by Lux Miller
I glance up at her, a look of surprise surely written all over my face. “Are these for school?”
Noemi blushes slightly as she grabs the pile of books in front of me and drops them into the box alongside the rest. She shakes her head, “Not exactly. They’re just some, uh, light reading…”
I cough and blink at her in surprise. “You consider Jane Eyre light reading?”
She shrugs and reaches for another mound of weathered titles. This girl must have a hundred books in varying thicknesses here. The one common thread is that all are hardbound and neatly organized. I don’t know what system she’s used to sort them, but it’s clear that something has been done to keep the collection from being a chaotic mess.
She sighs and laughs a little. “I’m not a weirdo, I swear. My father pulled me out of traditional school when I was fifteen and insisted I was educated by private tutors. As such, I didn’t have many friends. And between Luca being busy and Dante being distant, in jail, or in rehab… it was a little lonely. These…” She sweeps her arm over the remaining books that she’s yet to put into the box, “...gave me an escape.”
I stand up and walk over to the closet, trying to busy myself with pulling clothing off hangers. As I pull and fold, I realize that despite being the daughter of a Mafia King, she has very little designer clothing. Most of it is typical teenage fare, and I’m not sure if that’s because of her choice or because she’s held a grudge against Luca. I’ve no doubt in my mind that he’d have provided her anything she’d asked for, if she was allowed to ask. I nod as she continues to tell me about the books and why she has so many.
“They let me dream and imagine that I was anywhere but here. Far off places with strong female leaders who didn’t need men around twenty-four-seven to protect them. I wasn’t even allowed outside at one point. And all because of some threat that never even materialized.”
She sighs as she runs her hand lovingly over the leather cover of a thicker book. She stands up and walks over to me, then hands it to me. “I know you think I’m a spoiled brat that’s ungrateful for having the world at her fingertips. I wish it was that simple. I should be appreciative of being granted the life of a princess, but truth be told, I hate it all.
“I don’t hate my brothers, for the record. I hate the family for taking them away from me. For making them slaves to the name. This family took everything from me. My freedom… my brothers… my father. He was far from perfect, but he was mine and the only man in my life who hadn’t abandoned me. And now he’s gone too… I guess it just reinforces the lesson that I learned at an early age. Eventually, everybody leaves…”
NINETEEN
“Not always,” comes the almost amused voice from the doorway. I turn sharply from the rack where I’m pulling Noemi’s clothing off of hangers, nearly dropping the stack of flowy material off my arm. From where I’m standing, I can’t see the owner of the voice, but it’s vaguely familiar. I couldn’t put a face to it if my life depended on it. Noemi, however, is clearly friendly with whoever it is, because the look on her face is about as far away from distress as it could possibly be.
I poke my head out of the closet and gasp as my gaze lands on a figure that I’ve absolutely seen before. I gather up the clothing into both of my arms and walk quickly out of the closet, trying to disguise my face from the man I recognized instantly as a New Orleans Police Officer. I’m doing everything I can to squash the panic creeping up my throat. Laying Noemi’s clothes out on the end of her bed, I stare at her incredulously as she continues to drop book after book into the box.
No snappy comeback? No wary defense? Up until a few minutes ago, Noemi looked like a feral cat ready to bite my head off every time I saw her. And now, no freaking out with a police officer standing in her room? To be honest, Noemi doesn’t even seem to be surprised. I’m being careful not to turn my face toward the door as I fold each piece of clothing and pack it into a separate box that’s stationed on Noemi’s bed, but I do cut my eyes at her questioningly.
