Chapter 5
Chapter Five
MAURIZIO
Ichecked the pasta sauce one more time. Stirring it gently while my mind fixated on Labria’s text from earlier.
We need to talk later. For simple words that knotted my stomach.
I’d prepared her favorite, linguine with clams in white wine sauce.
I hoped good food might soften whatever bad news she was bringing home.
The rich scent of garlic and herbs filled my kitchen but did nothing to calm my nerves.
I shouldn’t be this anxious. I’d killed, tortured and maimed men without an afterthought, but Labria had me questioning every move I’d made thus far.
Something must’ve happened at work. Something serious enough that she couldn’t say it over text.
I poured two glasses of Pinot Grigio and tried to convince myself it wasn’t about Lordes.
The sound of a car door slamming outside pulled me from my intrusive thoughts.
I wiped my hands on a kitchen towel and moved to the front window, watching as Labria walked up the path to my door.
Even after a long day, she moved with elegance and grace.
Her beige suit was impeccable, but her face was stern and tense.
I rushed to open the front door before she could use her key.
“La mia bella amante (my beautiful lover).” I said, greeting her with a smile I hoped masked my anxiety. “Perfect timing. Dinner’s almost ready.”
Her eyes lit up slightly at the sight of me. I saw some of the strain easing from her face. “Zio, it smells amazing.”
I pulled her into my arms, savoring her warmth as she pressed against me. I kissed her deeply, partly from genuine desire and partly to delay whatever difficult conversation awaited us. Her briefcase dropped to the floor with a soft thud as her arms wrapped around my neck.
“Rough day?” I asked while nuzzling into her neck and smelling the remnants of her sensuous perfume. I wanted to stay here forever, and I felt a loss when we finally pulled apart.
“You could say that.” She replied, stepping past me into the house. Labria slipped off her heels with a small sigh of relief. “The don paid me an unexpected visit at the office today.”
My heart stuttered in my chest. “Did he? Nicco, he doesn’t have any business with you so that can’t be good.”
“It wasn’t.” She glanced toward the kitchen. “Can we talk about it over dinner? I’m starving, and your sauce smells too good to wait.”
“Of course. Everything’s ready.” I led her to the dining room where I’d already set the table with my best dishes.
It lit candles. It wasn’t anything special.
I just wanted to create some normalcy. I wanted Labria to come home to something comfortable and serene in the middle of the storm we were living in.
Labria’s face relaxed at the sight of my romantically decorated table. “Okay, I see you. You did your thing. It looks nice.” She smiled.
“No trouble,” I said, pulling out her chair. “You deserve the princess treatment.”
I brought the pasta to the table, serving her a generous portion before taking my seat across from her. She took a sip of wine, closing her eyes briefly as if gathering strength.
“Oh, my god. This is delicious,” she said after tasting the pasta. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I twirled pasta around my fork, struggling to eat despite my churning stomach. “So, Nicco came to see you?”
Labria set down her fork and met my eyes. “He did.”
“Why?”
“He told me that Lord knows I’m staying here with you.” Labria let out a slight roll of her eyes.
Though I’d been expecting something like this, hearing the words still sent a chill through me. I nodded slowly, trying to gauge how much she knew, how much I needed to reveal.
“He said some cryptic shit like they have eyes everywhere,” she continued, her voice steady though her hand trembled slightly as she reached for her wineglass.
“That’s vague.”
“And he said that Lord knows I’m staying here but hasn’t said anything to him directly.”
I took a long drink from my own glass. I was buying time to come up with something to say that wasn’t harsh. The wine tasted like nothing in my mouth. All I could think about was the hidden message coming from the don himself.
“There’s something else,” she said, studying my face. “Nicco seemed surprised when I told him why I left Lord. He claims he didn’t know about Lolita, and I believe him.”
“Lolita LaGrassa?” I asked, genuinely surprised. “Lord was seeing Primo’s daughter? You told me there was a woman. You never said who.”
“Yes, Lolita LaGrassa. I found pictures and text messages.” Her mouth tightened into a hard line. “And I saw them together.”
I pushed my plate away slightly, my appetite gone.
I couldn’t believe Lordes would cheat on Labria with Lolita.
There had to be a business reason. Lolita was okay, but she was no Labria.
This was new information to me, but it wasn’t the most pressing issue.
