Charlotte
From the living room window of the penthouse, it felt like I could see all the way to California. The city sprawled out below me, millions of people carrying on with their evenings, oblivious to my world shattering eighty floors above them.
The Mafia. Luca was in the Mafia. Not just in it, he was running it, and he sat across from me tonight casually talking about murder as if we were discussing the weather. I'd spent a lot of time the last few weeks thinking about Luca, and who he could be, but the thought of him running a criminal organization as large as the Italian Mafia didn't even cross my mind. All I knew about the mafia was from old crime books and the movies, and it made me sick to my stomach even thinking about. Was Luca really involved in all of that? The violence and the drugs and the abuse to women. The list of transgressions was a mile long, and if I had any sense left in me, I would run. I would run out of this hotel and straight to the police and tell them everything I knew. Something told me it wouldn't be that easy, though. Didn't they kill snitches? I already had one Mafia boss after me in Silvano, I couldn't afford to piss off another.
After he left, I was too wired to go to sleep or even to sit down. I paced back-and-forth in the deafening silence, certain I was wearing a path on the dark wood floors, and now that I had stopped moving the aching in my feet was nearly unbearable. I unbuckled my shoes, tossing them to the side and collapsing onto the cool leather of the couch. My head was throbbing as I tried to sort through all of the screaming thoughts in my mind.
I wasn't sure how this could get much worse. What did that man want with me? How did a girl like me even get on his radar? Maybe it was stereotypical of me, but I was about as far as I could be from the type of person that I imagined getting in a situation like this. I rarely went out, I'd never even tried drugs, and for the last few years, I was in a committed relationship. I kept to my own little corner of the city, and my circle of friends was tightknit. None of this made sense, and the more I tried to rationalize it, the more tangled it all became.
Part of me still wanted to leave. To leave right now and go back to my simple life with my family and friends and forget about everything that happened the last few weeks. Forget about Luca. But if I was being honest with myself, I knew Luca was right. The second I walked out of this door, I could be killed. They could come back to finish the job, and odds weren't likely that Luca could save me a third time. And if he was able to find out all of that information on me, what was to stop them from doing the same? That is, if they didn't already have it. As much as I hated to admit it, I needed Luca. I needed his protection, I needed his skills, and in the very back corners of my mind, I was beginning to wonder if I needed him in more ways than just to keep me safe.
I shook myself, pushing that thought as far out of my brain as I could. Had I not been listening to a single thing he said tonight? He had threatened me, lied to me from the very moment I met him, and then he said he didn't care if I got killed. The man was a monster. His business was killing people. How could I ever think that falling in love with a mob boss would end well for me? Not to mention he probably had girls fawning over him all the time. Every woman on that rooftop tonight wanted to be with him, worshiping the ground he walked on and just waiting for their opportunity to pounce. Their jealous eyes followed every move I made, and we were enemies before we even spoke just because I was with him.
As far as I was concerned, they could have him. All I cared about was somehow making it out of this mess alive. Luca and this life were a package deal—a package waiting to explode and destroy my world at any given second
"Come on, Charlotte, get ahold of yourself." I rubbed my temples, trying to keep my headache at bay.
"Everything okay in here?" I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of Marco's voice.
"Jesus Marco. You scared me!" My heart pounded so hard I could feel it in my ears.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to. I can imagine you're a little jumpy tonight after... you know." He smiled sympathetically, edging closer to me. "I brought you some coffee."
"Thank you." I said, taking the steaming cup from him. I wasn't going to sleep well anyway; a little caffeine might actually help my head.
"How are you holding up?" He sat down on the couch. It looked like I was going to have company whether I wanted it or not.
"I'm alright." I held the cup up to my mouth. It was still too hot to drink, but something about the smell and the warmth was soothing. A few deep inhales and I could feel the slightest bit of tension leave my body.
"It takes some getting used to, but you'll be okay after a while." Marco said, trying to ease my worries.
"What if I don't want to get used to it?" Why was everyone acting like this was okay? Like this chaos and danger was normal? Maybe in their world, it was, but for me, it was anything but, and it infuriated me how Luca seemed to be brushing it off. All he cared about was finding come connection between Silvano and I, even if he had to fabricate one. The way this had turned my entire world upside down and left me reeling was of no concern to him. Getting used to it, as Marco suggested, was the last thing I wanted. "I just want to go home."
"That's your choice, I guess." Marco said, his voice sounding distant and defeated.
