Page 42 of Texting My Mafia Savior

Enzo strolls from the room. Dominic doesn’t take his eyes off me—that manic gleam in them. A moment later, Enzo returns with Lucy. I just saw her last night. She was gone when I woke up this morning. She’s wearing a short red dress, unlike her usual style.

“Lucy?”

Approaching Dominic, she sits on his lap, putting an arm around his shoulders. She gives me a panicked look. She’s silently screaming at me to go along with this I can see.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “Except, I’m not. I can’t be. I had to make the right choice. We’ve been living a lie, Nico. I was trying to run away from my feelings. For years, I’ve been trying to run. But I lied to you. I’ve always wanted Dominic more than you. It took me too long to work up the courage to face it.”

“You made the right choice in the end,” Dominic says, sliding his hand up and down her leg.

Does Dominic actually believe her, or is he so desperate to think she could want him? He looks like a kid in a candy store as he feels her up. It’s grotesque.

“You’ll need to get a divorce,” he goes on. “For obvious reasons. I’ve got a lawyer who can speed up the process. We’re going to get married as quickly as possible, aren’t we, beautiful?”

“I can’t wait.” Lucy reaches up and strokes her hand across his face. She’s playing her role sickeningly well. “You understand, don’t you, Nico? What we had wasn’t real. It could never compare to this.”

“You’re getting off lucky,” Enzo says, pouring himself a whiskey from the bar at the back of the room. “You should be gratefulmy father is Don, not me. You don’t want to know what would happen if I were in charge. Rest assured, it wouldn’t be good for you, Nico.”

I swallow. Lucy is glaring at me, willing me to play along. There’s no indication that anyone forced her into this. She has more skin on display than usual, and none of it is bruised.

“Can I speak to my soon-to-be ex-wife in private?” I ask. “To say goodbye?”

Dominic frowns. “My son is right, Nico. This is more than you ever could’ve expected.”

“And I’m grateful,” I tell him. “It’ll be the last time we’re ever alone together.”

“Listen to him,” Lucy murmurs, still touching Dominic’s wrinkled face. “He’s desperate. He can’t accept it. I’ll make him see sense, Dom.”

“I might be convinced with a kiss.”

Fear passes across Lucy’s face, but only for a moment. Behind them, Enzo leers at me, his hand near the holster at his hip. He’s waiting for me to do something. I cringe as Lucy turns and presses her lips against Dominic’s. Dominic makes sloppy, ugly noises, sticking his tongue down her throat roughly. Finally, he stands, patting her on the leg like a pet.

“Don’t take too long. We’ll be right outside.”

Dominic and Enzo leave the room.

Lucy wipes her mouth.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I growl quietly.

“You’ve given up years of your life for me, Nico,” she whispers urgently. “I can’t let you do it again. I know you would. For me. For my niece. You’d go into the city and take chunks out of your soul for us. It’s who you are, who you’ve always been. That’s why I had to make this choice for you. Now, you’re free to be with Arria. She won’t be your niece anymore.”

“That’s not the point,” I snarl. “You were terrified of being with Dominicfor a reason. He’s going to make you his prisoner, his slave. He’s going to use you. Abuse you. He’s going to make your life hell, Lucy.”

“Yourlife will be hell if you return to your old ways. How often have you told me you’d hate yourself if you had to return to that? This is the only way to make sure everybody’s safe. I should’ve listened to you. We should’ve let Enzo take Arria to court. Now…”

“Are you done?” Dominic barges into the room. He’s got a gun in his hand. “Lucy and I have discussed her moving into my house immediately as we plan the wedding. I’ll summon you to make the divorce official, of course. In the meantime, it’s not becoming to have my wife-to-be chatting with her ex. So, Lucy,is this over?”

Lucy glares at me. “Yes, darling. I was trying to let him down gently. Please, Nico. Accept this.”

She walks over to him, links arms, and together, they leave. Enzo swaggers in a moment later, walking over to the bar. “I bet you want to do something stupid, don’t you, Nico? But my father has let you off easy. He’s agreed to ignore the lie-detector mess. He’s agreed to leave Lucy’s family alone. All he wants is Lucy. Don’t ask me why. It never made sense to me.”

Because he can’t have her, or couldn’t.

“But it’s what he wants. He’s happy. When my father’s happy, people get lucky. You’re free to go on with your life. Seriously, Nico, this is significantly better than you ever could’ve dreamed of, isn’t it? All you need to do now is walk away.”

Instead, I walk right up to him, proving he’s a coward when he shrinks away from me. “If you lay a single finger on me…” His voice trembles. “You know what will happen.”

“Your position protects you,” I growl. “That’s all, Enzo. Just your position.”

---