Chapter 9
SALVATORE
Iknew it wasn’t right, but I did what any man would do in my situation. I fished out the letter Lucia had thrown into the trash and read it.
If I hadn’t been sure before, I was now.
The fucking bastard of a father was too weak to stay alive.
Too weak to take responsibility even in this, his final letter to the daughter he betrayed.
Did he even know what his letter would do to her?
Did he know it would only add to the guilt she already felt with his loss?
Fucking bastard.
I paced my study, phone to my ear, when, finally, Roman picked up on the fifth ring. “I need you to do something for me, Uncle.” I rarely called Roman that. Only when I needed to trust him absolutely. “Just for me.”
“What is it?” he asked. He was too smart to agree to something without knowing the details.
“I know we have Luke DeMarco under surveillance, but I want more. I want to know where he spends his nights. I want to know exactly how much time he spends with Isabella DeMarco. And,” was I really going to do this?
“I want a paternity test run on the little girl, Effie. I want to know if he’s her father. ”
“We share the same suspicions.”
“And my father? What does he think?”
“He doesn’t think she’s a threat, so he hasn’t looked into it.”
“Isabella?”
“Yes.” He paused. “Never underestimate your enemy, Salvatore. It will get you killed.”
“No one knows that better than me, Uncle.”
“I’ll keep this between us for now.”
“For now. I will go to my father once I have solid information.”
“I’ll work on it right away.”
“Thank you.”
I hung up the phone, that last part a lie. If my suspicions were correct, I couldn’t go to my father with the details. My father did not need any more ammunition against Luke DeMarco, and something about what Lucia had said, asking me not to take them away, I felt it.
Luke was collecting supporters, that I knew, but was Lucia’s sister involved? If so, how deeply? Just how close were she and Luke? And what would I need to do if I what I believed was confirmed?
On top of everything else, I needed to gain Lucia’s trust. I needed to be sure she’d do as I said and not act out during the birthday dinner. I needed to make sure my father knew I had control of her.
The next afternoon, I pulled into Nordstrom’s parking lot.
“I don’t want to go to your father’s party.”
We climbed out of the car and went into the department store. She sounded defiant, but I heard the panic behind her words.
“I’m not going.”
I touched her back to lead her inside. “Yes, you are. And you’re going to behave while you’re there.”
“Why? Why can’t you just go on your own?”
“Because he’s expecting both of us.” We stepped onto the escalator, Marco and another man following nearby. A piano played on the second floor. Before we reached it, I saw the salesgirl waiting for us.
“Why?” Lucia asked again.
Once off the escalator, I took her arms, rubbed them, and turned her toward me.
There would be no discussion. She would go.
Period. Even if it was the last place I wanted to take Lucia, we would both go.
“Because I said so. Now be good.” I leaned in, and to anyone who watched, it looked like I was planting a kiss on her temple, but instead, I whispered in her ear.
“Or else I’ll have to get creative again. ”
Her eyes searched mine when I pulled back, questioning, perhaps trying to gauge how far I’d go. Honestly, I didn’t mind if she did push me.
“Mr. Benedetti,” the salesgirl said, her high heels clicking toward us.
I turned to her. She couldn’t be more than twenty.
“I’m Carla, and I’ll help your…” She searched our ring fingers and modified, “I understand you’re looking for an evening dress.”
I chuckled and kept one hand at Lucia’s back. “For Lucia. I’d look rather silly in an evening dress.”
The girl laughed nervously and looked Lucia over. “Size four?”
Lucia nodded.
“Any preference as to length or cut?” We followed her as she led the way to the designer dresses.
My phone rang. When I saw Natalie’s name displayed on the screen, I excused myself. Lucia raised her eyebrows but didn’t question. Marco followed me, and the other guard kept close to Lucia.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Salvatore. It’s Natalie. Is this a good time?”
“Yes, of course. Is everything all right?” She sounded tense.
“Dominic came by. He was here when I got home from work.”
Natalie didn’t trust Dominic. She had never liked him, and I’d seen Sergio have words with him. I never knew the details but suspected it had something to do with Natalie.
“What did he want?”
“He said he wanted to see his nephew. See how he’s doing, since I won’t take him to the house for visits.”
Why in hell did Dominic care about a baby? He never had before.
“Salvatore?”
“I’m listening. How long was he there?”
