My being around Luca and turning to him first had made Stefano insecure in our relationship. And he had every reason to be upset, more so than he even knew because Stefano had no idea that Luca and I had slept together.

  Stefano didn’t do anything to deserve being made to feel less than and he certainly didn’t deserve my dishonesty. He’d done nothing but be there for me whenever I needed him. Did I love him? It was too early to tell, but he was a good man, and I did enjoy our time together. I loved Luca, but we had no future so I had to make a choice, choose a man who could make me happy, who made me a priority, or throw it all away obsessing over something that would never be.

  I knew what I had to do. And as Stefano lay behind me, his arm around my waist as he held me to him, I made a decision. I had to let Luca go. I needed to make more of an effort with Stefano and do my best to stay away from Luca, at least for a little while until our feelings had a chance to fade. Once I had a clear path forward, it wouldn’t be so hard to be around him and hopefully restore our friendship since that was how we started off anyway.

  I made the decision, but I still couldn’t seem to find the peace I needed to drift off to sleep.

  Chapter 15

  Luca

  Mira was avoiding me. It’d been weeks since she called me from the club to come and save her. She didn’t call her brothers, or that bastard Stefano. She called me.

  Maybe that didn’t mean anything. Maybe I was the easiest number to get to, or maybe she figured as head enforcer, I was the one to handle that, but I didn’t believe any of those maybes. She’d called me because she wanted me to come to save her. Because she knew that I would. Because I’d always protect her no matter what.

  Could she be avoiding me because of what I’d done in killing those men? I’d only done it to protect her and other women like her who could wind up as their next target. Could she be afraid of me, knowing what I was capable of? No. Mira knew who I was and what I’d done long ago. She knew what being an enforcer for the mafia meant. She wasn’t some naive girl, she was mafia royalty.

  So, then why was she avoiding me? My question would have to wait. It’d been two months since I eliminated her attackers. I climbed onto the jet, heading to Milan to execute the last part of my revenge for Mira. I’d had to wait for the heat to die down from the three men I’d killed before going after my next three targets—Those bitches who drugged Mira and passed her off to those men like a party favor.

  They were women, so I couldn’t do to them what they truly deserved, but I would be sure to teach them a lesson all the same. Hurting the men in their families wouldn’t do the trick. They were too self-centered to care about anything but themselves.

  Since I couldn’t actually hurt them, I had to get creative with a way to teach them a lesson and I’d orchestrate one they would never forget.

  I'd found out from one of my men that Giulietta and her lackies were on a shopping trip to Milan. That worked out perfectly since they wouldn't be in Venturi territory, but it wasn't a city we were unwelcome in either. Plus, a big city like that made it easier for me and my guys to blend in.

  Once the plane landed, the six of us grabbed our bags and flooded onto the tarmac and into the two waiting SUVs. We only had a few hours to set up our safe house and it would take every moment we had to prepare.

  We were just putting the final touches on the converted basement when my phone rang. “Ciao?”

  “Ciao, boss.” It was one of the guys I’d sent to track the girls when we first arrived. “I’ve still got eyes on the girls leaving the last shop of the evening, but I overheard them making plans to go out for a late dinner before they head back to their hotel. It’s only a couple of blocks from the restaurant and they weren’t driving so—”

  “They’ll probably choose to walk back which will create the perfect opportunity to grab them. Keep an eye on them but be careful that you aren’t discovered. I’ll send some guys to help.”

  I hung up the phone and turned to my men. “You three go help snatch the girls before we lose our window. Wear your masks. We don't want anyone to be able to id us later. I’ll stay here with Sal and put the final touches on our new digs.”

  “Should we take both vehicles?”

  “Two SUVs would bring more attention. I don’t think the girls will mind being crowded in the back and if they do, even better.”

  The men chuckled before giving me a nod and heading out.

  We finished lining the floor with random scraps of carpet to make the basement appear more disheveled.

  "Make sure you double check those brackets." I motioned toward the five large dog kennels secured to the concrete floor and walls that would serve as the girls' cells.

  "You got it. Why are there five cages? They're only grabbing three girls, right?"

  "We don't want it to look like this place was set up with them in mind. We want them to think that there had been other girls here, that they weren't specifically targeted but that it was just a random act of opportunity."

  "Makes sense. Now I see why you're the boss," Sal teased but sounded legitimately impressed.

  There was a click of a lock unlocking before the basement door creaked open.

  "You guys ready? We're bringing in the girls."

  "Ready." I nodded to Sal and we both pulled down our ski masks just before the sound of shuffling feet started down the stairs followed by the fearful questions of our captives.

