Page 37 of Luca

“Father isn’t in charge,” Carlo snaps. “I am. The Petrovs have been gracious enough to help me with a couple things recently and my organization will benefit greatly from their continued support on one condition.”

“Let me guess. If I marry one of them.”

“Nikolai isn’t so bad. Could have been worse. Could have been his father.”

“I can’t believe you would sell me to our enemy. This is low, Carlo, even for you.” There’s no mistaking the absolute disgust in my voice when I spit those words at him.

“I don’t give a shit what you believe or how much you whine to me about how unfair your life is. It’s not your decision to make, nor was it ever going to be. Our family needs this, Giada.”

“Now it’s our family? Just a second ago, it was yours.”

Carlo is silent for a few moments, and I can clearly imagine the vein above his right temple pulsing with anger.

“You will be ready in two hours, and you will get into that car, Giada. If you don’t, I’ll come back to Boston to make sure you end up as a face on a milk carton. Am I clear?”

Hot, angry tears pool in my eyes, but I refuse to give Carlo any sign that I’m about three seconds from breaking down. “Crystal.”

“Good. See you in a few hours.” He disconnects the call, and I stare at the blank screen for several long moments.

“Where’s Luca?” I ask Nina, throwing my phone on my unmade bed.

“Luca?” Nina’s brows draw together in confusion. “In his room, I think.”

Throwing the door open, I run down the stairs, leaving Nina in my room. The only time I’ve heard the name Petrov muttered is when my father would be yelling something or other about the “fucking Russian Bratva.”

When I reach Luca’s door, I rapidly knock, whispering to myself, “Please be here. Please be here.”

The door bursts open, and Luca is standing there shirtless in gym shorts. “Giada, what’s wrong?”

The defined cut of his chest barely registers before I push him inside the room and slam the door shut.

“Tell me what you know about the Petrovs.” I cross my arms over my chest and wait for him to say what I already know.

When his eyes widen at the name I just gave him, it confirms I was right about my assumptions.

“Giada, how do you know that name? Why are you asking?”

My heart is racing, and my breaths come out in quick pants, partly from running from my room to his faster than I think I’ve ever run in my life, but mostly from the very real and very desperate fear of what’s happening.

“Tell me what you know,” I demand.

Luca nods. “Okay…the Petrovs run the Bratva in New York. They aren’t particularly active in Massachusetts, but I’ve heard rumblings that they’re trying to find a foothold in Boston.” His voice trails off when his gaze slams into me. “Why do you need to know, Giada?” He asks the question as though he already knows the answer.

“Nina got word that I need to be ready to leave in two hours. That Nikolai Petrov was sending someone to collect me.” Tears pool in my eyes, and I see a thousand thoughts flick through Luca’s with the information.

I sit on his bed, shoulders slumped as the first tear falls. Luca is still standing in the middle of the room, speechless. I might think he was uncaring about the situation I’ve found myself in, except for the harsh tic in his jaw as he stares at the wall behind me.

“No.” His eyes find mine again. “No.”

The finality of the word only makes the tears come faster.

“There’s nothing I can do, Luca. My father has given Carlo free rein.” I look around the small room, regretting coming in here, regretting that I’m once again putting him in a precarious and dangerous position by running to him with my problems. What can he do to help me? He’s as much a prisoner of the whims of Carlo as I am.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have involved you.” I stand and try to walk past him, but Luca steps in front of me before I make it to the door, his strong hands grasping my silk-covered shoulders.

“Do you trust me?”

His eyes implore me to answer yes. To let him help me, and God, I’m so desperate right now not to be shipped to New York that I answer him honestly and pray he has a way to get me out of this. “Yes.”

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