Page 59 of Secret Babies for the Italian Mafia Boss

Luca

I have to remain calm.

I have to be collected.

The children can’t see how I’m about to burn this city to the ground and everyone with it if anything happened to their mother.

When I pull in front of the bakery, I reach for my gun, and Alvize grips my arm to stop me.

“I can go in, Luca. You stay here with the kids.”

“No. If anything happened to her, I want to be the one to find Camilla,” I whisper so the kids can’t hear. “I want you to take them to get ice cream. I’ll expect you back in twenty minutes, not a second longer. Understand?”

“Yeah, no problem.” He looks in the rearview mirror and smiles. “Who wants ice cream?”

“I do! I do!”

“Me too!”

They scream in happiness, and not even their cheer is enough to lessen the worry.

I climb out of the car, and shouts of protest come from the backseat.

“Mr. Luca, you aren’t coming?”

“I wish I could, Oliver, but I’m going to help your mom with your bags. Everyone is coming to stay with me for a little while. How does that sound?”

“Yay! A sleepover!” Olivia claps her hands.

“That’s right. So Alvize is going to go get you ice cream, and I’m going to help your mom get ready.”

“Okay. Bye, Mr. Luca.”

“See you soon.” I close the door, and in two steps, I’m in front of the entrance leading to her apartment.

I take two steps at a time and then pound on her door. “Camilla! It’s me. It’s Luca.” I continue to knock, but there’s no answer. I try the handle and jiggle it, but it’s locked. “Good girl,” I mutter. “Camilla?”

“Luca?” her weeping voice comes from the other side.

“Yes, Beautiful Girl. It’s me. Open up.”

She swings the door open, and immediately, the moment I see her face, I see red. There’s a red handprint on the side of her face. Someone hit her so hard that they left their touch behind.

I kick the door shut and cup her face, darting my eyes up and down her body. “Who did this? Do you know? Who do I need to kill?”

“I don’t know. They were all black and this weird…” she circles her hand over her face. “He wore a digital eye mask, you know, the ones that blink. It reminded me of a digital clock. And he kept wanting to know where the fortune was. I didn’t tell. I fought him. I kicked him in the face and hit his mask, which caused it to be crooked. I peppered sprayed him and kicked him in the balls,” she rambles so fast between tears I almost didn’t catch that last part. “I was so scared. I just kept thinking of Oliver and Olivia. I wish I didn’t know where the fortune was. I don’t care about it. I don’t need it.”

I gather her in my arms and give her a gentle hug, but it also helps hide the fury on my face. I’m going to have every runner I have prowling the streets tonight. Someone who got pepper sprayed can’t hide that very well.

I’m going to kill him. Slowly. I’m going to torture him for putting his hands on her.

“Are you packed?”

She nods. “I’m almost done with the kids.”

“We will buy whatever else you need, and I’ll have it delivered to the estate. You aren’t staying here for another moment.”

“Luca.” She places her hand on my chest and tilts her head back, staring at me with those big brown eyes I’ve fallen in love with. “Thank you for being here.”

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