Omerta (The DeLuca Family #1) (6 page)

Carlo took my head in his hands, much like Angelo had done, and looked me over. When he was satisfied that I would live he turned his head and took stock of the room. After a moment his eyes fell back to mine, “What happened?” he asked, his voice was hard but I could tell he was trying to stay calm for my sake.

“He caught me coming out of the bathroom and tried to force himself on me.” I said, my voice miraculously steady.

Who the hell is this girl? This isn’t me.

Although I suppose I had never been put in a situation like this before, so how was I supposed to know how I would react. The look that crossed Carlo’s face was positively terrifying, he looked murderous. 

The hands that were holding me began to shake as he turned to take a closer look at Jackson’s prone body on the floor. It was at that point that I realized in my fit of rage I had kicked him onto his back exposing the front of his body and his open pants. His flaccid penis was on full display, bloody from when I had bit him. Carlo must have concluded what had happened from the grisly scene but he still turned back to me and demanded, “Tell me what happened.”

I cleared my throat and looked down at my lap.
No,
I thought,
I will not be ashamed of this, I have no reason to be.

I raised my eyes and looked Carlo dead on, just like I had the day I killed my father. “He grabbed me and tried—“ I took a deep breath, keeping eye contact with him and finished, “He forced his way in my mouth and I bit him. He hit me and I tried to get to the door but he grabbed me. I kicked him in the face with my heels, and I didn’t stop until he was dead.”

His jaw ticked with barely concealed anger and with sharp nod and kissed my forehead. “You did what you had to, I’m proud of you,” he said and in one swift movement he turned from me pulling his gun and aiming it at Angelo’s face. Angelo didn’t flinch, it’s as if he was expecting this to be his punishment.

“Stop!” I screamed and tugged at Carlo’s free arm that had dropped to my waist.

Carlo looked back at me, his face cold. “He was in charge of your safety and he failed. You were assaulted. You could have been killed or worse.”

My mind was spinning. I knew Carlo had a point, but I also knew that Angelo was the closest thing he had to a friend. He was the closest to Carlo out of all of his men, that’s why Carlo had trusted him to look after me so I blurted out the first thing that came to me. “I want Angelo moved to my personal security detail.”

“What?” Carlo asked incredulous. Angelo stayed stoic and silent.

“You heard me,” I said, my voice stronger than it had been before as I compiled my argument. It was going to have to be a good one if I was going to convince Carlo and spare Angelo. “He made a critical mistake tonight, and I guarantee you that he will die before he ever fails me again.” Carlo stared at me utterly dumbstruck. “Am I right, Angelo?” I asked.

“Yes, ma’am.”

I turned my attention back to Carlo, “See?” I asked.

“But, I have to make an example of him. My men cannot think that I would let this kind of disaster go unpunished.”

I was beginning to get angry now, this wasn’t about his men this was about me. “Your
men
don’t need to know what went on tonight, the only people that need to know are the people that were here. I don’t need everybody knowing my business.” My voice was starting to raise, “Do you understand me?” I couldn’t believe I was talking to him like this but I was enraged. This was my problem and I’d be damned if he was going to waltz in here thinking he could make it about him.

Carlo was silent for a moment, mulling over my words. “Fine,” he said, and turned to Angelo. “If you ever step one toe out of line again I will shoot you dead on the spot, cousin or not.”

He was his cousin?

“Understood, Boss. I’ll go check the ETA on the cleaner.” Angelo said and exited the bathroom quickly.

“Come on, we’ll go out the back way and use the service elevator,” I thought he was going to help me down off the counter but Carlo just scooped me up and carried me out of the club. I was thankful. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and I was exhausted. All I wanted to do was get cleaned up and sleep. “Don’t fall asleep on me Mia, you need to stay awake until the doctor has a chance to check you out, you may have a concussion.”

“Okay,” I said sleepily.

When we got to the service elevator he produced a keycard, swiping it, the keypad beeped and turned green. Carlo punched in a code and the doors opened. I nodded off and when he jostled me again I lifted my head and looked around. We must have changed elevators because this one had mirrored walls and I caught my reflection.

I look like hell.

My hair was a knotted mess from when Jackson had grabbed me, my face swollen, a bruise already starting to show on my chin. To top it off make-up, blood and dried tears were smeared all over. I laid my head back on Carlo’s chest and breathed in his cologne, it calmed me down and lulled me back to sleep.

