Page 59 of Primo DeLuca

Chapter Twenty-two

Nevah

A week had flown by, and Primo was in the wind, giving minimal phone conversations and no in-person interactions. It was like he had quit on us cold turkey after I finally allowed myself to fall for him. Whatever our lives were before we connected didn’t matter anymore because he was who I knew I wanted now.

My temporary home was a penthouse suite that he chose and paid for in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, about an hour away from St. Louis. The boredom was going to kill me faster than being the girlfriend of a mob boss.

When I could take no more, and after dodging calls and telling lies to my friends about why they couldn’t see me, I caved. I called Tracy and Maya and invited them to join me a few towns over from where I was located.

I waited until we were all liquored up before hitting them with my major bombshell. I also ordered a VIP booth to give us a semblance of privacy.

“I’m dating someone,” I blurted.

The soft music playing, people’s muffled conversations, and all other background noises faded out. The scene around us appeared to temporarily pause to spotlight the two sets of wide, questioning eyes that were set on me.

I sipped from my margarita, pretending like I wasn’t being crushed under the anticipation spewing from their waiting gazes.

Tracy slapped the fire from my forearm, making me jump and spill some of my drink that I paid for with the credit card my fiancé had gifted me before leaving.

“Are you going to tell us who the fuck you’re dating, or are we going to have to tie your secret-keeping ass down and torture it out of you?” Maya questioned with a fixed gaze and set jaw.

“He’s probably not someone either of you would approve of me dating. He’s kind of dangerous but he treats me really good.”

“How long have you been dating this guy?” Tracy asked, flashing me the eye squint that said I better not lie.

“I met him at the club a few weeks ago when we were there.”

They snatched their heads back in disbelief.

“That’s why your fast ass wanted to leave so soon after we arrived. You could have told us you were sneaking off with a man. Who the hell is this miracle worker who had you ditching your friends these past few weeks?”

Although I couldn’t disclose everything, I decided to share at least his identity.

“His name is Primo DeLuca.”

Maya choked so hard on the sip of drink she took that Tracy slapped her on the back, the hard licks sounding off despite the noise of the other diners trickling into our space. Although she was taking care of Maya, her hand rubbing gently up and down her back, Tracy’s wide eyes were glued to mine.

“It happened by accident. I was searching for Maya and the guy she walked away with and sort of just ran into him when I peeked into one of the back offices. We talked and hit it off.”

It wasn’t a total lie.

The sound of crickets chirping might as well have been going off because my friends were speechless. There were no snappy comments about my mental state lobbed at me. Neither of their hands were pressed against my forehead to see if I was feverish. They were good old-fashioned shocked. So much so their frozen state caused me to wave a hand in front of their faces to wake them.

“You’re serious?” Tracy finally questioned, her voice a harsh whisper. I didn’t have to question if they knew who Primo was because their expressions said it all.

“We are not together at the moment because he’s taking care of a family problem.”

Tracy visibly swallowed while Maya hit me with another unblinking stare.

“Umm,” Tracy dragged out, attempting to gather her thoughts, “once you’re in one of those kinds of families, you can’t get out of it, right?”

Maya shook her head at Tracy like she was the resident expert on mob life.

“That’s not true. The men date, dump, and marry whoever they want. However, they are selective about the women they choose. It’s usually women who are in similar families.”

Maya flashed me an expression of mixed emotions, fear being the most prominent.

“Is this a relationship you want?” Maya questioned. Deep creases of worry were stretched across her forehead. She didn’t give me a chance to answer.

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