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Screamed because it didn’t matter how hard I tried, I was powerless.
Screamed in failure.
Then I stopped, stared ahead, composed myself, and grazed the pads of my fingers across the weapons I had managed to conceal. There were only two, my favorite push dagger on my leg, and a thin stinger-knife hidden in my hair. Custom made to be fixed into my hair roots with a loop at the end. It was my last toy bought in Italy and I hadn’t had the chance to play with it. At least tonight, I had it with me.
The passenger door opened and closed. Quickly, his scent infiltrated the cabin, and I faced the window. There was nothing for me to say, so I allowed the quiet to stall, and my eyes wandered to the side mirror. As expected, SUVs followed, and the gates closed behind our tail. As we rolled out on the long road that led out of his private property, streetlights cast through our wake. When we passed one that flickered and another that was busted, he took a long, annoyed deep breath.
What was it with him and streetlamps?
Maybe one day, I could bust each one that trailed down his grand fortress. Maybe then I could get a pure reaction from him.
“I don’t trust your father. Hence the reason I needed a date for our wedding.” Lucca shook the silence. “And I don’t trustyou,” he sliced. Lucca’s words continued cruelly. “I found the first dead body in the alley of Pecattos. One of my clubs. I didn’t think much about it, it’s Miami. The second, though, was deliberately tossed by one of my abandoned warehouses. Only a Cosa Nostra member would know I own it.”
I didn’t dare interrupt him, too scared to stop the truth from flowing.
“I took care of those who carried out the killing. Amateurs, outsiders. That’s when I obtained the picture. Borelli was going after what he’d admired from afar for so long. The one person who was promised to him, and the one who was taken from him. You.”
I clutched the seat belt, nails scratching the smooth strap closer.
“I’ve stood my ground and attacked when the right opportunities crossed to the point that not much was left to destroy, and while New York had many casualties, it has turned your fatherdesperate. Without Enzo on his seat, I don’t see this treaty lasting long even after our marriage.” I felt his gaze. “It wasn’t meant to last anyway.”
What did he mean by that?
“But yesterday, five more bodies were found throughout the night.”
“I fail to see how those connect,” I murmured.
Lucca’s long pause sealed my dread.
“They were all similar versions of you.”
My heart broke for those lives, and I felt a change that approached with eerie calm. As if the grain I’d held on to for far too long had been picked. It was so small, yet so valuable to keep for so long. And I accepted the hostile takeover. Hope was for the weak.
“Why are you telling me this now?”
“Like you said, you won’t do me any good dead.”
Leaveit to the rich and arrogant to party for the unfortunate and call it compassion, rolling in cars that could build shelters, and wearing clothes that could warm hundreds and smiles that never faltered by the amount of filler spent on faces instead of filling bellies.
I roamed around them like a hypocrite in my dark-forest-green dress, secretly imagining who they would be without their money.
If they truly wanted to help stop hunger in America, and not just use this charity as a tax writeoff, they could use their money to assure it was spent correctly. But they didn’t, because they never truly cared.
“Smile,” Lucca whispered into my ear as groups of men and couples nodded his way.
His embrace seemed private to lingering eyes as he played the part of dangerous mogul and doting fiancé. I inched away, laughing as if he’d said something hilarious.
Lucca’s eyes narrowed.
I smirked.
As we strutted around, between handshakes, he asked me, “Are you having bridesmaids?”
I hadn’t given much thought to our wedding planning, hadn’t even cared to ask Mrs. Greco or Talia if they needed help. This marriage wasn’t out of love, much less a celebration of two people wishing to spend the rest of their time together. It was arranged. A simple contract that tied promises and power. I was treating it as such. A business deal I had no interest in meddling in between. But now that I understood the severity of what was at stake, I couldn’t push it away anymore. I would happily help with the sole purpose of remaining away from my father. At least with this heartless demon, I felt attraction. I knew this devil and understood him. I was more afraid of the unknown.Call it a win.
But one thing I was certain of, Mrs. Greco’s daughter was not making my dress, and I would walk down the aisle until meeting Lucca’s monster at the altar.
But it was only a few weeks away, and I needed a dress.