Chapter 11

Carlo

What was I thinking?

I paced the hotel suite while I berated myself. I had been fucking some whore while Mia was being attacked in the same goddamn hotel!
Never again.
I would never fail her again, she could have been killed. My stomach rolled. He laid his hands on her, and he fucking
forced
himself on her.
Damn it!
I had to calm down, Mia was in the bathroom getting cleaned up and I had to pull myself together before she came back out.

My head was so messed up. I never made personal connections. If someone messed up or lost their usefulness they would be put down, simple. That’s how my life had been before Mia came along, simple. An obstacle presented itself and I overcame it by any means necessary. There was no room for anything other than rational thought. A simple way of life, weigh the pros and cons and execute. Now all my thoughts were muddled by the feelings I was having for this girl. I wanted to protect her and make her happy and I had no clue how to do it or why I even wanted to in the first place.

The only person I had ever cared about before was my mother and she died a long time ago. I couldn’t save her so what made me think I could save Mia? The attraction to Mia that plagued me earlier seemed inconsequential now in light of the night’s events.

What a difference a day could make.

I heard the bathroom door open in the other room and the padding of her feet as she came into the living area. My back was to the bedroom door, I didn’t think I could look at her swollen face right now without going into another fit of rage. I had already smashed one of the lamps and knocked over the side table, I was acting like a child throwing a tantrum.

“Carlo?” she called, her voice was soft but not broken, like she was being gentle for my sake. “Look at me, please?” I still didn’t turn around. “Are you mad at me?” she tried again, that got me to turn around.

“What? God no, Mia. Why would you think that?”

“You told me to be careful and I was anything but. I drank too much and let those guys hang out with us. I know it was stupid. I mean I
knew
I was being stupid, the warning bells were there but I just wanted to let loose and not worry about anything for one night.”

I moved quickly to where she stood at the threshold of the bedroom and took her in my arms, resting my head on top of hers. “Stop it, you didn’t do anything wrong. I’m pissed at Angelo and I’m furious at the situation but not you, never you, sweetheart,” I kissed the top of her head and squeezed her harder, I didn’t want to let her go. “Come on, you need to get some rest.” I led her into the bedroom and tucked her into the bed. I kissed her head again and turned to click off the side lamp.

“Where’s Gina?” Mia asked in a sleepy voice.

“Gina is fine, just drunk. She’s sleeping it off in your room. This is my apartment,” I replied.

“Oh,” Mia whispered and something seemed off about her voice, “Hey Carlo?”

“Yes?”

“Will you stay with me?”

“I am, I have to wake you up every couple of hours because of the concussion, remember?”

“No,” she let out a breath and started again, her voice just barely above a whisper. “Could you, just, could you just hold me. Please? Just for tonight, I don’t want to be alone.”

My heart stopped, then started thumping double time in my chest. “Of course,” I climbed onto the bed from the other side, careful to stay on top of the covers, and wrapped my arms around her again. She rested her head on my chest and it just felt right. I had never done this with anyone, never just held someone like this. Normally I would have considered it way to intimate an act but with Mia it seemed completely natural.

Just as I was about to fall asleep she spoke, her words muffled against my chest. “Thank you,” she said. I didn’t have to ask her what for, her tone told me it wasn’t just one thing. I understood.

I gave her a small squeeze, “You’re welcome, love.”

Chapter 12

Mia

The weeks following the attack at the club flew by. Gina ended up staying an extra week and we took full advantage of the pool and the early summer sun. It was about all we could do while I healed. It’s not like we could go out in public while I had yellow and green bruises all over my face. The only change in my routine were my self-defense lessons with Angelo every morning.

Carlo had been reluctant when I first brought it up. It took two straight days of bargaining on my part but I eventually convinced him. He only had two conditions; the first that my lessons would be held at the house by Angelo and the second was that I could never complain about spending his money again. The latter had been tough on me, but I begrudgingly conceded.

The first week of training had been brutal. I had experience with taking a hit, but day after day of being hit, tossed, flipped, and choked was something else entirely. Angelo was careful to use just enough force to get the picture across without truly injuring me but my body was still incredibly sore and bruised. I had thought he would teach me how to get out of holds and enough moves to give me time to get away like the defense classes I had seen on TV or the short lessons they taught in PE at school. Boy was I wrong. Angelo was training me the same way he would train one of his men, and he was relentless.

