It just keeps getting better.
The twins looked at each other. Neither brother wanted the other chosen.
Angel stepped forward. “I’ll stay.”
Matthias moved to stand beside Dominic. “No, I will.”
Both of them were trying to protect the other. Lucca guessed it wasn’t the first time.
He studied the men. Opening his mouth, a name was coming to his lips, when Vinny spoke before he could.
“Angel.”
Lucca took out one of his cigarettes from his pack. It was a no-brainer for Vinny to choose Angel. None of the Lucianos would ever be considered classy, but the twins looked like thugs. The number of tattoos and overblown muscles were more suited to the riffraff found in the dark alleyways of the old city of their heritage. The identical twins were mirror images. From what Lucca knew, everyone in the Lucianos joked that the only way to tell them apart was to stare at the images of their tattoos. The twins shared the same exact tattoos, even going so far as placing them in the same exact part of their bodies. The difference was, Angel’s tattoos were the mirror image of Matthias’. Lucca understood what Vinny didn’t. Angel was the twisted image of Matthias.
Lucca debated challenging Vinny’s choice. Instead, he decided to keep quiet. He wasn’t fooled by the attempts of the Lucianos to save their lives. They reminded him of a rabid dog that was just waiting for the right time to attack, ripping off the hand that fed them.
Dominic shook his head. “Matthias would be the better choice. I wouldn’t do anything that would jeopardize either of my brothers’ lives.”
That Lucca believed.
Vinny raised his hand, stopping Dominic. “Angel is the younger one. The Lucianos have taken a protective attitude toward him.”
Lucca lit his cigarette to keep from laughing.
Angel was lazy. He let everyone do his dirty work for him. Matthias would break bones if the gang bangers and drug dealers didn’t pay for their protection. If breaking bones didn’t work, that was when Angel would be sent in. When he was finished, the protection was paid for with interest.
Lucca had a better chance of controlling Angel than his own family did. He didn’t want Angel to do anything to break the fragile peace that was being given to them.
Lucca remained silent, feeling a flash of respect for Dominic. The new boss of the Lucianos wanted a true peace for the first time in decades.
Lucca met Dominic’s gaze. “I supervise the men. I’ll find the perfect place for him.”
Everyone in the room could see them size each other up as Lucca silently told him he wasn’t fooled by Angel.
It was a strange thing but, for once, Lucca actually wanted peace between the two families. After his mother had been killed, he hadn’t given two shits if they were in a war. He had begged for it to exact revenge. Chloe had changed that, however. He wanted peace to keep her safe.
It had taken years to fully understand the enormous responsibility his father held.
Dominic turned back to Vinny. “So, we good?”
“Dante?”
His father’s expression was torn.
Lucca looked down at the glowing tip of his cigarette. He wanted peace for Chloe’s sake, but it was Dante’s wife they had killed.
“Dante,” Vinny repeated sadly. “Whatever you do will not bring Melissa back. If the Lucianos redeem themselves, then what have you lost? You already lost what was most important to you. A child born with Caruso and Luciano blood could accomplish what generations have tried to do—bring true peace.”
Dante held out his hand to Dominic then, and the younger man took his hand in his firmly, agreeing to the terms.
A threat came to Dante’s eyes and voice when he warned, “Don’t you fucking disappoint me.”
Lucca inhaled deeply, letting the end of his cigarette burn bright red. He remembered an old Italian proverb Dante had drilled into his head when he was younger. Come semini, cosi raccogli.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
Forty-Five
Not Even in Death
Chloe had stayed at the house with Lucca for a week, not leaving, giving herself time to heal and for Lucca to make sure all threats were gone.
It was weird to think of the future, something she had pushed out of her mind for the past week, unsure of where exactly she belonged anymore.
Ever since her scars, she had no longer felt she belonged in this city because it had betrayed her, but she no longer felt she could belong anywhere without Lucca, and Lucca did belong in Kansas City.
She once thought she always belonged beside her best friend Elle, but it had been unrealistic for her to think it would last past college. Now, Elle had found her place in the city beside Nero.
The future was a scary, dark thing, especially when she felt the bond between her and Lucca so strongly and so soon. It scared the shit out of her, to be honest.