Mafia Queen

Chapter Forty Three

Charlotte

The last few days were agonizing. I hadn't seen Luca since the fight and I was losing my mind with worry. He looked so hurt and distant that night and it broke my heart into a million tiny pieces. I hadn't seen that darkness in his eyes since he brought Layla and me home from Maine at gunpoint.

He was desperate, and I knew as hard as it was to watch him kill that man, it was even worse for him. He wouldn't even look at me after, ashamed of himself and no doubt thinking I felt the same. I wanted so badly to assure him, and let him know that I knew what he had to do. That I didn't love him any less or feel any differently, but Niko whisked us away to a reception and was by my side all night. There wasn't an opportunity to sneak down to see him without drawing suspicion, and I could only imagine what was going through his mind right now. He'd be jumping to the worst possible scenario without me there to talk him down.

I could see it in his eyes. Luca was withdrawing, and that was the worst part of all of this. If he couldn't keep sight of what was important, of what was waiting for him on the outside, he'd slip into a terrifying and dangerous place—one he might never come out of. This place was slowly killing him and if we didn't get him out of there soon, the man that came home wouldn't be my husband.

Angelo and I talked about it last night. Neither of us wanted it to go on any longer, but Axel said we needed more. Angelo and I weren't willing to wait any longer, though. I just needed Niko to give me my opening, and I was hoping he would during lunch today.

It had been stomach-turning to see Niko and keep this charade up after what happened the other night. He was more vile than I ever could have imagined, and how visibly proud he was of what he was doing was even more sickening. The only way I could get through was by reminding myself that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light was Luca.

Niko walked into the cafe about ten minutes late, and I was already impatient, nearing the end of my rope with him. He was persistent and arrogant and couldn't seem to grasp the fact I didn't want anything more than a professional relationship with him. His hand always lingered a little too long in mind when he greeted me, and I would catch his eyes focused on some part of my body when I wasn't looking. The way he showed me off to his friends was just as disturbing, talking about me as if I wasn't standing right next to him. He kept calling me things like doll face and kitten, and if it happened again, I just might vomit. It felt so tacky in comparison to the way Luca treated me.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, kitten." He bent down and kissed my cheek. Gag me.

I pulled away. "You're lucky I'm still here. I have way more important things to do today than sit around waiting on you."

Niko grinned, pulling his chair out and sitting across the table from me. "I love it when you get spicy. I hope all of these important things you have to do today involve getting things in order to further our partnership."

"About that." I pursed my lips. "I agree, a partnership could be interesting, but I have such a wide clientele in Sicily that I'm just not sure it makes sense for me to relocate."

Niko nodded, reaching for the wine bottle that was already waiting on the table. He poured both of us glasses before answering. "I thought you might feel that way... which is why I came up with an alternative plan."

"And what might that be?" I traced the top of the glass, not trusting him enough to take a drink. It had been sitting on the table opened when I arrived.

"Why don't we form a consultive partnership until we know this will work out? Neither of us is in a position to uproot our entire operation, so why don't we slowly start integrating parts and see how they are received? We can work together to make the shift from prostitution to an escort ring, and you can still go back to Sicily and work on your current group. And then when you're ready, we can take it further." He reached across the table, setting his hand on top of mine.