Chapter 10
LUCA
I shove Maria away when I see Sophia running, nearly knocking her over.
I rush through the alley, trying to catch her, but she’s fast. Even in heels. It’s almost impressive. Maybe I’ll tell her so when I have her over my knee. Give her a little praise before punishment.
Because she’s not getting away from me. Not ever again.
I shake my head to clear it, but it doesn’t work.
I’ve never been this feral over a woman before.
But something about that night—something about Sophia—makes me feel like an animal.
It feels like there’s a hive of bees buzzing around in my brain, like I can’t relax until I know where she is. Until she’s with me.
I check one street and she’s not there. I stalk up and down it, peering into the alley, but there’s nothing. She must have crossed the street.
Panic rises in my chest, making it feel tight. If she slips away from me…
At least I know what name she’s going by now. Maybe that was the reason I couldn’t find her before. If she’s really officially changed her name, it would make my search efforts pointless.
Besides, Chicago is a huge city, and I had other responsibilities. I couldn’t put my whole life on hold to find a woman I’d been with for only one night, no matter how much I wanted to.
Why I’m so messed up about a pixie cop? No idea.
I tell myself it’s because she might be undercover. Because she might be trolling for information, wanting to take down my empire. She’s my enemy.
But somewhere deep in my chest, I know it’s more. I’m ignoring it, but I know it’s there, like the tick that burrowed in the back of my neck when I was a kid.
I nearly knock over Nico when I bump into him. He’s standing in one of the alleys, bracing himself on the brick with one hand.
“Luca,” he breathes, his voice slurred around the edges. “Just the man I needed to see.”
I wrinkle my nose. He smells like tequila and weed.
“Nice of you to show up. I’m busy, I’ll talk to you later,” I say quickly, pushing past him, but he grabs my arm, nearly falling over as he does it.
“Busy,” he mumbles. “Busy taking care of my fight.”
I let out a long breath. “Nico, this is not the time.”
“I think it is.” He stands up slightly straighter, swaying only slightly.
I want to roll my eyes. I want to push him over and move past him, keep looking for Sophia. But Nico will tell Father then I’ll have that to deal with. The old man is pushing seventy, but he’s sharp as a tack. He just can’t do the physical part of this job anymore.
He loves Nico, loves him more than he ever loved me, but he knows I’m the right choice to take over the empire. He may be maudlin, but he’s not stupid.
And Nico hates it. Hates me.
“You don’t want to mess with me right now,” I say in a low voice, unable to control my anger. I’d planned on placating him, but what came out of my mouth was pure venom. “Just go home and sleep it off.”
“Go home? This is my fight.”
I glare at him. “The fight’s over, Nico. You fucking missed it.”
He blinks. “Oh. Well, I can still do the books.”
“You can barely stand. Don’t be an idiot.”
He straightens his shoulders, eyes focusing more on my face instead of just staring in his stupor. “Don’t call me that.”
“I didn’t—”
Nico swings at me.
He misses, of course, goes wide, and I step backward. He has to catch himself to keep from falling over.
“Go home,” I bark, and Nico looks up at me with pure hatred in his eyes.
I don’t say another word, trying to shake it off and looking for Sophia. I stalk down the street, probably looking like I want to kill someone. The people streaming out of the building after the fight give me a wide berth.
I find her on the next street over, standing on the corner and leaning down to speak to some guy in a blue sedan. He’s mildly familiar.
Who the fuck is this? Some boyfriend?
Anger rushes over me, making my face heat up.
I walk closer slowly, so that I can hear them talk.
“I’m sorry,” she pleads. “You were right.”
“Of course I was right,” he snarks, but I can practically hear the smile in it. She’s fucking him. I just know it.
I’m not jealous. I’m just pissed off. She disappeared three years ago and now she shows up, back in my orbit, with some asshole boyfriend and an attempt to send me to prison. I hate her, that’s all it is.
But there’s this itch at the back of my neck, a void where my heart used to be. I try to shake it off, try to stop myself, but it happens again. I don’t think, just act. It’s becoming a trend when it comes to Sophia.
I draw my gun from the back of my pants, barking out a “Hey!” and stalking closer.
It takes only seconds for Sophia’s boyfriend to pull his gun, and she just turns and looks at me, slack-jawed, big blue eyes shocked. After a moment with my gun pointed at her, she goes for her purse.
“Ah ah ah,” I lilt, not even sure what words are about to come out of my mouth. It’s like I’m not in control of myself, and I’m not sure I like it. “Don’t try it.”
“Luca,” she falters, her arms falling to her sides. I cut her off with a sharp shake of my head.
“Don’t move.” I glare at the man behind the wheel of the sedan who has one hand on the door handle and one on his gun, pointed at me, stock-still. There’s no shock on his face, only determination.
He’ll go to bat for her. Fight for her.
Interesting.
It only makes my blood run hotter.
“Put it down or I’ll shoot her.”
The man clenches his jaw, staring me down for a moment. He must see something in my face that tells him I mean business, because he slowly lowers his gun.
“Hands on the dash.”
Sophia takes in a sharp breath before she tries to run, but I grab her around the waist with one hand as she rushes by me.
She screams, but it’s drowned out by the music still booming from the warehouse.
