42. Leona
LEONA
Luca woke up on the drive home and started freaking out in the back of the SUV.
Since he was originally one of Max’s men, my father’s men, the guys took him to stay with Giulio for now.
Luca knew those guys, and they knew him, and they’d take care of him while we got Chiara settled.
We had to get back to facing off with the Camorra.
As soon as we got home, I helped Chiara inside and got her some water. The guys unpacked all the weapons and got changed. Obi gave me a quick kiss and said they’d give Chiara and me some privacy.
I sat her at the island. “How are you doing?”
Her eyes watered, and her lip wobbled. She took in a shaky breath while blinking away the tears. “I’m okay.”
I cupped her cheeks and inspected her face. A black eye was forming on her right cheek. Her hair was disheveled, and there was a tear in her shirt at her right shoulder.
“We’ll get some ice on that eye.” I grabbed an ice pack from the freezer, wrapped it in a dish towel, and handed it to her. “You need some food, too. It’ll help you calm down a little bit.”
“Lee, I promise I’m okay.”
“I know you are, honey,” I said gently. “I’m glad you are. But you’ve got a lot of cortisol leaving your body right now, and that makes things a little unpredictable. It’s okay if you’re feeling shaky. Believe me, I would know.”
She gave me a wary look. “You’ve been through this a lot, huh?”
I shrugged. My time with the Albanians crept up through my memories. Then all the emotions I felt after, and the way I tried to bury it all down and ignore it.
“Yeah,” I answered after a beat. “The last few months have been pretty intense. It’s normal to have a little freak out.”
She finally gave me a little smile. “Okay, then, yeah. Do you have any tea?”
“Definitely.” I grabbed her a mug and started boiling some water from the electric kettle. Wynn’s tea was delicious, so I snagged my favorite flavor and got everything ready. “Want to tell me about Luca?”
She shook her head. “He was nice. That’s all. Nobody has been nice to me in a while.”
My heart twisted with guilt and regret. “I’m so sorry. I promise, things will be better.”
“Not that Max was mean, because I swear, Leona, he wasn’t.
He was a dick, sure, but I told you before I never felt like I wasn’t safe,” she said.
“But just…even before my dad died, you know how life was for us. We were only good for marriage. My father might have given me some freedoms, but I always knew how my life would end up. Then Max left me alone, and I had so much time to myself, and at the cottage? It was nice to just have someone like Luca who was kind. Who listened. No expectations.”
“I should have insisted I get you sooner,” I said, snagging her hand.
“Leona, I wasn’t mistreated or hurt.” Her fingers curled tightly around mine. “I was just lonely sometimes. Will you make sure that Luca is okay?”
I pulled out my phone and texted Giulio to give me hourly updates. He responded immediately that he would. “Absolutely. Giulio will keep an eye on him. He’s going to be fine.”
“Thanks.” She took the tea bag out of the tea and put it on the little plate I’d given her with the mug. Then she took a careful sip. “This is good.”
“Wynn’s trying to drink more tea,” I said.
“He’s the one with the light hair?”
I smiled. “Yeah. Isn’t he so pretty? Like an angel.”
Her eyes widened as she took another drink. “Dude, all of them are gorgeous.”
I sighed blissfully. “I know.”
“Don’t fucking rub it in,” she said, pushing my shoulder. “What happens now?”
“Stay with us?” I asked. “We’ve got plenty of space, and Ciel keeps us safe here. He’s a genius, Chiara, seriously. I can’t get over how smart he is. He said we’d get guard dogs soon.”
She laughed. “I—”
Cas poked his head into the room and cut her off. “Hey, girls.”
My face crinkled with delight. “Hi!” He held up a phone and wiggled it. The grimace he gave made me sigh. “Who is it?”
He crossed the kitchen and held out his phone. “It’s Enzo.”
“Enzo Rossi?” And then it clicked. My eyes snapped to Chiara. They had some kind of weird relationship, and she still hadn’t told me much about it. “Why?”
“He wants to talk.”
I frowned, picking at some grime still under my nails. “We’re busy.”
“He insists.” His voice dropped low, and he whispered in my ear. “I’m sorry, baby. I think it’s important.”
“Do you want to talk to him?” I mouthed to Chiara.
She raised an eyebrow and shook her head. “Not particularly.”
“Fine,” I said as I took the phone and pressed it to my ear. Cas leaned against the counter next to me. “Enzo.”
“Leona Vero.” His deep voice came through the receiver clearly enough that I could catch the tension layered through it. If he were at his restaurant, Nonna’s, I imagined he’d be hunched over the countertops.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I heard a certain someone has returned to the city.”
Seriously? That fucking quick? Chiara’s face was stoic, but her eye twitched in annoyance. “However do you hear things so quickly, Enzo?”
“I told you before, I have my spies everywhere.” After a pause and a heavy breath, he continued. “Is it true?”