  "Who are you?"

  "What do you want from us?"

  "If it's money you want, my father is loaded. He'll pay anything to get me back unharmed." One particularly pretentious sounding girl said, and I knew at once that she had to be Giulietta.

  "Mettez-les dans les cellules," I commanded in French to better disguise myself from our captives.

  I stood back, watching as each hooded hostage was roughly tossed into a cell until one of the men brought in a fourth girl.

  "What the hell?" I whispered, grabbing his arm as he passed by. "There should have only been three."

  "There was a fourth with them. Figured it was better to take her than leave a witness."

  That complicated things a bit but chances were, if that girl was hanging out with that crowd, she could use a scared straight moment as well. I nodded to my man, and he shoved the fourth girl into a cell.

  "Follow the sound of my voice and move to the front of your cells, placing your bound hands through the bars so that we can cut the ropes free." I remembered to keep a French accent even while speaking to them in Italian.

  Each of the girls were bound at the wrists with twine, a sack over each of their heads. Even so, it wasn't too hard for them to navigate their small cells and soon each one had obeyed, except the one at the end.

  "Once your hands are cut free, you may remove your hood."

  I went one by one and cut their wrists free, each one eager to pull the sack from their head to see where they'd been brought.

  Each one gasped in horror, large eyes darting around the dirty basement that had no doors or windows and was dimly lit by exposed bulbs on each side.

  I finally made it to the last girl. I didn't want to harm an innocent girl, but I couldn't look weak if she chose to disobey.

  "You don't want to have the freedom to use your arms?"

  She was silent.

  "You don't care about being able to see your surroundings?"

  Still nothing.

  I struck the cage, making a loud rattle and she jumped.

  "You're only going to make this harder on yourself. You think it bothers me if you stay bound with a hood over your head until I’m ready for you?" I warned in a sinister tone, and she reluctantly felt her way to the front of the cage.

  I cut the ropes free a little rougher than I had been with the others, and she lifted the sack from her head, looking up at me with wide, familiar brown eyes.

  Mira.

  "What the—" One of my men started but I shook my head, looking around in warning to tell him not to respond.

  "You're going to be a little troublemaker, aren't you?" I said bitterly to Mira before turning back to my men. "I think I'm going to need a little alone time with this one first, to make sure she knows who's in charge here."

  My men chuckled, trying to hide their own confusion and I was glad that I'd reminded them to play along no matter what I said. We couldn't afford to break character even for a moment.

  I unlocked Mira's cage and even as I reached in and roughly grabbed her from her cell, she didn't look scared. She looked angry. That was my Mira. Fierce and brave always.

  I dragged her by the arm into the small storage room off of the main open basement. The moment the door shut her bravery melted away..

  "Look, I don't want any trouble, but I think there's been a mistake. You don't know who my family is or I'm sure you wouldn't have done this."

  "Oh, I know exactly who your family is, Mira.” I spoke in my normal voice without an accent as I pulled my mask off over my head.

  Mira looked shocked before her surprise shifted into rage.

  “What the hell is this?” She hissed. “What kind of game are you playing here, Luca?”

  “This is far from a game, and I would encourage you to keep your voice down,” I growled at her, taking a step closer and pinning her against the concrete wall.

  Fear washed over her face for a moment before it was gone again. “Then tell me what this is.”

  I ignored her demands. “You've been avoiding me.”

  “And so, this is your way of getting my attention? I ignore you and you kidnap me and my friends?”

  I scoffed. “Those girls are hardly your friends. What the hell are you doing with them anyway?”

  “You tell me what you're doing abducting us first.”

  “The plan was to abduct the three of them, let them fear for their lives, for their safety. Let them think that they're going to be sold off and trafficked, maybe even drugged. I want to teach them a lesson about what true fear really is. I want to make them feel just a little bit of the terror I know you felt when they abandoned you to those men in the club.” While my voice had started out calm, almost matter-of-fact, the more I thought about what those girls had done to Mira, the more I wanted them terrified for their lives before letting them go and it reflected in the tone of my voice.

  “You're doing this for me?”

  “I'm doing this for anyone that they might decide to do this to but yes, mainly I'm doing it for you because no one should ever harm you in any way. Don’t you see, Mira? I will always look out for you. Now tell me what you're doing out with these psychotic bitches.”

  “I told Stefano what they did but he said that it had to be a misunderstanding.”

  “A missunder—”

  “He explained that Giulietta would never do what I was accusing her of and admitted that they sometimes got a little wild. He’s sure that it was a misunderstanding. That they thought I knew the drinks were laced. They said they were sorry for not being sure that I was cool with it and wanted to make amends.”

