10. Luciano
Luciano
As surprise cancels out her anger, Fallon pales at my words, her pretty green eyes nearly popping out.
“What?” she asks, her hand dipping into the back pocket of her tight black jeans.
My cock went rock hard while she was doing my shave, and seeing those pants molded over her lush curves made me wish we were all alone in the salon so I could peel them off and fucking devour every inch of her. And give her some nice handprints on her round ass to get her to behave for me.
She scrolls through her phone, then a moment later, she gasps, her hand starting to tremble.
“How? I don’t understand.” She shakes her head like she can’t believe what she’s seeing. It’s not a lot of money, but I have a feeling if I tried to offer her my money, she might kick me in the balls. So this was the next best option.
“I visited that piece of shit this morning. After looking into him last night and discovering you’ve been paying him each month, I decided he needed to at least make things right.
Everything has been collected from the apartment as well and is being held in a storage unit.
My men will deliver it to you once you find a place. ”
Fallon looks up at me, her plush lips parted. When I meet her gaze, I swallow hard at the tears gathering in her eyes.
“Luciano,” she whispers, shaking her head. “How did you do this?”
Slowly, I reach out and tuck my index finger under her chin. Not because I want to control her movement, but because I have an urgent need to touch her somehow.
“My real estate agent will contact you soon to find you a place,” I tell her, then pull three one-hundred-dollar bills from my wallet. “For my shave. Great job, princess. You’re hired.”
Then I reluctantly pull away and set the money, along with my business card, on her work tray. “Be good.”
Her mouth opens as if she wants to say something, but nothing comes out, so I turn and stride out of the salon. I’m aware of several women staring at me, yet I don’t pay attention to a single one because my mind is whirling with the image of a princess with untrusting, emerald eyes.
“Hey! I was just thinking about you.”
There’s happiness in my cousin’s voice when she answers my call.
Lacey lived so many years pretending to be happy; all the while, she was living under her mother’s controlling rules and being treated like a pawn.
I wish I had done something to get her out of that situation sooner, but I’m so damn proud of Lacey for up and moving from Seattle to Las Vegas to get away from her toxic mother.
And now, she doesn’t have to pretend because she truly is living her truest and happiest life. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for her.
“Hey, sweetheart. What are you up to?” I ask, sitting in one of the plush leather chairs in my home office.
“Not much. I just got off work, so Kian is coming to get me and take me to dinner. What are you doing? You sound weird.”
A smile spreads over my face. “I sound weird?”
“Uh-huh. What’s new? Alessandro said you were in the middle of handling a situation last night when he called me. What were you handling?”
“When did you become so nosy? It was just business.”
“Oh,” Lacey says quietly as though I’ve hurt her feelings.
My chest constricts. The last thing I’d ever want to do is upset Lacey. She’s the only family I’ve got. “It was nothing, Ace. There was a woman last night who needed some help, so I was dealing with that.”
The line is quiet for a moment before Lacey speaks again. “A woman? What did she need help with? Was she a pretty woman? Because I don’t think you usually go out of your way to help strangers unless…”
Rolling my eyes, I bring my free hand up to my face and pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re not going to stop asking questions until I tell you, are you?”
Lacey laughs, and the tension I was feeling a moment ago eases at the sound.
It was difficult to allow her to marry Kian Savage.
He and I didn’t get off on the right foot.
In fact, we may have almost killed each other.
But then I saw the way Kian looks at my cousin and how much he takes care of and loves her, and I knew he was a man who would die for her.
So even though I don’t have Lacey all to myself anymore, I am glad that she’s so fucking happy. It’s all I’ve ever wanted.
“Nope. Especially knowing a woman was involved, because you need to get a life. So, tell me what happened. I want all the details.”
Taking in a deep breath, I hold it for a second and then start talking.
I tell her everything from the moment I left the restaurant with Killian and Nikolai.
I tell her about Fallon’s asshole ex and about her car, which is not safe enough for her, in my opinion.
Then I tell her about going to see Fallon at her work and offering for her to come stay at my house, and that I’m having someone from the family business help her find an apartment.
“You offered for her to move in with you? After knowing her for less than twenty-four hours?”
When Lacey says it, it sounds bad, but she doesn’t know Fallon. I don’t either, but I also see a scared Little girl behind the fire in Fallon’s eyes. And I want to protect her.
