Chapter 70

LUCA

"Maybe there's another way, Luca.”

I glanced up from my phone to see Enzo watching me in the rearview mirror, his sunglasses on the dash. We were on our way to see my father. I'd left Tristan at the house to keep an eye on Veda. "Another way for what?"

"Another way to get revenge on Mario that doesn’t involve an innocent woman.”

"You should be watching the road," I told him, dismissing his concerns. I was growing tired of this conversation.

“Luca."

With a heavy sigh, I set aside my phone and the article I'd been reading. "There are many other ways I could be dealing with Mario. But none will bring me so much pleasure as to watch the sheer horror on his face when he realizes I'm about to kill the woman he thinks I took from him."

"Except she's not Nicole Calbert. She's Veda."

He said nothing more. He didn't have to. "You're getting soft, Enzo. Maybe I shouldn’t have let you spend so much time with her.”

"That's bullshit, and you know it."

We came up to a light, and he stopped the car. Our eyes clashed in the rearview mirror. I met his glare without flinching.

"You care about her," he told me. "More than care about her. And don’t try to fucking deny it because I know you, Luca. And you're just gonna stick a bullet in her head?"

"Yes," I said without hesitation.

The light turned green, but he didn't go until the car behind us honked their horn. With a curse, he checked his mirrors and stepped on the gas. "There's gotta be another way."

"You think Mario shouldn't get what's coming to him?" I asked in genuine curiosity. "That he shouldn't pay for making a fool out of me in front of our family? For taking away one of the few people in my life I ever dared to care about?"

"I didn't say that."

"Then what exactly are you saying, Enzo?"

"I'm saying she shouldn't have to die for our sick little games. That's all. That maybe, just maybe, there's another way."

"And then what?" I cocked my head to the side. "What the fuck do we do with her then? We can't let her go. She knows too much about us."

"We keep her."

I barked out a laugh, but it was an ugly sound. "We can't keep her."

"Why not?"

"Because she is the one thing that makes me weak," I admitted quietly.

Enzo stared straight ahead. If he felt validated in any way that I’d admitted it out loud, he didn’t show it. And he didn't bring up the subject again. There was no point. There was no place for weakness in the type of life I led. He knew this as well as I.

My cell phone vibrated on the seat beside me. It was Tristan. When I looked up, I found Enzo watching me, one eyebrow lifted in question. "That was

Tristan," I told him. "We have a lead on Mario’s exact whereabouts."

Enzo's eyes dropped back to the road. After a moment, he nodded and slid his sunglasses back on. Nothing more was said by either of us as we turned onto my father’s road and went through his security detail.

We were personally greeted by my father at the door of his Texas residence when we arrived. He’d bought the house shortly after I’d moved here, so he’d have a place to stay on his frequent visits. It was only a slightly smaller version of the isolated mansion he owned up north. “Luca! My son! It's about damn time." Grabbing my face in both hands, he kissed each cheek in turn. Then did the same to Enzo. "Enzo, how are you, boy?"

Enzo removed his sunglasses and slid them into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. “I’m good, sir. Thank you."

"Come in! Come in! Linda made pasta."

My father's latest whore came out of the kitchen right on cue, wiping her hands on a towel. Her brassy hair was piled on top of her head, and she wore the usual thick layer of makeup on her face that made her look ten years older than she was, but at least she wore clothes that decently covered her this time, even if the tight pants and top appeared to be two sizes too small. With the allowance my father paid her to stay with him, you would think she could afford to class herself up a bit.

"It's almost ready!" she said with a smile. "Would anyone like a drink?"

"I can get our drinks," my father told her. "Get your ass back in the kitchen. I'm fucking starving. And don't burn the garlic bread this time!" he yelled after her as she skittered away, the smile plastered to her face far less genuine than when she first came out.

"Wine? Or whiskey?" my father asked.

"Whiskey," I told him.

After inviting Enzo to stay and drink, we followed him into the den. Like the rest of his home decor, this room was old-school mafia, all dark wood and red furniture with priceless paintings and collector’s items decorating the walls and bookshelves. If anyone ever had the balls to break in here, they'd be set for life, if they managed to live long enough to enjoy it.

"I heard some shit went down at your uncle's birthday between you and Gio. I'm sorry I missed it. My gout was acting up and I couldn’t travel." Handing Enzo and me our drinks, he walked back over to the side table to get his and then took a seat in his favorite chair, leaving us the loveseat.

Gout, my ass. The only thing this man suffered from was an aversion to his younger brother. "I should've shot him," I said. "He was being an ass. And I honestly don't think anyone would miss him. Not even his mother."

