The Body #2: Lucio and Janie

Chapter 16 (Janie): Same Drill

Copyright © 2024 by GroveltoHEA

I may have gone back to bed after Lucio walked past me and went to his room, but I didn't sleep. His ragged words kept poking at me, but I refused to think about them too deeply because they didn't fit with what I knew about Lucio. What I needed him to be.

And I needed him to be an asshole.

Somewhere deep inside me there lurked remnants of that naive, infatuated young girl who had fallen for a mirage. To be fair, much of what had initially attracted me to Lucio had never changed. He was handsome and rugged, a man of tremendous strength and power. He was intelligent and cunning -- the fact that he'd overthrown Dario had proven that. Body Heads were notoriously paranoid and ruthlessly protected their positions, always assuming there were people gunning for them. Lucio had acted as Dario's loyal heir for years while plotting his uncle's downfall, and he'd done so in such a way that his operation hadn't been blown until the very last moment -- and he'd immediately dealt with the man who betrayed him right after he and Federico Caruso had killed Dario.

He was strong, brutal and unhesitating...and I loved those traits in a man. Other traits he had I wasn't a fan of, but that kind of violent strength was what I'd grown up with, what I was used to and what I'd wanted. In my five years outside the Body, I'd been unable to find men who were like that. Butcher and his crazy-as-fuck brothers were as close as I could get, but he had told his MC men I was off limits, so that had been a dead end. I'd had to find men who were as close as I could come to what I liked in a man, and although there were some who had similar traits, they were just imitations of a Body man's unique intensity.

So I really needed Lucio to continue being an asshole.

Ten minutes before my alarm would have gone off, I got out of bed and headed to my shower, hoping to clear the fog from my sleepy brain. I stayed under the water for longer than I usually did and only got out when I thought I'd be in danger of being late. I was trying to focus on the day to come, but I was still thinking about Lucio's meltdown as well as the call I'd had with the girls.

I'd given them the names of the latest mistresses in the trafficking ring, and they'd listened to me describe what Lucio had done to the woman he'd shot.

"He let you be there for an interrogation?" Cosi demanded, incredulous.

"Well, since I was doing the interrogation, I kind of needed to be there."

"I don't even know what to say to that," Moxie said, cracking up. "Especially given your aversion to...you know what."

"Did you spew?" Ant asked, laughing. "I will never forget when Vic accidentally got cut when we were sparring with knives and you barfed your guts out."

"I was just a kid," I protested, laughing right along with my girls. They'd never let me live that down, but fortunately, it was the only time I'd hurled due to blood. After that, I'd forced myself to deal with it, the same way I'd faced it yesterday in the shack. 

Knowing I had to get through the same scene today multiple times had also fed into my sleepless night. I wanted information, but I preferred not to witness the methods used to get it. I wish I could suggest using the truth cocktail Fina had concocted, but that would expose my girls and their involvement with me and I had to protect them. Lucio didn't need to know I wasn't working alone.

Between Ant and Cosi, they filled me in on the women I'd be interrogating today as much as they could, and everyone suggested some questions, some new avenues to pursue. My mind was preoccupied, so I was surprised when, right before we were about to end the call, Vic blurted out, "OK, Cosi. What's going on? You've been off all night."