Luca

When I finished up with Angelo, I made my way back to the kitchen. For better or worse, I had to finish my conversation with Charlotte and then send her on her way. In the scheme of things, I had much bigger issues that needed my attention.

It took a lot of work to keep things running as smoothly as they did around here, and there was no room for operations to slip. I had been groomed for this position my entire life, but I would always be plagued by the need to prove myself. Antonio Romano had been Don of our faction for nearly thirty years, and he had hand-picked me as his successor. My father was his Capo, and when business expanded to the US, my father took over that section of our group. When he died, it was left to me, and Antonio had been so happy with my work, that he had bypassed both of his sons and chosen me as his successor. One day, the entire international Romano family would be under my control. I knew I was good at what I did, and I was reaping the benefits of my success, but I still constantly felt the need to prove myself. That was a legacy my father had left behind for me. Nothing I ever did was good enough in his eyes, and I had taken on the same ironclad mentality. Anything less than perfection was a failure, and that just wasn't an option. It made me unstoppable as a Don, but anything outside of my work fell by the wayside, and always would.

Briefly, I had allowed Charlotte to distract me, but I couldn't afford to make that mistake long-term. Not when I was so close to taking over that I could almost taste it.

Charlotte's laugh bounced off of the walls as I got closer. They were still seated at the kitchen island, engrossed in conversation and she was laughing at something he had just said. I found myself a little jealous of the time Carlo had gotten to spend with her, and that feeling alone was precisely why I knew I needed to get her out of here.

"Thanks Carlo, we're good now." I shoved my hands into my pockets, walking into the kitchen.

Charlotte tensed up as she saw me, almost like I was the one she was scared of, and it bothered me more than it should have. It made me wonder what Carlo had been telling her since I had been gone.

"No problem, boss." Carlo said, standing up and tossing both of their dishes into the sink. "I'll see you later, Char."

Char? He had a nickname for her now?

"Bye Carlo." She smiled, giving him a small wave.

I grabbed myself a glass of water, and took the seat where Carlo had been.

"Did you handle whatever you needed to?" She glanced up at me, an uneasiness to her voice.

I nodded. "But now, you and I need to talk."

"I don't know who Silvano is." Charlotte blurted out, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Her response caught me off guard. Is that what they had been talking about all morning? Had Carlo told her about my suspicions? I wanted to see her genuine reaction to hearing his name and now that had been tainted. Unless, they hadn't talked about that at all and she was about to tell me the truth.

"How do you know that name?" I asked, carefully.

"Carlo told me you think I ran away from him or something...Is he the one who attacked me?"

I rubbed my forehead. Of course, he had told her. "Silvano isn't the one who attacked you, but he sent his men to. You're sure you've never heard that name before?"

"Positive." She insisted.

"Have you ever worked as a prostitute or sex worker? Anything like that? No judgement, I just have to ask."

Charlotte's face twisted in irritation. "No, I haven't. Until a few months ago, I didn't even live in New York. And I don't understand why that would be any of your business anyway. Look, I'm really grateful for all you and your men have done for me, but I need to go now."

"It's my business because my men killed the guy who was attacking you. He worked with Silvano, and now he and I have a problem. So, I need to know every single bit of pertinent information about the situation, and that includes how you're tied to Silvano."

"I'm not tied to him in anyway. I have no idea who the man is, or why you all keep asking me about him. I know you think that this was a targeted attack, but if it was, it wasn't meant to be on me. They probably thought I was someone else."

Honestly, I was beginning to think the same thing. She was adamant that she had no connection to him, and I believed her. I made a living off of being able to tell when someone was lying, and the look in Charlotte's eyes was pure fear. She didn't know Silvano, and I was sure of it. But that didn't mean Silvano didn't know her.

"Is he like, a gang leader?" She asked. I bit back my laughter. The way she said it was as if a gang leader was the worst thing she could think of that he could be. In reality, gang leaders were choirboys in comparison to Mafia leaders. Their shit was amateur and juvenile, and we did things they couldn't come up with in their wildest dreams. She didn't need to know that, though. No sense in scaring the poor girl even more.

"He's just a very dangerous man, one you don't want to be on the wrong side of."

"Like you?" She arched her eyebrow at me.

Yes, exactly like me, Tesoro. Not wanting to get into the specifics with her right at this moment, I did what I do best, and I deflected.

I pulled out a box out of a bag on the counter. "Angelo accidentally smashed your phone in the attack last night. This is a new one, and all of your data has been transferred. Those men shouldn't be giving you any more trouble, but if they do, or you need anything at all, my number is programmed in it and you can call at any time."

"You don't need to do this." She said, trying to hand it back to me.

"We do. We broke it, so we're replacing it." I said, pushing it back toward her. "I also have a few men at your apartment right now setting up a security system."

Charlotte's eyes widened as she tried to figure out how I found out where she lived. People had no idea how easy that was to do, especially in a city like New York. Especially when you had world class hackers at your disposal the way I did.

"This is too much, Luca. Really. I don't need a security system, I don't need..."

"I know you think that this is random, but on the off chance it's not, I want you to be protected." I interrupted. I was content with the fact she didn't know Silvano and she wasn't lying to me, but that didn't mean the threat was gone. And that didn't mean I was going to let her walk out of here as a target. Until I knew the threat was completely gone, she'd be under our watch.

"Okay, but we don't even know each other." She said. "Why are you doing all of this for me?"

That was a damn good question, and one Angelo had asked when I told him to set all of this up for her.

"Because, like I said, I'm involved now because my men killed one of Silvano's guys. It's nothing to do with my relationship with you."

Or lack thereof.