I tilted my head to the side while I considered how to answer. My fingers drummed on the countertop. I owed Enzo not only for his help with the Albanians, but because we were allies against the Camorra together. But I didn’t want to expose Chiara if she didn’t want him to know.
I pointed at the phone and then pointed to her. With a sigh, she shrugged. “Tell him whatever you want. Enzo’s not a threat.”
“She’s with me,” I replied to Enzo. “At my new, safe home. And before you ask, no, I will not tell you where it is.”
“We had an agreement.”
My back straightened. “Our agreement was that I’d pass along your message to her, which I have done. You knew that. And as of this moment, she has rejected your proposal and decided to stay with me.”
“No matter how safe you think you are, she is not safe with you,” he said tightly.
“And why is that?”
“Because Piero Greco wants you dead, and currently, he’s chosen to tolerate me.”
I scoffed. “So you think you could protect her? Better than me, her best friend?”
“Yes. One hundred percent, yes,” he retorted. “I want her in my territory. I can keep her safe here. Give her to me.”
“She is not property that I can give away, Enzo.” Anger heated my belly. Beside me, Cas ran his hands through his hair, bristling just like me.
“He already went after her once. He’ll keep coming after you both. At least here, I can keep her under the radar.”
“The answer is no.”
Chiara rolled her eyes and held out her hand. I stared at it.
“I’m not trying to own her, Leona. I’m trying to protect her.”
Chiara made a grabby movement and gave me an exasperated look. I reluctantly handed her the phone.
“Enzo, it’s me,” she said. She paused and then got a little agitated.
“Look, I don’t know what you—” Her nostrils flared, and she blew out a breath.
I leaned forward, desperate to hear the other side of the conversation, but she gave me a second of stink eye and leaned backwards.
I huffed. “No, I know. I know. But what you and I have—had—you know what? I take it back. We never had anything. Don’t start with me, you were the one who—” My eyes widened, and I gestured widely, begging that she’d let me hear, but she shook her head tightly.
“Only if you absolutely swear that nothing will happen.” Another pause.
“Swear it.” A shorter one. “Fine. But she is my best friend, and I haven’t seen her in months.
I want at least one fucking night.” Oh no.
What had she agreed to? “Fine. Tomorrow. And just for the record, Enzo. I hate you.”
She ended the call with a dramatic boop and handed me back the phone.
“Uhh, what just happened?”
“Well, I am going to be staying with Enzo for a little bit.” She gave me a small, tight smile.
“Chiara, why?”
She grabbed my hands, looking between both me and Cas. “You are dealing with far too much to babysit me. I know that. Enzo, for all his fucking faults, keeps a powerful hand over his territory. You know that. I will be safe there, and then you can do what you need to do.”
“Chiara, I can take care of you. You don’t have to do—”
“I know I don’t have to. I just want one night with my best friend, and then I’ll let you get back to work. Enzo swore to me that nothing would happen.”
My lips pressed together, trying to hold back a nosy smile. “And what did we think was going to happen?”
Her lips pursed. “To be honest, Lee, I don’t really want to talk about it.
I’ll just say that Enzo and I used to be…
friends. We met at a couple of parties and flirted a little bit.
” When I gave her a that-is-total-bullshit look, she shook her head sadly.
“No, that’s all I ever was. I thought, maybe, it could have been more.
But Enzo made it very clear he didn’t want there to be more. ”
That fucker had hurt my best friend’s feelings. A crime worthy of death. If he weren’t my ally, I’d swear to fuck him up for her. I could…not let her go. I could keep her here? She probably wouldn’t be all that mad.
But it was her choice, not mine. She deserved to have that choice.
“Are you sure you want to stay with him?” I reached for her again.
She squeezed my hand. “It will be fine.”
“God, Chiara, I hate that you just keep trading one prison for another. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t feel like that.” She blinked a few times and then plastered a smile on her face.
“I know what this life has always meant for us. I know what you’re trying to do.
When all this blows over, I’ll go home and forget it ever happened.
Maybe I’ll even move, who the fuck knows.
I don’t really have anything else left to keep me in New York. ”
“What about me?” I teased.
“Always you, my beloved best friend,” she said.
“But I can’t live with you forever, nor do I want to.
I imagine there’s always a lot of fucking going on, with your six men and all, and as a single woman currently pissed off at the only chance at romance she’d ever truly had, I couldn’t possibly bear it.
Let me be single in peace and enjoy your constant orgasms. I’ll buy a vibrator and be perfectly happy on my own. ”
By the end of her rant, I was practically snort-laughing, which made her laugh, and it wasn’t long until the two of us were clutching our sides. “Are you sure?”
She waved a hand. “Yeah, Enzo doesn’t scare me. Just end this sooner rather than later so I can get out of there. I’ll be thrilled to have my freedom when you have yours.”
“Okay, I will.” I reached out my pinky and wrapped it around hers. “Promise.”