Page 9 of Primo DeLuca

Chapter Five

Nevah

What…the…hell?

I knew of the mob through whispers and my friends pointing out members when we encountered them in public, but I had never been this up close and personal. The rumors alone were enough to make a grown man run and hide.

Now, here I was, pressed into the side of one who, based on the way the other men regarded him, was as dangerous as the Black Plague. He dismissed the men after several repeated attempts to warn him about taking precautions against the hit out on him.

Once the last man filed out and pulled the door closed behind him, a set of intrigued eyes fell on me. Like the fool I had apparently become in his presence, I allowed myself to get lost in his striking eyes that appeared gray at first glance. However, they were a beautiful mix of blue, light green, and a variation of grays that looked like a storm of colors was raging in his eyes.

The logical part of my brain kept warning me that he was the walking manifestation of danger, but I couldn’t help admiring this up-close view of him. He was…intoxicating, potent in a way that he drew me in with no real effort.

“What’s your name?” he asked. He still hadn’t released me from his hold.

His accent was pronounced, letting me know he wasn’t originally from the states.

“Nevah,” I stated, surprising myself by how calm I sounded despite my heart attempting to stomp a hole through my chest.

“Nevah, I’m Primo DeLuca, and whatever you’ve heard about the DeLuca family is probably true. When you opened that door and peeked into this room, you changed your whole life within seconds.”

“What? What do you mean, I changed my life? It was an honest mistake. I was searching for my friend.”

“As unintentional as the action was, it doesn’t matter. If I hadn’t claimed you as my woman when I did, do you have any idea what could have happened to you for walking in on a meeting like ours?”

I swallowed; sure he could read the thoughts shining through my wide, unblinking gaze. Raped, beaten, strangled, and thrown in the Mississippi River with the fish after a double tap to the back of my head.

He shook his head like he knew what I was thinking.

“We are savages and proud to wear the moniker, but we don’t hurt women like you may think. In your case, one of the guys would have found you a job within the organization. Or, one would have claimed you, and you would likely be married as soon as tomorrow.”

Speechless. I blinked, the only remaining indication that I wasn’t dreaming. He couldn’t have been serious.

“Based on what I’ve learned of our late Don’s assassination, there’s a killer among us. Since I haven’t found out yet who the family traitor is, I couldn’t let you end up in the hands of a monster worse than me, now could I?”

The way he worded the question. The way he so easily labeled himself a monster. I was sure I was already in the hands of the devil—a handsome one, but definitely a devil. And despite what he was saying, I didn’t believe for a minute any of the others were worse than him.

I pulled from a reserve pocket of strength hidden deep within my bones, enough to at least speak.

“I appreciate you stepping in and helping me, but what happens now? I have a life, work, friends who are probably out there searching for me. My mother’s in a nursing home. She’s my dependent. I can’t just say ‘bye-bye’ to my life. I have responsibilities.”

“For now, you’re stuck with me until I figure out a way to get you back to your life.”

“I can’t be stuck with you. They said you had a hit out on you, and you said it yourself that there’s strife within your family. You don’t trust anyone right now, especially family members. Wouldn’t I be safer on my own?”

“We have a lot of enemies out there, and with a traitorous killer loose within my own family, our relationship could already be spread halfway around the planet. If that’s the case, you’re already as big a target as me, if not bigger.”

He said, our relationship, like we were a real couple. And how on earth had I become a target in fifteen-minutes?

“There’s no guarantee that anyone knows about me. No one has seen me with you except the men inside this room. You’re obviously their boss, so why can’t you just let me go and pretend like this never happened?”

“It goes much deeper than you think. One of the men standing in this room tonight may be the traitor. The moment the men saw the way I was holding on to you, you automatically became one of two things: a target for attack to hurt or get to me, or you fell under their protection.”

He held up a finger to drive home another point. “The loyal ones will protect you because of me, and it’s not something we take lightly in this family. No matter where you go now, eyes will be on you, and if our eyes are on you, the eyes of our enemy, whether it’s a DeLuca or not, will be on you also. This situation is not something I can take back, and neither can you.”

My breathing sped up and this time it wasn’t because of this man’s attractiveness. Panic tightened the already tense set of my face and deepened my frown.

“Please. If you’re in charge, can’t you do something? I can’t give up my life because I mistakenly opened a door that should have been locked. It’s not fair, and the more we talk about this, the more I’m starting to think you’re feeding me a bunch of crap. For all I know, you could be one of those guys that traps women and turns them into your bottom bitch.”

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