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Chapter 8
ATLAS
I change into street clothes and pack a duffle before returning to Nuovi Inizi. I don't plan to return to the house tonight. Maybe not tomorrow either.
The service door is open when I arrive, and I can hear Lucia's soft tones talking with someone.
Someone who sounds like a man.
The presence of a delivery van near the back door does nothing to dampen the instant rage flooding my system.
Shoving the door all the way open, I step inside the club, but she's not in the hallway.
Her laughter sounds from an open doorway about ten feet along the corridor. My long legs eat up the distance in a couple of seconds.
This door smacks against the wall when I push it open.
Huh. Might have hit it a little hard.
Lucia jumps and spins to face me. "Atlas! I didn't know you were coming."
"I told you I would be back." I'm talking to her, but my eyes are fixed on the man who is standing way too close to my woman.
He takes a hasty step away from her and toward me, thinks better of that and shuffles to her other side. "I didn't know you were seeing someone."
"Is there a reason you thought she would tell you?" I ask in a tone I usually reserve for interrogating our enemies.
"What? No. We're friends, that's all." The guy swallows nervously.
Wonder what is stressing him out? Is it his imminent death he sees in my eyes?
"Are you friends? Or are you an inventory supplier for her club?"
He flinches at my tone. Huh. He's a pretty perceptive guy. He knows when he is in trouble. Too bad he's not as good at staying out of it to begin with.
Lucia lays a hand on my arm. "I thought you'd text before coming."
That small touch brings all my focus onto her. Big brown eyes blink up at me in confusion.
"Didn't think I needed to."
Her brows furrow and her pretty lips tilt down. "It's polite behavior to warn a friend before dropping in on them."
"You are not my friend," I bark.
She snatches her hand away and steps back, hurt darkening her eyes. "Fine. We aren't friends. You still could have texted to say you were on your way. I might have been gone."
I don't like the distance she's put between us, so I close it and pull her close. "You are not my friend. I don't fuck friends."
She gasps. "Atlas!"
She doesn't want Mr. Invading Her Personal Space to know we're lovers? Too bad.
"You aremine." I flick a glance to the other man to see if he gets the message.
He is looking at Lucia, not me. I revise my estimation of his smarts.
"Possessive much?" she teases, letting her body relax against mine.
