18
LEVI
I hear her before I see her. Her voice is sharp and pleading. “Luca!”
He storms down the stairs, barely glancing at me before he heads towards the kitchen. He’s got that look about him, like he’s just had his favorite toy stolen from him. He seems like the type of guy to get pissy about some trivial shit like that.
Serafina pads after him, each step creaking beneath her. She’s determined, I’ll give her that, but she’s not as fast as Luca. She must still be in pain because I’ve seen her move a lot faster than that for a lot less.
She freezes when she sees me, lingering on the bottom step while her hand white-knuckles the bannister. Like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes widen and a sweet blush stains her cheeks.
“Everything okay?” I ask, glancing at the door that Luca just stormed through.
Sera rubs her forehead, looking hesitant. She slides her gaze toward the kitchen, her shoulders dropping slightly with defeat. “I don’t know,” she confesses.
I pat the space beside me on the couch and she complies, sliding in next to me. I’ve never been the cuddling type. I’m usually the guy who gets bored easily, so I never make an effort to be more than a fuck, but with Sera I want to be more. I want more with her because she deserves it. She’s a queen, the world is at her feet and she needs to see that. I’m more than happy to be the one to give that to her.
Wrapping my arm over her shoulder, she shifts closer. “Want to talk about it?”
I sense even more hesitation when her eyes land on mine. Clearly whatever happened upstairs she doesn’t want to talk about it. Unfortunately for her, I’m not so easily dissuaded.
“Luca upset you?” I hazard a guess.
“More like it was the other way around,” she mutters.
My brows furrow as I take her in. Her busted lip looks worse than it did last night. If she’s in pain, she isn’t showing it, but her turmoil is as loud as thunder crackling overhead.
“I’m sure he’ll get over it.” I press a kiss to her temple, the good side. It’s something that feels natural to me and I think she feels it too. I glance down at her form, smirking. “Hungry?”
Sera doesn’t answer me verbally, but her stomach does. “I didn’t realize how much until now.”
“Well,” I say, standing up and holding a hand out for her. “It’s a good thing we got a chef in the kitchen.”
She frowns. I know exactly what’s running through her head, but if I told her who was really in the kitchen, she’d have my head on a platter.
Without hesitation, Sera takes my hand and stands, moving towards the smell of bacon and eggs, and perfectly ground coffee. She freezes as soon as she sees him and I can practically hear her jaw grinding.
“Levi,” she growls. “Why is Mancini in my kitchen?”
Raf turns with a smile, setting a pan of eggs down on the table. “Your second in command asked us to come by,” he answers, gesturing to me.
Now, I know it was a bad move on my part. Sera and Raf don’t quite see eye to eye for one reason and one alone. Raf and Luciano used to be close, best-friends in fact. Her reservations for him are well-deserved. She doesn’t trust him, never has, and I don’t blame her. Though Raf has never sided with the Verdis on anything, we’ve all had the same thought cross our mind. He could be a mole.
“Us?” Sera snarks.
Raf points with a spatula to Marco and Matteo coming in from the back yard. Last night the Ferrante brothers were running perimeter checks around Sera’s home, checking the security features. I asked them to stay because it was already late and it would be pointless for them to head home, only to come back here today for a debrief.
I’m also ashamed to say I haven’t really enforced safety measures like I should have so having them around is an extra pair of hands if shit were to go down again. I have installed surveillance cameras, stationed guards at the front gate and perimeter, but that’s as far as her security goes. There’s only one way in and out of this place, and I probably need to strategize a contingency plan if we’re suddenly infiltrated.
Sera’s eyes bounce from one body to the next. We’re all here, everyone that supports her, everyone who is willing to put their lives on the line for her. Everyone except Giovanni.
I can see the realization sink in when Sera does a full sweep of the room. Her bodyguard disappeared last night. He didn’t go far—just to the pool house—but I guess he needed the space.
The shootout took us all by surprise, even though we should have suspected it. From the short interaction between Giovanni and Sera, I’d say he’s beating himself up over the events of last night. Though I’m actually surprised how little she was hurt. I’ve seen lesser crashes cause more damage than theirs. The fact Sera is only sporting a busted lip and gash on her head still astounds me. We all saw how far her car traveled—it practically flew through the air.
“Are we going to discuss last night?” Sera asks the room.
“Food first, debrief later,” Raf orders, setting the final plates of food onto the table. Even though Sera’s in charge, Raf is taking on the dad role, making sure we do things right. He has the most experience out of all of us here, which means I won’t ignore his advice, no matter how much it kills Sera. We need him .
I take a seat at the table, admiring the buffet before us. The man has made us a feast, bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘breakfast for champions’. I’m surprised Sera even had everything in her cupboards, considering we’re always eating out or getting takeaway.
“You didn’t have to do all this,” Sera huffs, sliding into a seat between me and Luca.
I glance over her, seeing a scowl sharpening his already deep features. I’d say whatever went down between him and Sera upstairs is definitely the reason for his mood, which only makes me want to know what happened.
“Don’t worry about it,” Raf waves a dismissive hand. “I was hungry, I thought all of you would be, too.”
“Well, I’m starving!” Matteo groans, joining the table. His chair screeches along the floor, followed by Marco’s. It’s not until everyone else is seated that Raf completes the seating plan, taking head of the table. It should be Sera up there, but I already know she doesn’t care for chauvinistic attempts to assert dominance. She knows she’s in charge, meaning everyone else should too, no matter where you’re sitting at a table.
