Texting My Mafia Savior (Text Me You Love Me #11)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

NICO

I ’m finishing some pro bono work when I get a call from Don Caruso—not Enzo, the so-called mafia prince. This is Dominic Caruso, the king, the man who wanted to use and abuse my wife before I stepped in and ‘made her mine.’ He’s the reason I’ve spent so long living a lie. We never talk these days. Leaving the mob life in one piece without ratting is a rare thing, a miracle, and I pulled it off by working and paying my way free.

I can’t ignore the call. “Hello,” I say, answering.

“Nico, my boy,” Dominic says. He’s using his fake nice-guy voice, the one that’s fooled far too many. They always seem so shocked when the sadist emerges.

“To what do I owe the pleasure?” I say, kicking back in my desk chair, forcing a smile to my face so that I hopefully sound good-natured with my tone.

“Can’t a man check in with old friends?” As if I’m buying that. “I understand you met with my son two days ago.”

Two days since the meeting, since I slipped up, since the texting with Arria that night. So far, we’ve been avoiding texting each other. But that doesn’t mean she hasn’t been in my thoughts, hounding me, tempting me.

“Yes, I did,” I reply.

“That’s good,” Dominic says. “I’ve been thinking about the old days recently, Nico.”

“Oh, right?”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about what happened with me, you and Lucia. It was a classic story of unrequited love, wasn’t it? I’d fallen for her, and I’m sure, had she not already given her heart to another, she might’ve fallen for me too. But, alas, she had given her devotion to Nico the Nightmare. There was nothing I could do, no course of action I could take that would cause a favorable outcome for me. I was stuck, so I did the reasonable thing and made the appropriate business decision. You see, Nico, that’s what I value above everything. Honesty. Business. I believe people can do great things when they combine honesty and business. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

I swallow, nerves gripping me. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt like this. Adrenaline pumps through my body. I haven’t missed the ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. I used to live in this state constantly, a never-ending cycle of it.

“You did the right thing,” he continues when I don’t reply immediately. “Your arrival and honesty were both appreciated. You told me you and Lucia were already involved in a serious relationship but that you had kept secret for obvious reasons. You told me you wanted to buy your way out of the life. I would’ve laughed at you, but you offered me a fee so absurd, so outlandish, that I had to accept. In truth, Nico, I never thought you’d be able to pay it.”

It had taken three years of sleeping three or four hours a night, taking every job I could get, legal and illegal. I did it without compromising my morals, and I’ll always be proud of that.

“I respected you for offering me that deal, Dominic,” I tell him. “I was one of your most effective enforcers?—”

“You were the most effective,” Dominic cuts in. “If I wanted some civilian intimidated, a woman scared, I’d send the others. But if I needed a big fish caught—the Cartel, other families, men who could actually fight back—I’d send in Nico the Nightmare.”

“I always preferred those jobs,” I tell him honestly. “The risk was higher, but it left my conscience cleaner.”

“I always respected that about you. Your moral compass. Again—your honesty. If you want my truth, Nico, it was your honesty that saved you many, many times. I detest liars. So many have lied to me in my life, lied directly to my face, and expected me to swallow their shit. But you always told me the truth. If I offered you a job you didn’t like, you told me straight, no, I won’t do that . It simplified things.”

I swallow. It’s clear that something’s wrong, but as usual, he’s dancing around it. He’s making me sweat. “You deserved the truth.”

“Did I?” he snaps.

“Yes,” I tell him. “I never wanted to deceive you.”

That part is true. I already knew Lucy because she moved in mob circles, promoting her art galleries. She was a fixture at parties and functions. When she learned Dominic had taken an obsessive interest in her, who did she immediately think to come to for help? The Nightmare. That was my nickname back then, not The Savior . Some people said it as a joke—others considered it deadly serious.

Lucy was in the serious group. She came to me and begged me for help. I was a sucker for a helpless woman or child, still am. I had to be honest with her from the start. It was either to leave the city and her life forever or build a lie from which we could never waver. Build a life to which we stubbornly had to adhere. Over the years, we have become friends, even best friends, but there’s been no romance. There’s never even been a hint, not that I ever hoped for anything; it just wasn’t on my radar.

“You never wanted to,” Dominic says. “That’s an interesting way to phrase it.”

“Is something wrong, Dominic?”

“Why would something be wrong?” he snaps.

