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While it was too much for the little she’d done, it also wouldn’t get her very far. She turned back toward the only house she knew, still trying to figure out what else she could do.
Chapter 9
Luka slipped onto the Di Salvo estate. Each time he did, he picked a different way in. He no longer met with Giovanni in his bedroom. Now that the other man was married, it was too embarrassing. The sounds Giovanni made when he was with his wife had caused a physical reaction Luka had thought he was immune to. In all the years that had passed since they met, Giovanni had also seemed to not have a sex drive, but apparently that wasn’t true.
Nera Di Salvo was different from most of the women Luka had met. She loved Giovanni a lot. Enough to kill for him.
Luka’s sisters had never killed. Well, that wasn’t quite true. Not for Willow, though he didn’t like to count that. He tried his best to forget it all together.
It bothered Luka that he’d been unable to help Giovanni with his father. He’d promised he would, time and again, but then it had all been over, and he’d been nowhere near at the time.
That someone like Giovanni was now a Mafia boss made Luka question whether he understood the life he’d been drawn into at all. Not that Giovanni had a problem with the violence of it. He’d just so often appeared unaffected by anything. When Luka had cut into him during his assassination attempt so many years before, Giovanni had almost seemed to accept it at first.
Then something had come over him. Luka had his own scars from the encounter. They’d each come close to killing the other.
The incident had led to what Giovanni called a friendship, but it still seemed unreal to Luka. He didn’t have friends. Now that Willow was gone, there was nothing to hold him to life. One purpose remained, the one he’d had all along, and he would accomplish it or die trying.
Likely, it’d be death. That was almost what had happened when Ivankov had learned that Luka had allowed Giovanni to live. It was the first time he’d actively disobeyed the pakhan. Willow had paid for his decision in the end.
One more step that had led to her death. It was all so pointless.
Luka made his way to the kitchen. Nera was often there in the morning. She made the most delicious things. He’d thought he was immune to such simple pleasures, but now, every time he came, he tried to slip away with something to eat.
His eyes slid past her as he paused on the threshold, as they did whenever a woman was around. He’d managed to look at Alina a few times. The thought confused him, and he tested himself, trying to force his gaze on Nera. It didn’t work. Nera was nothing like Alina.
The other man in the room was much easier to look at. It wasn’t Giovanni but his cousin, Antonio. Or half brother, Luka had heard. Something about his expression always looked faked. Luka had never cared for the other Di Salvo, and the feeling was mutual.
Neither Nera nor Antonio saw him sneak one of the cooling pastries before heading for the stairs.
Giovanni wasn’t hidden away that day. Luka blended in behind a plant as he watched the new boss talk to one of the other Di Salvos.
“And you’re certain?” Giovanni was saying.
The soldier nodded. “What do you want us to do with the squatter?”
Giovanni’s face didn’t betray any of his thoughts. “A woman, you said?”
Luka’s hand clenched around the pastry as his appetite fled. He missed the next thing said and only vaguely noted that the soldier was walking away.
When Giovanni made to pass where he hid, Luka stepped into his path.
Giovanni jerked to a halt, a brief flash of surprise in his azure eyes as he reached for his gun. Seeing it was Luka, his hand fell away.
Luka forced himself to speak. “Came to tell you.”
Giovanni’s eyes moved past him. More Di Salvos had begun waking up earlier in the morning. Nera’s cooking was to blame. Giovanni turned toward the stairs. “Let’s discuss this in the office.”
There was a drooping to Giovanni’s shoulders that Luka wouldn’t have seen before he had married his wife. “Sorry,” Luka mumbled as he trailed behind him. He’d interrupted Giovanni’s progress toward the kitchen.
Giovanni glanced at him before facing forward again. There was a flare of red along his ear that also hadn’t been familiar until recently. Giovanni said nothing, resorting to silence the way Luka often did.
After they were holed up in the office, Luka leaned only his shoulder against the wall and forced himself to nibble on the treat he no longer wanted. The way his tongue tingled, he could tell it was good, though he no longer fully registered the taste.
Giovanni’s gaze flicked to the baked good as he dropped into the chair behind the desk. If Luka hadn’t been watching so closely, he would have missed the flash of envy.
“You have information for me?” Giovanni asked.
Luka shook his head. He wished his hands were free to sink into his pockets. He’d switched out his gloves and most of his clothes, but he still wore the long-sleeved shirt that Alina had washed.
