34
LUCA
“ W hen was the last time you cleaned this thing?”
I stare pointedly at Matteo. He can berate me all he likes but gun admin is not my forte. I asked him for his expertise on why the piece of shit keeps jamming, not for a lesson on a hygienic gun.
Slumping down on the chair by the pool, I watch Matteo inspect my gun. I found him out here when I arrived earlier. After Sera’s visit this morning, I’m not ashamed to say I was more than eager to see her again. Unfortunately, she wasn’t here when I arrived, which leaves me with very little to do.
The sun is beating down heavily on us today. Like most days in California, the weather is tropical here. The subtle breeze that drifts over the hill does nothing to attempt to cool me down. If anything, a dip in that pool that I’ve never seen Sera use is more tempting right now.
“Damn, Fontana. That’s why it keeps jamming.” He raises a brow at me as he unclips the empty magazine, exposing a gunky substance and a bent spring. “Have you not watched Jarhead?”
“I can’t say I have,” I comment, kicking my feet up onto the patio table .
“This is my gun. There are many like it, but this one is mine.” Matteo glances at me over his shoulder, smirking as he blindly takes my gun apart. “My gun is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master life. Without me, my gun is useless.” Matteo punctuates each sentence by placing a part of my dismantled weapon firmly down on the table until all I’m looking at is a mishmash of metal parts.
“Without my gun, I am useless.” Matteo stares down at me. Between his thumb and forefinger he holds the offending part that has been causing me issues.
“What’s the verdict?”
“You can either get a new gun, or a new spring. It’s up to you.”
I raise a brow at him. Is he really asking me which of the two options I want to go with? I’ll take the easiest one anytime, but somehow, I don’t think Matteo is going to take it easy on me. He’s always so carefree, joking around. But something about the malfunctioning gun has gotten to him.
With a sigh, he pushes away from the table, turning on his heel. “Get it cleaned, Fontana!” he shouts over his shoulder before heading towards the house.
I leave the question about his mood lingering in the back of my mind until I see Levi approaching. He passes Matteo on his way out, eyeing me warily. After last night, Levi seems less like a moody teenager and more like someone who just got laid. I feel like we might be riding the same high, though I don’t feel like we’re in the same boat entirely.
And I get why.
He’s not that bad, just misunderstood. He’s been pining after a girl for the better part of two decades and I’ve pretty much steamrolled over his chances to have her for himself.
I’d feel bad if it weren’t for the fact Sera wants us both. I’m on board with it, too. She’s the reason I haven’t thought about my father in weeks. She fills my mind in other ways, with other things. Where she was once the one I blamed for my father’s death, now I’m blaming her for the reason I want to carry on his name.
“Where’s Sera?” Levi asks, sliding into the seat opposite me .
“She’s taking the girl back to the marina.”
“Alone?” he scowls.
I roll my eyes. Does he really think that she’s that stupid? That I would still be here if she was alone? “She’s with Gio and Marco, dumbass.”
His jaw ticks over at the insult. It’s clear he’s trying to reign his anger in—probably being wary, especially after Sera’s visit. She assured me Levi was willing to put his differences aside, and he seems to be handling that better than I thought. Though, the only issue he should really be getting a handle on is the logistics of this situation.
“She’ll be back soon,” I provide, noticing his leg bouncing nervously.
He flicks his head toward the gun parts scattered across the table. “Problem?”
“Keeps jamming. Matty says it’s time for a new gun.”
Levi acknowledges my answer, picking up the magazine clip and examining it in silence. “I suppose we’d better talk about this thing with Sera.”
“If you want?”
Levi huffs. I can already tell the guy hasn’t planned this conversation out. He seems like the type of guy to worry about those things later on, opting for acting first. He places the magazine back onto the table, twining his fingers together. “I can’t say I want to, but it’ll make Sera happy to know we’re… okay, and that’s all I care about.”
“Same.”
“I have no interest in anything else. Got it?”
I nod, suppressing the smirk that is aching to reveal itself. “Agreed. Anything else you want to add?” I tease. “We can set a schedule up if you like? You can have her on the days with ’T’ in.”
“ Fongoul ,” he sneers playfully. “I’ll leave that shit up to Bianchi. I’m pretty sure it’s not just the to-and-fro she wants.”
“Well, just so we’re clear, if you touch me with your dick…” I tug my pocket knife out and flip it open. “I’ll cut it off.”
Levi laughs deeply, reaching his hand out to me. “Ditto.”
