Page 59 of Made to Sin

I nodded, but I wasn’t going to ask him for anything anymore if I knew what was good for me. Being in this house was enough.

As I stared at Luciano’s retreating form, I silently prayed he and I could trade places. Anywhere but alone with Sofia. Like I said, she was delusional. Who knew what else she had planned?

The front door opened and slammed shut, taking my shard of hope with the wind.

Great.

Sofia took the initiative to speak first. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but it won’t work.”

I flickered my gaze back to her. “What am I doing?”

“Jumping from one mob boss to another is pathetic. Just because your husband kicked you out doesn’t mean you should go after someone else’s man. Luciano will never have interest in you.”

Her words stung more than they should have. She was being cruel on purpose, but it was hard to brush something off when it had some truth to it.

So much for playing nice.

“I assure you, I don’t want to become another mob wife. You want Luciano so bad, marry him. I’m only here because my husband died and have nowhere else to go. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Instead of any sympathy, the cold-blooded woman shrugged. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you?”

“No. I don’t need anything from you except for you to leave me alone. I’ll get out as soon as I can, and we can live our lives as if we’d never met. Happy?”

Irritation wrapped its hot hands around my chest. It was a long enough morning, and dealing with yappy girlfriends was not on the agenda. I turned on my heels and disappeared inside my room without caring for anything else she had to say.

Sofia was a headache and a half, Luciano was trouble, and Iwas in the process of being thrown on the streets for the second time in less than a day.

What better way to handle those kind of dilemmas? Busy myself with something else, of course.

My stuffed duffel sat in the middle, occupying the rather neat space. With nothing better to do, I unpacked.

I managed to hold in the tears earlier, but the dam broke when I saw the picture Maria and I took together three years ago. I didn’t think it would see the light, but she went and had it printed for me.

I missed the lady and her comforting Portuguese accent already. Trapped under Marco’s fist, she and Arnold were the only light.

It was safe to say the rest of the unpacking finished on a similar miserable note. I didn’t have many belongings, but I spent a good chunk of time crying for each. If I stayed in this room any longer, I would end up wallowing in my sorrows.

Through multiple attempts, I willed the tears to stop and forced myself to go wash up. If there was one thing I was going to do, it was to take full advantage of the fact that I was a free woman.

Crying could wait for tomorrow.

“WHEREAREYOUGOINGSOlate?” Luciano’s raspy voice reverberated from the kitchen.

I jumped at the sound of his voice. I didn’t hear him come back, the locks of the door only jangling when Sofia left.

My eyes flew to the kitchen where he was leaning against the counter with a glass of whiskey in one hand and his phone in the other. I swear this man had a sixth sense because he didn’t once look up from the screen to know I was in the room.

“Your club,” I hesitantly answered.

It wasn’t the most exotic place to go on my first night out, but I was in the mood to drink and let loose. Plus, it wasn’t like there were many options for me to choose from. It was on my to-do list to explore new places on Beneveti land soon.

I meant what I said to Sofia about not staying, but it would be some time before I managed to escape the Underworld. In the meantime, it wouldn’t hurt to find fun things to try.

Luciano’s gaze ran down my body from the lacy corset to the black miniskirt. He lingered a bit longer on my cleavage and bare midriff, eyes narrowing.

I shifted in my black stilettos feeling slightly self-conscious. He wasn’t even touching me, yet I felt his hands everywhere hiseyes were. A bead of sweat formed at the base of my neck, and I had to sweep my hair to the side for some relief.

The movement caught his attention, and his point of focus lasered on my bare neck. I itched to move my hand to cover the rapid pulse, but it would further show him how much of an effect he had on me.

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