Mafia Betrayal

Chapter Thirty Four

Charlotte

"You're joking, right?" I had to be hearing things. He was joking, wasn't he? There was no way he was honestly suggesting letting that tramp back into this house after what happened, was he? If he was joking, I didn't really find the humor in it.

"I wish I was, babe." He frowned, taking my empty hand in his. "Angelo promised that he warned her not to try anything like last time, and it will be really short. Just a few things she needs to clarify for the article."

I sighed heavily, crossing my arms over my chest. It seemed he wasn't joking, after all. This was the first of many things i was going to have to bite my tongue about, and hope that Luca realized what was at stake. "I want you to do it out in the open—the living room."

"Absolutely." He nodded. "Anything you want, Char."

"I want to be in there." I ventured, knowing it was probably a long shot.

"Anything, but that." Luca grimaced. "Baby, I just got you back. You think I would do anything to jeopardize that?"

"You better not." I warned. I was putting on a front, but I knew he was right. He'd fought so hard to get us back, I doubted he would even look the woman in her eyes. Especially after pretending to have sex with her to dig at me.

"I wouldn't." He snaked his arm around my waist, catching me off balance and pinning me against the counter with his hips before I could protest. He leaned down, inches from my ear, his breath hot on my skin. His fingers trailed along my jawline as he pressed a kiss to the corner of my mouth. "I know you're not happy about this, but I swear I will make it up to you when she leaves."

I wanted to protest some more, but when he touched me like that, it was hard to even remember why I was upset in the first place.

"We are going to need to go Christmas shopping for Layla when you're done. We are running out of time."

"Done!" He said, popping a ball of rolled up cookie dough from the bowl I was mixing into his mouth. "Mmm! Have I ever told you how great of a cook you are?"

I rolled my eyes. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Mr. Catalano."

"Good thing I'm right where I want to be." He plastered a cheesy grin on his face. "I'll see you soon."

He disappeared into the living room, and I busied myself with more baking.

Carmen took Layla to the store to get cookie decorations under the watchful eye of Marco. They were really taking to each other, and I was glad, but it made me a bit sad that my mom wasn't able to be as involved in Layla's life as she wanted. She was doing much better now than she was right after Josh passed, but I knew being around Layla helped take her mind off of it. Maybe we would plan a trip to see her in the next few weeks while Layla was off of school.

I tried my best to stay busy and not think about Luca sitting in the living room with that woman, but it was proving to be difficult. Every time I pictured her, I nearly threw up. The thought of Luca letting her do those things to him made my stomach churn. I had to keep reminding myself that we were in a better place now, and that I had nothing to worry about.

When I couldn't take it any longer, I walked towards the living room, stopping just short of the door so I could hear what they were saying.

Claire had the kind of high-pitched, flirty voice that always made a person sound like they were drunk—slurring and making words longer than necessary.

"And how does New York's most handsome and eligible bachelor spend the holidays?"

I wanted to puke, waiting patiently for him to refute the claim that he was a bachelor.