“Just ten minutes. I wouldn’t let him in. Talked to him on the front steps. What does he want, Salvatore?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll see him at my father’s birthday dinner. I’ll talk to him then. Do you feel safe? Do you want me to send someone over?”
“No, it’s okay. I just…seeing him again…it brought back so much.”
“I know.” I heard her sniffle. “I’m sorry, Natalie.” I heard Jacob fuss near the phone.
“It’s okay, it’ll be fine. He just surprised me. I’d better go get Jacob’s dinner.”
“I can come by myself if you want me to.”
“You have your hands full. Really, I’ll be fine. I feel better already, now that I’ve talked to you. It’s fine.”
“Let me at least send someone to keep an eye on the house.”
“No. I don’t want that for myself, and I don’t want it for Jacob. We’re out of this life. It’s what Sergio would have wanted for us.”
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see. The salesgirl came around the corner, looking frazzled until she spotted me. I turned my back to wrap up my call.
“Okay, but if you feel unsafe or need anything, you call me, understand?”
“Yes. I will, Salvatore. Thank you.”
We hung up, and I walked toward the girl, my mind going a thousand miles a minute, wondering what the hell Dominic was up to.
“She’s ready with the first one.” The girl sang out and pointed to the dressing room.
I followed her. It was a private room with a sofa and a long mirror with a curtain to separate the changing area. Once inside, the girl closed the door and disappeared behind the curtain.
“It’s too low,” Lucia complained.
“It looks amazing,” the girl retorted.
A moment later, she pulled the curtain aside, and my eyes about popped out of my head.
There stood Lucia, her expression annoyed, her long dark hair falling in waves over her shoulders, a cream-colored dress wrapped around her petite frame.
The material fell heavy to her feet, which I could see were wrapped in silver-and-gold, high-heeled sandals.
They added three inches to her height. The dress was cut low so that the V dipped all the way down to the high belt around her waist. Gemstones circled her waistline and edged the V between her breasts, clinging to her, displaying their small, round mounds beautifully.
“I think the hair should go up,” the girl said, piling Lucia’s hair on top of her head and forcing her farther out so that she stood before the mirror, her back to me.
“To display this gorgeous back.” The V of the neckline repeated on the back.
“We’ll need to alter it slightly here,” she pointed out the pins at Lucia’s shoulders. “But it’ll be ready by tomorrow.”
“You look beautiful,” I said to Lucia.
Lucia’s eyes found mine in the mirror. She looked at herself once more as if not quite believing it was her. I wondered if this was her first time in a dress like this.
“It’s too…” she started, looking down at the V between her breasts.
“It’s perfect.” I stood and went to her, standing close behind her. Our eyes locked in the mirror. I took the clip out of her hair and let the mass tumble down her back. Lucia bit her lip and shuddered.
“Find us something more casual for tonight,” I said to the girl without taking my eyes off Lucia. “Take your time.”
“Yes, sir.” The girl walked out, closing the door behind her.
I turned Lucia to face me. “I want you.”
Her hands came up to my chest, and I brushed her hair off her shoulders.
The light overhead flickered on and off, then settled for on.
Without another word, I leaned in to kiss her.
I loved kissing her. I’d seen her naked.
I’d tasted her pussy, but this was our most intimate act yet, and I took my time, tasting her, her mouth soft, her tongue shy at first, submissive to mine, then bolder, curious in its exploration as the kiss deepened, drawing a moan from deep inside my chest.
A quick knock and the door opened. Lucia gasped, but the girl remained oblivious. She carried in an armful of dresses and spoke without giving us a glance as she hung them all up.
“And, what do you think?”
I looked Lucia over again, my gaze hovering on the exposed mounds of her breasts, my cock pressing against the crotch of my jeans.
“We’ll take this one.” My voice came out hoarse, and I cleared my throat. “You’ll be able to deliver it altered tomorrow?”
“Yes, sir.”
The girl beamed, and when I checked the price tag, I understood why. She’d probably made more tonight on commission than a month on the floor.
“Let’s get that one off and try another,” she said, ushering Lucia behind the curtain.
“Out here. I want to see.”
She stopped, confused, tilting her head to one side, but then glanced at Lucia who only stared back at me, her swollen lips slightly parted, her eyes a darker burnt caramel as opposed to their usual whiskey-brown.
“Here,” I said, pointing to a spot before the mirror, where I could see her front and back.
“Yes, sir.” The girl moved Lucia, who only watched me.