I'm Nothing (The Family Book 2)(4)
Gripping his hand, she gave it a shake. “Zara Summers. I work in a pizza shop, I’m bored with life, and I’m not in college.”
“You’re bored with life?”
“I cook pizza for a living. That’s all. No dates, nothing.” The debt her father left behind meant she didn’t have much choice with her life. Her life was no longer her own. She was owned by the debt, so she worked in an effort to rid herself of it.
There were times she found herself hating her father. Instead of selling up the business, he kept on borrowing money, and not all of those people he took money from were kosher.
So far, the threats hadn’t come, but Zara knew it was only a matter of time. Lucien wasn’t a man to be messed with. He’d taken complete advantage of her parents, and now she’d been brought into it.
“I don’t date either. I just fuck.”
“I don’t do that either.” Why the hell was she being honest with this guy? She snorted. “I can’t believe I just said that to you.”
Tonio chuckled. “It makes it interesting when we break our own rules, doesn’t it?”
“You’re a strange man, you know that, right?” she asked.
“I live a strange life. You know the rumors about me.”
She tensed.
“See, I see the way you react. What I find interesting is the fact you’re still here. You’re terrified of me, and yet you’re drinking coffee, talking with me as if we’re BFFs.”
“You knew that?” she asked, referring to her fear.
“I’ve spent a lot of my life feeding off of people’s fear. I can see it all the time.” He finished off his cinnamon bun, licking his thumb of the icing as he did. “Delicious.”
“Do you get off on it?” she asked.
He paused, tilting his head to the side, contemplating her question. “Sometimes. It’s easy to scare people.”
“So the mafia rumor, is that true?”
Tonio pressed a finger to his lips. “That can be our little secret. You shouldn’t be shouting that shit around.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re very strange. You know that?” She repeated her words for the third time.
Chapter Two
What the fuck was he doing?
Tonio stared across the table at Zara, and yes, he remembered her, but not for any flattering reasons. She was the plain girl that he copied from. Not once had he ever considered her anything more than that.
He’d just been at Maria’s graveside, and now he was sat staring across at the same girl he hadn’t given a thought to.
She looked … different.
Staring at her, Tonio recognized the weight of the world that was resting on her shoulders. With her hair falling around her looking a little wild, she actually looked beautiful. Her blue eyes were so innocent, yet they looked scared. Tonio was used to people being scared.
“I’ve been called a lot of things in my life. Strange isn’t one of them.”
“It should be. Are you going to kill me now?”
“No. I’m not going to kill you.”
“You do know the whole mafia thing is not that big of a secret.” She licked her fingers of the last of the icing.
“It’s not? I thought it was only just a rumor.” He winked at her, sitting back.
For the first time in his life, he was actually relaxed. The little home movies were still out there, but he didn’t want to go on a hunt to find them. He was more than happy just talking to Zara, the girl who helped run a pizza shop.
“That was delicious. Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure.”
She glanced down at her watch, and he noticed her hands were shaking a little bit. He didn’t like that. Zara was a normal girl. She shouldn’t be afraid of anything.
“I’ve got to be heading back,” she said. “I’m really sorry for cutting this short.”
“Do you mean that?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, I am actually. You’re terrifying, but this was nice.”
He chuckled. “Come on. I’ll walk you home.”
They left the little coffee shop, and he placed a hand at her back, guiding her out of it.
“I live at the pizza place. Just above the shop.”
“Wow, no wonder you hate pizza.”
“It’s my life.”
Tonio pushed his hands into his jacket, at the same time feeling the gun he kept strapped to him at all times. This was how he was able to walk the streets without a guard. Ever since he’d taken out the fathers of The Family, he’d put a target on his back, but he refused to have guards.
All he needed to do was find those damn tapes.
They walked in comfortable silence for several minutes. He didn’t know if Zara was comfortable, but he sure was.
“This is me,” she said, stopping suddenly. He looked at the pizza place that had seen many better days.
This was it. They were about to part ways, and he just couldn’t have that.
“What are you doing tomorrow night?” he asked.
“I’m working here.”
“When do you finish?”
She winced. “We close around eleven, and we clean up ‘til twelve.”
“Is that at night?”
“Yep, we open every day at four.”
Fucking hell!
She was going to work herself to the bone.
“We did use to be open during the day, but I can’t allow food to go to waste that doesn’t get ordered.”
“Zara, is that you?” An older woman leaned out of the window. She didn’t look like time had done her well.
“Yeah, Mom, it’s me.”
He hated how dejected she sounded. Zara clearly wasn’t happy. Why was her mother making her do this?
“How about another night?” he asked.
“I really wish I could. I’m needed here though.”
Tonio nodded. “Maybe some other time.” He made to step away, but she stalled him.
“You could always come and stop by for pizza. I hate it, but I do make it well.”
He turned, smiling at her. “I’ll take you up on that offer.”
She held her hand up, giving him a little wave. “Bye, Tonio. It will start to feel better soon.”
“You too.”
Tonio watched as she entered the pizza shop before making his way toward the graveyard. He was shocked to see Luiz hanging out by his car.
“What are you doing here?”
“Donnie needs us back at his apartment, and you weren’t answering your phone.”
“Who dropped you off?” Tonio asked, climbing behind the wheel.
“A friend. Someone you don’t need to concern yourself with.”
He decided not to press his friend for more details. Luiz was the most private of them all. Tonio couldn’t recall when Luiz didn’t have a secret kind of life.
“You ever thought of leaving the life?” Tonio asked.
“I thought about it, saw someone do it once, and then I saw what happened to them,” Luiz said.
“What happened?”
“They made him believe that he could just leave, just like that. The guy had a family, kids, all that shit. They killed his kids, hanging them around him, raped and killed his wife, then tortured him for hours before they finally killed him.”
“Fuck!”
“Yeah, after that I figured there were worse fates to have than being part of The Family.”
Driving toward the apartment block, Tonio tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “We were born into a shit way of life.”
“We’re always a target, and that never changed. People think because we took the reins and killed our parents that it makes us an even bigger target. It doesn’t. We’re the same targets as we always were. Fucking assholes, everyone.”
“The only way out is death.”
“It’s what took Maria in the end.”
“Fuck, Luiz. That’s your sister.”
“I don’t give a fuck. It’s all the same kind of shit. Maria was my sister, but I can recognize a greedy bitch when I see one.”
“You actually see bitches? I thought you played for our team.”
Luiz snorted. “You thought I was gay?”
“Why not? You’ve not shown any interest in women. I don’t even know if you’ve fucked a woman, or just said you have.”
“It wouldn’t matter either way, would it?”
“I don’t give a fuck if you’re gay.”
“I’m not gay. I happen to love a nice warm pussy.”
“You leading a secret life, Luiz?”
“No. I’m just leading a life that is mine that I don’t want anyone to fucking know about.”
“Fair enough.”
“So what were you doing with Zara Summers?”
“You know her?”
“Yep. She was in the class that you always cheated from. I make it my business to know these things.”
“What the fuck?”
“I make it my business to know stuff. Also, we had calculus together, and we had to work together. She’s nice.”
Glancing over at his friend, Tonio was stumped.
“We even braided each other’s hair.”
Shaking his head, Tonio chuckled. “You’re crazy, you know that.”
“It’s what they call me. So, how have you been dealing with shit since your dad died?”
“I’ve been okay.”
“You found what you were looking for on your computer?”