me and tried to strangle me with his bare hands. In a moment, I thought he would have the upper hand, but he did not. He tripped over a pair of shoes he had left on the floor. I grabbed the vase on the side table and struck him in the head. He died instantaneously. I moved the shoes out of the way and dragged Armand’s body to his office. With a gloved hand, I shot him with his own gun. I picked up the pieces of the vase and mopped the floor. I disposed of the gun and created suspicion around my husband’s cousins. When I called the police and told them I found my husband lying on his office floor, they believed my story. They believed a burglary had gone terribly wrong. No one suspected that I would do such a thing to the man I loved. His cousins, our friends and family thought he kept me so far away from who he really was. What they didn’t know was I allowed them to think that. I knew Armand. I knew Armand as I knew my uncle and father. I did not know he had two sons. I knew my husband’s business and the circumstances around his demise intimately well.

October 11, 2020 23:06

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

380 comments

Diana Margaret
12:57 Aug 01, 2022

I am Diana Margaret by name from England, so excited to quickly Appreciate Dr Kachi. who helped me win a lot of money a few weeks ago in the lottery, I was addicted of playing the lottery game, I’ve never won a big amount in the Euromillions lotteries, but other than losing my ticket, I always play when the jackpot is big. I believe that someday I might as well be the lucky winner. I was in the Aldi supermarket store buying a lottery ticket when I overheard Newsagents reveal saying what happens when someone win a National Lottery jackpot in...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Dora Judy
16:15 Jul 28, 2022

HOW I WON £4,369,877 WITH DR Zaba LOTTERY MAGIC SPELL I am Dora Judy From UK...I had to write back and say what an amazing experience I had with Dr Zaba's powerful lottery spell. My Heart is fill with joy and happiness after Dr Zaba cast the Lottery spell for me, And i won £4,369,877. His spell changed my life into riches, I'm now out of debts and experiencing the most amazing good luck with the lottery after I won a huge amount of money. My life has really changed for good. I won (Four million three hundred and sixty nine thousand Eight h...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Katie Bennett
10:28 Jul 27, 2022

Thank you for letting me post my review on your blog. I am very happy to share my insight working with DR AMBER. I needed help to win the lottery so badly because my bills were so high and needed to be paid as soon as possible. While I was surfing the Internet for ways to win the lottery, I saw DR AMBER'S website: AMBERLOTTOTEMPLE.COM saying how he has helped a lot of people in different ways both financially/martially. I ordered a lottery spell from DR AMBER and he explained everything to me about the spell and I accepted. I followed his in...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Katie Bennett
10:21 Jul 27, 2022

Thank you for letting me post my review on your blog. I am very happy to share my insight working with DR AMBER. I needed help to win the lottery so badly because my bills were so high and needed to be paid as soon as possible. While I was surfing the Internet for ways to win the lottery, I saw DR AMBER'S website: AMBERLOTTOTEMPLE.COM saying how he has helped a lot of people in different ways both financially/martially. I ordered a lottery spell from DR AMBER and he explained everything to me about the spell and I accepted. I followed his in...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Mitchel Dyck
10:58 Mar 24, 2023

I'm super excited to share this amazing testimony on how I won $70,000,000 Million dollars with the help of Dr Benjamin who gave me some lottery winning numbers, I have been playing lottery games for years now and I never won, one fateful day my colleague told me how he had helped his cousin win lottery and he gave me his contact information, after the close of the day I emailed him and he responded after some time, I told him all I wanted and he assured me that he's going to help me as he has done for many. After some time he gave me an ins...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Mitchel Dyck
10:58 Mar 24, 2023

I'm super excited to share this amazing testimony on how I won $70,000,000 Million dollars with the help of Dr Benjamin who gave me some lottery winning numbers, I have been playing lottery games for years now and I never won, one fateful day my colleague told me how he had helped his cousin win lottery and he gave me his contact information, after the close of the day I emailed him and he responded after some time, I told him all I wanted and he assured me that he's going to help me as he has done for many. After some time he gave me an ins...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
11:06 Jul 26, 2022

This is certainly a shocking and a genuine live Testimony!!!!. It was hard for me to believe when i saw a comment on the internet regarding how Dr Emmanuel help people winning lottery by sending them the winning numbers. This winning numbers are 100% guarantee that you must win the lottery. I give it a try and i won 2,000,000,00USD. My dreams came through when i email Dr Emmanuel and tell him i need the lottery numbers. i have come a long way spending money on ticket just to make sure i win. But i never know that winning was so easy until th...

Reply

Show 0 replies
John Rodriguez
08:11 Jul 26, 2022

I am very happy to share this great testimony with you. The best thing that has ever happened in my life is the day I met Dr Jatto online. I am a man who believes that one day I will win a lottery. Finally my dreams came true after I came across a series of testimonies about how Dr Jatto had helped a lot of people win the mega lottery, so I contacted him and told him that I needed lottery winning numbers. Dr Jatto assured me that he's going to make me win but at first I doubted him because I have tried severally on my own but no avail, after...

Reply

Show 0 replies
John Rodriguez
04:25 Jul 25, 2022

I am very happy to share this great testimony with you. The best thing that has ever happened in my life is the day I met Dr Jatto online. I am a man who believes that one day I will win a lottery. Finally my dreams came true after I came across a series of testimonies about how Dr Jatto had helped a lot of people win the mega lottery, so I contacted him and told him that I needed lottery winning numbers. Dr Jatto assured me that he's going to make me win but at first I doubted him because I have tried severally on my own but no avail, after...

Reply

Show 0 replies
John Rodriguez
04:24 Jul 25, 2022

I am very happy to share this great testimony with you. The best thing that has ever happened in my life is the day I met Dr Jatto online. I am a man who believes that one day I will win a lottery. Finally my dreams came true after I came across a series of testimonies about how Dr Jatto had helped a lot of people win the mega lottery, so I contacted him and told him that I needed lottery winning numbers. Dr Jatto assured me that he's going to make me win but at first I doubted him because I have tried severally on my own but no avail, after...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:08 Jul 22, 2022

Lottery is something majority of the people in the world want to win, not only winning the lottery, but they want to win big, i have been playing the lottery for couple of years now, but i haven,t really win big, personally i always think there is something behind all those winners who always win big, because my intense always tell me that every thing is possible, i manage to get in contact with one of the biggest lottery winner in the US, i asked him about the success, and he referred me to a very powerful voodoo doctor, (Dr Emmanuel), he i...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:08 Jul 22, 2022

Lottery is something majority of the people in the world want to win, not only winning the lottery, but they want to win big, i have been playing the lottery for couple of years now, but i haven,t really win big, personally i always think there is something behind all those winners who always win big, because my intense always tell me that every thing is possible, i manage to get in contact with one of the biggest lottery winner in the US, i asked him about the success, and he referred me to a very powerful voodoo doctor, (Dr Emmanuel), he i...

Reply

Show 0 replies
Janet Willis
12:08 Jul 22, 2022

Lottery is something majority of the people in the world want to win, not only winning the lottery, but they want to win big, i have been playing the lottery for couple of years now, but i haven,t really win big, personally i always think there is something behind all those winners who always win big, because my intense always tell me that every thing is possible, i manage to get in contact with one of the biggest lottery winner in the US, i asked him about the success, and he referred me to a very powerful voodoo doctor, (Dr Emmanuel), he i...

Reply

Show 0 replies
RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in Reedsy Studio. 100% free.