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I folded my arms across my chest, it made me feel a little more secure, maybe even protected, having something in between us. It also made me look a little stronger than I felt. “Where are you going with this?”
“What is aDePalmadoing all the way over here in Arkansas?”
One thousand thoughts rushed through my brain. The way he emphasized the DePalma name told me that he was more interested in that than anything else. Maybe he didn’t know everything after all.
“So you know who my family are?”
Edge chuckled. “Everyone knows who your family are, babe.”
“Criminals know who my family are,” I corrected.
His smirk grew. “Touché.”
“You and your boys have some kind of ploy now that I’ve been outed?” I was impressed with myself. I managed to sound stronger than I was feeling. Even throwing him a bit of attitude. I had to remember, he saw me as a DePalma, and no DePalma would ever back down without a fight.
“Naw, babe,” he answered with a small shake of his head. “The boys don’t even know. I had Rip send me the picture he took before that old woman who runs the place came over and made him delete it.”
Thank fuck for that.I could only imagine what would happen if that picture got out. And as much as I wanted to dislike Edge, I think he knew better than to leak anything that could piss off a mafia family, no matter how big or strong his club was.
“It’s weird, though, I thought Anthony only had one daughter.” I knew he was fishing for info. And I didn’t care. He could have it if it took the heat away from what I was really doing here.
“He’s my uncle. His brother Marco was my dad.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Do I need to be worried that you’ve got the crazy gene then?”
I couldn’t stop the laugh that came, and in return, he gave me a small smile. “Heard about him then?” He lifted his chin. “Didn’t meet him until a couple years back. My mom took off with me before I was born and refused to tell me who my dad was. When I found him, I figured out why.”
Edge’s face softened and he placed both his feet on the floor. He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. Now he was more in the light I could see his face a little clearer. He was handsome. Bristles covered his square jaw and just above his lip. They were dark, hiding his face like a light shadow. His eyes were dark brown, almost blackened in the light, but what didn’t match was the lighter colored hair that was cut short on his head.
“What’d he do to you?”
I almost thought he sounded concerned, maybe even a little empathetic. I tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal like it didn’t weigh me down anymore. “Like you said, he was crazy. All I’ll say is I got to experience that shit first hand.”
His hands gripped tightly together in front of him and his features tightened. “I feel you.”
The music that had been playing in the background filled the silence.
“Still, doesn’t really answer my question about why you’re here.” He prompted me again.
The thoughts in my head scattered, nothing definite coming to mind.
Why was I here?To bring you down.
In the end, I went with the truth—well, as truthful and I could get without him wanting to stab me. “I don’t fit in there.” My shoulders slumped and I sagged in my seat. “It’s too much pressure to be perfect, to not taint your family name. I’m not perfect. I do stupid shit all the time.” I gestured to myself, waving my hands all over my body and indicating my outfit and where I was.
Edge nodded. “Yeah babe, I get it.”
There was a loud ding sound in the room indicating our time was up.
He pushed on the arms of his chair, forcing his body up to stand at full height. I followed suit, sliding my chair back discreetly so I could have a little more space between us.
He took a step, reaching for the door handle.
“Edge?”
He looked over his shoulder at me.
“I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell anyone about this.” I pulled at my outfit nervously. Even though we’d formed some sort of connection, I needed to make it deeper, more intense if I was going to get him to trust me. And the only way to do that was to ask him to keep a secret so he felt like he was in control. “I might not fit in with my family, but I still love them. I don’t want to embarrass my uncle.”
