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“When you’re calm.”
“Calm?” My laugh was even more nervous than before. “My brother is likely dead. Thugs of unknown origin are chasing us. We’re stuck in a hellhole in the middle of the worst possible neighborhood in all of New York. My father is ready to marry me off to a rival Italian mafia family and the man I thought I was just fucking turned out to be an assassin. I think I have a right to be upset.” I raked my shaking hand through my hair, feeling much smaller than my five-foot six-inch frame. Or maybe he’d grown overnight.
The quirk of his smile was as captivating as always, maybe more so and I hated it. “First of all, I have weapons and ammunition in that bag to keep the thugs from winning a battle. Second, I installed a state-of-the-art security system. No one can get within one hundred feet of the house without me knowing. Third, and something that should be very important to you, is that you will no longer be marrying Antonio Romano. Lastly, I have more jobs than simply being an assassin.”
The man made the statement with such sincerity that a laugh bubbled to the surface. He knew the name of the man I was supposed to marry, which meant I’d been played the entire time. There was no surprise in my admittance that I came from a mafia family, and he certainly didn’t seem uncomfortable. That meant he understood the lifestyle far too well. I should be even more unnerved, but I was strangely comforted. If he was from a rival Italian family and had been sent to kidnap me or worse, why hadn’t he performed the deed before? The passion we shared?
I took a sip of my drink, holding the liquid in my mouth, noticing how alert he continued to remain. “You’re worried there are more of them.”
“I am. There are.”
“Who are they?”
He took a deep swallow of his drink, never blinking. “It could be a number of people, including men loyal to your brother.”
“How do you know my brother? Besides, you saw him. He was shot.”
“Looks can be deceiving, Lucia.”
Every time he said my name, I shuddered inwardly. “Meaning what, that he was wearing a bulletproof vest?”
When he said nothing, I shrank back even more. I couldn’t put that past Enzo, not in the least. Not after what he’d said to me.
“You have two choices, sister. Return with me to Italy and live a pampered life with your new husband or I will do everything in my power to take everything you have.”
I’d expected the words, but not the hate dripping from his tone. The only reason he’d followed me outside the shop was because I’d tossed my cup of coffee in his face and his anger had exploded.
“You’re serious,” I said quietly before taking another sip of my drink.
“It’s possible.”
“You need to tell me who you are.” The anger in my voice was finally starting to surface. His silent, brooding actions were no longer sexy.
“I think we need to get some rules established first.”
“Rules? You just kidnapped me. Why in God’s name should I follow any rules?”
Nicolo finally seemed aggravated, his jaw clenching. “What I told you before was the truth. You’re a prized commodity.”
“For my company? My diamonds?”
“As a bargaining chip.”
It was obvious he knew more than he was telling me. “Who hired you to seduce me?”
“I wasn’t hired to seduce you, Lucia. I was ordered to kill you.”
The frankness of what he said was far too vague. While I had words in my mind to answer, it was futile to speak them. What was the point?
We were suddenly strangers, two people caught up in something much bigger than us. “Your name isn’t Nicolo, is it?”
“Yes, at least it’s my middle name.”
“And your last?”
He tilted his head, his chest rising and falling. Then he refilled his drink. I glanced at the duffle bag, trying to decide if he still had plans on killing me.
“DeLuca.”
