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His warning filled me with fear.
I fuckingfearedhim!
For once, I felt paralyzing dread, the chilling spite of his words, and the promise he didn’t elaborate if I went against them. This time, his merciless brown eyes cut through me savagely and inhumanely as he clearly threatened. Seeing the diabolical beast of the man who everyone feared, I understood it.
With his shackling hand wrapped around my throat, and even while I couldn’t hide my shaking chest, or the trembles on my fingers, I pulled my push dagger out, and placed it under his jaw.
“Get your hand off me.” I seethed.
Lucca’s head tilted down to touch the sharp edge that threatened him. Ignoring the blade, his cruel gaze watched me with disgust.
He let go, and I gasped without removing my blade.
“Andrea is whose ring you bear,piccola.”
My arms failed, my heart broke, and I froze.
Andrea was his mother.
Lucca gave me his mother’s ring.
XXIX
LUCCA
Salvatore refusedto speak to me and returned to Mrs. Greco for the nightly coffee hour. His disappointment and words followed me everywhere.“Will she die by your hands?”While I hadn’t believed she would, that day spoke otherwise.
“Leave your bike and come with me,” I ordered Arlo as I passed him.
“Where are we going?” He spun and followed me until he jumped into my car.
I shut the door. “Dress shopping.”
His head snapped, and I ignored the questions and loathing aimed at me.
“We leave in an hour,” he said, confused, as if I had forgotten the plansI’dmade.
But because of those plans, I was searching for her. I put the car in drive and left my restaurant, Gusto’s, in the rearview mirror.
Things between Katia and I had spoiled into hatred. I could see its haze in the short time her eyes locked on to mine. So much sparked around them, but revulsion was its master.
Whether I cared or not wasn’t the problem. Because during those days, I used my time to hunt Tino. And while I convinced myself it was for the best, a thin needle pricked with annoyance by seeing her so distant. Lost.
But the knowledge that I had broken the same promise I once vowed to never repeat kept me away from her. I was outraged at breaking my honor. She now made me question my own vow. My word.
I focused on work, the famiglia, and the meeting I would soon face. But, after not speaking one word to each other for days, and her indifference to seeking out my body at night, this wasn’t what I wanted to return to.
We were to be wed in less than two weeks, and I had a fucking syndicate to burn. I shouldn't be concerned about her delusional feelings. She had tossed and turned each night, and even though she’d admitted to being fine after killing a man, her sleepless nights had kept me up. When dawn had arrived, I left her by the edge of the mattress as if I hadn't struggled to see her helpless, fighting me even in her sleep.
The door bells chimed at my entrance, and Viktor smiled knowingly with crossed arms at the corner.
“My God, there’s so much white in here,” Arlo uttered repulsively as he scanned the shop.
There was, as well as lace and tulle.
Mrs. Greco asked if Katia had chosen a dress or if she needed to look for one. I’d told her I would take care of it, and that same afternoon I reserved a private appointment with just the owner for Katia. Then I’d told Ilias to ask Davina to accompany her, giving him the name and time before moving on.
Katia hadn’t involved herself with any wedding preparations, but I knew what she wanted, so I’d made it meet her expectations and desires. She might not see it as a celebration or a promise before God, but damn if I ruined the one thing little girls dream of. Did she dream of her wedding day? Had it been for love? Had it been to a killer?
