Page 33 of Luca

Carlo laughs. “Why? You think you’re going to be a ballerina or some shit?”

I chuckle at his stupid joke, pretending like I think it’s a dumb idea, but we should just go along with it, all the while imagining my fist flying toward his face. “Can’t hurt anything. Keeps her occupied and out of trouble.” I shoot him a look that says that’s what he wanted in the first place.

“Yeah, alright.” Carlo turns to Giada. “Find something, but Luca goes with you and stays the whole time.”

She gives him a sarcastic salute, but thankfully, before he can lay into her for her disrespect, his phone rings.

“Yeah,” he barks and leaves the kitchen.

“Well, that’s settled,” I say, turning back to Giada, who is glaring daggers at my face. “What?”

“I just love being talked about like I’m not in the room. Thank you so much for getting permission from my asshole brother for me to do something that should be my decision and none of his concern. Really, I’m glad you two are okay with me staying ‘occupied.’”

She stands from her chair, nearly knocking it over.

“Giada,” I call, but the only sound is her stomping up the stairs. What can I really say though? I have to play the part of asshole bodyguard in front of Carlo. He needs to see me as the careless prick because that’s exactly what he is. Nothing about last night changes the real reason I’m here. But I can’t explain that to her. I’m having a hard enough time keeping up pretenses as it is. She may hate her brother and hate how her father treats her, but she’s still a Cataldi, and blood will always be thicker than water.

Chapter ten

Giada

The last two months have both flown by and seemed to drag at a snail’s pace. My father refuses to see me while his trial is well underway. I showed up the first day and was told by his attorney during a recess that he didn’t wish for me to be there. He didn’t explain why, so I lifted my chin and walked out. This type of treatment from him is harsher than I’ve ever dealt with before but not so out of character that I’m surprised. Hurt? Yes, but not shocked. This is Mafia business, after all. And the last thing any woman in this life is allowed to do is involve herself.

Utter bullshit.

Carlo has become more and more unstable since my father’s been away. He thought it was going to be a smooth transition, him coming into power. It’s been anything but. What I told Luca the day after my father was arrested still rings true. I’m a fly on the wall that no one pays attention to, and I see everything that happens in this house. Carlo has tried to set up meetings at the house, and it hasn’t gone well. He’s flat-out ignored or treated like an insolent child. Join the club, brother. His mood has been volatile, to say the least, and the men he has coming to the house give me the same creepy feeling as Alberto did when he’d come to talk to my father and Carlo. Their leering gazes send chilly tingles up my spine every time we’re in the same room. Thankfully, Luca stays close when they’re around. The way my brother’s associates, Roberto and Pauly, stare at me seems to have his instincts kicking into high gear as well.

“Are you ready to go?” Luca asks as I’m filling up my water bottle in the kitchen.

Even though the way Luca and Carlo irritated the hell out of me when they discussed my decision to take dance classes again, I didn’t let it stop me from doing so. Though I’ll admit, it’s a hell of a lot harder than I anticipated. I guess the old saying if you don’t use it, you lose it has some merit to it. I found a studio not too far from the house, and three times a week, Luca drives me to classes. I was only allowed to take ballet when I was younger, but since I don’t have anyone looking over my shoulder, I’ve decided to go with something a little more contemporary and modern.

“Yeah,” I tell him and follow him to the garage, where he opens the car door for me.

We haven’t been the same since the day in the kitchen when he and my brother discussed me like I wasn’t sitting there, not that Luca and I were ever on the best of terms. The day after my father was arrested and Luca took me to that bar was the anomaly, not the distance that has always been between us. But there have been a handful of times over the last couple months when I’ve had a particularly bad day that I feel Luca holding himself back from…what, I’m not sure. It’s almost as though he senses the doom I feel in my heart and wants to say something to alleviate the frustration and anger I carry. But he never does. He keeps the respectable distance that a guard in his position is expected to. I don’t know whether or not to be happy about it, and that pisses me off to no end.

I feel like a complete fool for thinking one drunken night of me sharing things about myself, things I hadn’t shared with anyone else, would change anything between Luca and I. Honestly, I’m not even sure I wanted them to. Carlo thinks he’ll be controlling every aspect of my life like our father did before he went to jail—and probably prison in a few days if the reports coming in about how his trial is going are any indication. Though he still refuses to see me, it doesn’t mean I’m going to give up, and it certainly doesn’t mean I’m not going to try everything I can to get out of this life. My father is likely going to be convicted and no one wants anything to do with Carlo. The Cataldi organization is crumbling, and I want out. Out of this house and out of this life. I want to move to Italy with a family that cares about me. I want to have a life away from any and all people in this life, and that’ll include Luca. As soon as I know where my father will be residing after the trial, I’ll be paying him a visit and he’d better see me. It’s a long shot, I know, but maybe, just maybe, he’ll give me permission to leave.

The hope that he’ll go to prison has been weighing heavily on me. That’s not what a daughter should pray for at night. But I do. I want an escape, and if my father is convicted, I’ll at least have a shot. No one from a powerful family is going to want to marry the daughter of Francesco Cataldi. It wouldn’t be advantageous for them, and in this world, that’s what marriages are for. There’s no reason to think my marriage contract will be worth what it once was. My only hope is that my father will see it that way. Even if Carlo doesn’t agree, I doubt he’ll have the guts to argue with our father, hopefully.

“I want you to be careful around the guys your brother’s been bringing around,” Luca says, jarring me out of my thoughts.

“You warning me away from other criminals is almost laughable, Luca.”

It’s not like he’s some upstanding citizen.

“There’re criminals, then there’re men like your brother has working for him,” he retorts.

A caustic laugh escapes me. “You work for my brother.”

“You know what I mean, Giada. There’s something off about those two. I don’t like the way they look at you when your brother isn’t around. Hell, when Carlo is around, they don’t seem to care much about being caught ogling you either.” If Luca wasn’t wearing sunglasses, there’s no doubt I’d catch a dramatic eye roll.

“I can take care of myself. You seem to forget I’ve grown up in this life.”

“The problem with that theory is you have no sense of self-preservation when it comes to dangerous men.”

I almost feel as though he’s referring to the conversation we had when I was drunk. From what I remember, I told him a few things I probably should’ve kept to myself. Nothing bad per se, but if he tells my brother that I know more than I let on or that I’m pissed he’s trying to claim dominion over my life now that our father’s in jail, Carlo will be none too happy. Not that Carlo isn’t well aware of how I feel in regard to him trying to take over every aspect of our family. But it’s an entirely different story if I go to his employees and start complaining. He expects a show of family loyalty, even if it’s fake as hell.

“I’ve survived this long, Luca. Even without you warning me about the people my family associates with.” It’s not as though I’ve never been leered at before by a few criminals. And my brother or father never gave a shit either way.

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