I refuse to turn around and see if the guy has gone yet or not, but the hairs prickling on the back of my neck tells me he’s still standing there. I cut my eyes at Noemi as she looks up from her books, and she bursts into a fit of giggles. Her voice is relaxed in between giggles as she tries to talk, “You… look… like… you’re...about… to bolt…”
I hear rustling behind me, followed by footsteps, and my entire body freezes as I drop the shirt I was folding onto the bed. The voice is louder and much, much closer now as it reverberates behind me. “Relax, Emily. I’m just here to do my job…”
Spinning around, I glare at him with silent accusation written all over my face. He smirks at me as I stare at him dumbly. How the fuck does he know my name? He chuckles as he stops in front of me, then glances over at Noemi. “She looks like she’d stab me with my knife if I gave her the chance to grab it.”
My hand twitches as my eyes drop to his waistband, looking for the telltale signs of weapons. His chuckle turns into a bellow as he realizes what I’m doing. He flips the bottom of his shirt up, revealing a well-defined stomach and, as I suspected, the butt of a gun protruding from the top of his jeans. His voice is low but amused as he adds, “Standard issue, nothing fancy… but you’ll never find the knife.”
Beside me, Noemi makes an indignant noise, then turns back to her books, trying to pretend to be busy. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to notice that she’s openly ogling the man through the curtain of hair that’s fallen across her face.
Finding my voice, I force out, “How do you know my name?”
His smile widens as he drops his shirt and holds a hand out to me. “The name’s Kyle. I work for your boyfriend. I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I didn’t recognize the woman he’s been dating for nearly six months, now would I?”
Before, I can grasp his hand, my gaze shoots up to his face. As our eyes meet, I narrow mine like I’m trying to decide if he’s full of shit or not. “You work for him? Or you work for him?”
Kyle leans in close to me, grabbing my hand as he does and pulls me almost flush against him. It’d be an intimate gesture if not for the awkwardness that follows. He leans his mouth to my ear and whispers, “Il lupo attende.”
I gasp and jerk away from him, snatching my hand out of his as my eyes widen. I shake my head wildly as his definitive answer catches me off-guard. It takes me a minute before my voice recovers, “What did you say?”
Noemi looks up from her books, tilting her head to the side as a curious look crosses her face. “Don’t mind him, Emily. He may look mean, but Kyle’s harmless to anyone on the right side of the family. He’s my personal guard. You’ve nothing to worry about with him.”
My head ping-pongs back and forth between Noemi and Kyle for a moment as my brain tries to digest this new information. Finding my voice once more, I squeak, “Since when?”
Kyle grimaces and gives me a look that says I’m treading dangerously close to fucking something up. Noemi’s voice interrupts my thoughts as she nonchalantly replies, “Oh, almost three years I guess. Since right after my father jerked me out of school.”
I keep my eyes focused on Kyle as I push for more answers, “Really… and what exactly does his…” I clear my throat, then continue, “...position entail?”
Another male voice, deeper and more commanding answers me from behind Kyle. “He serves in much the same function for Miss Noemi as I do for you and used to do for Luca. We’re considered shadow-guards. Where you are, we are. Where you go, we go. It’s a fairly full-time job. I’ve been employed for a twenty-four hour detail for Luca for years, and I essentially live in the same house as you because it’s Luca house. Kyle’s employed as a shadow-guard when needed and therefore lives offsite and holds dual employment.”
Noemi cuts in indignantly, “And since my father didn’t allow me to leave the house for like ten thousand years, it’s been a while since Kyle’s been around more than a couple hours a week.”
Kyle nods
at me, but the look on his face tells a completely different story from the confidence in his voice. His expression is silently begging me not to pry into his story right now and to accept it at face value, but his voice is calm and collected like it’s no big deal.
“Thanks, Mike. Yeah, we function in similar capacities, depending on what’s needed from us. With the loss of Matteo…” Kyle performs the sign of the cross before me, then continues, “...the ladies were essentially under locked-down house arrest, so my services weren’t needed as often. With Luca loosening the reins a bit, he’s asked me to come on under a near twenty-four hour detail similar to Mike’s, so you’ll be seeing a lot more of me in the coming weeks.”
