by L A Cotton
“I’m fine.” I pushed the plate away from me and let out an exhausted sigh. “I’m just tired.”
And classes so far today had been killer.
“You’re burning the candle at both ends… you can’t—”
“It was one night, babe. One night. Besides, it’s freshman year. This is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. Next year is for the hard work. This year is for partying and finding yourself.”
“You did a pretty good job of finding yourself last night.”
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I didn’t like the judgment in her tone.
Ari’s expression softened. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just worried about you. You’re all alone in the apartment. Luca is—”
“He’s good people, Ari. And he likes me. At least, I think he does. Is that so hard to believe?”
“Of course it isn’t.” She jerked back as if I’d slapped her. “Why would you even ask that?”
“I’m just grouchy.”
“You mean hungover.”
“Yeah, that too.” My eyes fluttered closed. “Is it so wrong I let my hair down for a night?”
“Not at all. I just hope you’re doing it for you and not to escape.”
My eyes snapped open. “Say what?”
“I know you Nora. I’m your best friend. What happened with Enzo—”
“I think that ship has sailed, babe. He left.”
He freaking left without uttering a word. I didn’t ever imagine I was the kind of girl who could make a guy like Enzo stay… but a goodbye? That wasn’t too much to ask.
“He did. And honestly, I want to say it’s a good thing. But I can see you’re hurting, and that makes you vulnerable.”
“If you’re worried about my honor, you needn’t be. I lost my v-card in high school and it was completely unmemorable.” I laughed, bitterly.
“Nora.” Ari didn’t join me. “I’m serious. Luca seems like a good guy. All I’m saying is if you jump into something with him, what happens when Enzo comes back?”
I suspected a whole lot of nothing. Whatever we had, or might have had, was gone. I saw it when he walked away from me at Arabella’s party.
“Can we talk about something else? This is hurting my head,” I grumbled.
“Here, take this.” She slung a box of pills across the table. Luis was watching us from his position at the doors leading in and out of the food court. Students came and went either not noticing him or accepting his presence without question. I guess that’s what happened when you went to school with a local celebrity.
But Arianne wasn’t a celebrity to me. She was my best friend. My ride or die. The only problem was, now she was Nicco’s ride or die too.
“Hey,” I said, shaking off my solemn mood. “Do you think the two of—”
“Ladies,” Matteo leaped over the back of the couch I was perched on and dropped down beside me. “What’s good for lunch?”
“You can have mine.” I pushed my plate toward him.
“What’s wrong with it?”
“Nothing,” Ari said, “she’s hungover.” Nicco sat down beside her and immediately pulled her into a passionate kiss.
“Do you have to do that in public?” Tristan, Arianne’s cousin, also joined us.
“She’s my wife, Capizola. If I want to kiss her, I—”
“Okay,” he snapped, “I’m sorry I asked. Hungover on a school day, Nor? How rebellious of you.” Tristan smirked and I flipped him off.
There had been a time, not so long ago, that I didn’t know what side Tristan stood on. He’d been best friends with Scott Fascini, the psychopath responsible for kidnapping me and going after Nicco and Arianne.
It was all water under the bridge now, but I saw the lingering tension between Nicco and Tristan. They had both taken on the role of her protector, and at one point, Tristan had tried to protect her from the one thing she’d needed more than anything.
Nicco.
“Countdown to graduation, Tris,” I said. “Are you ready?”
“Is anyone ever ready?” He shrugged, popping a fry into his mouth.
“You still determined to take off for a year and travel?”
“If Mom and Uncle Roberto get their way, I’ll be heading up a department at Capizola Holdings. But I feel like I need to spread my wings before I put down roots.”
“We need you,” Ari said. “I need you.”
A low rumble came from Nicco.
“Relax, husband,” she teased him, “I need you too.”
“Gross, I think I just regurgitated some chili dog.” Matteo grabbed my bottle of water. “Mind?”
“Go for it.” I motioned for him to continue.
“So how did things go with Captain America?”
“Captain America?” My brows knitted.
“Yeah, Luca. He has that whole Chris Evans vibe working for him.”
“Now that you mention it, he kind of does look like Captain America,” Nicco added.
I held up my hand. “Can we please stop referring to him as Captain America?”
“They have a point, Nor.” Arianne chuckled.
“Oh God, not you too.”
“Who’s Luca?” Tristan said, watching us with mild confusion.
“Just some guy who wants in Nora’s pant—”
“Enough!” I smashed my hand over Matteo’s mouth, drowning out his voice. “Luca is my new neighbor.”
“Ah gotcha.” He smirked.
“I give up. I’m going to hang out somewhere else.” I grabbed my bag and got up. “Somewhere where my friends aren’t complete assholes.”
“Nora, babe, don’t be like that,” Matteo called after me. “We’re only joking.”
I flipped him off over my shoulder and kept walking. The truth was, I didn’t want to deal with any of this right now. I didn’t want to deal with my confusing feelings for Luca or my unrelenting feelings for Enzo.
