He’s a dead man.
Luciano is waitingfor me when I walk in, a news channel playing quietly in the background. Stacks of money sit in an open duffel bag on one of the armchairs. As soon as I enter the enormous room that overlooks the city, he smiles. He knewexactlywhat the hell he was doing down there, and he knew I would show up.
“You’re dead,” I say darkly as I storm toward him.
He rises and advances on me, too, and at the same time, we swing at each other, the sound of knuckles hitting flesh filling the room.
Punch after punch, we fight. No words, just grunts and groans as we beat the shit out of each other.
The longer we go, the more tired we get until we’re stumbling and blood is dripping from both our faces. Our shoulders rise and fall as we breathe heavily, staring at each other while we decide whether or not we’re done.
“She deserves better than you,” Luciano finally says as he wipes his bleeding lip with the back of his hand.
“Yeah, she deserves better than you, too, asshole. Where the fuck have you been? Why doesn’t she have protection?”
The corners of Luciano’s lips twitch slightly. “You think I didn’t send protection with her? She fired all of them within twenty-four hours and told me if I sent anyone else, she would never speak to me again. Have you ever tried to tell that brat what to do? She doesn’t fucking listen.”
No shit.
I’d bet my entire fortune that if I put her over my knee on a regular basis, she’d learn to be my good girl and listen.
“So you’re going to let her make the rules?” I demand with a scowl. “Let her decide her own safety?”
Yeah, I don’t fucking like this guy.
“Lacey is the only family I have left, and I nearly lost her too,” Luciano shares quietly, his eyes haunted.
And swollen. Fuck, that was a good hit. He’s not so pretty anymore.
“Security guards follow her anytime she leaves her house, which she doesn’t know about. They’ve been instructed to stay completely invisible and not interrupt her life in any way unless she’s in true danger,” Luciano adds. “She’ll hate me if she finds out.”
Maybe I should tell her, then.
Though I dislike him a tiny bit less now.
“What the fuck do you want from me, Ricci?” I finally demand.
He looks me dead in the eye. “I want you to stay away from Lacey. Take your money. I don’t want it. But stay away from my cousin.”
Anger I’ve never felt before burns through me like a white-hot flame. The barrel of my gun presses against my lower back. It would only take a second to shoot this asshole and be done with him.
It would upset Ace, though. And I can’t do that to her. I won’t.
Staring him down, I lift my chin. “Keep the fucking money. I don’t need it. I’ll stay away from Ace whenshetells me to stay away. Now, get the fuck out of my city before you don’t make it back to Seattle alive.”
CHAPTER 25
Ace
Jordyn: Hey, girl. I hope you’re feeling better. Take today off. The team can practice without you. I’ve already let them know. Do you need anything? I added Quinn to this chat so we can all talk here.
Quinn: Kian told Xander you had a terrible migraine. That sounds horrible. We can bring you soup.
Grinningdown at my phone like a fool, I type out a response. I can’t remember the last time I had a friend check on me. When I was the prima ballerina at the dance studio in Seattle, I was too busy practicing to do anything outside of work. Forming friendships is impossible when you don’t even have time to text anyone back or meet for lunch once in a while. It’s nice to talk to other women.
Ace: I’m feeling better. Thank you for checking in. I’m definitely well enough to come to work today.
Jordyn: Well then, enjoy a surprise paid day off because you’re off today. Maybe you should do something fun today. Like go ride Kian’s dick or something.