"He attacked a woman in the bathroom," Enzo filled in. "Luca's woman, to be precise."

"She's not my woman," I corrected him. "She's my revenge. And I can't afford to lose her before we can draw out Mario."

"My mistake," Enzo told me, raising his glass in apology. But I didn't miss the smirk he made no attempt to hide before he took a drink.

I narrowed my eyes at him but didn't remark on it. Turning back to my father, I said, "What Enzo said is true, though. And Gio doesn't know anything except that she's the woman I'm currently involved with. He pulled her into the men's room and touched her inappropriately. But she gave back as good as she got and managed to get away from him right as I found them." Something warmed my chest as I said it. A sense of pride, perhaps.

"Where are we with your plan?" my father asked. "How close are you to finding Mario?"

"I received a message from Tristan while we were on our way over here," I told him. "He has a lead. Mario will be back in the city this weekend from wherever he's been hiding. I told him to let me know as soon as he knows more."

"And you're absolutely positive your pain in the ass brother has no idea his fiancée is actually dead. Because if you walk into another trap, Luca, it'll be you who's dead. Your brother won't miss a second time."

It surprised me to see a flicker of concern cross my father's face before it was once again hidden by the unfeeling mask I'd known my entire life. "Rene took care of that mess personally. As you know, he's very thorough. I trust him completely. He wants justice for his sister just as much as I do."

He nodded, but I got the feeling he wasn’t satisfied with my answer.

“Even if he put a bullet in Nicole himself, hearing that she’s suddenly risen from the dead will be enough to bring him out of hiding. He won’t be able to resist seeing it for himself. All I need is a face to face.”

My father leaned back in his chair. “And you’ll get it. Mario called me right before you arrived. He wants to meet with me.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw his snitching ass and the answer was no. However, after I let him snivel for a bit, I agreed to send one of my men to hear what he had to say.” He eyed me over the rim of his glass. “You will be that man.”

I held myself perfectly still, not one shred of the myriad of emotion I felt showing on my face. “Just let me know when and where.”

Linda called us in to dinner then, and we changed our conversation to less important matters. My father liked to fuck her, but he didn't trust her, which was smart. Women like Linda were only loyal to whoever threw the most money at them. Right now, it was my father, but that could change at any given moment.

After dinner, we had another drink and wrapped up our business. Shortly after, Enzo and I made our excuses and left. It didn't surprise me at all that my father hadn't asked about the gunshot in my shoulder or how I was healing. Perhaps when I was dead, he would shed a tear over my grave. Until then, I was nothing more than his underboss, a position I held onto by the skin of my teeth until I could earn back the respect of the family.

"So, the plan worked," Enzo said once we were back on the road. “Your brother is coming home.”

"I never had any doubt."

"Who do you think is feeding the information to Mario?"

"It could be anyone," I told him. "I took her out in public twice. Anyone could have seen us. Hell, Enzo, I was shot after the first time I took her downtown."

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"What are you trying to get at here?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "I was hoping we could find a reason to nail your cousin as a snitch." "Gio?" I asked.

"Yeah. The asshole."

Immediately, I shook my head. "Nah. He's no snitch. An asshole with a limited lifespan if he keeps acting the way he does, yes. But not a snitch."

"I'd just feel better if we knew who it was that was relaying info to Mario, starting with the day he barged into your deal with the cartel."

That was a good question, wasn't it?

Tristan met us at the door when we arrived back at the lake house.

“We’ve got him,” I told him.

“Mario?”

I nodded and filled him in on what we’d discussed with my father. “He has a meeting in four days where he thinks he’s meeting with our father, but instead, he’ll be meeting with one of his men.”

He smiled. "You."

“And ‘Nicole’.”

Tristan exchanged a glance with Enzo. “Ok, then.”

Four days. I had four days left with Veda. Four days before I could wipe the smile off my brother’s face with a bullet.

I heard a noise above us and looked up to find Veda hastily rising to her feet, her long hair pulled back and a book in her hand. "Let's take this into the office," I told them, dragging my eyes away from her white face.

I cursed under my breath as we relocated to my office, where I began to pace. I took a deep breath. I couldn't let my...attachment to Veda fuck with me. Not now. This had to be done. My life and the life of my friends hung in the balance. I leaned back against my desk. "Okay. Let's go over the plan."

I’d left the door open, half expecting her to follow us, to try to stop me, to give me a reason not to do this. One I couldn’t argue my way out of.

But she never appeared.