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“For a price, Giovani. For a price,” I tell him. He seems to think it over for a long second before nodding his head and pulling a cigar from his suit jacket.
“I’ll agree to that,” he says, lighting up his cigar.
“Good. I’ll make this disappear and have it cleaned up. No more using such obvious places for your damn business, Giovani.” He nods and stands from the table, walking away with his money. I roll my eyes and pull my cell out to call in a clean-up crew.
Chapter 4
The wedding day inches closer. That’s all anyone has talked of for weeks. I’m sick of hearing about it. Sick of knowing about it. Frankly, I’m just sick of everything in general.
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” I spit at my father as he trails behind me.
“You need to be fitted for your tuxedo.”
“They have my measurements,” I tell him before walking out the front door and pulling a cigarette from my pocket. I light it up as I walk to my car and climb in. Revving the engine, I speed around the circular driveway and onto the street. It doesn’t take me long to drive through the neighborhood and pull up near her house. I stay far enough away that no one would notice but close enough to see her. She’s always outside when the weather is nice. Always taking in the sun and clouds.
I miss the days when we used to do that together. I miss the time we shared, but that’s all over now and has been for a long time.
Now I sit here watching her from a distance. There’s just something about her I can’t let go of. Something I refuse to lose. I can’t pinpoint it because I know the woman hates me, but that doesn’t stop me from wanting her.
My cell phone rings, and I answer it on speakerphone.
“What?”
“You stormed out of here before we were done. I expect you to be back soon,” my father says.
“I had an errand to run. I’ll be there,” I reply before hanging up. There she is. Delaney. Fucking Delaney. I wish there were a way to get the girl out of my head, but there isn’t. There has never been, and for the foreseeable future, there won’t be.
She stands on her balcony with her head tilted toward the sun. She’s letting warmth hit her face as I take her in. Long dark hair floats in the breeze. She turns her head, and that’s when she notices me. Delaney cocks her head to study me for a long second when I shift the car into drive and take off.
I know I’m needed back at the house, but I just needed to see her. I know she’ll be having her fitting for her dress soon, for a marriage I can’t seem to wrap my head around. A marriage that isn’t going to end the way she expects it to. No, I have other plans for her.
I drive back to the house and kill the engine before climbing out and heading back inside. My father is there to greet me, just like I figured he would be. He grabs me by the throat as soon as I step inside and slams me against the wall as I smirk at him.
“Angry?”
“Why do you do the things you do, Luka?”
“I’d like to say it’s because of how I was raised,” I answer him. He doesn’t look too pleased with my answer.
“You are to be here for wedding preparations, Luka. There is no way around that,” he tells me. He keeps his hand clasped around my neck as he stares me in the eye. Looking at your child's darkness and seeing the monster you created must be hard.
“Is it hard for you?”
“Is what hard for me?” He releases my throat and takes a step back.
“Seeing the monster you created.”
“I didn’t create you to be like this.”
“To be like what? You created me to kill, didn’t you?”
“You were created out of love, Luka. The rest just fell into place,” he tells me his truth.
“I was always meant to be a killer?” I ask him.
“No. You were meant for more, but it was obvious at an early age what you were good at,” he explains. I chuckle now. An early age. That would be thanks to the rabbit I killed when I was eight. Or maybe the cat I killed when I was ten.
