The day of our meeting with my father arrived.
I wasn’t ready.
Enzo knocked on the bathroom door. “Sera? Are you alright?”
“No,” I called. I was terrified. “Not really. But I’ll be out in a minute.”
“I’ll be downstairs with Luca. Come to his office when you come down. We need to leave in twenty minutes. And Sera?”
I turned to face the door. “Yeah?”
It was so quiet that at first, I thought he’d changed his mind about whatever he was going to say. And then, in a low voice he said, “It will be okay, baby girl.”
I listened to his footsteps as he crossed the room, and then I heard the bedroom door softly close. When he was gone, I lowered myself onto the side of the tub and dropped my head into my hands.
This was so damn crazy. Enzo hadn’t told me what happened in Luca’s office after I’d left, and I’d been too afraid to ask. But…but they had to have a plan to free me from my father. Right? Why else would he tell me it was going to be okay?
Right?
But as my mind raced over the possibilities, the small glimmer of hope that sparked inside of my chest was distinguished before it could catch flame. There was no way my father was going to agree to let me go. No matter what Luca threatened him with.
But what if he did? a small voice inside of me asked.
My heart skipped a beat at the thought of being free. What would I do? Would I leave? Or would I stay here with Enzo? Would he make me stay? I didn’t know if I was ready for that either. But I had to admit, it was way better than the alternative. At least this way, I felt like I was given somewhat of a choice. I mean, I agreed to basically be his mistress for an undetermined amount of time of my own free will. And if I had to be under a man’s protection, I’d much rather be with a man I already knew—quite intimately, I might add—than have to marry someone my father chose for me. A man who could be old enough to be my grandfather. A man who might beat me and loan me out to his friends. Or worse.
Taking a deep breath in a useless effort to calm my nerves, I stood and walked over to the sink to splash some cold water on my face and pat it dry with a small hand towel. Then I looked at myself in the mirror. I was pale, and there were dark circles under my eyes from not sleeping last night. Pulling out my makeup bag, I did what I could to make myself presentable.
In deference to my father and hopefully to help me gain favor in his eyes, I wore the dress Enzo had bought me that first night I showed up at his door. Luckily, the rain hadn’t ruined it. I smoothed down the creamy lace, even though there wasn’t a wrinkle to be seen, and checked my hair one last time. I’d pulled it back into a neat twist on the back of my head, leaving a few wavy strands to frame my face.
My father would hate the color, but there wasn’t much I could do about it now. I’d thought about changing it back, but I liked it this way. And so did Enzo.
Bracing myself, I left the sanctuary of the bathroom, got my coat from the closet, and made my way downstairs, carrying my shoes. I’d put them on right before we left and save my feet from having to walk in heels any longer than I absolutely had to.
I found Enzo in the hallway outside of Luca’s office. He had his back to me, and his cell phone was at his ear. He didn’t hear me walk up, so I stopped and waited for him to get done with his conversation. His posture was stiff, and his fist was clenched at his side.
“Yes,” I heard him say in a carefully controlled tone. “I understand.”
A few seconds later, he ended the call. But instead of sliding his phone into his jacket pocket and going back into Luca’s office, he stood there in the hall with his arms hanging at his sides. I could see the tension in his back and the way he gripped his phone like he was fighting the urge to smash it against the wall. “Enzo? Is everything okay?”
At the sound of my voice, he whipped around to face me. “Hey,” he said. Then he looked down at the floor for a moment. When he raised his head again, he was once again cool and calm. “I apologize for my rudeness. I didn’t realize you were waiting there.”
I searched his face for some hint of what had just happened, but he had his sunglasses on, and I couldn’t read him. “No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I just didn’t want to interrupt.”
He gave me a tight smile. “It’s fine.” Opening his black jacket, he slipped his cell phone into the inner pocket. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you.” I tried to smile, and failed. “I’m scared shitless.”
If I was hoping for him to give me a hug and tell me again that everything was going to be all right, I was horribly mistaken. Instead, he kept his distance. And I felt the first tingle of unease slither down my spine. “There’s no need to be,” he told me.
Something in his tone made my blood run cold. “Enzo? What’s going on?”
He did come to me then. Taking me in his arms—coat, shoes, and all—he held me tight for a moment before he dropped a kiss on the top of my head. “Nothing is going on,” he said. “We need to get going. Let me see if Luca is ready.”
