AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dressed, I head downstairs to the office. I want to lay in bed or check on Scarlett, but I know I need to find out who did this. I slam the office door behind me. My head is fucking pounding and all I want to do is punch something or someone.
I grab the brandy decanter off the side table and pour myself a glass. The alcohol burns as it slides down my throat. It brings with it a sense of calm. I still want to kill a fucker, only now I can focus on my target.
Would the DeLuca family be so bold to come after us in broad daylight? Fuck, if I knew the lengths Lorenzo DeLuca was willing to go to get his way.
The man wasn’t stupid. Ruthless? Yes, but not stupid. He wants to control the Romero empire but he can’t with Luis’ widow still alive.
My instincts tell me that this is all Lorenzo’s doing. It’s not like I can go after him without proof. The heads of the family will kill me if I start a war with the DeLuca’s
Revenge is the only answer. Quiet revenge.
If I’m going to get my hands on Lorenzo DeLuca, it needs to be without anyone else knowing, even Scarlett. Even though I want to argue with myself that this is about protecting the family and the family’s assets, the voice in the back of my head keeps screaming this is all about Scarlett. About protecting her.
I tell the voice in the back of my head to shut the fuck up. Nothing good ever came from listening to those voices.
I sit down at the desk and turn on the computer. If I’m going after Lorenzo DeLuca, I need to know more about his family.
* * *
Scarlett
I finish in the bath and send an obviously upset Sofia back downstairs to get me a drink. I need a moment to calm my thoughts, which have been all over the place since we stepped back into the house. Sofia’s fawning hasn’t given me a moment to do that.
I rack my brain and try to figure out exactly what Luis would have done in this situation. What he might have done if he made it home from the deal that had gone wrong.
I knew.
Hell, if I didn’t know exactly what he would have done.
This is my family, and partner or not I have to protect it. To do that I have to go into the city. Make my presence known to anyone who may be there. It needs to be something big, something with a lot of people. They have to see we aren’t scared.
I pick up my phone and log into social media. The best place to find large events when you haven’t be directly invited to one.
It only takes a few swipes of my finger to find a Fish Fry at the Italian Club in Queens.
What better way to show everyone that I don’t scare so easily than to walk into the enemies’ territory for dinner.
I stand from the bed and walk to the closet. My side protests the movements. I ignore it and keep going. Better to practice hiding the pain in my side now rather than later. Can’t let them see that they got to me.
The first dress I try on is too tight, pushing the wrap farther into my ribs. Something with a low belt should do the trick. A blue knee length in the back of the closet catches my eye. It’s the same one I wore the day I learned of Luis’s death. I hold the sleeve of the fabric in my hands for a moment before I tug it off the hanger.
There’s no time to dwell on what outfit I wore when. Right now, if I don’t look my best, I lose. With half my clothes still in the suitcase I brought from my old room, I can’t bother looking for something else.
I drop the white robe to the floor and slip on the dress, careful to keep the fabric away from my ribs as it glides down my body.
Belt tied, I look in mirror. The slight puff to the bottom, near the belt is the perfect way to hide the bandages around my ribs.
Next, I have to focus on the scratches and light bruising on my face. I move over to my vanity and take a seat.
It takes me a little longer than normal to cover everything and complete my normal makeup routine, but in the end I’m happy with the way it looks.
After brushing my hair, I head downstairs in search of Nico.
I haven’t seen him since he stormed out of my room. Asshole can make any woman crazy. And if we weren’t in the circumstances that we are, I would leave him to rot in the office all night. It just isn’t an option.
Without knocking, I push the door open. Nico is sitting behind the computer, staring at the screen.
“We’re going to dinner,” I announce and his heads snaps up to look at me.