"Call me if anything comes up, or if you remember anything else, you think might be important." I stood up. "There is a driver out front waiting to take you where ever you need to go. And by the way, don't tell anyone what you know about the attack. I'll handle it from here on out, so just tell the police that you have no idea who was there, and nothing about me."

"Okay, I understand." Charlotte pressed her lips together. "Goodbye Luca."

Not giving myself a second to change my mind and ask her to stay, I went back to my office to find Angelo.

"Did you talk to her?"

I nodded, sitting back in my chair and resting my head in my hands. I was getting a headache of my own after the way things were going. "I'm confident she doesn't know Silvano."

"But he might know her... And you're content to let it sit like that?"

I let out a sharp laugh. "Of course not. You know me better than that. Let's go pay a visit to Silvano."

Angelo and I headed over toward one of his restaurants, where I knew he would be. This place was a shithole, and the food was worse, but Silvano was here at least once a week to collect on some of his debts. Since our expansion, Silvano's business had been forced back almost exclusively to Italy, and why he was still here at all was beyond me.

Almost all of New York was under my uninhibited control, but Silvano owned a small silver of it right across the border from New Jersey. He was determined to stand in the way of my expansion by holding on to this tiny piece of land with everything he had. At this point, it was just a power move to make sure I knew he was still around.

Like I could forget.

Angelo waited in the car while I went inside. I just wanted to talk to him, and bringing in back up might give the wrong impression. I had to be careful how I proceeded here, especially if I wanted him to tell me who Charlotte was to him. Unfortunately, playing nice wasn't really my strong suit.

He was seated in one of the back booths and I waited patiently as the server delivered his meatball sandwich. Every second I had to be here was agony but if Charlotte couldn't give me the answers I wanted, maybe he could. Once the waitress was gone, I made my way over to the table and didn't wait for an invitation before sitting down.

Silvano looked up briefly. "I was wondering when I was going to hear from you. Although I expected a call, not a personal visit. But please, sit down. Can I get you a sandwich?"

"I don't have time for formalities, Silvano. Who is the girl?"

"The girl? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about, Luca." He took another bite of his sandwich, chewing slowly, mouth open and all. How I wished I could just shove my gun right into his disgusting mouth and blow his fucking head off. Instead, I took a deep breath. That wasn't the kind of war I wanted to start today. I grabbed the sandwich from his grimy hands and threw it across the room. One of his men stood up from a nearby table, and pointed his gun inches from my head and a few more surrounded us. Silvano raised his hand, slowly calling them off.

"Continue." He said to me once everyone had stashed their guns back in their hiding places.

"The girl from the art gallery." I hissed, unaffected by his men's juvenile show of force. He knew exactly what I was talking about.

"Ah, yes. Now that you mention it, that is ringing a bell."

"Is she one of yours?" I questioned, not mincing my words. I did not have time for his shit today.

He was quiet for a second, and then a wicked smile spread across his lips. "Charlotte is not one of mine, no. In fact, I've never actually seen her in person. Until a few weeks ago, I thought she was dead. Let's just say she knew an old friend of mine."

"What is your sudden interest in her?" Fury burned through my veins. In the back of my mind, I had been hoping she had been lying and she was a Marquis girl. Then it would have made a bit of sense why they were after her. Now, I had less to go than when I got here.

"She's an artist, you know. A very talented one at that." Silvano shoved the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.

"I'm aware. I've seen her work." I gritted my teeth. For some reason, hearing him talk about her in any capacity only enraged me more.

"Tell me, Luca, what is your sudden interest in her?" He folded his hands on the table.

"I have no interest. Other than the fact that your men were nearly raping her in her gallery until my men put a stop to it." I growled. I had had enough of this old man. I fantasized about the day I could kill him. Could feel his blood between my fingers. Could hear the last hiss and gurgle as the air was drained from his lungs. I could almost smell the metallic scent of blood right now, imagining it.

He looked slightly dismayed. "My men acted foolishly. They were sent there for other reasons than Ms. Parker, and clearly disregarded my orders."

"What other reasons could you possibly have for being at an art gallery in New York City?"

"I could ask you the same question." He mused. "We were there for the same reason you were, Luca. An investment of sorts. But clearly it did not go as planned, and we will be moving on."

"Simple as that?" I studied his face. Could this really have nothing to do with her? Just be a case of bad timing? He didn't seem to be upset about his fallen men at all. Maybe they really had disobeyed his command. Things like that happened all the time in the mafia. People were killed over much less.

"Simple as that. You have my word." His word wasn't worth shit. This lying son of a bitch was up to something.

"If I find out that your men so much as look in her direction again..."

"I'll take care of them myself. The girl is safe. My ranks are already scouting out another business venture. The art industry was a little too uppity for us any ways. Much more your style." A Cheshire grin crept across his face as if he were insulting me.

"So you're looking in to expanding then?" I pressed.

Silvano shrugged. "The market is good here in my neck of the woods. At least farther south along the Jersey Shore. But we both know how lucrative having an inlet like New York is. Trust me, whatever I do won't be in your territory. In fact, that's the reason I pulled out of the gallery. I know that's your area, and I'm respectful of that."

That was laughable. Silvano wasn't respectful of anything.

"Did she know why you were there?"

"Oh no, of course not. Like I said, this was never about Charlotte. One of my clients is a client of the gallery's. Suggested I look into it. My men were there is scout out the operation and how easy it would be to infiltrate. Running into her was an unexpected, but pleasant, surprise. Sure is a looker, isn't she?"

I rolled my eyes, not wanting to spend another second in his company.

"We'll be in touch." I called over my shoulder as I stalked out the door.