Surprise rattles me, and I am aware my expression is not hiding it. “You want me to stop the wedding?”
“I want my sister as far away from August St. Jean as humanly possible. Do I want her with a Lucchetti? Absolutely not. But I want her to be happy. Am I confident that you’re theonly person who can stop this wedding? There isn’t a shroud of doubt in my mind.”
“Why put so much confidence into a man you hate?”
“My father hated your uncle for a shady business deal that went down between them years ago. My life, my business, and my happiness have nothing to do with my father’s businesses nor do they have anything to do with your family.”
“Your sister said something similar to me once.”
“She’s a smart woman, which leads me to believe that you’re not shady like your uncle was.”
“My father wasn’t shady,” Enzo growls, coming around the corner. Sully and Nixon are on his heels.
Sully looks between me and Vinnie’s brother, then at Enzo. I can practically see the wheels in his head spinning as he assesses the situation at hand.
Lifting his palms in front of him, he says, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Gentlemen. I’m not sure what we just walked in on, but there’s no reason to be uncivil. We were just on our way to grab Sly and we’ll be heading out.” To further his point, Sully tips his head in the direction they just came from.
“Relax, amico. It seems as though Luciano is interested in forming a partnership,” I tell my friend.
From my peripheral, I see Nixon on high alert, looking Luciano up and down.
“We’re notpartneringwith aPaladino,” Enzo seethes through clenched teeth.
I walk over to him, placing my hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, cugino.”
“Yes, calm down, Lorenzo,” Luciano prods, his smirk widening. “IwantLucchetti to stop the wedding, and I will do whatever he needs help with. No part of me wants my sister to marry that asshole. The more I look into him, the more sick it makes me that she’s even had to endure him for this long.”
“I have tried many times to convince her to call it off…”
His eyes snap to mine. “Of course she’s not going to call it off.You’rethe reason she’s even so hell-bent on going through with it.”
Immediately, I feel the blood drain from my face, my features drooping in combination of shock and horror. “What do you mean,I’mthe reason?”
Sighing deeply as though he’s bored, he crosses his arms over his chest. “I thought Lucchetti men were intelligent—surgeons run in your family.”
Closing my eyes, I feel my hands ball into fists. My jaw pops with how hard I’m clenching my teeth. “What. Do. You. Mean. I’m. The. Reason,” I repeat, enunciating every word.
“August is blackmailing her into marrying him by threatening to kill you.”
The group grows so quiet you could hear a pin drop. For several seconds, all I can do is study Luciano to determine if he is lying.
Finally, Sully laughs boisterously. “There’s no way.”
Luciano runs his hand over his freshly shaven face. “It’s what my sister believes.” He tips his chin in my direction. “When she told me about the situation, I tried to tell her there was no way August would be able to pull something like that off—the Paladinos have way more influence in this city—but she was so convinced he would, she refused to believe my words.”
“Why did you not come to me immediately?” I ask, my stomach twisting from the weight of this revelation.
“She never told me who the man she fell in love with was, just that August had threatened to kill him. I didn’t know it wasyouuntil you stepped out of her hotel room. I came to try and convince her again to call it off, but then I heard noises I hope to never hear from my sister again, and took a walk before comingback to see if I could speak to her. Your timing was impeccable when I made it back to her door.”
“You told me you were here to talk to me.”
“Indirectly. I was here to talk to her, but seeing you presented an entirely different opportunity. Now, we are on borrowed time as it is. Are we going to come up with a plan to stop this wedding or not?”
“We already have a plan,” Sully states, and immediately Enzo barks, “Sully,” in warning.
From behind me, Nixon finally speaks up. “I trust him.”
Looking over my shoulder, his eyes connect with mine. Nixon has a knack for knowing when people are lying or using certain situations to their advantage. Him saying he trusts Luciano’s word is not something to take lightly.
