They all rarely did anything without permission from Carter or Nathan, and they hadn’t ordered the death of the contract killer. They’d have probably commanded the man be brought in for questioning, make sure he was the right guy.
“Davina,” Kyle called for her again when she didn’t answer his question, and once again, she didn’t respond. “Answer me now, please,” he commanded. He didn’t like to pull rank on the woman, but if he had to he would. Carterina wasn’t the only Stone Davina worked for. “Where is he?”
She looked up at him with eyes full of annoyance. “I didn’t mean to kill him,” she answered through clenched teeth.
Releasing a long groan, Kyle dropped his head forward. “Davina,” he sighed. “Why would you go against their instructions?”
“You must understand, Kyle. I am still trying to learn to control myself. The ways of my teachings are still burned into me. I am DelACot.”
Del-A-Cot.
Delavigne, Arion, and Cotalina. Three families of assassins that resided in a secret society purposely separated from the rest of the world. Far too complicated for Kyle to even begin explaining.
Shaking his head still, Kyle stood from his seat. It didn’t matter where she came from, or where she received her training, she went against orders. “Nathan will not care, Davina. Do you realize what you have done?” he yelled. “Do you realize that he could have helped us prove Don Bonaducci the aggressor? I could have fast tracked this entire fucking peace deal!”
“Don’t yell at me, Kyle,” she stated, offended by his tone. “I said I made a mistake.”
“Did he come at you? Try to kill you before you killed him? Because if he didn’t, my yelling is nothing compared to what you’ll hear from Carterina regarding your lack of ability to follow her orders.”
“I did follow her orders,” she defended. “I found the killer.”
“That was all that you were supposed to do, Davina!”
“What is this?”
The abrupt appearance of Lucca at his door nearly startled them both.
What the hell?
Jumping slightly, Kyle glared at his brother. “Lucca,” he said sharply. “God, can’t you knock or something? Make your presence known.”
Lucca’s brows furrowed slightly. “What is all of this yelling?” he asked, completely ignoring Kyle’s words. “I can hear you all the way in my office.”
“We’re having a meeting,” Kyle answered. “It’s nothing.”
Seemingly unsatisfied with Kyle’s response, he looked over to Davina. “Ms. Delavigne?”
Glancing at Kyle, then back to Lucca, Davina stood to her feet. “I went against orders,” she stated firmly. “I was to just find the killer hired to take the Don’s life, but after some words were exchanged between us, I took it upon myself to kill the man.” She glared toward Kyle’s direction. “The consigliere was not pleased with my misbehavior, hence the yelling.”
“Hmm,” Lucca hummed with a nod. “Do you mind sharing the words exchanged between you two?”
There was a moment of hesitation, before she nodded her head. “I will share the offensive words that brought on his sudden death.” She sighed. “Many refer to me as ‘the dark beauty’, but this man thought it funny to suggest that I be called a ‘black cunt’ instead.” Her eyes shined with fury at the recollection of the encounter. “I pierced his throat with my hair pin, and sadly, he passed away.” She straightened herself, resting her shoulders back and lifting her chin. “I may be a little rough around the edges in the eyes of the men in this organization, but I still have feelings. I will not be called a derogatory term. Regardless of what you all may think of me, I am a lady, and I expect to be treated as such or there will be consequences ….” She clasped her hands in front of her. “I am prepared for any punishment that is given to me.”
“No,” Lucca responded immediately, confusing both Davina and Kyle.
She looked in Kyle’s direction, then back to Lucca. “But I must tell them—”
Lucca cut her off with a shake of his head. “They don’t need to know. We’ll just tell them the hired hand was a lie. There was no contract on Nathan’s life.”
Kyle protested to that immediately. They’d never kept anything like that from Nathan before. “Lucca, I cannot keep something like this from Nathan.”
“But you will,” he said entering the room farther, and walking over to Davina. “No one has to know about this, Davina. You will not be reprimanded.”
“I don’t fear the consequence, Underboss,” she said, looking up at him. “The most they will do is yell at me, or maybe,” she shrugged, “kick me out of the conference room for a while until I learn how to follow orders.”
Lucca shook his head. “You will not be yelled at, nor will you be excused from where you are needed. That man’s life was worthless, and you will not be reprimanded for taking it. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
She didn’t respond, she just continued to stare at him silently.
“Consider your mistake forgotten, Ms. Delavigne.”
After a second more of silently staring, Davina nodded her head. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Lucca smiled. “You can thank me over dinner,” he said.
The invitation seemed to catch her off guard, and honestly, it caught Kyle off guard, too.
Davina recovered far more quickly than Kyle had, and looked up at Lucca in confusion. “What? Di-dinner,” she struggled with her words.
It was out of character for her. She seemed amusingly … nervous. This was fucking fascinating.
“I, umm …” She shrugged her shoulders.