“What about Gio?” Sera asks the group.
I slide my hand over her thigh and give it a squeeze.
She shivers, looking up at me.
“He’s okay,” I assure her. “Just give him some time.” Of all people, Sera should understand the way guilt can fester, even when it’s not your fault to begin with. She’s dealing with it firsthand, after all.
When the acknowledgment dances across her face, I slip my hand back and dig into the breakfast.
“I still need answers,” Sera mutters, narrowing her eyes on Mancini.
“You got it,” Raf replies.
After that, it’s silent, except for the clinking of cutlery, and the tension building in the room. I can’t quite tell if it’s because of Sera’s distaste for Mancini or Luca’s bad mood. Either way, I’m determined to get to the bottom of both. Luca called Raf to help us for a reason. He trusts the guy, and in turn I trust Luca’s judgment.
Eventually, there’s movement. The Ferrante brothers move to the kitchen sink with the plates. Luca excuses himself from the table to go who-knows-where, while Sera huffs for a minute or two before following suit.
I look at Raf and shrug. We should really get down to business and debrief everyone. Raf must have intel and right now we all need answers. Though we have an idea over who is behind the attack, it doesn’t hurt to have solid evidence. I just need to get everyone in the same room again. Though I’m not sure who I should go to first; Luca or Sera?
I opt for the latter since she is the most important. I’ll deal with whatever Luca’s problem is afterwards.
Checking all over the house becomes fruitless. Sera isn’t in any of the rooms, not even the den. For a second, I wonder where she’s disappeared to, but then I see the patio door is open. I step outside, rounding the corner of the pool, only to see Luca perched on one of the chairs, running his hands through his hair.
He looks like he’s seen better days, I won’t lie. He left the attack last night unscathed, just like myself and the brothers, but that’s all immaterial right now. He’s battling something, a deeper kind of hurt that isn’t physical pain. It makes my own chest hurt because I’ve never seen him like that before. Fontana is always so put together. Aside from his father’s death. I never actually saw how it affected him. It was only Sera’s lackies that kept me updated with mundane shit. It was mainly to keep an eye on the other families. I knew I didn’t have anything to worry about when it came to Fontana, but you can never be too careful.
“Hey,” I say, approaching him.
He lifts his head, brows furrowed with so much tension that I’m surprised his face hasn’t cracked with the pressure.
“What’s eating you?” I perch on the chair opposite him, resting my elbows on my knees as I lean forward.
Luca shakes his head .
“Nah,” I huff. “You don’t get to do that here.”
He frowns back at me, the look of disdain clear on his features. Just like Sera, he clearly doesn’t want to talk.
“I’ll be fine, Marchese. Just leave it.” He throws a thumb over his shoulder toward the pool house. “She’s in there.”
“I’ll speak to her after. I want to know what’s bothering you. You were fine before taking those pills to Bianchi, so what happened?”
I watch Luca’s lips lift into a smirk, disbelief wavering in his tone. “She did.”
I don’t know what the fucker is talking about, but all these concealed words is starting to piss me off. First Sera, now Luca. Something happened and I want to know what.
“What did she do?” Sera’s words linger in the back of my mind. She upset him. I lean back in the chair. It’s the least intimidating position, which I hope shows Luca I’m not going to get pissy with whatever he has to say. I’d like to think I have a lot more going for me than being a moody bastard like him. “Out with it,” I say, tipping my head up.
“It doesn’t matter.”
I feel the waves of guilt rolling off his shoulders. I know he wants to tell me, but something is holding him back. “Did she turn you down?” I tease.
“Just drop it!” He pushes off the chair to his full height, towering over me. Yeah the guy has a couple inches on me, but that doesn’t mean I’m intimidated.
“The fuck I will!” I face him head on, not moving from the spot.
We’re staring each other down, eyes narrowed, waiting for the other to break. I’d say he’s nailed the look completely, but he doesn’t fool me. Anger is his go-to emotion because he’s too afraid of what the others might do to him. That much is obvious.
“It won’t work on me so drop the act.”
“I said,” he grits outs, grabbing the front of my shirt in his fists. He gets up close, close enough that I can see both the anger and fear he seems to be battling with. “Drop. It.”
“Enough!” Sera’s voice sounds across the backyard.
We both turn to see her approach with Giovanni behind her. As she pads across the path toward us, I notice she’s looking a lot more relaxed than before. That is until she sees us anyway.
“Whatever the hell is wrong with you two, suck it up and move on. We need to have a debrief and I’m not waiting around for you two. So either get your shit together or leave.”
Her words throw me off kilter. Luca, too.
He drops his grip on me with a shove, arms hanging limp as he gapes at our leader. Wherever she has found this newfound confidence from, I like it. It seems with each passing day she’s growing into the role, owning the title like she should. If I wasn’t already crushing after her, I definitely would be after that. She’s got fire behind her eyes and determination clenched in her fists.
I think I’m turned on.
After a beat, Sera nods, slipping past us and heading back inside.
For now, it seems like Luca is biting back his anger for the sake of our leader. And I do the same, shrugging his aggression off before following Giovanni inside.
Soon after, Luca joins us in the living room, still looking like he lost his damn toy. If I could hazard a guess, I think the toy might be Bianchi.