Chapter 9
SOPHIA
I don’t run, but I’m power walking as I try to escape. I can’t stay here. Everything’s fucked. My cover isn’t blown yet, and I’m hoping it won’t be if I can just get away.
What is even happening right now? He wasn’t supposed to be here. It was supposed to be Nico Rossi. It’s bad enough that I have to go undercover to get information on his brother, but Luca himself?
This is stupid. This is dangerous. Scott was right.
Scott.
I fumble for my purse, stepping out into the alleyway, and then suddenly there’s a rough hand on my arm, twisting me around.
I gasp, bouncing against a hard chest.
I look up into green eyes, the same green eyes I see every day in my daughter.
Fuck.
“You’re not leaving.”
I frown, looking away from him.
He pins me against the wall with his body. He’s so close. His breath blows against my hair, making me shiver.
“I have to go. I have somewhere to be.”
“You’re here with me,” he says, his green eyes fierce.
“Luca…it was…one night. It was nice,” I start, and he huffs out a frustrated breath.
“Nice? Is that what you call it?” He slides his nose against my neck, nuzzling me as goosebumps pop up along my skin. “I had you screaming my name in under half an hour. And you call it nice?”
“Okay, it was more than nice,” I admit, groaning. “It was amazing, but Luca, you have to let me go.”
“I can’t,” he says, his voice strained.
“I have to make a call,” I plead, putting my hands on his chest.
He twitches at my touch, his breath letting out in a rush.
Luca hums in the back of his throat. “Just a call? And then you’ll come back?”
He sounds almost desperate, pleading, and it’s unlike him from everything I’ve read in the dossier.
He’s stoic, determined—ruthless.
So why are his green eyes looking at me like he needs me?
I draw in a breath. “I should really go.”
“No,” he says staunchly, taking my hands from his chest and putting them by my sides. “You’re not going. Not again.”
“Luca…”
“I tried to find you,” he murmurs, and I squeak when his lips touch my neck. “Had a man posted up at your apartment. But you left. You left and I couldn’t find you.”
I let out a shaky breath as his hands trail up my arms, light touches. I should go. I should push him away, should knee him in the nuts again, but I can’t seem to move.
God, I haven’t been touched like this, well, since Luca. I just knew any other man would come up wanting.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, his lips trailing up my throat.
“I told you. Just wanted a night out. I’ve changed.”
“You’ve changed,” he repeats incredulously, moving away to look at me. The touch of his lips on my neck tingles when he pulls away.
“People can change,” I insist, and Luca stares down at me.
“No they can’t.”
I blow my bangs out of my face.
“I lost someone. It changed me, okay?”
In reality, I can’t imagine losing Scott. It really would change me, and probably not for the better. That’s why I came up with that cover story.
He rubs a hand across his face.
“I wish I believed you, pixie.”
“Don’t call me that.”
He smiles slightly, it’s almost bitter.
“Why not? You’ve got the hair for it now.” He pushes strands out of my face, looking down at me almost tenderly.
What is going on? He was passionate that first night, for sure, eager, but I didn’t think he’d still be interested.
“Luca, you can’t possibly think that after two years—”
“Three. Nearly three,” he corrects me.
I look up at him, searching his face.
“Why does it matter so much to you?”
“Why are you here?” he asks again.
“I keep telling you! I heard about the party and wanted to come and get drunk. Didn’t happen because of you,” I mutter.
He shakes his head. “You’re lying.”
“You don’t even know me,” I mumble.
He catches my chin in his hand, forcing me to look at him again.
“I’ve been inside you. You think I don’t know you, pixie?”
“You’re crazy,” I say incredulously, my heart racing. I can’t deny it feels good, having him touch me, having him so clearly want me, but I can’t do this.
He’s a criminal. A deviant. I read in the dossier that he runs guns, drugs, and sometimes women. All above board, consenting women, according to sources, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t wrong.
Years of working as a detective have made me soften on some issues, especially those that don’t hurt anyone. But Luca hurts people. Badly. He hasn’t been arrested, but there are rumors that those who cross him go missing.
He’s probably a murderer. Almost certainly.
And I’m wet. Soaking wet.
“Maybe,” he says easily, and wraps his hand around my throat.
My eyes dart to his but he doesn’t squeeze, just caresses my pulse point.
“But you want it,” he continues in a low voice, making a thrill run up my spine. “You want me, pixie. You can’t deny it.”
“I don’t want you,” I say harshly, wrenching away from him as much as I can. He drops his hand from my throat but doesn’t move away. “Please, I need to make a call.”
“Make your call,” he says, and relief flows through me. “But I’ll be watching.”
I groan inwardly but he moves away enough for me to get my phone out of my bag.
I call Scott, but he doesn’t answer. It’s nearly midnight and he’s probably still drinking and talking with Derek’s friends.
I text him: Help me and then look back up at Luca.
He doesn’t believe me. That’s clear in the intensity of his gaze and the set of his shoulders. He’s not going to let me go, and I can’t tell him that I’m undercover.
We’re at an impasse, and we both know it.
“Luca!”
A blonde, stick-thin woman totters up to us, putting her hand on Luca’s shoulder.
He grits his teeth, clearly annoyed as he turns.
“I’m busy, Maria.”
I blink. So he knows her. By name. Awesome.
Jealousy rises in me and it’s ridiculous.
I don’t know him. But some part of me feels like I do.
Not just from that night, but from reading his dossier.
I know that his brother, Nico, has been a thorn in his side for years.
I know Nico’s heavily into drugs and sex trafficking.
I know that Luca has taken care of him, covered up for him.
I know that Luca isn’t a womanizer, not really. He doesn’t do relationships, but he also doesn’t have a new girl every week or anything. I know that he and his father have a complicated relationship, that his father favors Nico.
I know a lot about him. But he doesn’t know me, even if he claims to.
So there’s no reason to be jealous. But here we are.
I look at Maria’s small frame and frown. Is that what he likes? What he’s into? Then why would he want me? I’m curvy, soft where her body lines are hard. And I’ve even gained about fifteen pounds after having Rosa.
And they’re so familiar. Her hand on his shoulder, the way he said her name.
The blonde smiles. “You’re always busy. But Nico is asking to speak with you.”
“I’ll speak with him later.”
“He needs you now.”
Luca lets out a harsh breath. “He can wait. I waited for him to get here, didn’t I?”
Irritation is evident in his voice. Maybe he’s not interested in Maria. Relief flows over me and I hate myself for it.
I knew him one night. Now I know he’s a criminal. A murderer. So why do I want him to want only me?
Maria shrugs. “I’m just the messenger. You sure you don’t want to get out of here?”
Anger rushes through me and I want to step between them and tell her to get the fuck away from Luca.
What’s wrong with me? This whole situation has gone sideways, and I need to get out of here.
I slowly slide along the wall while Luca is focused on Maria. My stupid heels clatter as I move, and Luca jerks his gaze back to me.
I stare at him like a deer in headlights for a moment and then…I run.
In stilettos.
I take off, running across the parking lot and down to the street. I know he’s hot on my heels at first, so I duck into an alley, panting, my chest heaving.
God, what was that? The way he touched me…kissed my throat… My body is still on fire from it. I could have shoved him away, tried to run, but I couldn’t.
I wanted him to touch me. Wanted him to kiss me.
I want Luca Rossi, one of the three major mob bosses in Chicago.
Something is clearly wrong with me.
I peek out of the alley and see Luca stomping around, clearly looking for me.
I gasp softly and slip further into the alley, texting Scott my location as I move over to the next street.
He hasn’t responded.
I look at the time—two minutes to midnight.
Will Scott get here in time?