Page 24 of Cardinal

How do I even begin to tell Gale about all that happened? It's so much.

Sighing heavily, I let my knees go to grab a throw pillow to hug instead. Gripping and tugging at the tassels of the pillow, I nearly ripped them off in my little anxious fit as I lined my story up in my mind. "When break started, like that night, my parents sold me off to a brothel. I was auctioned off days later, and…" The words caught in my aching throat as I fought my emotions from spilling over. "A-and…"

Gale's gentle hand on my shoulder made me flinch in my heightened state. Immediately, Gale pulled me into a tight hug. "You don't have to force yourself to tell me if you're not ready." He said in an understanding voice.

"Luciano saved me and gave me a new life here with him. He's been good to me, I swear." Except for the occasional cold shoulder the past few days.

"That doesn't change the fact that he's a syndicate head, a cold-hearted killer." Gale sighed and pulled away from me with a worried frown. "Isn't there someone else you can stay with?"

Smiling sadly, I shook my head, "No, not with how messy my situation is. It's a lot more complicated than it sounds like. I'm not safe without Luciano's protection." The fact of being tied to him for the rest of my life didn't bother me as much as I thought. Granted, he didn't really restrict me, so maybe that was why I didn't mind him being in charge.

"I promise, Gale, I am fine with Luciano," I assured my friend with a confident smile. "He may be bad to others, but he's good to me." And shouldn't that be all that mattered at the end of the day?

"I still don't like it," Gale grumbled with a defeated sigh. "I just have an icky feeling about this. He seems like he's hiding something from you." Before I could question Gale, he held a hand up to stop me, "I don't know what it is. It was just a feeling when I saw him interact with you. I mean, I can see that he genuinely cares for your well-being, but there's something else behind his eyes."

I couldn't help but silently agree with Gale because I sensed it, too. There was something behind Luciano's kind smile, and I was afraid to dig to uncover what it was. Unfortunately, my hands were tied. It was either grit it out with Luciano or face my chances with the sharks out in the open waters with slabs of meat chained to my body.

Better to lay with the devil you know than the one you don't, or whatever that saying was. Maybe I needed to remind myself of that more often than not. At the end of the day, Luciano was The Devil, and the Devil always had ulterior motives up his sleeves. Nothing ever came free of stipulations, and I might best be wary of that.

"I'll be fine… I have to…" I tried to put on a confident smile for Gale, but I could feel the corners of my lips falter when Gale tilted his head at me with a pointed look. "Well, even if there is something wrong, I can't do anything about it," I remarked with a roll of my eyes.

"What if he's planning on killing you?" Gale threw out the ridiculous idea in an unsure voice.

I couldn't help but laugh a bit at his words because they were so absurd. "Luciano isn't going to kill me. There is literally no reason for him to, and if he was, wouldn't he have done it by now?" To me, it would make no sense to keep me around and ensure my safety and comfort only to put a bullet through me later.

"Maybe he's some sicko who gets off on some weird shit." Gale rebutted with an unsure voice.

The sounds of footsteps, along with the sight of a dark figure out of the corner of my eye, made me turn my head towards Luciano, who was walking towards the front door. "Hey, Luciano," I called out for him, making him stop and turn his head at me. "You're not going to kill me, are you?"

Lowering his phone, Luciano chuckled amusingly as he studied me closely with his gem-like amber eyes. "I wouldn't have saved you that night if that is my intention, nor would you still be alive if I wanted you dead any time after. What brought on the asinine question, my Juliet?"

My Juliet.

Damn my heart for fluttering at those two words.

"Just a random thought," I replied dismissively with a cheeky grin.

"Well, don't get too many random thoughts then." Luciano chuckled with a shake of his head. "You two don't make a mess of the house now. I have to head out until late."

My face quickly furrowed with suspicion, "Where you going?" Luciano seemed a little too peppy with his steps for a usual business run. He was usually pretty grumpy and scowly when he had to go out the past few days.

"Business like usual." He answered bluntly while averting his eyes from me. "I won't be home for dinner, so let Gina know whenever you are hungry." Luciano rushed out the door before I could say bye to him properly, which peeved me a little.

"Juliet, why are you still up? It's way past midnight." Luciano's dragging sigh made me smile at him sheepishly as I peered around my computer screen.

"I just wanted to finish setting up to pass the time while I waited for you to get home… And I couldn't sleep without you here." The last part barely came out as a whisper, as I didn't want to sound desperate and clingy to him.

Disapprovingly, he shook his head and sighed as he entered my room and approached my desk. "Juliet, it's not healthy for you to stay up late like this." His face softened with concern as he reached out and turned my monitor off.

"Hey, I was in the middle of a bank break." I joked with a pout. It was a simulated one, but practice was practice. Also, these simulations by my cousin and his friend were no joke.

"Well, you can steal more monopoly money tomorrow after you've gotten a good night's sleep." He retorted with an amused smirk. "It's not like you're stealing money for real."

Rolling my eyes, I smack his hand away from my monitor. "I will be one day." I shot back at him in a determined voice.

Well, that seemed to have pushed the wrong button in him because his face grew hard and stern as he leaned over the desk and settled his palms on its surface. "No, you will not."

Gritting my teeth, I scowled at him softly as I leaned up and got in his face. "Says who?" I shouldn't be challenging him, but fuck I wanted to see how far I could push him to see him tick.

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