  “Tell me you don't believe that load of bullshit?” I seethed at the excuses the man who claimed to care about Mira was making for these other women who treated her so terribly.

  Mira looked offended. “Of course not! But Stefano does, so I agreed to this shopping trip in hopes of recording a confession from Giulietta. I want concrete evidence that she knew exactly what she was doing so Stefano will know what kind of woman she really is.”

  “That was dangerous considering what happened last time, and this time you take off to another city with them? That was more than reckless, that was stupid.”

  “I know what they're capable of now and I know how to protect myself. Does Teo know that you're doing this? This could be a nightmare for the alliance with Stefano's father.”

  “He knows that I had something planned but it was better to give him plausible deniability about the details. He told me to do what I needed to do. Although, I'm sure he wasn't expecting me to kidnap his kid sister in the process.

  I'm protecting Teo by not letting him know the details but that also means that the girls can’t know that we’re Venturi men. We've gone to great lengths to make sure that they don't suspect your family. We're speaking French, wearing masks...”

  “And what's your game plan here? You're planning on trafficking these girls to teach them a lesson?”

  “Of course not. You know me better than that. I'm only going to let them think that they're going to be trafficked before accidentally letting them escape. They'll go home thinking that they barely made it out and hopefully they'll think twice before putting a woman through anything like they put you through.”

  “You're crazy.”

  “Only when it comes to the people I care about. In a few minutes I need to take you back out there. I can't let you go free, or they would be suspicious. I need you to continue to act scared or however you would act in a situation like this, just try to act natural. But until then, can I get you something? Some water, food?”

  “No. I'm fine.” Mira still sounded a little annoyed, but her anger had faded.

  “Good.” I lowered my voice and softened it as I leaned in a little closer. “Then you can tell me why you've been avoiding me.”

  “Because being around you isn’t good for my relationship with Stefano, not while there's still this tension between us that he can pick up on.”

  “So, he's jealous and he told you not to see me anymore,” I stated bluntly.

  “No. He said no such thing. This was my decision, and it's not that we can never see each other again. I just need some space until everything between us isn’t so new.”

  “I see, but Stefano isn’t right for you.”

  “And who is? You?” Her voice sounded like venom.

  “Yes, me. I can talk to Teo. He's my friend. He's your brother. He will want us both to be happy.”

  “That’s what I tried to explain before, but you said that you could never...” Mira looked truly upset and she turned her gaze from me.

  I lightly gripped her jaw and turned her face back toward mine. “I know what I said. And I'll always be loyal to your family, but I can't hide the way I feel for you. I want to be with you and it's worth at least having a conversation with Teo to see if he would be open to us dating, not sneaking around, really dating.”

  “We can't.” She yanked her face from my grasp, but I forced Mira to look at me. Her eyes glistened with unshed tears.

  “Why not? Isn’t that what you wanted? Because I know it's what I want. I know that I took a long time to get around to this but you're what I want. I realize that I'm not worthy of you, but I promise that I will work every day to make myself a man worthy of being with you.”

  “We can't be together.”

  “Because of Stefano? I know you don't love him. There's no way you could.”

  “It doesn't matter. I'm going to be with Stefano.”

  My expression darkened as I leaned in close. “Fuck this. I'm done playing the cordial gentleman. You are mine. You've always been mine and you always will be. You go ahead and get this little prick out of your system. I'm a patient man. I'll wait...for a while but eventually you will be with me. Even if you marry that bastard, if I have to sneak into your honeymoon suite and make you a widow on your wedding night, you will be mine.”

  “Luca, stop.”

  “Just tell me why,” I demanded. “Because your father and his father sat together and talked out a good beneficial business arrangement? That's archaic and you would usually be the first to point that out, so what's changed? Why are you so willing to be with a man that you don't love instead of a man that I know you do?” My anger was getting the best of me, and I was starting to let it show.

  “Because” Mira paused, taking a deep breath. “I'm pregnant.”

  The news was like a sucker punch straight to the gut. All the air was knocked out of my lungs, and it felt like I’d never be able to suck in another breath. I released her immediately and took a step back, completely speechless as I just stared at her, searching for something to say and waiting for my brain to reconnect to my mouth.

  “Pregnant?” I didn’t mean for the one word to hold so much disdain, but it dripped from my lips like bitter poison. “You’re pregnant with his baby?”

  “Yes.” Mira hissed in an angry whisper. “So, are you done with your questions and useless declarations?”

  “Yeah,” I said numbly, sliding my mask back down over my face. “I’m done, alright. Now let’s get you back in that cell.”

 

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