Lucca II, page 7
“Yes, he did, as a matter of fact.”
Noticing he wasn’t the least bit sympathetic, she started stepping away from the counter. “I’m going to get changed.”
Lucca, however, grabbed her wrist before she could leave. “Go ahead. Dinner will be done in ten minutes. But, Chloe?” He brought her closer so he could lower his mouth to her ear. “Don’t think I didn’t notice you changed the subject from Adalyn.”
When his grasp left her, she was able to finally go upstairs to change into more comfortable clothes before coming back down to see Lucca had already set the food on the table and was waiting for her.
The silence as they ate made the food hard to swallow, so she gave in, deciding to break it. “Adalyn and I were arguing over if the professor stares at me during class.”
Lucca neatly cut a piece of the chicken with his knife. “Is he?”
“No.” At least, she didn’t think so …
He took another bite. “Adalyn comes across to me as very observant where men are concerned.”
Damn. Honestly, he had her there.
“He pays no more attention to me than any other student in the class.”
“That, I don’t believe.” At her anxious glance, Lucca gave her a comforting smile as he began swirling the wine in his glass around and around. “Why are you looking so worried, darlin’? I can’t say I blame the man.”
Chloe’s anxiousness grew worse as he continued. She hadn’t quite seen Lucca like this before …
“Has Adalyn got you watching too many Godfather movies? If I promise not to whack him, will you finish your dinner? Henry mentioned you didn’t eat much at lunch.”
“Lucca!” Chloe dropped her utensils; they made a loud clinking sound. “They don’t need to watch me every second then report it back to you. Don’t you think it’s becoming too much? I’ve started to make sure one of them doesn’t follow me in the restroom when I need to go on campus.”
“I’ll tell them to tone it down. I wasn’t aware they were making you feel uncomfortable.” He gave her an apologetic smile.
Chloe smiled back, showing him she didn’t blame him.
Elle, Adalyn, and Lake were so wrong about Lucca. He was the kindest fiancé and wanted nothing more than to make her happy and safe. All she had to do was communicate her feelings, and he would move heaven and earth to make her happy. How damn lucky could she be?
Now, if she could learn how to be more like Maria, she’d have it made.
Hmm, maybe with a little help, she could have it all? And she knew just the person to call …
THIRTEEN
TAKING DOWN THE PATRIARCHY
Opening the door to a tall, six-foot, legged blonde brought a smile to her face. “Thanks for coming so soon.”
“No problem.” Maria flipped her blonde locks, letting her know it was nothing. “I needed to go over more wedding stuff with you, anyway.”
“O-oh, great …” Unable to hide her lack of enthusiasm, Chloe at least was grateful she’d have an excuse of why Maria stopped by so late if Lucca came back.
Her future sister-in-law eyed her up and down as she tapped the toe of her stiletto on the floor. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” Immediately, regret filled her. She wasn’t so sure she could ask her anymore. All she could hope for now was to deflect and pray she’d be too busy talking about wedding stuff. “How are you able to still walk in heels pregnant?”
Chloe was always amazed how Maria could defy gravity in her tall stilettos, but doing that pregnant was a different feat altogether. It wasn’t only her heels that had her in awe, but it was also the fact she still fit in her wardrobe of short dresses. Maria somehow looked even more beautiful in them with her growing bump that appeared like a little basketball was hiding under the expensive fabric.
“Honey, not even my firstborn child could keep me away from my Louboutins.” Making herself at home, Maria took a seat on the couch and placed her hand on her belly. “Now, tell me what’s wrong and why I’m here.”
Honestly, Chloe should have known better. There was no getting anything past Maria.
“I wanted to ask you a personal question.”
“Anything,” the beautiful blonde said, eager to help in any way she could. If there was one thing she loved about Maria, it was that she was a girl’s girl.
“With whom your father and brother are, and all of their men around you every day,” she began, trying to find the words as she looked down at her feet, “how are you …?”
Maria arched a brow, trying to help her out. “Sane?”
“Well, that, too.” She chuckled. “But how are you you?”
With the mafia princess being a lot of things, she wasn’t quite sure what part of her she was talking about.
“Like, how did you learn to stand up for yourself and be so confident?” Chloe finally managed to come out with the reason why she had asked her here in the first place.
“Well, for starters”—with Maria now understanding why she was here, her sweet voice took a tone that reminded Chloe of her professors—“I learned to always look everyone in the eye.”
Her gray eyes slowly lifted up to the emerald-green ones that reminded her of the green in Lucca’s.
“Eye contact always shows that you’re confident enough in yourself to look them in the eye. You never want to look away first; you always want them to. And especially if it’s a man,” her future sister-in-law began coaching her encouragingly.
“Okay.” As confidently as she could, Chloe nodded. “I’ll try my best.”
“Oh Lord,” Maria mumbled as her beautiful face fell, but before Chloe could ask what was wrong, she answered, “We’re going to be here for a while.”
Lucca sat in the metal chair, watching the grotesque thing eat his way back to manhood until the creature finally returned to the land of the living.