He left me standing alone in the hall, but didn’t close the door behind him, so I was able to hear what was being said when he walked in. Like me, Luca knew right away that something was wrong. Enzo mumbled a response that I couldn’t make out, but it seemed to placate Luca, for he didn’t ask him anything else. The three men filed out of Luca’s office and joined me in the hall. Tristan gave me a respectful nod and left to pull the SUV around to the front of the house. I shivered as he passed close to me.
“Hello, Sera,” Luca said. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you,” I told him, but the words came automatically. I was way too worried and distracted to comprehend his compliment.
“Are you both ready?”
Enzo glanced at me. “We’re ready. Let’s go.” Placing his hand on the small of my back, he escorted me to the front door, stopping only long enough for me to slip on my heels and my black coat before we went outside.
The ride to our meeting with Ciro was quiet, the tension inside of the vehicle so thick I was having a hard time breathing. Or maybe that was just me, panicking. Enzo and I shared the backseat, but every time I glanced his way, he was staring out the window. I told myself he was only being vigilant, as he always was, scanning the area around us for any signs of danger to him or his boss. But somehow, this time, I felt it was more than that, which only worried me more. Reaching across the leather seat, I took his hand and held on tight. He squeezed my fingers without looking at me, and wouldn’t let me go when I tried to take my hand back.
It seemed to take forever, and yet no time at all, to get to Luca’s club where the meeting was to be held in a private room upstairs. When we walked in, I saw girls earning their tips onstage in various stages of undress. None of the customers watching them paid any attention to us at all, their eyes riveted to the bare breasts and shaking asses that, if they tipped enough, they might actually get to take into a back room where they could get a much more up close and personal experience. At least, that’s what Jade told me one time when we were chatting around the kitchen table, and I told her I’d never been to a strip bar.
As I looked around, I recognized three…no, four…of the faces crowding around the stage. Taking Enzo’s hand, I tugged on it to get his attention. “My father has four men planted in the club that I can see.”
He scanned the room. “Where?”
I gave him their description and told him their location. When we got to the elevator, he relayed the information to Luca.
“So your father isn’t a complete idiot,” he responded. “Thank you, Sera.”
“They’ll report to him how many of you there are.” I knew he would know this, but I couldn’t help but worry that we were walking into a trap.
But Luca smiled at me. “This is my club. It’s smart of your father to have men here ready to go. However, as I said, this is my club. And I was prepared for this. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Easier said than done, but I would have to take his word for it.
The elevator doors opened to a large room easily half the size of the entire downstairs. Two chairs sat on either side of the entrance, empty of the guards who would normally sit there, and at the far end was a long wooden table that would easily sit twelve people with comfortable black leather chairs. Other than that, the room was empty.
Music pulsed through the floor as Luca led the way to the table and sat at one end, but wasn’t so loud that you wouldn’t be able to talk. Tristan took a place behind him and slightly to his right, placing himself between Luca and the elevator doors, while Enzo held out a chair for me on his left. Once I was seated, he sat on my other side. No sooner had we all sat down than the elevator doors opened and two of Luca’s guards took up their positions on either side of them.
And then we waited.
Five minutes after the meeting was supposed to start, my father walked in. And he wasn’t alone. Five of his closest men were with him. One more than what I knew was the agreed upon number. Luca had four men. My father should also have four men.
It was a matter of honor and a complete show of disrespect to the underboss. Tristan leaned down to Luca’s ear, and I heard him ask, “What do you want to do?”
“Let it go,” he responded. “For now. We’ll see what he does.”
With a nod, Tristan straightened to his full height and resumed his place, his dark eyes cold and hard as they assessed my father.
“Fina!”
My heart skipped the moment I heard that hated nickname.
“I’ve been so worried about you!”
His fake display of concern would’ve been funny if not for the circumstances. I watched as my father’s hefty weight waddled across the space between us, but I made no move to get up to greet him, even if Enzo hadn’t placed his hand over my arm in a show of keeping me in my seat.
When he reached the table, Luca stood up. “Ciro, it’s good to finally meet you face to face. Please, have a seat.” Though his tone was polite, there was a thin thread of anger made obvious in the clipped sound of the words and the lack of a handshake.
