Page 31 of Inevitable

I blink at his honesty and watch him for a minute. I thought he was just being a possessive asshole. But it hurts him to see me with other men, even just a friend. My chest warms and I nod.

Silence stretches between us for a few minutes before he speaks again. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah,” I say as I turn to him.

“I know a great sushi restaurant just around the corner.”

I scoff and shake my head. “I don’t think so Mr. Mariano. You pissed me off, that means I get to pick what we eat. It’s the rules.”

“What rules?” He asks incredulously.

“The rules to keep Ashlynn Adams happy.”

He lets out an amused laugh and his honey eyes soften. “May I get a copy of those, please?”

I nod seriously as I look at him. “I’ll send you an email.”

A smirk plays at the corner of his lips as he settles back into his seat. I lean forward and whisper to Benjamin the address of our lunch destination. He looks over his shoulder and furrows his eyebrows. I guess they don’t frequent this place, oh well.

Soon, we pull up to a greasy burger joint just down the road from my work. When the car stops, I rub my hands together gleefully and hop out of the car. Luca looks at the restaurant and then back to me with a grimace and an eyebrow arched.

“This doesn’t look sanitary,” he comments as he continues to inspect the building.

I roll my eyes and grab his hand, practically dragging him through the front door. “Get over it,” I huff as the smell of french fries and burgers fill the air.

This place has been one of Kiki and I’s favorite lunch spots in the city for the last couple of years. It is a little divey but it more than makes up for it with delicious food.

We get settled into a booth in the back while Benjamin and Derek stand around the room with some of Luca’s other men. They appear to be attempting to be inconspicuous, good luck with that. When there are 5 men that are all built like houses in matching black suits in a room as small as this it draws attention.

Luca looks around uncomfortably as he asses our surroundings. It is funny to see a man like Luca who is usually so powerful and in charge look so out of his element. Around us the booths are filled with gangly teenagers with mouths full of metal that seem to be perfectly at home.

We order with the regular waitress, Doris, and our food is brought out to us extremely quick. This place usually takes a little while since everything is made to order. When Doris sets our food down on the table she glances at Luca warily as he inspects his food like it is about to crawl away. I kick him under the table and give him a pointed look. He looks up to Doris and wipes the disgusted look off of his face.

“Thank you, it looks wonderful,” he says.

She seems a bit pacified and nods as she walks away. I take a sip of my Oreo milkshake and groan with satisfaction.

“You like this place I take it?” Luca asks with an eyebrow raised.

I pick up a fry and throw it at his face. He looks shocked that I would dare assault him with fried potatoes.

“Don’t be such a snob, I thought that was my job. What happened to my Luca that use to eat top ramen like it was a food group?” I tease.

He looks offended by the reminder of that particular part of his life as he grimaces. “He became rich and realized life was too short to eat shitty food.”

I roll my eyes and pop another fry in my mouth before eating my bbq bacon burger. He takes a bite of his boring plain cheeseburger and makes an impressed face as he swallows. I know he is too proud to admit that he is actually enjoying it. So, I smother my laugh and focus on my food.

Once we are finished, we don’t pay which makes me wonder if he owned the place or knew the owner. I shrug it off as he holds open the door for me. The men all start to filter into the cars quickly. Before I step in, I feel his breath brush against the shell of my ear

“I will admit, the food was not completely awful. Though I think the pleasant experience had more to do with the company.”

I smile and turn to look at him when I suddenly hear a loud pop as a searing pain burns through my chest. My mouth opens to scream but it’s frozen in shock. I watch as Luca’s face transforms from an easy going smile to horror.

When I glance down at my chest, I see blood pouring from a small hole, soaking my pink sweater. I stumble forward in an attempt to grab hold of something before I fall to the pavement. Luca stops me from hitting my head just in time and quickly scoops me up into his arms.

There is a lot of yelling and I watch as his men are firing their weapons at something down the road. Bullets seem to be whizzing through the air all around us like we are in the midst of battle. Just before he is able to deposit me into the SUV, I see a man come up behind him with a gun pointed to the back of his head.

“Luca!” I scream.

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