No Boundaries(92)

There was absolutely no denying the fact that I had completely fallen in love with him. I lusted after every touch of his strong hands, and I waited for him to call just to hear his strong, seductive voice. He completely owned me. Every moment not spent with him seem wasted.

I held the necklace that I had taken from my mother between my fingers, rubbing the silver back and forth. For the first time since she died, I felt truly alive again. He had given me a gift. He had given me my life back. And we were building a new life together, the two of us and our unborn child.

Before Luka came back into my life, all I had was anger and resentment toward him, brought on by Roberto’s tirades. But now, hearing Luka’s admission, I started to understand his reasons, and I knew he was telling me the truth. My father had been a complete drunk. Luka had said that he'd even beat my mother. She had gone to the Giotis for help. But in the end, they couldn't keep her safe.

So how could Luka ever keep me safe? And what about keeping me safe from himself?

I hardly noticed as the group in the back of the bar broke away from their table and stood around the bar. Whatever business they had been discussing clearly was over. I watched as a few of them exited the bar. I recognized the way they were walking. It was like they had an extra ten pounds of weight on them, but none of them looked overweight. They were packing. I looked around me again, almost as if I had finally started to notice my surroundings. Where was I? I tried to think of what street I had walked down, where I had turned. I wasn't sure anymore. Did I walk into another mob family’s territory?

Shit.

“Enjoying that drink, doll?”

An older Italian man sat down next to me. I watched as two men flanked him. They tried to seem nonchalant, and if I hadn't been observant, I wouldn’t have noticed their protective stances around him. I'd seen men do that before.

Too many times.

“It's all right.”

I shoved the rest of the cola down, trying to appear more interested in my drink than I was. I had to get out of here. It wasn’t safe, I could tell.

“I have to get going. My boyfriend is waiting for me.”

The man grabbed my wrist. “Sit. Have another drink. It's on the house.”

He signaled the bartender and the old man filled up my glass. I saw him quickly make eye contact with the man sitting next to me. Clearly, the bartender wasn't the one in charge here.

“No really, I have to get going.”

“I insist.” He held up his stein and I lifted my glass slowly. They clinked together in an awkward way. He took a swig from his beer but I didn't drink anymore out of my glass. I no longer trusted that what was in my glass was only cola.

“Haven't seen you in here before. You don’t come in here often, do you?”

I shook my head. “No. I just took a wrong turn.”

“I'm lucky you did. That's an interesting necklace.”

“My necklace? Oh. It was a gift.” Suddenly, my lies were back running through my veins. He didn’t need to know about my mother. He was already fishing for information in an uncomfortable way.

“From who?”

“Boyfriend. He just gave it to me.” More lies. I prayed that he bought it.

“Boyfriend?” I noticed the two security guards get closer to him. I'd made the wrong choice of words.

“Yeah.” I had to convince them now. Hopefully, they wouldn’t mess with me if I was the girlfriend of a mob son. Or maybe that was the wrong move to make. I wasn’t sure. But right now, I had to hold on to the fact that I was in love with Luka. It no longer mattered what he had done to my family. I was his. I only hoped now that it didn't end my life.

“I know that’s a lie. I also know that necklace was your mother’s. Why are you here? Where’s Roberto?”

Shit.

“Roberto?”

“Yes your uncle. I know he’s in town. Not our arrangement, he was expected to stay in Jersey and I was supposed to keep an eye on things here. I don’t need him nosing around in my business.”

“Wait, what? You’re an Agnelli?”

The men around us laughed. “A friend. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Nothing, I haven’t seen him. I just had a fight with my boyfriend and I came for a drink. This is a coincidence, I promise.”

“Ah yes, Luka.” He smiled at me crookedly. “Well, isn’t that advantageous? I’m meeting with his family tomorrow night. Perhaps you should stay with us until then.”

I put my hands up. “I don't want any trouble. If you have a message, I can make sure that it is delivered to them. But I’m not involved in his business. I don't know anything.”

“See, the last time that he sent us a message, he shot one of my security, and he carved up one of my best sellers. So if I send you back with a message, I don’t want to hurt you. That pretty little face of yours looks good the way it is.”