LUCA

My conversation with my cousin took longer than I'd expected. Mark was having some issues with another member of the family. One who didn't think Mark should be in the position he'd attained after his brother was killed last year, and he wanted to know if we all thought that way. I assured him I had nothing but respect for the way he'd been handling things. The one who was giving him a hard time, on the other hand...

"Gio is an asshole," I told him. "I don't know how he grew up the way he did."

"He says he can't trust me."

Personally, I trusted Mark way more than Gio. If I didn't, he wouldn't be taking care of the money collections for me at the clubs. Just for the time being, so as to make me less of a target. "How is business going?"

"Good, for the most part." He relayed some of the issues one of the managers was having with a couple of the girls. "If you want my opinion," Mark told me. "I think you should get rid of those two and bring in some new blood. Hopefully younger and without the tracks on their arms."

"The patrons don't care if they still have the needles stuck in them, as long as they get ass and tits in their faces."

"And in their hands." His mouth twisted in disgust as he said it.

I shrugged. "If that's what the girls want, who am I to stop them from making money?"

We were standing outside the connected kitchen, and when we saw the food coming out, we wrapped up our conversation and headed back inside just as everyone was finding their seats. "Where is...Nicole?" I asked my uncle when I got to his side. Jesus fucking Christ. I hoped that stutter was minor enough he didn't catch on, but luckily, he was more interested in the lamb the waiter was carving for him tableside.

"She went to the ladies’ room a little bit ago. Maybe you should go check on her. She's been gone for a while." He winked at me and picked up his fork as another waiter placed his salad in front of him.

I glanced around the table. Everyone was there except for Gio, the cousin Mark was having issues with. An uneasy feeling trickled down my spine. "Where's Gio?" I asked my uncle.

He waved his fork in the air. "Eh, who knows with that one? If we're lucky, he left."

The waiter set my salad on the table along with one for Veda. "I'll be right back," I told my uncle. "Save my seat."

I headed toward the restrooms at the front of the cottage. The ladies’ room was empty. Turning to the men’s room directly opposite, I tried the knob. It was locked.

With a frown, I tried to listen above the Irish jig that played over the speakers placed discreetly in the corners of the ceiling. I wouldn’t put it past my little spitfire to make use of whichever one was empty. When I didn't hear anything, I started to turn away...

"You bitch!"

The men’s room door flew open, and Veda ran straight at me, her eyes unseeing in her panic to get out, her mouth bleeding and her hair mussed.

I opened my good arm and caught her. "Hey, hey, it's me," I told her when she started to struggle. "It's me."

Pulling back, she looked up at my face, and then threw herself back against my chest and wrapped her arms around my waist. She shook like a leaf in my arms, and I could feel her heart pounding.

I smoothed down her hair as I stared over her head at Gio, who had come charging out of the bathroom behind her, only to stop short when he saw Veda tucked against me.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" My voice was deadly quiet, in contrast to the rage that was rising inside of me, screaming at me to pound him into the ground first and ask questions later.

"Who the fuck is this bitch?" he sneered, his teeth red with blood.

"Go back to the table," I told Veda without taking my eyes from him. "Have some dinner."

"Luca, no. It's okay. I'm fine."

My eyes never left my cousin. "Do as I say."

But, of course, that was expecting too much. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Fine. Before either of them knew what I was about, I stepped around her and pulled my Glock. Lifting my right arm still in the sling, I didn't even feel the pain as I shoved Gio against the wall with my forearm against his throat. Pressing the muzzle of the gun to his temple, I gave him a little time to confess. "Do you have anything to tell me now?"

"Luca! What are you doing?" Veda cried. But my girl was smart. She didn't try to pull me off of him.

"Did he touch you?" I asked her calmly without taking my eyes from my scumbag cousin.