Page 16 of Texting My Mafia Savior

“I see nothing wrong with calling up an old friend. But, if you want to cut to the chase?—”

“I’m happy to talk,” I say, in survival mode now.

“No, no, I won’t keep you.” His voice has an edge to it. “I wanted humbly to ask you if you’d join me for dinner the evening after tomorrow. At Lupa Osteria. We’ll have the entire place to ourselves, of course.”

Lupa Osteria’s slogan is ‘Rome Away From Home.’ The idea of going there doesn’t sit right with me. But I can’t turn down the Don of the Caruso Family.

“That would be my pleasure, Dominic. I look forward to it.”

“Excellent. I’ll see you at eight o’clock.”

“I look forward to it.”

“You already said that,” Dominic snaps, a flash of anger, then hangs up.

I rest my forehead on my hands, cursing myself.Fuck. This is bad. Enzo must’ve said something to him.

Later, at dinner, I tell Lucy what happened. She frowns at me. “Why would he suddenly want to meet with you?”

“It can’t be good,” I say, cutting into my steak. We sit in our large dining room, the walls covered with prints from her favorite artists, no family photos, no holidays. We may have to remedy that if Dominic peers closer into our lives. “He made a point of saying we’d have the restaurant to ourselves. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten involved in this. I’m not the goddamnNightmareanymore. Have you and Giancarlo been careful?”

“Yes,” Lucy snaps.

“Nobody’s seen you together? You haven’t been kissing in public? Holding hands? Leaving the city for secret dates or anything like that?”

“We’ve kept our relationship secret for five years, Nico. Nothing’s changed there. I honestly can’t think how he’d know about us.”

“It might’ve been me, then,” I say.

“What do you mean?”

“Enzo might’ve… misinterpreted something.”

“Go on…”

“When I took Arria to apologize to him, he made a crude comment about her physical appearance. Called her fat, and that didn’t sit right with me. So I challenged him about it. I was so worried about what he’d do that I rushed her out of the place, which meant I had my hand on her back to guide her out, you know. But maybe he thought something else.”

“Arria,” Lucy mutters. “You called herArria, not Arriana.”

“That’s what she told me to call her,” I snap. “You don’t need to read anything into it.”

Lucy narrows her eyes at me. I can read the shock in her expression. She’s not used to me showing so much emotion. “Tell me nothing is going on between you and my niece, Nico.”

“There isn’t,” I grit out. “I barely know her. We just met. I helped her, and that’s the end.”

“Then why do you sound so… affected?”

“Did you ever think it might be because of the mob boss who suddenly wants to meet me alone? Or the fact I might not live through tomorrow? Or because they’re pulling me back into a life I worked years to leave behind? All I want is to do some good in this city. Now, all of that’s at risk.”

“If Enzo has seen nothing concrete, Dominic can’t force you to say anything to implicate yourself. As long as he has seen nothing?”

“Like what, Lucy?” I say coldly.

“Like you kissing my niece. Holding her. Anything like that.”

“She’s half my age,” I snarl.

“So what? That doesn’t stop people. When you know, you know.”

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