What I wanted was quiet. My hungover brain couldn’t handle much else.
Just as I reached the doors out of the food court, a hand snagged my arm.
“Nora, wait.”
“I’m really not in the mood, babe.” I stared at my best friend with pleading eyes.
“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
“No, you did nothing wrong. I’m just… ugh, I’m so confused.”
“Why don’t we blow off classes this afternoon and have some girl’s time?”
“Yeah?” My mood instantly lifted.
“Yeah. It’s been too long.”
“Ice cream, face masks, and Magic Mike?” I asked, hopeful.
“If that’s what you want, then that’s what we’ll do.” She tucked herself into my side and we walked out of the food court like that.
“The guys are sorry too.”
“No one needs to be sorry.” Any other day, I would have given them some snarky reply. But I wasn’t feeling particularly snarky today.
“Everything’s different now,” I whispered, allowing myself a vulnerable moment.
“I know.” Ari let out a soft sigh, gripping my arm tighter. “But you’re still my best friend, Nor. Nothing will ever change that. I hope you know that.”
“I know,” I replied.
Because I did.
Arianne stayed until she could no longer keep her eyes open. We’d gorged ourselves on ice cream and candy, drooling to the sexual revelation that was Channing Tatum and Alex Pettyfer.
Nicco sent Luis to pick her up, and I watched as he carried her down the hall, half-asleep. I closed my door and began cleaning up. This should have been our life together: movie nights and pamper sessions, sitting around gossiping about boys and classes.
But now she was married, and I was… pining after a guy who would never want me for more than what my body could give him.
A frustrated cry spilled from my lips as my chest heaved. I hated feeling like this. Weak and sorry for myself.
I wasn’t weak.
I was a freaking firecracker.
I wasn’t the kind of girl to sit around and wait for a guy to wake up and realize I was everything he needed.
I made things happen for myself. I took control of my own destiny.
And I refused to sit around and wait for Enzo Marchetti to pull his head out of his ass when there was another guy who saw me.
Luca saw me.
Without thinking, I marched out of my apartment and across the hall, banging on Luca’s door.
“N-Nora?” He stared at me, wide-eyed, a towel wrapped firmly around his narrow waist. “Is something wrong?”
I didn’t reply. Instead, I threw my arms around his neck and leaned up, crashing my mouth down on his.
“Whoa.” His arm went around my waist as we stumbled back into his room, the door clicking shut behind us.
“Kiss me,” I urged him, nervous energy zipping through my body. “I need for you to kiss me.”
“Slow down…” He broke away, gazing down at me with concern. “Not that I’m complaining, because I’m not…”
“You don’t want me?” I batted my eyelashes at him, liquid lust coursing through my veins.
I wanted this.
Needed it.
“Nora, you know I do.”
“So, what’s the problem?”
Because I could feel the evidence of his desire pressed up against my stomach.
“I don’t want to be your rebound guy and I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret tomorrow.”
His words were like a bucket of cold water and I pulled away, turning my back on him.
“You’re hurting.” It wasn’t a question.
Luca stepped up behind me, running his hands up and down my shoulders. “Nora, look at me.”
Slowly, I turned around, meeting his intense stare. “You are so fucking beautiful, and strong, and funny… I hate this guy, whoever he is, for making you doubt yourself.” He pushed the messy curls from my face. “But if I have you, I’m going to want all of you. And I don’t think you’re ready for that.” His thumb dropped to my mouth, lingering on the pillow of my bottom lip.
Energy pulsed around us, so thick I could almost taste it. I wanted him to kiss me. For the first time since I met Luca, I really really wanted him to kiss me.
So why didn’t he?
“Luca?” His name fell from my lips in a whispered plea, but he didn’t move.
He didn’t do anything.
“This was clearly a mistake.” Dejection burned through me as I tore out of his arms and retreated back toward the door.
“Nora, wait,” he called, but my hand was already on the door handle. “Nora, please.”
I spun around and met his apologetic gaze. “What, Luca? What is there left to say?”
He closed the distance between us until his hands gently cupped my face.
“I had a change of heart.”
“What do you—”
His mouth captured mine in a bruising kiss.
Luca was kissing me.
He was kissing me.
And I was letting him.
Chapter 13
Enzo
“I got a lead,” Gino said the second I reached him.
It was a little after eight and we were at the restaurant beside the motel getting breakfast. The other patrons gave us a wide berth, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t experienced before.
“About fucking time,” I grumbled.
It had been six days since I left Verona. Six days of us chasing dead ends.
Whoever was orchestrating this whole thing knew how to stay off the grid.
The server brought over coffee and took our order. The second she turned her back, I said, “Before we get into what the hell we’re going to do about this fucker, I need to ask you something.”
“Go on.”
“You ever seen Zander get violent with his girls?”
Gino’s brow pinched. “He gets a bit handsy now and again but hurting them? Nah. He’s all talk and no action that one.”
I rubbed my jaw. “He asked me to go over and check on one of his girls. Caitlin O’Connell. But when I got over there, I recognized her. Found her crying in the bathroom at the club the other night.”
