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The punishing grip left my bicep and I turned, ignoring the man as though he were nothing more than trash. Luca grabbed my arm and pulled me along behind him.
Chapter 34
Havoc
Luca dragged me down a secluded hallway. He glanced around to make sure we were alone before he faced me. “What were you doing talking to Raul Guzman?” he asked, searching my face.
I couldn’t contain the gasp that erupted from my chest. That was the man who’d ordered the attack on Maria and had my family killed? Fury swept through me. Luca grabbed my arm in a punishing grip as I started to move past him. I wanted to go back out there and kill Raul. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have my knife, a gun, or any weapon. I’d use my fucking heel if I had to.
Before either of us could snarl at each other, Nico found us. He ripped me out of Luca’s hands and pulled me up against his body. He was furious. Well, that made two of us.
“Did he touch you?”
I knew he meant Raul. I didn’t know how he’d seen me speaking with the man, since I’d been in the shadows. It shouldn’t have surprised me, though. He always seemed to know what was going on. “He just grabbed my arm. Did you know he was going to be here tonight?” A heads up would’ve been nice.
Nico shook his head and released me. “No, Tristano claims he didn’t invite him. He’s having him escorted out.” Nico met Luca’s gaze and something passed between them. Wordlessly, Luca turned and left.
“Where’s he going?”
“To help Trist make sure Raul leaves.”
“What’s going on,” I asked, suddenly exhausted.
“Tristano’s family—the family hosting this party—and the Guzmans have been enemies for a long time. I wouldn’t have brought you tonight if I thought he’d show up here,” he explained.
“Why don’t we just go kill him,” I asked him. A sense of urgency was digging at me. We could finish this now, the two of us.
Nico shook his head again. “No. We are in Madame Tomaselli's home.” His eyes bored into mine. “She has one rule. No one will kill anyone at one of her events. There are many rivals here tonight and yet we all meet under the guise of civility.”
“Why would anyone follow that rule?” I asked in disbelief. If this place was filled with men and women like Nico—mafia, cartel, and the like—and most of them hated each other, it made no sense that someone wouldn’t use this as a place to exact revenge.
Nico gave me a wry smile. “No one crosses Tristano’s grandmother. She’s ruthless and one of the most dangerous women in New York City.”
All of my emotions were flooding my system and I was about to say fuck the consequences and go find Raul anyway. Nico must’ve been able to read the expression on my face because he grabbed my hand—threading our fingers together—and took off down the hall. I had to trot—not easy to do in my heels—to keep up with him. He pushed open the first door we came to and pulled me into a library.
It was so dark in the room I couldn’t see much, even with the soft moon light shining in through the window. I was tired of being in the dark. We’d been getting closer over the last week, but he only gave me so much. Between my guilt and his distance, we had no hope of continuing on this way. Putting Raul out of my mind for the time being I seized onto the other thoughts that had been bubbling,boiling, at the surface.
I jerked my arm out of his grasp and side stepped when he moved toward me. He just arched a brow at me and closed the door at my back. Folding my arms over my chest, I glared at him. “What are we doing here, Nico?” I asked in aggravation.
“Business.”
I snorted derisively and threw up my hands. His eyes narrowed on me.
“You kidnapped me, kept me in your home, insisted I make a deal with you that would keep me by your side forever… What is it you really want? Because it can’t possibly be me.”
He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. I was on a roll. “Because if it’s me you want, then you should realize that keeping me locked up in your house and showering me with gifts isn’t the way.” I’d been wanting to have this talk with him. I’d meant to do it when I wasn’t fuming, but it was bursting out of me now—in the moment. It probably wasn’t the best moment, but that wasn’t unusual for me. “I appreciate the gifts, the money—although it isn’t necessary. What I want…”
“What? What is it that you want?”
I sucked in a breath. There was no going back after this. His eyes were intense, dark pools, watching me like I was prey. “You. I want you. If we have any hope of making this work, long-term, I need to be a part of this.” I waved my hand around the room.
“You want to be a part of my businesses?”
I’d been thinking this over. Being a former cop, the idea of becoming a part of the mafia lifestyle should horrify me. Then again, so should murdering people. I wasn’t a cop anymore. I was a woman who was in a relationship with a Mafia Don. I had to run that through my head a second time to fully grasp it.I really was in a relationship, with a fucking Mafia Don.For my own sanity, I needed to know what was going on and get on equal ground with him.
I nodded at his question. “I’ll help you in any way you want. Once my list is gone… There’s no going back. I’m a part of this life, your life now. I can’t sit in your home for the rest of my life learning to...knit, or whatever. It’ll drive me crazy. If I work with you, we both get benefits. You get to keep tabs on me and I have something meaningful to do.”
He gave me a considering look. “You’d be able to handle the work I do?”
