"Hm. Is he a friend of yours?"
"Yes."
Costa nodded, reaching his hand up to move a stray piece of hair from my face. "If you ever let another man touch you again, there will be consequences. Do you understand?"
He spoke so softly yet so ominously...
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Overwhelmed.
That's the one word I would use to describe how I felt when Costa's guards opened the doors for us in the underground garage of his building.
I stood awkwardly in the dimly lit, low ceiling garage where they were unloading our luggage.
Most of his men were staring at me like I was a potential threat to their precious boss but some were staring just out of curiosity.
Then Costa greeted some guy I'd never seen before with a bright smile and a hug.
The unfamiliar man was very tall and extremely muscular. He's the kind of guy you'd expect to see as a bouncer outside a club - intimidating as hell.
"Costa, dove diavolo sei stato? Non sei tornato da mesi." (Costa, where the hell have you been? You haven't been back for months.)
"Ho avuto altre cose da affrontare. Non ho avuto il tempo di tornare. Comunque hai continuato così, vero?" (I've had other shit to deal with. I haven't had time to come back. You've kept it going though, right?)
"Sì, naturalmente." (Yes, of course.) His grin was almost sadistic which only told me he really enjoyed the violent nature of his work.
They quickly launched into a long conversation in Italian while I observed my surroundings. There were countless black SUVs parked up around us for his security. There were a few fancy cars like Rolls Royces which would probably be cheuffer driven cars. Among a range of sports cars a glossy black Aston Martin caught my eye.
Beautiful.
Once the scary man was done greeting Costantino, his cold eyes shifted to where I stood just behind him.
"E' la tua nuova moglie?" (She's your new wife?)
Costa glanced back at me, releasing a throaty scoff. "Yeah."
On instinct I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to keep up my cool facade. On the inside I was feeling so out of place in his element surrounded by all of his men. That's not to mention the scary guy looking at me.
From what I understood, Costa had full control over the Sicilian Mafia's operations in New York. He was effectively the Don here and I was completely at his mercy.
Despite the hate-filled interaction between us, Costa reached out to take my hand, bringing me in closer to his side. Maybe he could sense how uncomfortable I was feeling?
"This is Luca. He's our Enforcer. After Tristano and Rocco, he's the man I trust the most."
"Enforcer?" I frowned, cautiously eyeing the man who was now grinning at me.
