Page 47 of Queen of Misfortune (Shadows of Redemption)
“All right.” Elena slides off the table clutching the photos of the twins. As we leave, her hand finds mine, squeezing tightly.
"Thank you for being here.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss this for anything. As long as you want and need me, I’m by your side.”
Elena loops her arm through mine as we navigate the sterile corridor toward the elevator. There are the three men who are outside the door, and three more are near the elevator. Where the others are, who knows?
We’re several feet from the elevator when it dings and the door opens. A man in an expensive dark suit steps out. Niko’s men stop and wait for the man to move away or around us. Instead, the man moves toward us. The guards react instantly, forming a blockade, their hands reaching for concealed weapons as protocol dictates. But as he nears, recognition shoots through me.
“Luca?”
“Lucia, ho bisogno di parlare con te.”
“Get away?—”
“No, it’s okay. This is Luca Conti… Don Luca Conti,” I say, remembering his position now that Giuseppe is gone. “He says he needs to talk to me.”
“Orders are to get you home,” one of the men says in a flat, no questions asked tone.
“By insulting another Don? My husband’s son?” The Mafia can be weird around family. In some cases, sentiment and family loyalty mean nothing. Like with my parents. But other Families,the center of the universe is the family, which is the sense I get from Niko.
“I just need a minute with him,” I say.
"Luce, no." Elena's fingers tighten on my arm, her eyes wide, darting between me and the figure the guards shield us from.
"Let me speak to him." There's a command in my tone. “Take Elena home?—”
“Luce. No,” Elena says again, but this time with more force.
“Elena, Luca is family to me.” I turn my attention back to Niko’s men. “Take her home. I can get back. Luca will make sure I’m safe.” I turn to him, and he nods.
The men intend to argue, but Elena says, “Take me home. Niko will be expecting me.” She glances at me with an expression that says she hopes I know what I’m going. The men follow her orders and escort her to the elevator.
Luca steps away into an empty waiting area, standing tall and imposing, and his dark eyes lock onto mine as I join him.
"What are you doing here?" And then I remember hearing that he’d come to town. Niko had a meeting with him.
Luca runs a hand over his face. "It's your father. He's trying to sell you again."
The words slam into me. For a moment, my world tilts. "No. He can't…"
Luca's jaw tightens, anger flashing in his eyes. "I'm afraid he is. He's been in contact, offering your hand in marriage."
I gape in incomprehension. “To you?”
He nods.
I like Luca, but I was married to his father. And even if it was only on paper, not a traditional marriage, it seems creepy to then marry my stepson.
"After everything… he would do this to me again?" Well, of course he would. My father would sell angels in heaven if he could.
Luca grips my shoulders. "Listen to me. I refused him outright. The idea of it is ludicrous. Not that you’re not a good woman, Lucia, but?—”
“No, I get it. I was married to your father."
“Right. So I told him no.”
Relief and gratitude wash through me. But on its heels creeps a familiar sense of despair. If not Luca, then whom? How long before my father auctions me off once more? And can he do that? Aren’t I a Conti? Wouldn’t Luca have a say? What sort of deal had my father made to Giuseppe that I’m not fully under Conti protection now?