Ciro didn’t say anything, but I knew his eyes were on me the same as Luca’s. I finally managed to find my voice. “Frankie,” I repeated, tossing back my whiskey. Fuck savoring.
“She’s the only person from the neighborhood that doesn’t know about Massimo yet,” Luca explained. “And he made it clear he’d like to see her before it’s too late.” I knew Luca wasn’t asking permission. His decision was already cemented in his dark gaze. “I’m not going to deny that man whatever it is in my power to grant him.”
I didn’t blame him.
I couldn’t.
Massimo was a good man, and he gave himself to us lost, neglected children and, if he wanted to see Frankie, then it’s the least he deserved.
I let out a deep breath and stood up. Ciro already had the whiskey bottle in his outstretched hand for me as I grabbed it and drank straight from the bottle. I knew I was going to pay for this tomorrow because, like Luca and Ciro, we didn’t drink to get drunk. We always had to have our wits about us, and that was nonnegotiable. So, since I wasn’t a heavy drinker, I could see a hangover meeting me first thing tomorrow.
The bottle was held tight in my hand as it hung at my side. I looked over at Luca. “Okay.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. Again, he wasn’t asking me for permission. He was letting me know he was bringing Frankie back. And, knowing Frankie, I knew she was going to come running once she found out why she was needed. She loved Massimo just as much as the rest of us.
I stared at Luca and I knew he already knew what I was going to say. He could see it written all over my face, just as I’m sure Ciro could. “She doesn’t get to leave,” I told him. “She can come back to see Massimo, but she doesn’t get to go back to Cedar Creek, Luca.”
Luca’s expression remained stoic as Ciro mumbled, “Bloody hell.”
Luca finally gave me a tight nod and said, “I figured as much.” He let out a rare chuckle. “I’ll also let you be the one to tell her.”
“Thank God,” Ciro burst out. I turned to look at him. His brows shot up. “What?” he asked. “This is Frankie we’re talking about. The fuck I’m going to be the one to tell her she isn’t going back home. And we’ll be up to our ears in bullshit if she ups and kills Luca for telling her, so, yeah, thank God it’s not me.”
“You’re a dick.”
“Maybe,” he conceded. “But it won’t be my balls gripped like a vise in her fucking hands.”
Ignoring Ciro, I turned back to Luca. I barely survived letting her walk away the first time, there’s no way I’d survive it a second time. I knew it and so did Luca and Ciro. “You can’t interfere,” I insisted. I was talking to him as both a friend and our Underboss. Luca and Frankie had been tight. They had a bond that no one could deny. If she went running to Luca, begging for freedom, and he gave the order to let her leave, I’d have to let her. Or die for disobeying a Benetti’s order. He knew it and I knew it.
“You have my word, Phoenix,” he replied. “But only because I know Francesca still loves you. Her time of running is over, and she needs to be back where she belongs.”
“How do you know she still loves me?”
“Because it’s been six years, Phoenix. She hasn’t been on one date in six fucking years. The girl still loves you. She just happens to still be pissed off.”
“Or she knows that if word got back to Nix that she was dating someone, the poor fuck would end up six feet under,” Ciro chimed in. “I mean, the girl’s not stupid.”
“Thanks, Ciro,” I remarked, flipping him off.
Luca smirked. “It doesn’t matter if she still loves him or not. The tides are turning, gentlemen, and it’s time for Francesca to come home.”
Her Highness was finally coming home.
And it was about fucking time.
Chapter 4
Francesca~
Five more minutes until my break. Wednesdays were just as slow as Tuesdays, so it felt pointless to take a break, but our shift manager was very adamant about following labor laws. That being said, I made a quick round of my section and informed everyone that I’d be taking a break soon, but Sabrina would help them should they need anything before I got back.
I had just walked into the back and was about to take my apron off when Mona walked into the employee break area. “Hey, Frankie.”
“Hey, Mona.”
“I know you’re on break, but there’s a guy out there insisting that he be waited on by you.”
What?
My brows furrowed. “Is it Edmond?”
Mona shook her head. “No, it’s not. But I gotta tell you, girl, if you don’t serve him, I sure as hell will,” she replied. “The man is tall, dark, handsome, and more.”
My stomach dipped as I froze in the middle of untying my apron. “What?”
Moan fanned herself in true dramatic fashion. “The man is gorgeous, Frankie. Dark hair and black fucking eyes. I mean, have you ever seen someone with black eyes? They’re fucking stunning.”
My heart stopped in resignation.
I’ve only seen two men in my life whose gazes were as black as evil, and that was Luca and Giovanni Benetti. Even Luca’s two younger brothers, Leo and Sal, didn’t have the Giovanni Benetti black eyes. Only Luca. Leo and Sal had their mother’s eyes, mossy green. And while they looked like Benettis through and through, Luca was the only one who resembled his father one hundred percent.
“He’s insisting on me?”
“Yeah. I told him you were going on break, and he said that was perfect. Which
