Page 29 of The Sicilian Bastard
"Allora forse dovresti amare di più sua, fratello o lo farò io," Agosto spat back.
Agosto smirked and shot a wink at me before he sauntered out of the room. The air in the room heated as Luciano focused his ire on me.
"What was so important you needed to bother myfratello?"
I shrugged and showed him the notepad. It only held my side of the conversation, but at least he'd understand it wasn't some kind of flirtation on my part. I couldn't save Agosto's hide. Not even if I wanted to. I had to put myself first in this situation.
Luciano grunted after reading what I had written.
"I could help you stop being so bored,mia fiore," he rasped in my ear.
A shiver traveled up my spine. I wondered how Luciano was able to go from angry to seductive in a blink of an eye.
Where have you been?I wrote and shoved the pad in his hand. Anything to keep his dick in his pants and away from me. I was sore all over.
"Business," he evaded.
I shook my head and motioned to the notepad.You can't keep me here out of the loop and expect me to be meek and docile. You want me to stop fighting? You tell me what I need to know when I ask for it.
Luciano raised a curved eyebrow at me. I straightened my shoulders, even though it caused a little strain in my neck, which affected my jaw. I wouldn't back down. I didn't know what kind of woman Luciano thought I was, but the one who just went along with whatever was not me. I wanted answers and I wanted to know them right now.
"I went to do a routine pickup that ended in a way I wasn't expecting." He shrugged like death wasn't a big deal. I guess to him, it wasn't.
What happened?
Luciano sighed. "Before I caught my guy, a black sedan came down the street and let loose shots on all of us. I thought it could be the Russians, but I'm also thinking there could be new players in town. The man hanging out of the car window had a crown on his hand with an X cut through it. He was also tan. The Bratva is known for their bigotry so color me surprised to see someone like that working for them. That's why I thought there could be someone else."
His voice faded away as he spewed the information I all but begged for.
"Querida por favor," a faceless man called out to me.
I was wearing my yellow sundress with the bears on them.
"Sit right here on my lap while we wait for tu madre, bueno?"
I nodded my head yes and climbed into the lap of the stranger. He loved me so much, I knew. He stroked my hair as he spoke in hushed tones to the men sitting at the table. It was round and there were carve marks where the place setting should be in front of me. I ran my young fingers through those marks as the voices rose. Someone slammed a first down on the table, making me jump and look up. My eyes were wide open in surprise as a guard held the man down, his hand stretched out towards me. He struggled to get out of the hold, but it wasn't happening. The guard had him there and he couldn't move. The other men kept speaking like nothing was out of the ordinary. I held myself a little straighter. I wanted approval from the man whose lap I was sitting on. I stretched my hand towards his. My reach was shorter than his. His long arms weren't even close to touching me. Blood was sliding towards my fingers, and I watched it, fascinated.
"Close your eyes, bambina," the man behind me whispered in my ear.
I tried, but the wetness on my fingers made me open them again, just in time to see a guard carve the skin off the man's hand that stretched across the table towards me. I watched as the knife bit into the flesh and peeled away slowly.
When he finished, he flung the offensive piece towards me. A five-pointed crown tattooed right in the center.