My father, who a lot of things but stupid wasn’t one of them, sized up the situation and then dipped his head in apology. “Luca. You’ll forgive me for my precautions and my late arrival, please. I was held up by traffic getting here.” It wasn’t a question. It was an order. My idiot father was giving an order to the underboss of the Italian mafia.
Surely, he had a death wish.
Luca’s gaze never wavered as the temperature in the room seemed to drop thirty degrees. “And you’ll forgive me for calling this meeting short, since it’s quite obvious you don’t know how to adhere to an agreement, verbal or otherwise, so I see no reason why I should waste my time with you any longer.” Taking his cell phone out of his pocket, he never took his eyes off of my father as he tapped the screen and brought it to his ear. “Please send someone up to escort Ciro and his men out of the building. And while you’re at it, remove the rest of his men from the club, by force if necessary, and tell the girls to keep the tips.”
My father held up his hands. “Whoa, whoa. Wait. Please,” he added.
Luca raised one eyebrow in question.
Visibly sucking up his pride, my father inclined his head. “Please accept my sincere apology, Luca, for this show of disrespect. I was playing on the side of caution, as this is my daughter’s life on the line. Surely, you cannot blame me for that.” When Luca only continued to stare at him, Ciro snapped his fingers at his nearest guard. “You. Wait for us downstairs in the car.” The man nodded and did as my father asked.
As I said, my father wasn’t a stupid man. Pompous, violent, and self-serving? Absolutely. But stupid? No.
When he was in the elevator, Luca said into the phone, “Disregard my last order. There is one man coming down. Please ensure he and the others in the club wait outside.” He paused. “Thank you.” Ending the call, he indicated a chair across from Enzo and I. “Please, Ciro. Sit. And let’s start again.”
When my father and his remaining men were in their chairs, Luca resumed his own seat. “Would you like something to drink? I can have it brought up from the bar.”
“No, thank you,” my father said. His deep-set eyes swung my way. “Fina, are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” I told him. Enzo’s hand tightened on my arm.
Not missing the possessive hold Enzo had on me, my father’s hazel eyes grew cold. “I’m glad you haven’t been…harmed.”
Although the words were spoken like a concerned father, I heard the undertone of truth. My stomach twisted, and I averted my eyes to look more closely at his men. My blood froze when I met the eyes of the man sitting to his right. He wasn’t one of my father’s soldiers. He was his doctor. The same doctor who’d been periodically examining me for years to ensure my father that my virginity remained intact.
Why did he bring him here?
“Your daughter has not been harmed while under my care. You have my word. She was treated only as a respected guest.”
Ciro leaned back in his chair and laced his fingers together over his stomach as he once again made it a point to notice Enzo’s hand on my arm. “I do wonder, Luca, why it took you so long to set up this meeting when—from what your father, Luigi, told me—Fina was found and brought to your home nearly a week ago.”
His tone was underlaid with a challenge, but Luca only said, “I was tied up for a few days with business matters. I’m sure you understand.” Luca’s blue eyes glinted with a challenge of their own.
An undercurrent of tension came over the table, until my father smiled and said, “Of course. These things happen. I’m grateful to Luigi for letting me know my Fina was alive and well until we could arrange this meeting, and if there is anything I can do to show my gratitude, you only need ask.”
My nerves were on edge as they finished up with the formalities and I waited to see what kind of deal Luca would offer my father for my freedom. Would he threaten his business if he didn’t let me go? His life? I looked at the man who had raised me for most of my life and felt nothing. Well, almost nothing. He was still my flesh and blood, and I truly hoped his wouldn’t be spilled here today.
I was pulled violently from my thoughts when Luca spoke. “I would like your loyalty, Ciro.”
My father unlaced his fingers and spread his hands apart. “And you have it. Your father has been a friend of mine for many years.”
That was something I hadn’t known. Luca glanced at me, and I could only return his look of surprise.
“Not my father,” Luca told him. “To me.”
The room went completely silent as the true meaning of what Luca was saying became clear. But just in case there was any confusion, Luca clarified, “My father is no longer fit to hold the position he does within the family. I will be taking over that position as soon as I have the full support of the family. Not only here in Austin, but in the surrounding areas. Do I have that support from you, Ciro?”
The blood drained from my face as I finally understood what was happening. Luca was going to give me back to my father. And in return, he wanted my father’s sworn loyalty to him and only him.
