Painfully Sweet

Chapter 23

Zophisa P.O.V

I smirk at the sound of Luka's voice. 

"Don't worry about it," I said with a smirk, even though he couldn't see me since he was behind me and my head was bent. 

"Oh we will talk about it later," he said as he walked into the kitchen, "oh and I want six children. Preferably all boys but I know that is not up to you."

"Oh hell no," I called as he walked through the kitchen door. Nana just chuckled as she continued. 

"That's exactly how your Papa got me," she said.

"He not about to get me," I said, shaking my head, "Hell I got two grown sons back in New York." I said, referring to Sincere and Adrian.

"Please mija, we all know you and Sincere are Adrian's problem children," she said, laughing. I would've argued but it was true. Me and Sincere are true babies when Adrian is involved. 

"I still boss them around," I grumbled.

"We need to talk," Luka said as he walked back into the living room. I couldn't see him because my head was still down.

"About what?" I asked.

"This," Luka said squatting down to my level and handing me a folder. I opened it and looked at the pictures inside.
"That is the security footage of the bar the nught Bunch said the man approached him," Luka explained, "That first picture is of the guy being dropped off. That is one of our cars dropping him off."

"Well we established that it was one of your men, but who?" I asked, going through each picture carefully.
"Adrienne said he told him the man had no tattoos except for the visible one on his neck," I said. I quickly stopped when I got to a picture of the car pulling out of the parking lot. The window was rolled down and he had sunglasses on but it was very clear who he was.

"Son of a bitch," I mumbled, handing the picture to Luka.

"Figlio di puttana," (son of a bitch) He mumbled.

"I told you this would happen," I said, hitting Luka with the folder.

"What did I do?" He asked defensively.

"I told you all it took was one bold man," I said through clenched teeth, "Now look what happened."

"I know," he said with a sigh, "What should we do?" I snatched the picture from his hand and looked at it before handing it to Nana.

"Let's have him over for dinner," I said, "I'll cook." I said with a smirk.

"I will set it up," Luka said, grabbing my hand and kissing the back of it.

"We'll work out the rest when I'm finished getting my hair done," I said as Nana resumed braiding.

"How long is that going to take?" Luka asked.

"Aww baby," I said with a fake pout and chuckle. I brought my hand up to his face and lightly slapped his cheek. "You might as well go on about your day and meet me in the kitchen at seven."

Luka just stood up and walked down the hallway into his office.

"So what are you going to do?" Nana asked.

"I don't know, torture him? I have questions," I answered. 

"Aw you're doing great baby," she cooed.

"I might need your help though," I said. 

"What do you need?" She asked.

"He has a kid. I need you to stay here until they get here, get the kid, and keep her for a while," I said.

"What am I supposed to do with her?" She asked.

"She's three, she likes sesame street, look I don't know. Just keep her out of the way, entertained, and safe. I'll call you when you can bring her back," I said.

"I was supposed to be free of kids for the week," she grumbled, "You're lucky I love you."

"I love you more," I said with a grin.
"Luka make sure he brings the kid!" I yelled through the house. I heard a very faint 'okay' and nodded to myself.

××××××××××××××××××××××××××××××

"Hello beautiful," I said, greeting Alessia. She grinned before basically diving out of her dad's arms to get to me. I quickly took her and hugged her tight. 

"I missed you," Alessia said poking the star tattoo on my neck.

"I missed you too gorgeous," I said with a chuckle. I walked her into the living room where Nana was waiting for us and Alessio couldn't hear.
"I need you to be a big girl and go with my Nana. Can you do that for me?"

"Where are we going?" She asked, clinging to my neck.

"She is going to take you to her house for a while so we can talk to your Papa. But she's going to bring you right back here to me," I explained.

"Okay," she mumbled, looking unsure. I gave Nana a knowing look.

"Hi Alessia, I've heard so much about you," Nana said.

"She speaks funny too right?" I asked Alessia, while tickling her stomach.

"Yeah," she said with a giggle.

"There's that smile," I said with a smile.

"Come on," Nana said, taking her out of my arms, "I heard you like Sesame Street."

I walked Nana to the door. Luka and Alessio had already migrated to the kitchen, making it easy for Nana and Alessia to slip out. I opened the front door and saw three of Luka's guys waiting.

"I need one of you to make sure she gets where she's going and come straight back here. Two of you come with me," I ordered. They nodded and separated accordingly.

I walked towards the kitchen propped open door with the two guys trailing quietly behind me. "Stay here and wait for my order," I told them once we got to the door.

"Oh Amore, good now we can begin dinner," Luka said as I walked into the kitchen. He was sitting at the head of the table and Alessio was sitting to his right. I walked to the seat across from Alessio and gave Luka a quick kiss. They stood up and waited for me to be seated.

"Alessio it's good to see you again," I said with a sinister smile.

"You as well Mrs. Ricca," he said politely. 

"Don't wait too long," I said cheerfully,  "Let's eat."

I started cutting into my medium rare steak and took a piece into my mouth. I watched Alessio take his first bite and make a funny face but continued to eat it.

"Isn't my wife an amazing cook?" Luka asked, looking at Alessio who was now starting to cough.

"It is delicious," He said between coughs, "A little sweet though."

"Oh that's because I marinated it in coconut shavings," I explained, "Oh no, you have a severe coconut allergy don't you?" I asked, sarcastically shocked. He started to cough uncontrollably and quickly pushed the plate away. He tried to grab the water on the table but I quickly snatched it away.

"Ahahah," I said, shaking my finger, "None of that."

Luka pulled an EpiPen from his jacket pocket and sat it on the table.

"You tell us what we want to know, you can have it," I said with a smirk.  He just nodded vigorously before his eyes started to roll to the back of his head.

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We're not going to talk about how long it's been okay? Okay. But the love you guys give this book is AMAZING! Thank you guys soooo much ❤❤ I hope you are all staying HOME and staying SAFE! And to all the essential workers: THANK YOU!

xox