“She has nowhere else to go,” I say.
“How do you know that? Did she tell you?”
I’m silent for a few seconds. Just when I’m about to speak, Lacey beats me to it.
“Oh my God. You had Cassian Black look into her already, didn’t you?” she asks.
Fuck.
“Yes.” I could try to make an excuse for why I did it, but honestly, I don’t have one other than the fact that I felt the urge.
“But from what you’ve said, she doesn’t like you,” Lacey says.
I huff, “She hates all men. It’s not just me.”
“Why don’t you show her you’re different from every other man?”
The thought has crossed my mind, but I get the feeling it won’t be that easy with Fallon. I don’t think she was trusting before she met Joshua. She gave him a chance, and that blew up in her face.
“Because even though I’m different in a way that I’d never cheat on her, I’m still not some great man. I’m highly controlling and would want things that I doubt she’d ever give me. And on top of all of that, I’m the underboss of our syndicate. That’s not the kind of life that Fallon deserves.”
“Hmm. Maybe you should let Fallon choose the life she wants. And how do you know she wouldn’t give you the things you want in time?
You’re not even going to try? That’s ridiculous.
The Luciano Ricci I know goes after what he wants, no matter how difficult it might be or how long it could take.
” Lacey sighs. “Sounds to me like you feel protective over her.”
Closing my eyes, I picture Fallon’s sweet face staring up at me, with her sparkling eyes and pouty lips.
Fuck, she’s so beautiful. I don’t think she even realizes just how stunning she is.
Even in her black leggings and oversized black T-shirt last night, she looked perfect.
And the fire in her. That gets me every time.
She doesn’t just lie down and let me walk all over.
She makes me fight for it. No one ever does that.
“She reminds me of you in a lot of ways,” I admit. “She’s strong and feisty. She bit one of our men and kicked another in the balls. I get the feeling she is fiercely independent.”
Lacey sighs again. “So, you’re being a big baby and letting her scare you away?”
Irritation prickles at my neck, and even though I already know Lacey is trying to bait me right now, I play right into it without thinking.
“She’s not scaring me away, Ace,” I say firmly. “I’m just trying to be respectful after everything she’s been through and how much she hates men.”
“Obviously I don’t know Fallon, but from what you told me, it sounds like maybe the reason she hates men so much might be because of the quality of men who have come into her life.
She’s never had a good one to compare it to.
But you’re good, Luciano. One of the best men I’ve ever known.
So show her that there are good men out there.
Even if you have to do it from a distance.
Don’t control her right off the bat. Let her make her own choices, especially at the moment.
Even if she wasn’t totally in love with the guy, she’s probably still traumatized.
The last thing she’ll want is a man railroading her.
Once she realizes the only reason you want to control her is to keep her safe, happy, and healthy, as long as she trusts you completely, she’d probably be okay with you being… well, you.”
How is it that Lacey is so much younger than me, yet she’s so damn smart? There’s no way Fallon would let me control her at this point. Hell, I’m not even sure she would let me tell her what to do in bed. And if I told her I wanted her to call me Daddy, she’d probably slap me.
Control is something I need. In all aspects of my life.
It’s how I eliminate chaos and surprises.
It’s how I keep my men and Lacey safe. Although I don’t do anything to control Lacey.
That’s Kian’s job now. But I still control things to keep her safe.
Things she is unaware of. Like the private bodyguards who follow her everywhere.
The extra trackers installed on her cars in case something were to happen to the ones Kian has surely already installed.
I don’t control Lacey; I control her surroundings. Without her even knowing.
“I was just being nice,” I partially lie.
The part I don’t say to my cousin is that once I laid eyes on Fallon, I wanted to be close to her and haven’t stopped thinking about her since that moment.
It’s almost as if I can’t breathe when she’s not near me.
Yet I was doing just fine yesterday before I met her.
“Okay, well, think about it. You deserve someone, Luciano. And I’ve never heard you like this over a woman. I don’t think there’s ever been a woman in your life who you’ve told me about, so this might be something.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“I love you. I can’t wait to see you at my birthday party,” Lacey says.
“I love you too. Can’t wait, sweetheart.”
As soon as we end the call, I open my messages and find Sasha’s name.
Luciano: If Fallon wants to move into any of the buildings owned by our organization, please make sure she is fully aware of that fact.