Page 52 of Caesar DeLuca
“I’ll be in touch again,” he says. “I’ll send over some people who can redo your security system. Same for your backup generator. Make it foolproof. And the firearms training?—”
“You don’t have to do anything. I’ll manage fine.”
He is clearly unconvinced, his scowl as sharp as ever. “They’ll call you before setting something up. You take care of yourself, alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” I repeat. “It’s what we knew would happen. You returning to your life and me continuing mine here. You should head inside and check the bus times. I’m sure they only have limited buses departing to Atlantic City considering the weather we’ve had.”
“Ariana, I want to thank you?—”
“You’ve done enough. Clearing my driveway. Helping keep things in order during the power outage. There’s no need for anything else,” I say, my pulse throbbing hard and fast. “And don’t worry, I won’t ever tell anyone you came to stay.”
“You’ve kept the number I gave you, right? The number if you ever need me?—”
“I have some errands to run now that this blizzard’s over. I hope you’re able to find a bus into the city. Bye, Caesar.” I wave and quickly turn to go. If I stay around any longer, I’m not sure I’ll be able to prevent the cracks from appearing.
The sense of foolishness has rooted itself deep. My heart aches at how I could let myself feel things for this man that I never should’ve dared to. It was a brief few days that were temporary and that I should’ve realized shouldn’t involve feelings.
Yet I went and developed some.
Caesar and I are two completely different people. He lives in his violent world, and I live in my secluded one. We were never meant to mix.
He calls after me as I hop into the RAV4 and start up the engine, but I don’t bother stopping. I simply shoot him a goodbye smile from the car window and pull away…
17
CAESAR
THREE MONTHS LATER…
The Crown Casino sees booming business once winter fades and warmer weather arrives. I’m like a proud father strolling across the crowded casino floor. My creation might as well be my firstborn child.
Pa gave me this assignment because he knew I could handle transforming the Crown into what it always deserved to be. Our long-standing feud with the Carisi family wasn’t going to get in our way this time.
Alfredo wasn’t going to be able to turn the tables in his favor, though he sure tried his damnedest. He’d done everything he could to prevent the Crown from flourishing and to stop my success.
Tonight marks three months since that freezing cold night he and his men attempted to assassinate me. Rocky had done the unforgivable and gone back on his vow of loyalty to the DeLuca name. Together, he and Alfredo stabbed me, locked me into a coffin, then left me to drown at the bottom of a lake.
I should’ve died that night.
Even as I escaped the coffin and swam toward the dark surface, I’d been bleeding. I’d been on the brink of death and collapsed in the brutal winter snow. Had no one come by and discovered me, I would’ve frozen to death by the time dawn came.
A woman named Ariana Rowe happened to find me and did something incredibly risky—she brought me into her home and spent the next few days caring for me. I had pushed back at every opportunity in the beginning.
Until I realized I was trapped and Ariana was truly an innocent.
She was a kindhearted, beautiful, interesting woman who chose to live closed off from the rest of society. My traditional views bothered her, as did my blunt and dry delivery.
But we found common ground. We developed something of a friendship. I enjoyed her company—a rarity for a cold, calculated man like me who prefers to keep everyone at a distance—and I couldn’t resist coming onto her. How could I when she was so close by, smelling so good, looking even better?
I still think about that night we spent together.
It was the epitome of passion. The definition of pleasure.
I was being truthful when I told her I’m a particular man. Part of why I’m my father’s only son yet to marry off. I’m the one he’s always badgering about settling down with an Italian girl from one of our trusted families. A girl born and raised in the lifestyle and familiar with what that entails.
Yet every last one of them bores me. They might be pretty or have knockout figures, but lack in other departments like personality.
It’s true I view marriage as a transaction. My wife will give me things like children while I give her things like a luxury lifestyle. She will have to understand she belongs to me, and I will ensure her life is a spoiled one.