I had my own confession to make. I ran a hand through my hair, a nervous habit I’d never managed to break.
“Labria, there’s something I need to tell you.” I avoided her eyes, focusing instead on the candle flame between us. “I already knew that Lord was aware of our situation.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Then came the clatter of her fork against her plate.
“What?” Her voice was dangerously quiet.
“Cenzo told me Lord was aware of our living together. I found out about a week ago, at my father’s funeral.”
“A week ago?” The color drained from her face. “You’ve known for a week and said nothing to me?”
I reached for her hand across the table, but she pulled back. “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to upset you. You seemed to be avoiding talking about Lord. I didn’t want to force the issue. I was waiting for you to bring him up.”
“So instead, you let me walk around not knowing if he was lurking in the bushes outside?” She pushed back from the table, standing abruptly.
“Do you have any idea how dangerous this is for me? I don’t know what he’s capable of.
I don’t know when he’s in town. I don’t know how he feels— if he’s mad or whatever.
Like am I supposed to be looking over my shoulder every minute of the day? ”
“I thought I was protecting you,” I said, standing to meet her gaze. “Every time Lord’s name would come up, you shut down. You would change the subject. I didn’t want to press you and make things worse.”
“Make things worse? Worse for whom?” She twisted her lips. “Zio, this isn’t about my comfort. This is about my safety. I’ve seen Lord do violent things.”
“We’ve all done violent things.” I said, wishing I hadn’t said it.
Labria rolled her eyes and shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m here dealing with this shit. I’m always the last one to know some shit that directly affects me.”
I ran my hand through my hair again, tugging at the roots in frustration. “I know. I fucked up. I should have told you immediately. I wanted to protect you.”
“Yes, you should have told me he knew. You’re his cousin. He can’t be too happy about us being together.” Her expression hardened, then gradually softened as she watched me. “Why didn’t you really?”
I sank back into my chair. The weight of my silence felt heavy on my shoulders. “I didn’t tell you because I was afraid.”
“Afraid, afraid of what?”
“That you’d leave. I like that you’re here. I want you here with me. If you knew Lorded was aware of your whereabouts, you might go.” I looked up at her, finally meeting her gaze. “I didn’t want you to realize this thing between us wasn’t worth it.”
Labria returned to her seat, her movements deliberate, controlled. She was in lawyer mode now, analyzing, assessing. “That wasn’t your decision to make.”
“I know.” I reached for my wine again, wishing it were something stronger. “I’m sorry.”
“Is there anything else I should know? Any other secrets you’ve been keeping from me to ‘protect’ me?” Her fingers made air quotes around the word.
“No.” I shook my head. “No more secrets. But there’s something I don’t understand. If you left Lord because of Lolita, why hasn’t he mentioned that to Nicco? Why pretend he doesn’t know why you left?”
Labria’s expression shifted, confusion replacing anger. “I don’t know. Maybe he’s embarrassed? Or maybe he doesn’t care enough to explain to the don.”
“Or maybe I don’t know.” I decided against saying more. There was another possibility, but I refused to give my cousin Lordes the benefit of the doubt.
Labria’s brown eyes met mine across the table.
“What did Cenzo say to you exactly?” she asked. “When he told you that Lord knew?”
“Just that he knew you were staying here with me, and it was his job as consigliere to know what was going on.”
“All of our privacy is gone. Did Cenzo tell you to kick me out?”
“No, he wouldn’t say that. No matter how he personally feels, he would never tell me what to do when it came to a woman.”
Labria sighed, some of the fight going out of her. She picked up her fork again, though she just pushed pasta around her plate. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. I understand why you didn’t tell me, even if I don’t agree with it.”
“No, you’re right to be angry. I should have told you immediately.” I reached across the table again, and this time she allowed me to take her hand. “No more secrets between us. I promise.”
She nodded, her thumb gently stroking my palm. “No more secrets. I hate a liar. That’s exactly what Lord is. He’s a liar. I’m not going to deal with a man who hides things from me. I can’t do.”
We finished our meal in relative silence.
We were both lost in our own thoughts. The candles burned lower, casting long shadows across the table.
The romantic dinner I’d planned had turned into something else entirely—not a disaster, but a reminder that whatever was happening between us existed in the shadow of larger, more dangerous forces.