I find her on the next street over, standing on the corner and leaning down to speak to some guy in a blue sedan. He’s mildly familiar.
Who the fuck is this? Some boyfriend?
Anger rushes over me, making my face heat up.
I walk closer slowly, so that I can hear them talk.
“I’m sorry,” she pleads. “You were right.”
“Of course I was right,” he snarks, but I can practically hear the smile in it. She’s fucking him. I just know it.
I’mnotjealous. I’m just pissed off. She disappeared three years ago and now she shows up, back in my orbit, with some asshole boyfriend and an attempt to send me to prison. I hate her, that’s all it is.
But there’s this itch at the back of my neck, a void where my heart used to be. I try to shake it off, try to stop myself, but it happens again. I don’t think, just act. It’s becoming a trend when it comes to Sophia.
I draw my gun from the back of my pants, barking out a “Hey!” and stalking closer.
It takes only seconds for Sophia’s boyfriend to pull his gun, and she just turns and looks at me, slack-jawed, big blue eyes shocked. After a moment with my gun pointed at her, she goes for her purse.
“Ah ah ah,” I lilt, not even sure what words are about to come out of my mouth. It’s like I’m not in control of myself, and I’m not sure I like it. “Don’t try it.”
“Luca,” she falters, her arms falling to her sides. I cut her off with a sharp shake of my head.
“Don’t move.” I glare at the man behind the wheel of the sedan who has one hand on the door handle and one on his gun, pointed at me, stock-still. There’s no shock on his face, only determination.
He’ll go to bat for her. Fight for her.
Interesting.
It only makes my blood run hotter.
“Put it down or I’ll shoot her.”
The man clenches his jaw, staring me down for a moment. He must see something in my face that tells him I mean business, because he slowly lowers his gun.
“Hands on the dash.”
Sophia takes in a sharp breath before she tries to run, but I grab her around the waist with one hand as she rushes by me. She screams, but it’s drowned out by the music still booming from the warehouse. There’s an after-party for the mobsters and fighters, of course, and I’m sure Nico will be there instead of home like I told him.
“Let her go!” the man shouts, and I bark out a laugh.
I pull Sophia tight against my chest, my forearm clamping around her soft belly. She struggles, but my grip is stronger than she is.
“Never,” I murmur, and I’m not even sure he hears me. It doesn’t matter anyway, because what am I saying?
I should kill her right here. Father would. Nico would.
But I don’t kill women. And this will give me time to interrogate her. What does she already know? I’m sure this isn’t the first place she’s gone undercover among the mob. I’m probably not the first mobster she seduced, either.
The idea of just being a job to her, a target, makes the void in my chest feel wider, but I ignore it.
“Diego!” I yell, knowing that he’ll be nearby. He sticks by me during events like this, keeps an eye on me. He’s not exactly my bodyguard, but he’ll do the job.
He always has my back.
Diego appears out of the shadows like he’d just been waiting for me to call him, and he probably has. He knows I like to handle things myself if I can. I’m not one of those wiseguys that never gets his hands dirty, despite my boss status.
He has his gun drawn, and he points it at Sophia’s boyfriend.
