AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A spark of something flashed across his face so quickly that I had trouble deciphering it. Not scorn, as I’d expected, but maybe recognition. But that couldn’t have been possible. The guy was loaded. He’d bought the financial company I was at temporarily, the job I never thought I could land because it was a well-known and very profitable business. I had to have been mistaken because his fleeting expression didn’t make sense.
Then his hand clamped tightly around my bicep, and he guided me out of my room and through the living room, where Sheri and Jerome hadn’t moved an inch. TheJeopardytheme song blaring from the TV muffled our steps as their glazed eyes stayed locked on the screen rather than registering our departure.
I pulled the door shut behind me as we stepped onto the sun-drenched stoop. His long legs made it difficult for me to match his stride in the toe-pinching heels I’d managed to find at the secondhand store. They’d been a steal, really, and I didn’t want to get the heels caught in the cracked sidewalks. Breaking a heel and having to replace them wasn’t in the budget. I tugged my arm away from him, leaning back, trying for maximum resistance as I snapped, “Get your hands off me. Once was mistake enough.”
I hated how his touch made me remember what he’d done to me the night before and how my body had come alive. He’d made me feel desired, and the hunger in his every caress was seared into my memory like I was an addict craving the next hit, no matter how detrimental. But after the scene earlier, I had a whole new set of memories that eclipsed my night with him.
He offered no response as we reached the black sedan. Regret sat heavily in my gut as his hand found the door handle and pulled it open. If he hadn’t been blocking the exit to the room I’d rented, I could—should—have made my escape. When I made a break for it at the airport, there would be crowds of people to lose myself in and slow him down. It had to happen before we met up with the mob guy. Luc wouldn’t be able to do anything if I cried foul to security and had him detained, but Max might own them. Regardless, I would think they would be reluctant to tangle with a Mafia boss.
Luc’s hand cupped the top of my head so that it didn’t strike the frame. He urged me inside the car. A second later, he was beside me. The door slammed shut, and he told the driver to head to the airport.
My duffel rested on the floorboard near my feet, but it wouldn’t do me any good unless I had it securely on my shoulder. I’d left the key back in my room, knowing I wouldn’t return. I only hoped that I had the opportunity to carry my bag so that when I made a break for it, I wouldn’t have to scrape enough money together for clothes. I had some, but I needed to be smart about it since I’d only gotten one paycheck so far. What remained after paying for rent, food, and transportation burned a hole in the small backpack that I wore. The straps were tight. I couldn’t afford to lose it, and there was no way I would let him carry it. I was lucky he hadn’t tried.
Neither of us said a word. I stared straight ahead since I sat in the middle of the back seat, unsuccessful in my attempt to slide over to the passenger door when Luc latched onto my arm again. I could feel the burn of his gaze on me, dissecting, trying to pick apart what he thought he would find.
I crossed my arms over my chest and did my best to ignore him as we drove through traffic to get to the airport. Every now and again, he checked his phone. I hoped we missed Max’s deadline—wonder what would happen to him then?
I couldn’t help but needle him as I turned my head and met his sneer with one of my own. “We’ll be late. You should probably cut your losses and make a run for it.”
“I’ve never run from anything in my life.” His gaze raked over me. “You don’t look like you’d do well if I did.”
I snorted. “Like life’s already kicked me when I’m down? Funny, you had no problem slumming it last night.” I allowed a mocking smile to curve my lips as I softened my voice and notched up my Georgia southern drawl. “In the light of day, things are always different. Except where the Mafia is concerned. They’re just as dangerous twenty-four seven.”
“You should know all about that.” Luc leaned close, fury crackling like tiny bolts of electricity through the arm that pressed against mine. “What I can’t figure out is why you teamed up with a Mafia family to target me. None of my businesses has anything to do with the mob, nor had they before I acquired them.”
“Little competition with their corner on the financial industry, maybe?” I raised my brows, exaggerating innocence. The truth was, I had no idea why they were after him. The only thing I knew was that I needed to get the hell away before they learned who I was.
“Tell me how you’re connected to Max Caruso.” Luc delivered his words through clenched teeth.
“I’m not. I reacted because I’ve read about him. It’s a little thing called the internet. And the news. Ever watch it? Possibly read for yourself, or do you order your minions to do that for you too?”
His grip tightened, but he didn’t squeeze hard enough to leave any bruises. Provoking wasn’t going to help, but it was hard to keep my big mouth shut. My fingers twitched with the urge to text Lauralee, but she was gone, and I suddenly felt her loss all over again.
My chest tightened, and I turned my head toward the window opposite from Luc so he couldn’t see the tears that misted my eyes. I took slow, even breaths until I felt I had enough control to verbally spar with him again. I would need it in the next few hours—I hoped not that long, though, assuming I could lose him at the airport. We had a few minutes to spare, and I didn’t see the harm in indulging his question about the man we were to meet.
“Max is the boss of the Caruso family, one of Chicago’s Five Families. He’s married to Liliana Brambilla.”
“Why does who he married matter?”
“Wow”—my eyebrows climbed my forehead—“you haven’t read anything about them?”
“Chicago news. Why would I?”
I rolled my eyes. Honestly, I wouldn’t have known anything, either, but I’d had to learn about them because of the trouble Lauralee got us in. And even though it was with a New York mob family, it was smart to know everything I could about who might be after me. “It matters because the wives are just as dangerous as the bosses they’re married to.”
He waited for me to continue. There wasn’t much else for me to tell him, other than the players we would likely encounter. “Brambilla is another one of the Five Families. In addition to those two, La Rosa, Rossi, and Vitale make up the rest of the Five. They’re ruthless and won’t hesitate to kill you. You should be scared.”
“Why are you involved with them if they’re so dangerous?”
I ground my teeth, wanting to smack him upside the head. Instead, I snapped my mouth shut and refused to engage. The car slowed, and when I looked out the window, it was at the terminal on our right and rows of cars crawling by on the left. The driver managed to snag a spot at the curb and got out to open the door for us. I bent, my fingers grazing the canvas strap of my duffel, only to have Luc lift it out of my reach as he nudged me to get out of the car.
The driver extended his hand to help me out. I grasped it, hoping to slide behind him, but as soon as I straightened and took a step, he released me. Then Luc’s arm wound around my waist, anchoring me to his side. For such a big guy, he moved surprisingly quick.
My heart sank when Luc leaned down and spoke softly in my ear, and unwanted shivers of awareness followed in the wake of his deep voice. “I’m not above using Max to stop you from escaping if you try anything.”
A tremor ran through me at the thought of another Mafia family after me instead of the spotlight being on Luc. I needed to do what I could to stay under the radar. I would run if there was a chance, but even if I couldn’t, I took heart in the fact that I doubted Max would have any interest in me. Luc was his sole focus. I was an annoying gnat. That was exactly how I wanted things to remain.
Before we passed through the terminal’s automatic doors, Luc paused and said a few things to a woman I vaguely recognized as his assistant, Becca. She handed him a rolling suitcase then left as swiftly as she’d materialized, and we were on the move again. Tucked into Luc’s side, I had no choice but to let him lead me through the airport until we passed through a side door and exited to a private hangar.
