Page 2 of Luciano (Belles & Mobsters 1)

“You look beautiful,” he murmured, his eyes mesmerizing me.

“You don’t look too shabby yourself.” Truth was, he looked so handsome. Women always gawked after him, and today, I was sure it would be no different. But it wasn’t his good looks that captivated me. It was his over-the-top possessive and protective personality. Since my parents died, I had not had that. My best friend and I pretty much had to look out for each other. Nobody else cared what happened to us, and if my uncle’s plan had succeeded, both she and I would have been sold.

The back door of the restaurant flew open, and Maurizio’s son Mauro stormed out frantically. His disheveled hair was the first thing I noticed. Roberto’s and Massimo’s furious expressions were the next. They were right behind him.

“We were hit.”

The words slashed the cold January air, but it didn’t compare to the way my blood froze as I watched Luciano spin around and push me up against the car. Before I could even process what happened, Roberto and Massimo had their guns aimed at my head.

“You betrayed me,” Luciano spat at me, the affection dissipating from his hazel eyes, and now all I saw in them was hate.

“W-what?” My heart thundered, every fiber in my body was drenched in fear. His burning gaze turned into one of frigid fury, matching the cold, grey day around us and flurries coming down.

Cold fear gripped me. How did he go from his hot, hungry gaze to this cold rage? I struggled to process it all. Luciano’s hard, towering body locked me against the car, the freezing metal of the barrel of his own gun pressed hard against my temple.

“You betrayed me!” he shouted.

“I-I didn’t.” My voice shook, my words fumbling in a stutter.

“You are the only one who knew besides my men. I fucking trusted you.”

My vision blurred, my breathing heavy. I stared at him, praying he’d see the truth in my eyes.

“Please, Luciano!” I whispered as a snowflake landed on my eyelash. It felt heavy, my face frozen from the cold and terror. “I didn’t betray you.” I breathed in, my lungs hurting from the frigid cold air.

“I’ve had shipments coming here for weeks. We were never hit. The week I tell you, we are hit.”

“Luciano, please listen,” I begged in a small voice. “I didn’t betray you. I love you!”

He laughed, his face twisted in disgust at my words. At me. At my declaration of love. It was the first time I spoke those words to my husband.

The barrel of his gun pressed harder against my temple and my whole body shook. From fear. From the cold. And the look of disgust in his eyes.

“Let’s play a little game,” he growled, a menacing smile on his face. Slowly he pulled the gun from my temple while Roberto and Massimo held their aim on me. He opened the cylinder of the revolver, eyeing it, counting the number of bullets before spinning the cylinder and flicking it closed. “Russian roulette. Shall we?” He pressed the barrel of the revolver back to my temple.

The whole scene played out like it was happening to someone else; like it was a bad movie.

“Should I kill you now?” he bellowed, rage clear on his face. “I should have expected something like that from someone of your caliber. After all, the Romano family excels at backstabbing.”

I stared at him in confusion and hurt. How could he think that of me? Less than an hour ago, he was inside me and made love to me.

“Luciano-” Massimo cut in.

“Shut the fuck up!” he roared at him. His gaze never wavered from me and those words almost felt aimed at me. “Any last words, wife?”

I watched those eyes that I loved so much, my heart shredding into tiny pieces. It felt like shards of glass tearing at my skin, except the pain tore through me, inside me, leaving invisible scars in its wake. A tear rolled down my face, its trail turning to frost almost immediately. Just as I felt my heart freeze with each of Luciano’s harsh words. I was too scared to move, to wipe it clean.

Despite my shattering heart, and suddenly bleak future, I felt anger rise within me. It was better that way, it kept my walls up that I should have never lowered for him. I wanted to tell him to go fuck himself; he wasn’t worth my love. He wasn’t worthy of me. But the words got stuck in my throat.

Then he pulled a trigger.

Click.

Chapter One

Luciano

Three Years Later

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