Page 26 of Charity's Torment

“You kept sitting in it, stroking the fake gems, and watching the men bleed out on the floor. I’d say I saved you from yourself,” Luca said.

I smiled. “I needed to take a breather.”

“You were gloating.”

“Pshh, potato tomato.”

Luca raised his eyebrows and rubbed his lids while Nico and Max hid their laughter. “It’s tomato-tomahto, Charity. For Chrissakes.”

I chuckled at my inside joke. “You know you enjoy my company.” I fished for a compliment. I was pathetic around him, like a dog wagging his tail for his owner, begging for attention.

“I enjoy your company,” Max filled in.

I looked around Nico to find Max peering at me. “Awe. Thanks, Max, me too. I mean… I enjoy your company too.” I stumbled over my words like a fucking teen.What is wrong with me?

“All right, enough playing footsie. We didn’t bring you here to kill you, but for you to do your job,” Luca said.

I scoot closer to the edge of my seat, and a sinister grin slipped across my face. This was what I needed to do to get out of my head. I briefly forgot about the man tailing me as Luca and Max took turns spelling out the situation.

“A paid man jumped Uncle Turo. Banged him up good too, until his protection jumped in,” said Max.

Luca says, “Straight from the Old Man. The man’s got family here. He wants his wife taken care of.” I sit back in my seat. It was the best thrill when I could make it bloody, but what did the wife do to deserve it? “He wants it done now.”

The smile tumbled from my lips, and I was dreading this next moment. “I can’t. I have a tail.”

All three men whipped their heads around and shot daggers with their eyes. I’d be a bleeding mess right now if they had that power.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Luca, I tried telling you. Hell, I tried telling all three of you, but you fucking ghosted me all week.” All three men objected at the same time. They raised their deadly male voices in a cacophony of chaos. I held my hands up to halt them all from arguing. “Maybe take this as a lesson for you all. Don’t ignore me.”

The loud chaos erupted again, and I threw my hands up, giving up the will to fight. I sat back and allowed them to turn on each other until Max stood and went toe-to-toe with Nico. I’d let them argue, but I wouldn’t let it come to blows. I pushed between them and shoved them apart—each hand on a muscular chest, pushing hard. Luca stood on the other side of his desk, ordering them to calm down.

That escalated quickly.

“Knock it off. All of you!” I yelled.

Nico and Max took their seats while glaring at each other. Luca leaned on his desk, resting against his fists. “Who is it?” Luca asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve been letting him follow me around. He’ll make a mistake soon enough.”

“Why did you come here, then?”

I threw my hands into the air again and blew out an exasperated sigh. “Are you serious right now? I told you…I can’t. Then you gave me a tighter deadline. If you had picked up your phone, the nineteen times I’ve called, you would’ve known why.”

He ran his hands down his face and dropped back in his chair. He pulled out his phone and pressed it to his ear. “Did he follow you here?”

I nodded.

“Gio. There is a car in the lot. Run the plates.” Luca directs his next question towards me. “What’s it look like?”

“Black Crown Vic.”

Luca repeated the description and hung up the phone.

“I didn’t want him to know I was on to him.”

“He won’t. Giovanni is checking the cameras.”

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