“We’ll handle it.” Adriano nods at him.
“Great meeting you!” Lucy chirps before she’s led out the door and into the afternoon.
I watch them go with a sinking feeling.
A part of me thinks they’re the last visitors I’m going to have for a while.
“She’s good people,” Luca comments as I turn back into the house. “You can trust her.”
“Trust her more than I can trust you?” I move past him and head up the stairs. “I’m going to take a nap.”
“Take it in our room. No more guest bed.”
I pause and look back over my shoulder. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“I want you close.”
“And that’s a little too close.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re my responsibility, which means I’m going to do whatever it takes to make sure not a single hair on that pretty fucking head of yours gets bent out of shape.”
“Screw you, Luca. I think you just like being a controlling prick.”
“It doesn’t matter what you think right now,” he calls after me. “So long as you’re safe. You can be as pissed as you want.”
Yeah, I can be pretty pissed; he’s right about that. There’s nothing I hate more in the world than feeling like I’m trapped.My skin crawls, and I feel like the floor is going to crush me up against the ceiling. My throat and mouth go dry, and I want to chug a gallon of water, even though I’m not really thirsty.
I head into the guestroom because screw that.
But I stop dead as soon as I step inside.
The bed’s been stripped, and the bare mattress is tipped onto its side on the floor. The skeleton of the frame stares back at me, almost like a joke.
That psycho prick.
I’m fuming as I stare at the mess.
Like hell this is going to be my life from now on.
Chapter 13
Luca
The depot’s busy on a Thursday morning.
There are two businesses happening at once. Mostly the trucks are making legitimate runs. My guys are actual drivers with real licenses and specific routes. We get hired to transport stuff like any other trucking company.
Except there’s the other side to what we do.
Those guys are legit too. They have all the proper paperwork and licensing requirements. Except their information is slightly less than legal, and their cargo would send their fucking asses straight to jail if they were ever caught. And each of my guys is paid a small fortune to ensure that they keep their mouths shut even if some uppity local cops find something they shouldn’t.
I like the morning chaos. I’d like it better if I had slept last night. I drink cheap black coffee and watch the legit guys get their routes from grizzled old Giorgio while the less-legit guys speak quietly with Enzo.
“What’s with the pissy look?” Stefano asks, leaning up against the wall beside me. His hands are stained black from working onone of the trucks. Not only is he my best muscle, he’s also a gifted mechanic.
“My wife is a pain in my ass.”
He snorts a laugh. “Aren’t they all?”