I’m about to shake hands with the guy when Sera steps out of the backdoor. She’s wearing a smile on her face that tells me she’s been up to mischief—that or she’s planning something. Either way, I can’t say I’m put off by it when she looks so good in that pantsuit. I don’t know what it is, but when she acts all business-like, I kind of want to just rip her clothes off and fuck her dirty. I know she’d like that. Sera has a deepness that Levi can only dream to touch. He won’t have gotten near to the darkness that I know lurks inside of Sera. He’s too scared of hurting her.
Not me. That night we first fucked was only the beginning. Asking her to trust me was only the start of this. I want to see what else turns her on. I want to know what makes her tick and how dirty she can be.
“Are my boys making up?” she smiles as she reaches us.
I snap out of my train of thought when she uses that term of endearment. I can categorically say we are anything but boys.
Ignoring my eyeroll, Sera kisses me on the cheek, then turns to Levi to do the same. She watches us both warily, probably wanting to know what we’ve been out here talking about.
Thankfully, Levi interrupts the brief silence. “How did it go with the Vultures?”
That’s the question I’ve been wondering myself. She asked me to meet her here after her visit this morning. I had hoped it was to comb over the finer details of this throuple we’ve found ourselves in, but I was sorely disappointed when I found only Matteo out here, dismantling his gun over and over like a bad habit. I’ve kept my questions to myself, but since Sera’s here, I want to know what’s happening with the Vultures and the Verdis.
Sera perches on Levi’s knee, lacing her fingers with his. It’s cute, in a teenager kind of way. I can see the appeal when it comes to Levi. Sera needs some sweetness to counter the evil she endured when she was younger. Maybe Levi has played into that part, or he’s just that way inclined. Either way, she revels in the attention.
“Good,” Sera answers. “Zeke thanks you for getting his little girl back. And since I delivered on my promise…” she turns to me and leans forward to squeeze my hand; “with your help of course… he’s willing to help us.”
“Help us how?” I quiz. “They still have the Verdis on their backs, and that’s if they haven’t already discovered their only piece of leverage has been stolen back.”
Sera sighs. Clearly I’ve asked the wrong question because she looks offended. “As far as the Verdis know, we have the girl.” She pulls out her phone, tapping the screen before handing it to me. “I took a fake photo of her when she got here last night. I made it look like we have her so if the Verdis question the Vultures, it’ll look like they had nothing to do with this.”
Levi shakes his head. “That’s just going to put an even bigger target on your back.”
“Is it? Luciano doesn’t care about the girl.” Sera snatches the phone back from me. “He was only using her so the Vultures would do his dirty work. With this plan, he’ll still think the Vultures are helping them when really, they’ll be helping us.”
Levi tosses me a skeptical look. “A double cross?”
A smile widens Sera’s lips, her eyes bright with pride.
Okay, I have to give it to her. That’s a smart plan. I’m betting she didn’t have this planned weeks ago, but who cares. If it’s going to get the Verdis off her back and us closer to our end goal, I’m all for it.
“I like it,” Levi states.
“Clever,” I remark. But there still begs the other question: are The Vultures loyal or just returning a favor? “So how exactly are the Vultures helping us? They have the girl. There’s no incentive for them.”
Sera leans forward, the authority and wisdom in her voice painting her as a different person. “Loyalty is an incentive. A promise is an incentive. Those patrols they’ve been doing around my businesses were to scare me, to make me run. Now that I’ve proved my loyalty, they’re my protection.”
Sera looks smug as fuck as she stands up, power rolling off her shoulders like she was made for this role. “So while we’re out ruining the Verdi’s little empire, we have extra eyes on the streets and manpower in our pockets.”
Tugging her hand to his lips, Levi kisses it, looking up at her with admiration. He’s got that puppy dog look down alright, and Sera seems to be lapping it up.
“Did you come up with this plan all on your own?” Levi asks.
Sera shrugs. “Mancini might have had something to do with it. I still don’t like the guy, but he has some good ideas.”
Her eyes move to mine. I know how much she doesn’t like Mancini. It was my fault, after all, to bring him here. If I’d known how dark their history was, I wouldn’t have bothered. And I’m kind of pissed that Mancini didn’t mention their past to me at all before I did.
“Luca?” Sera calls out.
“I’m sorry about bringing him in,” the words tumble freely.
“Don’t worry about it.” Sera smiles, resting a hand on my shoulder. “Some things are better left in the past. We all make mistakes.”
“Some bigger than others,” I mutter.
But the weight of my guilt must outweigh any worry she might have because she doesn’t even bat an eyelid. Raf and Sera must be on better terms than last week because she’s not pissed when he pokes his head out from the back door to announce his arrival.
“I have bigger things to worry about than him right now,” Sera smirks. “I need to check on my clubs since I’ve been off the grid for the past week.”
“Need some company?” I ask.
She beams back at me with the widest smile, like I just made her day. “Let’s go then.”