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Elena
“So, have you known Rafaelle long?” Nicoletta asked, eying me curiously.
I leaned against the headboard with a frustrated sigh.“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
She raised an eyebrow at me, clearly intrigued. Her father had seen to my ankle, re-wrapped it, and told me how we were going to treat it to a full recovery. He’d been sweating profusely at the time, so I had no idea what Rafe had said to him, but he seemed nervous. I got it. Rafe might be the perfect gentleman with me, but he gave off an air of danger you didn’t want to fuck with.
“We met last night,” I confessed to Nicoletta.
Her eyes widened in shock. “Last night? But how are you here? Are you–involved with Rafe?”
This morning, I’d existed in a strangely comfortable bubble. It cushioned the weirdness of this whole situation. I’d felt like I’d known Rafe forever and could trust him. Nicoletta’s reaction reminded me that this wasn’t normal.It seemed she had a crush on my mysterious stalker. Good to know.
“No. I barely know him. He helped me out with something last night, and somehow, I ended up here.”
Nicoletta nodded quickly, gratefully accepting my explanation.
“Are you and he–something?” I wondered.
She laughed, and her cheeks turned pink.
“Rafaelle isn’t known to date much. Maybe one day soon, his father will decide on his marriage, and then… who knows?” She gave me a strained smile.
“His father will decide? That’s pretty old-fashioned,” I said, swinging my leg to the side as I attempted to sit up.
“We are old-fashioned. The Luciano family… we are very traditional,” Nicoletta said as she watched me.
That was an odd thing to say.“The Luciano family? Are you cousins or something?”
Nicoletta blinked at me. “You don’t know who Rafaelle Luciano is?” she asked in disbelief.
“Should I?” I was growing tired of her questions. I was in pain. Stuck here with someone I was discovering was a lot more complicated than I’d thought. I had no clue what to do next.
“His father is Mauro Luciano… of the Luciano family,” she said slowly as if speaking to a toddler.
The Luciano family? She couldn’t possibly be talking about the same one I’d heard about now and again on the news?“You mean the crime syndicate… the mafia?”
Nicoletta nodded, her eyes darting to the door as if she was scared men with guns were going to bust in and drag her out.
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not kidding. My father has worked for them for years. I’m next. You don’t leave service for the Luciano family. If you try, Mauro will send one of his sons after you, and if you’re unlucky, it will be Rafaelle.”
I stared at her, words forming and then dissipating in my head. I was shaken by what she’d told me, but it made sense. Rafaelle had a kind of menace I’d never witnessed in another man.
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked, already dreading the answer.
Nicoletta shrugged.“He’s the best at his work… and his job is causing fear and pain.”
I couldn’t form a response. He hadn’t hurt me. He’d been gentle, but if Nicoletta was right, he was a dangerous man. Staying with Rafe meant wandering into a dark world where I had no place. No matter Rafe’s motives in helping me, I couldn’t stay here.
“Can you help me leave?” I asked Nicoletta bluntly. “I don’t want to stay.”
She frowned, looking at the door again and then back at me, chewing her lip.
“I can try,” she said finally. “But Rafe will be angry if you’re gone.”
“I can’t stay here.” The urgency to leave filled my chest and made it difficult to think of anything else. My flight response had been triggered, and the thought of sitting here waiting for a mafia heir to come and toy with me was unbearable. Not being able to move only heightened my frustration.
