Page 50 of Primo DeLuca

Chapter Twenty

Primo

A week later and not one attack was launched against my life. There was one subtle change I made that transitioned me from the most hunted man in St. Louis to one of the most watched.

The hunters lurked. They were still watching but not attacking. It was like the one who hired them made them take a time out. But the hired guns weren’t who I truly wanted, I wanted the one who hired them, the one pulling the strings.

In my time of respite, I’d had to do the one thing I regretted doing the most. I forced myself to separate from Nevah. Whether I wanted to accept it or not, she was a part of the equation that dealt with me being hunted.

I needed to see if sending Nevah away would change the dynamics of my situation. It did, almost immediately. The implications alone were enough to make my men question my judgment. Not vocally, but in their actions. The need to know where I was keeping Nevah. The slight hesitation and questions when I gave them an order. The side eyes leveled at me when they thought I wasn’t looking. I had never given them a reason to question my judgment.

It meant this hit out on me and the way I was handling it had shaken the foundation of our strong front. In order to maintain the order and respect I earned, I needed to put an end to this situation by any means necessary.

The separation between me and Nevah hadn’t been easy for either of us despite me having a few questions lingering in the back of my mind. Nevah had fought like hell to stay at my side even after all she experienced from being connected to me. Her actions with me in the face of danger, in the face of death itself, reminded me why I should continue to trust her.

“They took the bait,” Aurelio’s voice came across loud and clear in my ear, dragging me back to my current reality.

“Good,” I replied. Although I didn’t see the tail Aurelio was referring to, I sensed them near. A deep steadying breath helped to clear more clutter from my mind and ready me for my next move.

I was on my way to Leandra’s house, strolling through the streets like I didn't have multiple sets of killers waiting for a chance to snuff out my life. Truth was, I liked the attention more than I should have. It fed my ego and calmed the savage urges.

“Lenni. Umberto,” I called after hitting their number.

“Yes.”

“Capo.”

They answered, Umberto’s voice was lower indicating he was further away from the line. There was a spark of glee in their tone like they were hyped up on coffee at four in the afternoon.

“Do you have eyes on the eyes?” I questioned, already knowing the answer.

“Yes. The one who returned last night after they followed you is still here,” Lenni confirmed.

“Be ready in a few minutes. The other one is following me now. I got a feeling they are going to try something today. They think I’m being careless due to the recent decrease in attempts on my life. If they do engage, I want to take them alive, if possible.”

“Got it. See you soon,” Lenni said before silence filled the line.

We tested Leandra’s stalkers last night to see if they would make a move on me. They had. They tailed me for twenty minutes until I led them to exactly where I wanted them. I had left one of them watching a large apartment complex I drove into before hiding my car inside the garage of one of our old safehouses.

Since the men were unable to pinpoint where I had gone, they decided to split up. One sat at the complex and the other went back to put eyes on Leandra’s place. Taking them alive would give us a chance to find out who hired them.

After confirmation that one was still watching the apartments, I made sure I was there to drive out so he would follow. I was itching for them to make a move, preferably one that would lead to who hired them.

While Nevah was away, I spent more time with Leandra. Assigning her odd jobs is what had kept her and her advances at bay. I also allowed her to accompany me on a few of my more tedious jobs.

She assumed my newfound interest had something to do with her and the relationship she thought we would start. With Nevah out of the picture, it made my interest in her that much more believable.

She never grew tired of asking me what happened to my new girlfriend, and I didn’t get tired of giving her evasive answers like, ‘we decided to take a break’ or ‘she needed a break.’ The little smirk she flashed at my answers indicated what I thought she would assume, that our split was because of her.

As much as I hated deceiving Leandra, my interest in her had nothing to do with us and everything to do with finding out who was stalking her. Since Leandra was often associated with the DeLuca men, she was a means to an end. A way for my enemy to get more opportunities to destroy me and more DeLucas.

They had already used her, feigning an attack against her so that she would come running right to us. She had come to the club and met with Brizio and me, giving the hunters exactly what they wanted.

The others were careful after losing two men so soon after starting their quest. If they wanted me bad enough to go through Leandra to get me, I wasn’t going to prolong their mission any longer than necessary. I needed to get these targets off my back even if it meant using myself as bait.

Earlier, I called Leandra and informed her that I would be taking her to her salon appointment today. She screamed so loud I’d had to remove the phone from my ear.

She must have been waiting at the door for my arrival. I was still pulling up the driveway and she was already out the front door and bouncing towards my car. All it would take is one wrong move and her tits would pop out of her top. One wrong turn and the jeans she painted on would rip.

---