There’s an after-party for the mobsters and fighters, of course, and I’m sure Nico will be there instead of home like I told him.
“Let her go!” the man shouts, and I bark out a laugh.
I pull Sophia tight against my chest, my forearm clamping around her soft belly. She struggles, but my grip is stronger than she is.
“Never,” I murmur, and I’m not even sure he hears me. It doesn’t matter anyway, because what am I saying?
I should kill her right here. Father would. Nico would.
But I don’t kill women. And this will give me time to interrogate her. What does she already know? I’m sure this isn’t the first place she’s gone undercover among the mob. I’m probably not the first mobster she seduced, either.
The idea of just being a job to her, a target, makes the void in my chest feel wider, but I ignore it.
“Diego!” I yell, knowing that he’ll be nearby. He sticks by me during events like this, keeps an eye on me. He’s not exactly my bodyguard, but he’ll do the job.
He always has my back.
Diego appears out of the shadows like he’d just been waiting for me to call him, and he probably has. He knows I like to handle things myself if I can. I’m not one of those wiseguys that never gets his hands dirty, despite my boss status.
He has his gun drawn, and he points it at Sophia’s boyfriend.
“Put your hands on the dash,” he orders, and the other man sneers but slowly obeys.
“You won’t get away with this.”
Maybe not.
It’s risky, doing this out in the open, even for me. It would be for anyone. But the cops in this area know this event is going on and they’re in our pocket.
But still. It’s not like me at all. It’s…concerning, actually, but I choose not to worry about it right now. What I need to do is focus on getting Sophia somewhere that I can talk to her.
Make her talk to me.
By whatever means necessary.
Diego keeps his eyes fixed on the boyfriend, not moving an inch, not even blinking.
Diego was in the military before he became a wiseguy.
He spent two tours in active combat in his twenties.
Before his little brother got blown up by a landmine, he was a model soldier.
After that, he kind of went off the rails.
We had grown up together, taken different paths.
When they shipped him home, he fit into my life just like he’d never left.
I’m thankful for him right now. Without him, Sophia probably could have wriggled away, but she’s stock still, trembling, scared for her boyfriend, which makes me want to scream.
Diego doesn’t speak, just keeps pointing his gun.
“Just drive away,” I tell him with a snarl, able to drop my gun to my side now and drag Sophia back across the street, her heels scraping on the pavement.
She opens her mouth as if to scream, and I grip her hipbone until she winces in pain.
“Scream and I’ll order Diego to take off your boyfriend’s head,” I hiss, and she closes her mouth with a click of her teeth.
My chest feels tight, my stomach rolling. She shut up quickly when I threatened him. How serious is it? There was no ring on her finger, but it seems like she’s terrified of losing him.
“Just go, Soph,” the boyfriend says, his voice calm and warm. “Don’t fight him. I’ll find you, okay? I promise.”
It’s heartfelt and saccharine and it makes me want to throw up. I have to stop myself from ordering Diego to shoot him anyway.
“Take her,” I bark, and Diego takes Sophia from me. I raise my gun as she struggles, kicks at him, and one of her stilettos going flying into the street.
He ignores her, his arms like iron as he drags her to his Escalade.
Her screams fade out and slowly, I lower my gun.
Her boyfriend keeps his hands on the steering wheel, but he keeps his eyes trained on me.
“I’ll find you,” he warns.
“I hope so,” I say honestly. All I need is a single reason to put a bullet in the back of his head.
He takes his foot off the brake and takes off.
I watch him go for a moment, trying to memorize the license plate. But it’s no use, he speeds off too quickly. Shame. I’d like to have gotten to know more about him, tried to figure out how he’s connected to Sophia.
I guess I’ll just have to make her tell me.
I make my way to the parking garage where I know Diego is parked. My own car is at the valet, but I think I’ll leave it for the night, ride back with Diego. I don’t want to let Sophia out of my sight again.
She’s too good at slipping away. Pixie. Cop.
Take your pick.
Diego stands outside the Escalade. The windows are too tinted in the back to see anything, but I can hear her banging around in there.
He looks up at me with curious dark eyes.
“Who is she?” he asks simply.
I can’t tell him who she really is.
“Angela,” I say, giving him her new fake name. “Showed up at the club pretending to be a model, but I talked to Nico and she wasn’t on the books.”
It’s only partially a lie. She is going by Angela, and I did talk to Nico—he just wasn’t sober enough to give me any information about the books even if I had asked.
He hums. “You don’t think she’s—”
I shake my head. “I doubt it. Probably some groupie trying to put another notch on her bedpost.”
“I’m sure she could have gotten one.”
I bristle slightly at the idea of Sophia sleeping with anyone else.
“Yeah, well, I don’t like people showing up uninvited to the fights. Even groupies. I’ll interrogate her, and if everything’s on the up and up, I’ll let her go.”
That last part feels like a lie, but Diego doesn’t seem to notice anything amiss. He knows interrogations are less violent for women, so he doesn’t make a fuss.
He just nods. “Alright, Caputo. You make the rules. I just follow them.”
Thank Christ Diego is so loyal. He’s never questioned me, not once, and I’ve never been more grateful.
Because I need this. I’ve needed this for nearly three years.
“Let’s take her to the safe house.”