I nod my head slowly as the fakest smile I’ve ever managed blooms across my face. “Oh, goodie…”
My face must be screaming that I don’t buy any of it, because Mike slips around Kyle into the room and gently, but forcefully grabs my arm, nodding toward the door with his head. “I think we should, erm, I uh, need your help in the other room again. With… things.”
Glancing up at Mike, I can instantly see the bullshit all over his face, though he stoically attempts to disguise it as worry. Well, maybe he is worried, but it’s isn’t about whatever the hell is in the other room. As soon as we clear the door to Noemi’s room, Mike pins me against the wall, his hand still wrapped almost-painfully around my bicep as the wall bites into my back.
I squirm against his grip and am just about to open my mouth and say something I’ll likely regret when Kyle steps out of Noemi’s room and pulls the door shut quietly behind himself. He stands beside Mike, both of them dwarfing me ominously. Kyle may not be as big as Mike, but he’s still intimidating. The look on his face is about five seconds from murderous.
“You can’t tell her,” he states simply, his voice agitated.
I glare at him as I continue to struggle against Mike’s hold on me. “I can’t tell her what? Is it some big secret that you’re a c—”
Mike shakes his head and firmly plants his hands over my mouth. “Yes, that. It is. You can’t say a word to her.”
I jerk my head away from Mike, anger boiling inside me as the full weight of what they’re asking me to do crashes over me. Shaking my head, I hiss at the men like an angry cat, “So you want me to lie to her? She literally just started not hating me. She might even trust me a little bit. And you want me to smash it all to bits by lying to her? Hasn’t she been lied to enough in her life?”
Mike shudders at my tone, but clamps his hand right back over my mouth, this time leveraging the weight of his body against mine to keep me pinned against the wall. “It’s not so much lying as it’s withholding the truth. It’s a necessary evil mandated by my Boss.”
Mike narrows his eyes at me to make a point and continues, “ I don’t know what code you followed before, but my code is simple… stay loyal to my leader and follow his orders.”
Kyle speaks up, reconfirming Mike’s statement. “She doesn’t know, okay? And there’s a good reason she doesn’t. I know you’ve no reason to, but you’re going to have to trust me…” He motions to himself and Mike, then continues, “...trust us on this. Bianca doesn’t know either. And we’d like to keep it that way.”
I struggle against Mike, twisting against his firm hold, but there’s no escape until the man wants to let me go. He’s simply too powerful for me to wriggle free. With the way Kyle is staring me down, I wouldn’t make it far even if I could somehow get free from Mike. Kyle has the audacity to chuckle as I continue to struggle, “I can see why Luca likes her. She’s feisty.”
Mike nods, a low rumble vibrating in his belly as he suppresses most of a laugh. “Likes is the understatement of the year. And this is nothing, Givens. Given the right circumstances, she’s as dangerous as he is. She pulled my own gun on me and held me at gunpoint.”
Kyle shakes his head, a surprised look crossing his masculine features. “No way. Wait, you’re serious? Somebody got the better of the Beast?”
Mike shrugs and pulls his hand off my mouth, ignoring Kyle’s retort. He looks at me hard and admonishes me, “They don’t know for a reason, and it involves their safety. And before you even consider asking, yes, Luca knows. He’s the one who discovered Kyle was an undercover. Instead of abiding by the mafia code and exterminating the rat, Luca granted him clemency, much to Matteo’s chagrin.”
Kyle nods, then adds, “Matteo was a man of unwavering loyalty and duty, but his princess was his top concern. When Luca proposed that I take on the detail position, it wasn’t really a choice. I was more valuable to them alive than dead. Seems to be a running theme, wouldn’t you say?”
Mike nods knowingly and looks at me as it dawns on me that Kyle was essentially given the same choice I was, but in a different capacity. Clearing my throat, I ask quietly, “So… is it always Luca’s reaction to finding a potential leak to plug it with an ultimatum?”