"I never had a choice." I scoffed, throwing my arms in the air as tears settled at the brim of my eyes. "If I had, I would've run so far away from it that no one would've ever been able to find me. I never asked for any of this, and those men still came after me."
"Well, you've got a choice now, Char. I know he can be harsh, but he'll never let those men get to you again." He clasped his hands together and looked up at me. "You can leave here today and forget all about this I that's what you want."
"How can I forget about it if I don't know why they attacked me in the first place?" I said, shaking my head.
"Luca is going to get to the bottom of that, too." Marco said.
"Of course, he is! He has no problem prying in my personal life even though we barely know each other." Luca had every detail about me at his disposal, but when it came to telling me anything about himself, it was practically crickets. He always had the upper hand.
"You know, he only did that to keep you safe. He's not all that bad." Marco said with the small smirk on his face.
"I think you and I have very different concepts of what bad is." I turned my back to him again, taking a large gulp of the coffee he had brought me. As it warmed my throat, I felt the distinct burn of bourbon.
I whipped my head back around. "This isn't just coffee."
Marco shrugged his shoulders, playing innocent. "All I'm saying is don't judge him before you have a chance to get to know him. He's gone to a lot of lengths to protect you."
He was right, but it was a tough pill to swallow. For the last several years, I was fine on my own. I could take care of myself. I didn't need anyone to protect me—especially not a man who was as charming as he was egotistical, who looked at me in such a way that I couldn't tell if he wanted to take me to bed or to the slaughter. I hadn't felt comfortable in his presence once, but when he left, so why did I feel so empty and disappointed when he left?
"I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything. There are clothes in the bedroom for you if you want to shower."
"Thank you." A shower actually sounded wonderful. I imagined standing under the cascading water, letting it scald my skin until I couldn't feel anything anymore. Maybe if my body was numb, my mind would be too. "Will he be back?"
"Probably not tonight. He's got a lot of work to do." Marco didn't elaborate on what the work entailed, and I was left to imagine what work he could possibly be doing at this time of night.
"Did he kill that man? The one from the elevator?" I asked, hoping Marco would be a little more forth coming with information.
"No." Marco replied quickly. "Carlo did."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" I groaned.
"Did it?" He flashed me a goofy smile, and raised his eyebrows. I liked Marco. He wasn't as serious as Luca or the others, and his playful attitude put me at ease. It was hard to imagine him as one of the bad guys, and I wondered how he had gotten mixed up with Luca in the first place.
"Not in the slightest."
"He would have raped you if they hadn't stepped in when they did. He would've kidnapped you and taken you back to Silvano's where they all would've taken turns. You wouldn't have survived a week. That man got exactly what was coming to him."
"Has anybody ever told you that you're really awful at trying to make people feel better?" I gave him a halfhearted smile.
He smirked. "Call if you need anything."
Deciding to take his advice and take a shower, I walked back into the bedroom. The extravagance that surrounded Luca wasn't the least bit surprising anymore. He operated in a completely foreign world to me, and when you had that type of money to blow, why wouldn't you have a luxurious penthouse in the city and a sprawling estate in the country and an entire island to your name? The bedroom I was standing in was no exception with its floor to ceiling windows and dark elegance. The walls were black with accents of brassy gold, and a spiral chandelier spun down from the ceiling. I aspired to be the level of wealthy where you could have a chandelier in your bedroom.
As I sat on the bed, memory foam folded around me and I ran my fingers over the smooth satin of the sheets. They were the softest fabric I'd ever felt, and I was already dreaming of how peacefully I would sleep between them. There was a bag at the edge of the bed--probably where Luca kept a stash of clothes for all the women he brought back here.
As I opened it, I realized I recognized the items inside. There was a set of sweats, a phone charger, and even a few toiletries like a toothbrush and facewash. All of them had been in my apartment when I left earlier this evening, and how they ended up here, I didn't even want to know. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, he installed the security system in my house, he had free reign whenever he wanted.
I was far too emotionally drained to be as angry as I should have been; this would be a fight I had to have tomorrow.
After a quick shower, I climbed into the bed, wrapping myself in the silky soft sheets and letting my guard down for the first time all evening. For the last few hours, I had been operating on pure adrenaline, but now the reality of this was starting to hit me.
I wasn't safe anywhere right now, but somehow, I felt the safest I had in months when I was snuggled up in the Mafia boss's bed.