Page 47 of Primo DeLuca

“No, but I think I’m getting closer to narrowing down an answer. They used this warehouse to set up another DeLuca to take the fall, unaware that I know most of these guys better than they know themselves.”

I squeezed her tight against my body. Did she have any idea she was the only woman I’d ever had a desire to be this way with? All that had occurred in the past forty-eight hours had faded into the background because of her. When my heart made an attempt to escape my chest to get to her, I released her too quickly, failing to temper the emotional rush that had taken control. She flashed me a questioning glint but didn’t comment.

“Let’s get out of here. There’s a bit of brutal business being handled, so we’ll take the long way around.”

Her head shook in a slow, disagreeing gesture. “Let’s go the way we came. We are together now, so I need to see what I may not want to see. I need to know what I may not want to know. I need to experience what being with you is truly like in the good times, bad times, and times when business is being handled. I can’t be with you and be blind or weak. It will make me easy prey, and it will make you weaker for being worried about me.”

“Where have you been all my life?” I genuinely wanted to know.

Her shoulders lifted in a light shrug before I opened the door, and the sound of a dying man’s cries found our ears. The wet, fleshy thumps matched the bloody scene. They were going to be cleaning up blood splatter for a week and sweeping up a few of his parts with a broom.

Nevah clasped a hand around mine while we walked, a foreign action I was learning to settle into because of her. My track record with women had been so uninspiring that us walking hand in hand drew attention from an active murder scene, causing necks to swivel and curious eyes to track our movements.

A quick wave came our way from Brizio before he turned back, lifted a pipe, and slammed it down on what was left of the man.