Mafia Heir

Chapter 4

Charlotte

Was I crazy?

As Luca walked out of the kitchen, part of me wanted to follow right behind. To leave this place and go back to my apartment where I could curl up on the couch and pretend the last twelve hours had never happened. But I had just agreed to stay, at least until we could finish our conversation.

How was I supposed to give him answers about something I didn't even realize was happening? And what did he mean when he said he knew exactly who I was? The guy was insane, and I was probably even more insane for staying here to wait this out. I couldn't shake the idea that there was the slightest possibility that he was right, though, and that was why I stayed.

Realizing I hadn't seen my cell phone all morning, I frantically searched my bag. If there really was a robbery or attack, Jenni was probably going insane with worry. There had to have been some pieces damaged in the whole ordeal and I could only hope that they weren't some of our more expensive pieces. If they were, that would be a PR nightmare and Jenni wasn't equipped to handle that shitstorm on her own.

At the insistence of my mother, I had gotten a business degree along with my art history degree, so the business side of the gallery was my thing. Jenni's art experience consisted of two semesters of sketching in high school, which she later admitted she only took because her teacher was hot. When we graduated from USC, we spent six months traveling and got to see some of the art first hand. That was when Jenni fell in love with it just as much as I did, and out of that, our business was born. She didn't do any of the painting herself, but she was fantastic with the customers. Together, we were a good team, and I could only hope that this robbery wouldn't derail our entire operation. That was why I needed to get out of here, and to the studio as fast as I could. And if that man thought I was going to just stay here waiting for him all day, he had another thing coming. I had agreed to wait, but my patience was already wearing thin. If this meant so much to him, why was he running off to deal with something else?

"Do you have any idea where my phone is?" I huffed, knowing Carlo probably wouldn't give it to me even if he knew, but it was worth a shot.

"I assume Luca's got it, but I can't say for sure. Can I get you something for breakfast?" Carlo offered.

I looked at him up and down, trying to access whether I could outrun him if I escaped. He weighed a lot more than me, but I could tell he was in good shape. Strong muscles protruded from under his thin grey t-shirt.

"Don't even think about it." He warned with a smirk, recognizing the look on my face. "You'd never make it to the driveway. This place is crawling with guards and they like to shoot and ask questions later. Besides, they most certainly wouldn't offer you breakfast. Now, how do you like your eggs?" He turned to open the refrigerator.

Guards? Shoot and ask questions later? Holy shit, what kind of people were these guys? Maybe they were the ones I needed protecting from.

I had no choice but to comply, at least for the time being. I was hungry after all, and getting shot at was not something on my bucket list. I threw myself back into the chair begrudgingly. "Scrambled."

My mind swirled as I took a sip of my coffee and watched as he cooked. He seemed to be in his element here. He knew where each utensil was and he moved so fluidly. This wasn't the first time he'd been in this kitchen. Either he lived here, too, or he was Luca's chef.

"Bon Appetite!" He said after a few minutes of mixing. He handed me a plate full of eggs, toast and bacon.

"Thank you." I was pleasantly surprised, studying his face. He looked familiar to me. Had I met him before?