“Two meals so close together …” Lucifer wiped the stains from his mouth. “Something’s happened on the outside, hasn’t it?”
There was one thing Lucifer never was, and that was stupid.
Lucca flexed his jaw, regretting coming here the other day to brag that he had been made king.
“Let’s play a game.” Lucifer laughed, leaning his back against the wall where he sat on the cold, dirty floor. “I try to guess, and you tell me when I get it right.”
Squeezing his fists, he had to remind himself that Lucifer would always try to bait him so he would finally kill him. Unfortunately for Lucca, with the state the devil was in after being in here for so long, it meant anything could kill him at this point.
“Let’s see … you made a mistake?” Lucifer began guessing but then shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Lucca Caruso would never make a mistake.”
So far, Lucca wasn’t liking this game.
“Hmm … Could it be being the boss isn’t what you thought it’d be? Nope, that’s not it, either.” Lucifer’s black orbs met his. “We both know that sitting on the throne is everything we ever wanted.”
Getting annoyed, he was about to tell him to shut the fuck up already.
“Oh, I know. Kansas City has a serial killer on the loose!” Lucifer roared with laughter like a hyena, but then his laughter died. It was obvious he had only been joking to annoy his captor, but then he realized it might not be a joke after all when he noticed Lucca’s fists tighten. “Is there?”
Lucca leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“There is.” A sinister smile lifted Lucifer’s lips. “Let me guess, he’s not terrorizing the city; he’s terrorizing you.”
His blue-green gaze pierced the devil’s. “How’d you know?”
“Good guess, I suppos—”
When Lucca jumped out of his chair and toward him, Lucifer cowered, trying to protect himself.
“It’s obvious!”
Lucca suddenly stopped mere inches away.
“When you take someone out of the game”—his dirty palm hit his own chest, signaling himself—“two more will eventually pop up.” That, he did know. It was why he had his son sitting next to him on the throne.
When Lucca took back his seat, Lucifer relaxed again.
“I may have been a strong player in the game, but there’s always someone better waiting in the shadows to take your place.”
Lucca knew exactly what he meant by those words. “Like how I replaced you?”
“Yes.” Lucifer seemed to rather hate admitting it, but the chains holding him in this cell were a constant reminder of that fact. “But you’d do well to remember what I just said.”
The devil’s friendly warning hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. In fact, it was something that kept Lucca up at night. “Oh, I know. I figured that out at eighteen.”
“You know when I figured it out?” Lucifer’s voice went grave. “The second you dragged that rat inside the restaurant the day you were made. I secretly knew then I didn’t have a chance against you, even though I didn’t want to admit it.”
Lucca actually laughed. “And do you know who gave me my revelation?”
Lucifer went silent as he thought for a moment before he proudly smiled. “I’m guessing one of my boys.”
“Cassius.”
“Ha!” Lucifer bellowed with laughter. “Sounds about right.”
Yes, if there was one thing about the mafia world, karma was a sick bitch.
Holding his stomach, Lucifer stopped laughing from the pain, and that was when it started to click. “If you were eighteen, that would mean … How did you know so young?”
Lucca didn’t hide his disappointment. “And you didn’t?”
“Truthfully,” Lucifer seemed to reminisce in sadness, “I knew I wasn’t going to last by the time he got old enough. I had my best one too old.”
He didn’t give the devil the satisfaction in knowing that the making of his first creation would have been the only one possible to take him out. He had gotten a hold of Cassius young enough, but Dominic … he hadn’t known his true potential until it was too late. But thankfully, none of that mattered anymore since the families had mixed.
Lucca was here for a different reason.
Taking out a cigarette, he flipped open his Zippo, casting an orange glow over the damp, dark room. “We call him One-Shot.” Taking a long hit before continuing, he touched the space between his eyes. “In the beginning, every man he killed was shot by putting a bullet right here.”
Lucifer’s soulless eyes grew big.
“And I know what you’re thinking.” Lucca exhaled a cloud of smoke. “It’s not Dom; trust me. All the bullets entered through the back of the head.”
His eyes returning to normal size, he agreed. “’Cause I taught my son you should always let them know a Luciano was the one to send you to hell.”
Lucca had figured as much.
As he continued smoking his cigarette, he told his enemy in chains everything Lucifer had missed about One-Shot while he had sat in this cell. It was apparent Lucifer loved hearing about everything he missed on the outside, too.
“And I know it was him who started that fire.”
“Oh, it was.” Lucifer nodded with a smile. “I would have probably done the same fucking thing on your first day.”
“I don’t fucking doubt it …” Lucca’s voice trailed off as he realized something. It wasn’t hearing about the outside world that was making his captor happy; it was—
“You know who it is.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.
Lucifer’s maniacal laughter bounced off the walls as if, suddenly, hundreds of devils were surrounding him at once. “And you don’t?”
“No one. Not one person out there knows who it is.” Lucca pointed to the big metal sliding door before he slowly pointed to Lucifer. “But you’re telling me you do?”
“Oh, I do,” he promised. Instinctively, Lucca knew it to be true.