“You think he’s hurting her?”
“I don’t know. She wouldn’t tell me what happened. But if DiMarco is putting his hands on his girls… that shit don’t fly with me.”
He hissed between his teeth. “Word of advice, kid, don’t get involved in another man’s business. DiMarco is already a loose cannon. Don’t give him a reason to cause a shitstorm we don’t need right now. It was probably a John who got a little too enthusiastic.”
I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. But Gino was right. I was here to find out who was coming after the Family, not to get all up in Zander DiMarco’s affairs. Besides, Caitlin had been unwilling to even let me inside her apartment, let alone interrogate her about what had happened. I’d left my number with her in case she needed anything, but I didn’t expect to hear from her anytime soon.
“What’s the plan?” I changed the subject.
“It’s an address, an abandoned warehouse out by the river. The guy we worked over. I let him go.”
“The fuck?” I gawked at him.
“Relax. Oldest trick in the book. Let a rat free and it’ll lead you right back to its nest.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I put a tracker on him and followed him out there. He met with another guy, but I didn’t get a good look at him. Marc and Dixon have been staking out the place overnight. After our guy left, nobody else came or went.”
“You think it’s Alejandro?”
Gino nodded, and I clenched my fist against the table.
“When do we go?”
No one was supposed to know the truth about my father, especially not this asshole.
“Relax. Eat.” Gino relaxed back in his chair. “It could be a long fucking day.”
My skin vibrated with the need to find this motherfucker and get answers: who he was and what the fuck he hoped to achieve coming after the Family.
“Any word about Morello?” I asked Gino, trying to distract myself.
“He’s out of the hospital. Won’t be running any marathons for a while, but he’ll be okay.”
“That’s good.”
“Yeah, but listen, Enzo, we need to do this the right way. We need to find out what this fucker knows and what he plans on doing with it.”
I nodded. “How are we doing this?”
“Just you and me initially. We’ll stake the place out and bide our time until nightfall.”
Which was about seven-and-a-half hours away.
Fuck. Today was going to drag like a bitch. But for as much as I wanted to end this thing, I also didn’t want to risk him slipping through our fingers, so I would follow Gino’s lead and wait.
“We end this thing tonight,” he added. “Then you can get back to Verona and sink deep into your woman and let her absolve you of some of your sins.”
“I don’t have a woman,” I argued.
“Kid, you might tell yourself that, but you ain’t foolin’ anyone. Seen that look in your eyes one too many times.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He smirked. “Whatever you say, kid.”
Just then, the server brought over our order and Gino dropped all talk of women to dig into his breakfast.
It didn’t matter.
He was wrong.
I didn’t have a woman.
Didn’t want one, didn’t need one.
I’d seen what the love of a good woman did to men like me. Made men. It distracted them. Rendered them weak. It blinded them with jealousy, pulling their loyalties in too many directions.
“Eat up, you’re going to need your energy.” Gino levelled me with a hard look. One that told me all I needed to know…
Tonight, we would finish this.
By the time the sun began to set over the city skyline, I was c
old, hungry, and itching for a fight.
“I’m going to take a piss,” I said, shouldering the door of my Pontiac.
“Make it quick. This asshole hasn’t left the warehouse all day. He’s gotta surface eventually.”
Marc and Dixon had met us right at the spot this morning, informing us the guy was still inside. There had been no one coming or going all fucking day, which meant he was in there somewhere, biding his time the same way we were.
The brisk air stung my face as I went around the rear end of the car and took a leak behind a tree. We’d survived the day on a few stale chips and cans of soda. Part of me wanted to say, ‘fuck it’ and storm the warehouse, but as Gino kept reminding me, it wasn’t only my ass on the line. Uncle Toni wanted answers. He wanted to know who was messing with us and why. And Gino Lupo had a process.
One that included a lot of sitting around and talking about the fucking weather.
I wiped my hands down my jeans and got back in the car. Gino was peering through his binoculars.
“Anything?” I asked.
“The security light just came on. But I don’t think—wait a second. Wait a—fuck, yeah, there’s our guy.” He shoved the lenses at me.
My heart beat hard in my chest as I focused on the guy in their line of sight. I didn’t recognize him, but it was dark, and he was wearing all-black with a skull cap pulled over his head.
“We should move now,” I said, eager to get this over with. But Gino’s arm shot out in front of me.
“We wait. If he leaves, I want to get a look inside.”
“And if he doesn’t come back?”
“He will. It’s his nest. They always come back.”
We watched the guy climb into a beat-up truck and drive off.
“Okay, let’s go. Stay behind me and don’t fuck this up. This is recon only.”
“Recon?” I sneered. “We’ve been sitting in my car all fucking day.”
“What’s wrong, kid? The life not as glamorous as you thought it would be?”
I hadn’t really given it much thought. But I knew Gino and his guys got their hands dirty and I wanted in on the action.
“Let’s go see what this pompinara is hiding.” Gino pulled on some gloves before slipping out of the car and disappearing into the night.
