“I want to talk to Luca,” she said, straightening her back and wiping her face.
“I’ll walk you up,” I told her. “Until you get your hand scanned, you can only get into our apartments if one of us lets you in.” I decided to break the news to her since we were already on a shitastic start to the day. “So, until then, you will be holed up in one of our apartments or with one of us at all times.”
“When am I scheduled to get my hand scanned?” she snarled.
I couldn’t help my smirk. “Once you’re done speaking with Luca and realize there’s no escape.”
“This isn’t over yet, Phoenix,” she claimed.
“Yes, it is,” I responded. “Luca won’t help you. Neither will Ciro.”
“Why marriage?” she asked. “I can take my rightful place with you guys without marrying you.” Frankie was pissed. Her voice held a note of contempt in it that I’d never heard before from her.
My back straightened and I regarded her as someone who wasn’t aware of how close I was to killing her. She was lucky I loved her as much as I did. “Because no other man will ever have you, Frankie,” I answered. “And no matter how mad you are at the disruption of your life, I know you still love me. I know it like I know my own name.” Her lip curled and I knew she was about to get vile. “You can tell yourself last night was just sex all you want, but you and I both know better.”
“And you’re so sure,” she scoffed.
“I am,” I told her. “But even if I wasn’t, you still don’t have a choice. I love you, and I’ll kill every swinging dick in this fucking city before I ever see you with another man.” She ignored my claim and turned to walk away. “Where are you going?”
She didn’t bother to look back as she answered, “I’m going to take a shower and get dressed, so I can go see Luca.”
“There’s also a secret staircase that leads to Luca’s penthouse and a secret passage that leads to Ciro’s apartment,” I informed her, figuring I might as well let her know everything. “I’ll show you the access to each passageway later.”
Crickets.
I waited until I heard the bedroom door slam before I ran my hands through my hair and let out a deep breath. I wanted to tear the place apart, but that wouldn’t do anyone any good. Only Frankie could turn me into a raving lunatic. Even the fuckers I killed didn’t ignite this kind of rage. Of course, I wasn’t invested in anyone the way I was with Francesca, but still.
The fucking girl was going to drive me crazy.
But if I was going to go insane, I was taking her with me.
Chapter 14
Francesca~
Luca’s penthouse was even more magnificent than Phoenix’s apartment. Phoenix had escorted me into the elevator and one floor up to Luca’s place, and when the elevator opened, it led into an open space where two guards stood on either side of the receiving room. Phoenix had given them each a nod in acknowledgment before placing his palm on the scanner that opened Luca’s front door.
What had surprised me was, the second I was led into the foyer of Luca’s penthouse, Phoenix had placed a kiss on the side of my head and left the same way we came in. I hadn’t known what to do, so I had sat down on the settee that sat along the right side of the room. Not two minutes later, I looked up as Leonardo and Salvatore Benetti came walking towards me. I immediately stood up in a poor show of strength. I had nothing against the two Benetti brothers, but I didn’t trust them either.
Where Luca was the spitting image of Giovanni Benetti, Leo and Sal looked like both their father and their mother, Carlita Benetti. They had the Benetti black hair, but they had green eyes like their mother and a set of dimples designed to fool people into thinking they were kind men. And unless things had changed, I also knew Leo was the kinder of all three Benetti brothers, where Sal was evil. Luca was hard and unfeeling, but Sal was sadistic like their father.
They both looked surprise to see me, but neither of them stopped to say hello. It was then I noticed Luca walking behind them. Leo smiled as he past, but Sal smirked, and it wasn’t lined in humor. However, I wasn’t about to question it. I’ve been gone too long to make assumptions about what these men were capable these days. I knew Luca wouldn’t let them harass me, but I wasn’t going to borrow trouble either.
And then I remembered the marks.
Since I had only been coming up to see Luca, I hadn’t bothered with covering my neck, dressed in only a black t-shirt and jeans. Leo was a gentleman enough to ignore the violent marks, where Sal was probably getting off on them. And while there wasn’t anything I could do about them now, I knew I’d have to wear a scarf for the foreseeable future outside this building.
Luca waited until Leo and Sal exited the front door before addressing me. “Francesca,” he greeted. “Phoenix said you wanted to talk.”
I stared into his striking face and saw the boy who used to crawl through my bedroom window and sleep in my arms. No matter how broken he was, no matter how battered and bruised he was, he always let me gather him close and sleep in my arms. Giovanni Benetti used to beat his son so severe, I often wondered if Luca would live to see adulthood. Since the age of seven, and he was nine, I
