Page 50 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

He didn't seem concerned with my threat at all. Honestly, I was surprised he didn’t throw my uncle’s name in my face for Matteo’s guardian.

“It’s too hard,” I taunted sweetly. “The urge to pull the trigger is too strong.”

Was that regret that flashed in his eyes?No, Grace. Don’t read into anything with him.

“And what will you do with the rest of us, Grace?” Cassio asked, leaning against his chair. I almost expected him to reach for his gun. Nonno just winked at me. I guess he knew I didn’t have it in me. “You know, if you kill one of us, you’ll have to kill us all.”

I rolled my eyes.

“That can be arranged.” I had to admit, I have officially lost my mind. Maybe this life and death situation with my family finally fucked up my brain. “What do you think, Ella?” I murmured, seemingly unperturbed.

“I don’t know, Grace.” She never stopped eating. Bringing the fork up to her mouth, she continued. “Let’s wait till tomorrow. I don’t want to go out dancing all bruised up or get blood on me. It’s a pain to wash it off.”

I took an exaggerated sigh.

“And I was so looking forward to ending these guys. Okay, tomorrow then.” I smiled at Cassio and had to hold back my grin at seeing comical expressions on the other men’s faces. The only ones that seemed unconcerned were Luciano and Cassio. “So how about that attorney?”

“What about Ian?” Nonno asked, surprising me. I didn’t know he knew him.

I stiffened at the mention of Ian. He would never be my choice to use; he’d ensure my uncle had a copy and twisted it all into his own favor.

“No, not Ian,” I answered. Nonno nodded, as if he agreed and understood. “I really need one tonight, Luciano. I know how you have people that jump just for you. Can I have one before eight p.m.?”

Two frown lines showed on his handsome face, as if he was trying to decipher me. And unfortunately for me, Luciano was excellent at reading people and figuring out puzzles.

Chapter Fifteen

Luciano

Istudied my wife throughout dinner. There was no doubt; she had spread her wings over the time we spent apart. From the moment I found her, she kept surprising me. The latest revelation about her was hard to reconcile with the woman I remembered. The woman I married. But I realized I loved this side of her too. It would seem there wasn’t a side of her I didn’t enjoy.

Grace was the Ghost. My Ghost, my runner. Massimo was finally able to penetrate through their firewall and retrieve the email correspondence. Massimo worked through some of her transaction history, and apparently, he still has to break through a few more firewalls, so we could track every single one of her transactions.

She is the fucking Ghost!I was so shocked I couldn’t even enjoy the fact my intuition was right when I suspected the Ghost was ashe.

Right now, my first inclination was to deny her a lawyer without knowing what she needed it for.

It made me uneasy not knowing, especially as layers of her kept unravelling in the short span of two days. But it seemed to be really important to her.

“Sure, I’ll have a guy here in an hour.”

“Thank you.”

She gave me a grateful, soft smile. If she only knew how much power she had over me. She could smile like that and stab me in the heart. And I’d probably let her. Cassio and I still struggled with the connection between their two families.

Belles and mobsters. I scoffed again to myself at that notion. Leave it to the King's ancestors to come up with such a ridiculous concept. What was even more ridiculous was that it worked for centuries.

Self-hatred filled me remembering that day when I pressed the gun to her head. The snowflake on her long eyelashes, love and fear mixing in those eyes. I loved my wife, even back then. From the very first second I spotted her in my nightclub, she had slowly drawn me under her spell. I wanted to hate her more than anything; I wanted to hate her since the moment we first met. I was bitter at the loss of my mother and sister; blaming her right along with her uncle for it. And she fought to escape him and survive.

I wouldn’t make the same mistake again. I couldn’t blame her for finding someone else and having a child. But now that I had her, and I knew some of the reasons that drove her, I would protect her with all I had. Her and her son.

“So where are you ladies going out tonight?” Luca asked.

“Not sure yet.” Grace’s attention was on her son, her voice soft and nonchalant, but I knew without a doubt she was lying. Those two knew exactly where they were going.

“You can take my car,” I offered. “Your old car is still running too.”

There was surprise on her face, but she didn’t comment. “Thanks. We’ll just take an Uber.”

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