“The damage is done, T. Nothing I say or do will change that. I’m not happy with you, but we have bigger things to worry about right now.”
And that’s what made Luca a good boss, and a good friend. He was direct, and he almost always kept a level head. “He has no proof that we have her. Even if he went to the rest of the capos or one of the other families, no one would help him without proof. Especially not against you.”
“I think it would be wise to be prepared. Just in case.”
I nodded. “Luca.”
His eyes met mine.
“You know you can trust me. Despite what happened here today, I would never put you or your family in danger.”
“I know. But sometimes a woman makes a man act in ways that aren’t his nature. So next time, before you pull a gun on me, take a moment to step back and think about what you’re doing.”
“Does that help?”
He gave a derisive laugh. “Hell, no. Women make us fuckingimpazzito.” Crazy. “Speaking of which, let me go reassure Veda I’m still alive. Why don’t you go into my office? Enzo and I will be there in a moment so we can discuss how to handle Gino with this.”
I watched him jog up the stairs before I turned and headed down the hallway to his office. I already knew how I was going to handle Gino, the first chance I got.
He would never hurt Luna, or me, again.
CHAPTER 6
Luna
Tristan didn’t come back for two days. He had Enzo bring my meals, all homemade and delicious. I was going to get fat eating all this food without getting any exercise, but I didn’t even care. Maybe if I made myself unattractive enough to him, he’d let me go.
Even the girl in the drawings seemed to smirk at me at that one.
At lunch on the second day, I asked Enzo offhandedly where the food was coming from.
“Tristan makes everything for you. He doesn’t trust anyone else.”
I was surprised. “Tristan? Really?” That meant he was here. He was just ignoring me. Maybe the novelty of having a real-life doll in a cage was already wearing off.
“He’s a very good cook,” Enzo told me as he collected my tray. He never cuffed me to the bars. And he always left the cell door open when he came in. But trying to escape never even crossed my mind, because I knew I’d never make it out of the room.
“I noticed,” I said distractedly. My mind wandered back to the meals that had appeared as if by magic in my room in Gino’s, and a warm feeling spread through my chest. It was Tristan who’d left them there for me. It had to be.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
“Why is he making you bring my meals to me?”
Tray in one hand, he locked the cell door and paused. “He’s working through some stuff. It’s best to just let him do it.”
“Well, thanks for not letting me starve.”
“You’re welcome, Luna.” Then he left, shutting the bedroom door.
Getting up off the floor, I started doing my twice daily walks around the cell, trailing my fingers along the bars as I went. One thing I did appreciate about these guys, they were always straightforward with me. At least, as much as they could be. There was no sneakiness or beating around the bush. Unlike Gino, who always seemed to be hiding something from me.
Because apparently, hewas.
As I'd been doing ever since Tristan dropped the news on me of who Gino really was, I pushed the thought out of my head. I wasn't ready to dive too deep into the reason he felt he needed to bring me here. Because when I did, I was so filled with disgust I wanted to sanitize myself with bleach, inside and out. It wasn't a good head space to be in, so I stayed out of it. For now.
When I got tired of walking, I texted my brother on the cell phone Tristan had given me. I could call him, but I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to fool him into thinking I was happy, and I didn’t feel like fending off his questions. Luckily, we chatted likethis a lot, so he didn’t think anything of it. He texted back right away. He was on a date.
My eyebrows rose, my own situation temporarily forgotten.