He stood suddenly, causing Lucifer to cower in the corner, but this time, Lucca grabbed the chain that was connected to his ankle and pulled it closer to him. The chain rattled as he dragged the creature out of the corner and to his feet.
Crouching down, he grabbed its face, squeezing the life out of it in the palm of his hand. “Who is it?”
Lucifer could barely speak out of his smushed-up mouth. “If I tell you, I’m left alive. But if I don’t …”
“Then I might kill you in the process,” Lucca gritted through his teeth.
Sadly, there wasn’t much left of Lucifer these days, so he was right—the defiance in his black eyes told him he would hold on to the name so he could finally meet his death, but Lucca had made a promise to keep his vessel here, so his soul could stay on earth for a little while longer.
He still held his face tightly, contemplating what to do. To kill or not to kill that was the question until, finally, he let his face go.
“What?” Lucifer cried, still wishing for death. Then, when he watched Lucca begin to leave, he was desperate enough to try a different tactic. “You’ll come back when One-Shot finally comes for your precious Chlo—”
Her full name hadn’t even left his mouth when Lucca grabbed his face again. Except, this time, he slid his long fingers inside his mouth and down his throat, forcing the precious food and nutrients he had just given his frail body up.
“I should thank you.” Satisfied, Lucca dropped his face until it dropped into his own filth. “You just helped me discover how to bring One-Shot into the light.”
This time as Lucca left, nothing Lucifer said, no matter how much the devil baited him, turned him back.
Lucifer knowing who it was proved something, and it no longer mattered if he told him or not.
And you don’t? His words followed by his maniacal laughter rang through his head, but Lucifer had made a mistake in telling him that.
One-Shot’s identity must not only be so obvious that he was overlooking it …
But their paths must cross every day.
By the time Maria got up to leave, Chloe was already feeling like a brand-new woman. “Seriously, Maria, I can’t thank you enough for everyth—”
“Pshht, please,” the tall, legged blonde shushed her. “If there’s anything I live for, it’s weddings and taking down the patriarchy.”
Chloe smiled, knowing there was never a truer statement Maria had made.
“Now remember, if you find yourself getting nervous”—she held up a slender finger—“just think WWMD.”
“Got it.” She nodded studiously, remembering that part of her lecture. She already started practicing.
WWMD, WWM—
“Oh, and Chloe …” Maria smiled a little too sweetly. “If Lucca isn’t treating you right, I can always get Dom to kill him.”
FOURTEEN
THE VILLAGE IDIOT
“You get your assignment in on time?” Chloe asked as she was taking her computer out of her backpack.
Busy perching her computer closer to where she was about to place it, a surprised Adalyn looked at her. “What assignment?”
“The questions the professor assigned to us yesterday. The ones I told you not to forget,” Chloe tried jogging her memory, but if it was nothing worth remembering to Adalyn, who was practically a goldfish.
“I forgot.” Turning on her computer, Adalyn played it off like it was no big deal. “It’ll give me something to do during class, anyway.”
“He’s going to take off ten points because it’s late,” Chloe reminded her.
“Not if one of my besties goes up and tells him I needed to take my grandmother to the ER, and I had to leave her deathbed to come to class.”
This time when she looked at her like she was crazy, at least it was deserving. “You’re joking?”
“No. I need this class, and I don’t want to take it over,” Adalyn whined. “And especially not without you.”
“Then try taking it more seriously,” Chloe tried departing her wisdom but felt bad if it was possibly true … “Is your grandmother still alive?”
“No.”
When Chloe looked as if she was about to cry, Adalyn waved her hand. “But she’s been dead for years.”
Chloe came to the conclusion right there that Adalyn lived in her own world, and the rest of us are just participants.
“I’m not lying to Professor Miller.”
“Then don’t. I will.” She shrugged. “Just don’t expect me to lie for you when you miss an assignment.”
I’ll take my chances.
Glancing toward the doorway, Chloe saw the professor’s TA enter the room.
“I’ll be giving Professor Miller’s lesson today,” the TA told them.
Chloe ignored Adalyn’s ecstatic expression as the lecture began, knowing the TA didn’t dock points off their homework for turning it in after class.
A spark of suspicion started to worry her until she told herself it wasn’t the first time the TA had taken over for the professor.
Once their lecture came to an end, Chloe glanced around, and when she couldn’t spot any of her security guards, any remaining suspicion died.
“The place is packed today,” Elle commented, coming to stand with her as they waited for a table to open.
Both Adalyn’s mouth and stomach groaned. “It’s going to take forever to get a table.”
A big smile on her face, Chloe nodded happily. “Isn’t it great!”
Elle pressed the back of her hand to Chloe’s forehead. “Are you sick?”
“No.” She swatted it away. “I told Lucca my guards were watching me too closely, so he promised to make them give me space.”
“You couldn’t have told him to make an exception for lunch?” Adalyn mumbled.
“No, Chloe is right,” Elle spoke up, taking her side. “I’d rather wait if it makes her more comfortable.”
“I suppose,” Adalyn mumbled even lower this time.
“You can sit here. I’m almost finished,” a girl called out, attracting their attention. Neither Adalyn nor Elle had to be told twice.