Narrowing his eyes at me, Mike shakes his head. “Truth be told, the only two people Luca has ever spared from the law of the land and instant death… are standing in this room right now. In appreciation for the pardon, Kyle wisely transferred his loyalty. He’s still otherwise employed under the guise of being undercover. But he’s undercover for us, and keeps us abreast of investigations that are getting a little too close to home. His continued employment with the city is under Luca’s discretion.”
Kyle nods solemnly, “And if I’m caught, I’ll be tried for treason for crimes against the city. The city may largely turn a blind eye to the underground, but they won’t be forgiving to find one of their own embroiled in its ranks.”
“While Noemi is a sweet girl, she’s a bit clueless to how the real world works. Plus, she has a big mouth. If she knew about my duplicity, I don’t think she’d be able to keep it a secret. Furthermore, let’s be honest here... she still sees her father as a shining white knight with few, if any, flaws. He’s the man she put on a pedestal as perfect. And his stance on police was clear. He had no use for them in any capacity.”
I squirm against the heaviness of Mike’s body pressed against mine, and he relents, taking a step back so I can finally breathe. I could bolt if I could distract him, but it won’t do me any good. Kyle’s standing less than five feet away, and he dwarfs me by over a foot. He could probably throw me over his shoulder effortlessly and that would take us back to square one.
And then I’ll have to listen to a lecture from Luca about how I shouldn’t run from his hired guards, no matter how badass I think I am. That I’m no match for the emerging threats that may be linked to me.
I inhale and stare at Kyle. I know that I’m giving him the stink eye, but it’s a necessary evil to find out his game. I chew my bottom lip and ask the question that’s been burning in my mind, “So let me make sure I understand… Luca gave you a choice?”
Kyle nods, a heavy sigh coloring his response, “He let me choose which end of the gun I wanted to be on, yes. But you and I both know, it wasn’t really a choice. As I’m sure you’ve discovered, there is much that goes on underground that the ignorant folks of New Orleans know nothing about.
“The rules of the game dictate that there be a line in the sand, but the truth of the matter is that neither side is wholly right and neither side is wholly wrong. There’s deception on both sides. There’s black and there’s white and in between there’s the rest of us in varying shades of grey. Those of us who toe the line between this side or that are the ones who will decide in whose favor the game ends.
“Do I regret my circumstances? Sometimes. I’m sure we all do. Do I regret my choices? No, because they’re mine. I could have laid down and accepted defeat, but instead, I chose to rise up above my circumstances and make a difference. I’ll never regret accepting a job that protects innocents like Noemi… and you… from the likes of—”
Kyle’s cut off by the sound of Mike clearing his throat very loudly. I glance over at Mike just in time to see a curt shake of his head offered in Kyle’s direction. Kyle
casts his eyes at the floor for a swift moment, before looking back up at me with a quick nod.
The seriousness on both Mike and Kyle’s faces fades as Noemi’s door pops open. She pokes her head out into the hallway and tilts it sideways as she looks at the scene in front of her. “What are the three of you doing out here? Luca says today is it for me getting my stuff.”
Kyle’s face breaks into an easygoing smile as he shrugs and walks back down to where she’s half-hanging out of the room. He brushes her arm gently. “Nothing that can’t wait. Do you require assistance with anything?”
Noemi nods as she wrinkles her nose and stands up straight, motioning him into the room. “I need help with these books. They’re incredibly heavy and there’s no way I can lift the box that she packed…”
She points down the hallway at me and I shrug innocently. “Luca said you could bring ten boxes of stuff. I was trying to maximize space. Besides…” I walk down to where Kyle is standing outside Noemi’s door, waiting for her verbal permission to enter the room. I smirk as I run my hand slowly over his bicep, then pat his forearm as I keep my gaze focused on Noemi for her reaction. “...with all these big, burly men around, I’m sure one of them can manage the only slightly-heavy box. If not, I’ll get it.”