“Again!” Angelo shouted as he stood over me. I was flat on my back on the grass in the side yard where we had taken to practicing. Angelo had just flipped me over his shoulder from a chokehold I had him in.

“Aren’t you supposed to be teaching me how to flip
you?”
I asked, trying to catch my breath.

“You have to learn to recover quickly, what if they throw you to the ground? You have to learn how to fall, learn how to recuperate and strike before they have a chance to attack you on the ground.”

“I need a water break before you start tossing me around again,” I said. I had to keep reminding myself this was my idea, I had asked for it and he was giving it to me. I got up from the grass as quickly as my sore muscles would allow. I stretched my arms above my head in an attempt to loosen my stiff muscles. I was wearing a black racer back tank and Lycra capris workout pants so I could move around easily without the constraints of regular clothes.

I walked a few yards over to where I had left my sweatshirt and water bottle. “Ugh, my muscles are so tight I don’t know if I can keep doing this today,” I said in between gulps of water. I could tell my face was flushed from exertion and sweat ran down my back. We had been at this for hours already and the summer heat was starting to get to me.

“That’s fine. We need to stretch you out before we call it quits though, otherwise you won’t be able to get out of bed in the morning. I worked you harder today than I have before and I don’t want you to pull something.”

I put down my water and started doing the stretches Angelo had taught me. I was never much for sports aside from the occasional yoga class with Gina and her mom so this was new territory for me. I reached my arms above my head one at a time and stretched out my sides, then moved to my back, spreading my legs into a wide stance and bending over to touch my hands to the grass in front of me. I bounced a few times enjoying the pull in my muscles. Angelo cleared his throat from somewhere behind me and I popped back up looking at him curiously from over my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said immediately, “Lay down on your back and I’ll work on your hamstrings.”

I did as I was told and laid on my back in the grass, offering him my right leg first, he got down on one knee in front of me and pushed my leg gently toward my head. Angelo was an inch or two shorter than Carlo and his body was leaner. He had taken his shirt off during our practice and I was finally getting to enjoy the view without the interruption of being attacked.

Angelo was gorgeous. His abs were picture perfect with a little happy trail leading from his belly button down below his low slung workout pants. I noticed a scar along his left flank, about three inches long, and the skin was raised and jagged there as if it had been patched up by someone who wasn’t a skilled physician. The closer I looked at him the more scars I noticed on his torso and arms, further proof he was the enforcer I knew him to be. 

When he switched to my left leg I became distinctly aware of the fact that I had this extraordinarily dangerous and undeniably sexy man between my legs. My heart started to race. I hadn’t been oblivious to the fact that Angelo was good looking. With his almost black hair, longer on the top and shorter on the sides and those dark brown eyes coupled with his tan complexion, yum. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome.

While I had noticed he was attractive, I hadn’t noticed how
sexy
he was. He had my left leg almost all the way to my head now and he was looming over me. Using his right shoulder to support my leg so he was leaning directly over me and between my legs. I looked up at his face and my heart stuttered at the intense way he was looking at me. From this close, the tension was palpable. I was almost certain he could feel the heat coming from my core. I was so turned on I couldn’t think straight. Our faces were just a few inches apart, with a slight shift of my body I could have his hips cradled between my legs and his mouth on mine.

My desire must have shown on my face because in an instant Angelo let go of my leg and stood up, “I think that’s enough for today,” he said, reaching down to help me up. My head spun with exhaustion and lust when I was back on my feet. I had to give my head a little shake before bending to pick up my things and heading back into the house.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I went straight for the shower when I got to my room. I was acting like a dog in heat, panting at any hot guy in front of me, first Carlo and now Angelo. But Carlo had never been a viable option, he was eleven years older than me and he was supposed to be my new brother. That was all sorts of fucked up. Angelo on the other hand was only twenty-four, much closer to my eighteen, and from the bulge I had noticed when he dropped my leg he wasn’t completely unaffected by me.

What am I doing?

I couldn’t believe I was trying to rationalize having a fling with my personal bodyguard. This is not a movie and I am not Whitney Houston. I changed into my swimsuit and grabbed my worn out copy of
Beautiful Disaster
by Jamie McGuire. Maybe some quality time with Mr. Maddox would get my mind off of the sexy men in my life.