problem.”
“Thank you, son,” Bruno says, purposely ignoring me and I swear my heart cracks.
Marlene takes a step closer to him in all her french maid wet dream glory, but I bare my teeth and growl, “Don't even try it, bitch. Or I'll tear you limb from surgery enhanced limb.”
Ricardo looks taken back and Marlene takes a few steps closer to me. I don't hesitate to let her finally have it.
She screams when I pull my hand back and send a punch straight into her ugly face. “ That's for sucking his dick!” I scream.
She reaches for a napkin to stop the blood, which means she isn't prepared when I issue my next punch, which is even harder than the first. “And that's for trying to take my man!”
She yelps but I don't care. I'm not done with her yet. I snatch her hair and bash her head into the table. “And that's for not giving me any more goddamn wine!”
I feel a strong arm wrap around my waist. “ Jesus Christ , you gonna do something about this, DeLuca?” Ricardo yells as he hauls me back from a now very bloody Marlene.
Bruno glares at me. “Marlene, go upstairs and get cleaned up.”
“You're not firing her!” I scream.
“You just assaulted her,” he snaps.
“Since when have you ever given a fuck about the law before?”
“She has you there,” Ricardo whispers.
“Go upstairs and get the rest of your things,” Bruno orders.
“Wait,” Ricardo says while releasing me from his hold. “You sure you're okay to make it up all those stairs by yourself, Mike Tyson?”
“I'll be fine,” I say before I run out of the dining room—but not before screaming, “Fuck you, you prick ,” while giving Bruno the finger.
When I get up to my bedroom, I throw whatever things that bitch Marlene didn't pack, which was pretty much everything , into a few suitcases.
It's funny, I have about five suitcases stacked in one of my closets and I've never once used any of them.
That's when it occurs to me, maybe this is a fresh start for me after all.
I can't believe all the years I've wasted on him. I can't believe what I let him do to me.
The door behind me closes and I jump. A pair of arms wraps around my waist before I feel Bruno nuzzle my neck. “I love you so much, Bambina,” he whispers.
Now, I'm truly baffled. Not only is he telling me he loves me for only the second time ever in my life, but he's telling me this after breaking my heart.
“But you just—”
He puts a finger to my lips, silencing me. “You honestly think I could ever give you up, Lucianna?”
I shake my head. “I don't understand what's going on.”
He sits on the bed and pulls me close to him. “I would never give you up, not in a million years. I just need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
“I need you to go undercover and keep an eye out.”
“Huh?”
“My son has gotten very close to the two men he's training. I wanted him to coach them as a way to get him to become closer to me in hopes that it would eventually lead to him to taking over when I'm gone. However, I have a feeling that's not the way things are going to pan out anymore. He looks at those two men like they're his brothers. It's disturbing. I think his loyalty lies with them rather than his actual family.”
“So? I don't get what the problem is. If he doesn't want to be a mob boss, then why does he have to be one?”
His grabs my wrist so hard I wince. “Because he's a DeLuca . He's the only son I will ever have and he needs to live up to his name. He needs to take my place when I'm gone.”
“Okay,” I whisper. “I get it...now can you let go? You're hurting me.”
He ignores me and continues talking, “I need you to be my spy for the next few months. Maybe longer, depending on how necessary I think it is.”
“What sort of information do you need?”
“It's not information I need so much as I need you to become a permanent fixture in their life. Stir the pot a little between the three of them. Make their friendship fall
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