“We haven’t spoken for a long time, that’s all.”

“I see nothing wrong with calling up an old friend. But, if you want to cut to the chase?—”

“I’m happy to talk,” I say, in survival mode now.

“No, no, I won’t keep you.” His voice has an edge to it. “I wanted humbly to ask you if you’d join me for dinner the evening after tomorrow. At Lupa Osteria. We’ll have the entire place to ourselves, of course.”

Lupa Osteria’s slogan is ‘Rome Away From Home.’ The idea of going there doesn’t sit right with me. But I can’t turn down the Don of the Caruso Family.

“That would be my pleasure, Dominic. I look forward to it.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you at eight o’clock.”

“I look forward to it.”

“You already said that,” Dominic snaps, a flash of anger, then hangs up.

I rest my forehead on my hands, cursing myself. Fuck . This is bad. Enzo must’ve said something to him.

Later, at dinner, I tell Lucy what happened. She frowns at me. “Why would he suddenly want to meet with you?”

“It can’t be good,” I say, cutting into my steak. We sit in our large dining room, the walls covered with prints from her favorite artists, no family photos, no holidays. We may have to remedy that if Dominic peers closer into our lives. “He made a point of saying we’d have the restaurant to ourselves. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten involved in this. I’m not the goddamn Nightmare anymore. Have you and Giancarlo been careful?”

“Yes,” Lucy snaps.

“Nobody’s seen you together? You haven’t been kissing in public? Holding hands? Leaving the city for secret dates or anything like that?”

“We’ve kept our relationship secret for five years, Nico. Nothing’s changed there. I honestly can’t think how he’d know about us.”

“It might’ve been me, then,” I say.

“What do you mean?”

“Enzo might’ve… misinterpreted something.”

“Go on…”

“When I took Arria to apologize to him, he made a crude comment about her physical appearance. Called her fat, and that didn’t sit right with me. So I challenged him about it. I was so worried about what he’d do that I rushed her out of the place, which meant I had my hand on her back to guide her out, you know. But maybe he thought something else.”

“Arria,” Lucy mutters. “You called her Arria , not Arriana.”

“That’s what she told me to call her,” I snap. “You don’t need to read anything into it.”

Lucy narrows her eyes at me. I can read the shock in her expression. She’s not used to me showing so much emotion. “Tell me nothing is going on between you and my niece, Nico.”

“There isn’t,” I grit out. “I barely know her. We just met. I helped her, and that’s the end.”

“Then why do you sound so… affected?”

“Did you ever think it might be because of the mob boss who suddenly wants to meet me alone? Or the fact I might not live through tomorrow? Or because they’re pulling me back into a life I worked years to leave behind? All I want is to do some good in this city. Now, all of that’s at risk.”

“If Enzo has seen nothing concrete, Dominic can’t force you to say anything to implicate yourself. As long as he has seen nothing?”

“Like what, Lucy?” I say coldly.

“Like you kissing my niece. Holding her. Anything like that.”

“She’s half my age,” I snarl.

“So what? That doesn’t stop people. When you know, you know.”

“She’s technically family.”

“ Technically ,” Lucy says pointedly. “But you’re not blood-related.”

“Yeah, and I’m sure that makes it okay.”

“Makes what, okay?”

“I’m sure it would make it okay,” I snap, correcting myself. “I’m done with this conversation.”

We eat in silence for the remainder of the meal. My thoughts straying to Arria. If Dominic is suddenly interested in me again, he might send people after her, too. He’s going to twist his way into our lives, grip onto us, and refuse to let go—that’s how he works. I could only disentangle last the time because of my reputation for honesty—a reputation based on truth.

If Dominic learns I took Lucy on based on a lie, nothing will stop him.

“We should’ve let him take her to court,” Lucy mutters.

I glare at her. “ Now, you tell me that?”

“I didn’t know you would develop feelings for her, did I?”

“Who said I have?”

“You don’t need to, Nico. Let’s call this, us, what it is—we’re best friends who live together. There isn’t a day that goes by we don’t speak. We discuss everything. I’ve seen you almost every single day for over a decade. Something’s changed in you.”

I grind my teeth, refusing to answer.

“You need to control it,” she says softly. “Control this, the entire situation.”

“I will,” I tell her.

But it’ll be a miracle if I can get through this without getting hurt, without Arria getting hurt, or without the mob taking drastic measures.