Captivated: A Mafia Romance (Carfano Crime Family Book 6)

~ Chapter 9 ~

Cassie

I tried to get my job back at Dark Horse yesterday despite Nico getting me fired, but I wasn’t even let inside. The two bouncers at the door stopped me and I waited for Sam to come out to tell me he couldn’t let me in under any circumstances. He did, however, pull me aside and reluctantly tell me that I should check out Pandemonium Gentleman’s Club for a job. He gave me their number and told me he’d call the manager there and put in a good word.

I miss lazy Sunday mornings, where the only decision I needed to make that day was where I was ordering dinner from and what show or movies I was going to binge.

Now, I’m waking up just as stressed as I was when I went to sleep, with my stomach in knots, scared I won’t have my brother here next weekend.

A hot shower loosens my sore muscles, and I lean against the tiled wall when I think of him and yesterday. I’ve never felt closer, yet still so far away from a person than I did yesterday.

He was just supposed to be some fun.

Before the night I met him, I was attempting the whole dating app thing. I was ready to try and find someone I could connect with and stave off the loneliness I was feeling, but it was a complete disaster. I went on an endless amount of first dates, and none of them ever amounted to anything past that.

Then I met Nico, and he’s been the only man I’ve wanted to spend more time with, and actually get to know on a deeper level, in quite a long time. But at the same time, I know I shouldn’t. I shouldn’t get close to him. I shouldn’t let him have influence over any aspect of my life – now or in the future.

I left that life behind when I was twelve, and it’s only brought my brother trouble since he tried to get back into it.

My best friend, Lexi, is with Nico’s brother, Vinny, and they’re so in love it’s disgusting. She tried to avoid him and tried not to like him, but Vinny has a charm about him that’s hard to resist. They’re good together. They understand one another. They complete and challenge each other in a way Lexi didn’t know possible.

It”s funny, considering she was the one who called me to warn me that Nico was a Carfano and I should be careful with him, when she’s the one who fell head over heels for the guy she was trying to avoid.

“Hey, Cass?” Sean calls from downstairs.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have someone with you up there?”

“What? No, why?”

“Because there’s a car in the driveway that I don’t recognize. And I sure as hell know our neighbors aren’t able to afford one like that.”

I walk downstairs and find Sean in the living room, peering out the front window. “A car like what?” I ask.

“A brand new red Range Rover.”

I stand next to him and look out at the driveway we share with our neighbors. They’re a normal, middle-class family, with both parents being teachers at the local elementary school, and a son in middle school that keeps them busy with all the sports he’s in. I doubt they could afford it either, but you never know where money comes from.

“Maybe they have a guest over. Why are you being so nosey?”

“I can’t leave the house looking like this, so I need to get my fix of the outside world somehow.”

Sean’s bruises have gotten nastier and more prominent, and I know he must be in a world of pain.

“How about I let you pick where we order dinner from tonight?”

“Wow, you must really feel bad for me if you’re going to give me free reign over food.”

“Maybe,” I concede, and drop the curtain back into place to go make coffee.

“Then I want Chinese.”

I smile. “Perfect. Exactly what I was craving.”

I sit down with my cup of coffee on the couch and watch the local news for a few minutes before putting on a station that’s having a Fast and Furious marathon. I won’t deny I have a weakness for Paul Walker and men who love fast cars.

It’s a little while later that my phone vibrates with a text from Nico, and I’m not proud to say that my heart does a little stutter beat in my chest from excitement.

Nico:Did you look outside yet?”

Me:Yes…?

Nico:The color reminds me of you, so I knew you had to have it. The keys are in your mailbox.

Me:If you’re saying you bought that car for me, then you’re crazy.

Nico:Then I’m crazy.

Me:I’m not keeping it.

Nico:Yes, you are. It’s yours. You said you wanted your car back.

Me:That didn’t mean you needed to go out and buy me one. One that’s worth at least ten times what mine was.

Nico:It’s yours, Cassie. Drive it or don’t, but it’s yours.

He’s crazy. He’s fucking crazy.

I don’t even know how he arranged something so quickly, but it’s too much.

I can’t keep it.

Can I?

No, I shouldn’t. I can’t be driving a hundred-thousand-dollar car when that’s what I need to save Sean.

Oh, there’s an idea…

But I still can’t keep it, and I need Nico to know that this isn’t okay.

Me:Nico, I can’t be bought.

Nico:I’m not trying to buy you, Cassandra. It’s in your name, so it’s your choice what you do with it. Keep it, sell it, leave it sitting in your driveway until you decide it’s just a car and you want to drive it. It’s your choice.

That motherfucker.

He bought it for me knowing I had money problems.

Goddamn it.

He thinks he can be sneaky by helping me indirectly.

I have my pride that’s telling me to drive it to The Aces and leave it parked there for him, but I know if I do that, he’ll probably just drive it back to my house, and back and forth we’ll go until one of us tires.

If he wants to spend an exorbitant amount of money for no reason, then who am I to stop him? Besides, it’s for my brother. If Sean wasn’t in trouble, then I would have a little fun playing with Nico. I just don’t have time for games right now.

I can’t tell Sean that it’s my car or that I’m selling it for him. He’s going to have way too many questions I don’t want to answer. He already had a lot to say about me starting to dance to make money, but I told him it’s the only chance we have to keep him alive and safe. He dropped the argument pretty quickly after that.

I wait for Sean to go upstairs again before going out to the mailbox to grab the keys and hide them in my purse. I won’t deny it’s a beautiful car, but it’ll give us a big chunk of what we need, if not all of it, if I can sell it.

Sinking back into the couch, I close my eyes. My body and mind are tired. So tired.