13. Luca

Isit in the club, watching, waiting. Carmine suspected a group of Americans could be soldiers of Niko's. It doesn't take long for me to determine they're likely employees of the U.S. Embassy located up the street. So, I relax and enjoy my drink. Tonight, once I return to my apartment, I'll call Aria, and I hope to hear her enthused voice tell me about buying a wedding dress. I'm regretting my heavy-handedness with her before I left. My conscience hasn't let me forget the hurt I saw in her eyes.

But I feel like I know her well enough to believe that she'll get past my behavior and return to being the effervescent woman who captivated me from the moment I saw her. I love her energy and how she sees the positive and fun in nearly everything. Being around her lifts me, lights me up, and I don't want to lose that. I definitely don't want to be the cause of her inner glow dimming.

So, I'll call her later and prod her to share her day. I'll let her know the plans so far for the wedding, the vows, the flowers, and the cases of champagne I've had ordered. Maybe I can coax her into phone sex. My dick twitches at the possibility.

My thoughts of Aria are interrupted by Electra sauntering up to my table. She sits, and her hand slides up my thigh, brushing over my dick. It retreats from her touch.

I lift my glass of scotch to my lips. "Remove your hand." I down my drink and prepare to leave.

She defies me, cupping me. "I can still make you happy. Your wife?—"

I turn my head to look at her with an expression I normally reserve for my enemies. "I said, remove your hand."

She flinches and jerks her hand back. I see fear for a moment, but then she comports herself. "Have I done something to earn this disdain? Have I not been good to you? Have I not pleasured you well enough?"

I sigh. It's not her fault that Aria has effectively cut off any attraction I once felt for Electra. Or any woman. Electra was a favorite of mine for a time, but she's certainly not the only woman I've fucked.

"I enjoyed our time together, Electra, but now it's over." I rise and button my coat.

"Over?" She stares up at me in confusion. "How will I?—"

"You've been well compensated. Your work pays you well, does it not? And you're welcome to find someone new." I glance over and see Gino watching us again. If he's generous with money or gifts, Electra will be happy to service him.

"I don't want someone new. I love?—"

"I'm getting married." I see Bruno nod at me, letting me know he needs to talk. "I have to go. Ciao, Electra." I leave before she can respond. I head to the back office where he and Carmine are waiting.

"We got a call from Tomaso. Aria took a car and is heading to Rome."

Immediately, my gut clenches and I go on alert. "What?" I pull my phone from my pocket wondering if she called me, then I remember I took her phone. I planned to give it back to her with a new SIM card on our wedding day. The day she would be mine. So there's no call from her, but I see one from Tomaso.

"He said he tried to call you. He checked with the house, and apparently, she misses you." Bruno smirks.

"She's coming to me?" The tightness in my chest loosens, but not all the way.

"That's what Issa told Roberta."

"And she took a car?" Why didn't she have one of my men drive her?

Bruno is stifling a laugh. "Not the Lamborghini or Maserati, though."

Good. She might kill herself driving those. "Do we have tracking on the car she took?"

"You don't think she's coming here?" Bruno asks.

I don't want him to know my concern that perhaps Aria changed her mind and is exercising the permission I gave her to return home. "I'm worried she'll get lost."

"Oh. Right." He pulls out his phone, presumably to find the location of the car Aria took. A moment later, he says, "She's on the E80 heading south."

I nod. That's how to get to Rome. It's also how to get to the airport. But she wouldn't just leave. I told her I'd let her go if that is her choice. She has no reason to run away from me. Plus, she told Issa she missed me. I'm worrying for nothing.

"Keep an eye on her. I'm heading back to the apartment." I have to get ready for her arrival.

Bruno nods. "What about the Americans?"

"They look like government workers, but keep an eye on them as well." It isn't like I don't have government officials and law enforcement on my payroll. Niko could bribe someone here to spy on me.

As I make my way out of the club, Electra stops me again. "You can't just throw me away."

Irritation flares. "You're trying my patience."

She swallows hard but holds her ground. "I deserve more?—"

I lean in, wanting her to see the seriousness in my eyes. "I don't owe you anything. If you're not careful, you'll have less than you have now."

I push past her, nodding to one of my men, who steps in front of her to block her from following me.

As my driver brings me back to my apartment, I arrange for a meal, champagne, and flowers to be delivered. I'm not a romantic man, or at least I haven't been. For the most part, I don't care much about what women think of me or how I treat them.

Not that I go out of my way to be an asshole, but wooing a woman isn't something I've ever done. Not until Aria.

It's a little disconcerting how much effort I've gone through to make her mine. And now, I'm doing things to make sure she doesn't change her mind. The woman has me wrapped around her finger, and I can't deny that I don't like it. No one should have power over me like that. But I know she's the one for me, and so I'm going to do what I have to do to make sure she stays with me.

When I arrive home, I pour a glass of scotch and then go to my room to change into something more casual, hoping it will make me look less like a Mafia Don and more like the man she ran away to be with.

Thirty minutes later, my order arrives. My guesstimate is that Aria will arrive in twenty minutes, so I put the food in the oven. I set the flowers out and put the champagne on ice to keep it cold. Then I wait. That's another new experience, and it too is unsettling. I've waited a lot for Aria. I'll make my apologies to her for my brutish behavior the other night, but I also will make her understand that I've done a great deal against my usual nature for her. She can't question my commitment anymore.

Nearly thirty minutes later, I'm feeling agitated. Is she lost? Does she even know to come here? I'm getting ready to call Bruno, but my phone rings from him first.

"Where is she?" I demand.

"She's at the airport."

My heart drops. She's leaving. I don't like how it feels to know this woman I've put so much time and emotion into is betraying me like this, so I resort to the emotion I can manage best. Anger.

I have two options. Have one of my men who works at airport customs stop her and drag her back to me. Or I can let her go and never think of her again. I don't like either option.

"I've called Arturo to keep an eye on her," Bruno says of my customs agent. "Do you want him to stop her?"

Fuck. I do want him to stop her, but if I do, she'll hate me. Normally, I might not care, but something about Aria makes me need her respect and affection. Plus, I'll kiss my business in the United States goodbye, as Niko will burn everything I have there down. I could fight it, but my holdings there aren't strong enough yet.

She doesn't want me. That realization hits, and again I'm filled with anger that she'd treat me like this. I'm Don Luca Conte. I'm not going to be brought down by a woman.

"No. Let her go. I'm done with her."