Page 4 of Primo DeLuca

“I don’t need or want a girlfriend, woman, or wife. I have too much going on in my life right now. Besides, Emmanuelle treated me like his brother, and I have too much respect for him to be anything other than respectful towards you.”

“It’s been two years. He would have wanted me to be happy. And I’d just be there if you needed me. A relationship of convenience type of situation.”

Her mouth said one thing, but her eyes begged for the opposite. If she hadn’t been a woman or a DeLuca, my fuck you attitude would have been expressed with more gusto.

However savage we were, we pride ourselves on maintaining a certain level of respect for women. In my case, I did my best to show that sparks of kindness still resided within me even though I wasn’t raised right.

I lifted my hand and released three quick snaps in front of her face to stop her lust induced gaze from roaming my body.

“Leandra. Focus. Is there anything else?”

I knew I looked good. My ego wouldn’t accept any other description of myself. However, Leandra was doing way too much for my attention. Even if I were interested in her, the desperation she displayed where it concerned me was a turnoff.

She nodded dejectedly. “I overheard some chatter while I was getting my hair done a few days ago. It sounded like members of the Soldanos family were eager for a power play, specifically for the plot of territory down in Glasgow Village at the Mississippi River since it was once theirs. You want me to befriend one of the men, see if I can get more information?”

“No. I’ll look into it. We need to find out who came after you and why before we send you on a covert operation.”

“I’ve done some spy work for Emmanuelle before,” she informed with pride.

“And I respect that you would put yourself on the line for this family, but for now, keep your ears open and yourself out of the way of danger.”

I believed she got off on the danger, but the last thing I wanted was for her to end up on the wrong side of death on my watch and by my orders.

“Thank you,” I cut off whatever she was about to say before turning and walking away.

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