“You’ll be here late tonight, right?”
She nodded. “Uh … yes.”
“Fantastic, so will I. You like Mexican cuisine, am I right?” Lucca walked over to the phone. “There’s a restaurant a few blocks away. I know a guy, I can have them deliver to us tonight, say around six. I’ll meet you in your office.”
She frowned. “Umm … yes. You’re talking about Juan’s?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“That’s interesting. It’s my favorite restaurant.” Her head cocked slightly to the side. “How did you know?”
Lucca chuckled. “Lucky guess I suppose. I enjoy the food there as well.”
Kyle frowned. What? That was bullshit. Lucca didn’t even eat Mexican food.
“I know how late you work,” he continued. “Maybe I can assist you.”
Davina’s eyes widened slightly. “How do you know how late I work?”
It’s because he stalks you, Kyle thought, fighting against laughter. This was so fucking good, and yes, he would definitely be sharing Lucca’s creepy ass interaction with Davina with the guys. The ass whooping Lucca would surely give him would be well worth it when he got the chance to laugh at his obsessive ass.
“So it’s a date?” he asked, ignoring her question.
Kyle ran his hand over his face. God this was brutal.
“A date?” she repeated, a hint of alarm flashing through her eyes. She shook her head. “I … uhh. If by date you mean you assisting me with my work … only my work.”
“I assure you, Ms. Delavigne,” Lucca took a gentlemanly step back from her, “my only intentions are to assist you in business, and buy you some dinner.” He shrugged. “I’ve recently realized that, though you and I are always near one another, we’ve never really had the chance to get to know each other. I’d like to rectify that. Show you I am much more than an,” he chuckled, “‘angry man’. That is all.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “You will behave like a gentleman?”
“Of course, Davina,” he replied, his tone serious. “I wouldn’t think of behaving any other way in your presence. You have my word.”
There was still a bit of hesitation in her response, but eventually she nodded her head. “Well, I guess I could use the company, and help …” Clasping her hands in front of her, she gave Lucca a nod, then Kyle. “Good day, Kyle. And I supp
ose I’ll see you at six,” she stopped walking, and glanced over her shoulder, “Lucca,” she whispered, then exited the office.
Okay, what the fuck? Never had he seen Davina so timid, nor Lucca so … nice. He felt like he’d just entered the fucking twilight zone.
“What the fuck was that?” he asked his brother, trying to get his attention. “And why are you still staring at the door, Lucca? She’s gone. Try being less of a fucking creeper, man.”
“That was the first time I have ever heard my name pass through her lips,” he said, still staring at the door. “She’s quite an interesting woman, don’t you agree?”
Kyle snorted. “Very much so,” he agreed, still confused by her behavior. “I’ve never seen her so timid. It was almost as if she was shy.”
Which was ridiculous because Davina wasn’t the shy type—at least Kyle didn’t think she was—but after that awkward interaction, Kyle was wondering if he actually knew as much about the woman as he’d thought he did.
“Of course she’s shy, brother,” he said softly. “She is attracted to me. Her hesitation to be alone with me is something I expected.”
Kyle blinked, caught off guard by Lucca’s arrogance. “Uhh, what?” He almost laughed. “The woman never speaks to you. Not once have I seen her have a single conversation with you, and now all of a sudden she’s attracted to you?”
“Yes, she is,” Lucca answered, walking toward his desk. “I could explain it to you, but I’m afraid you wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Shrugging, he cocked his head to the side. “For your information, the society of DelACot is a very traditional society,” Lucca explained. “Conservative. Too complex to explain with limited time. I’m surprised—with you two being so comfortably close—that you haven’t taken the time to educate yourself on the culture.”
Kyle chuckled at the ‘comfortably close’. “Are you jealous of how close I am to the woman you covet, brother?” he asked, jokingly. “I can assure you our friendship is far from romantic.”
“To say I am jealous would be implying that I see you as a threat.” He laughed softly. “I don’t.”
Kyle rolled his eyes at the Salerno arrogance.
“She is not attracted to you.” He shrugged. “Plus, you pine over another woman, not Davina. Aren’t you happy you’ve decided to man up and confess your crush after all these years?”
Kyle let out a frustrated grunt. “You know, Mikilo, Dante, and Nathan had the decency to at least act as if they had no knowledge of my affections for Reanna before our engagement.”
“That is because they fear hurting your delicate little feelings, brother. I, on the other hand, am not afraid to call you a bitch.”
“I’ve told the woman I love how I feel, and we are getting married. Therefore, I am doing far better than you, brother.”
Lucca chuckled softly as he reached forward, sifting through the documents on Kyle’s desk. “Yes, after years, you finally confessed your love. So proud of you.”
“Fuck you.”
Kyle wasn’t surprised when Lucca only laughed at his sharp words, but it still annoyed him.
“Whatever,” he said, his laughter dying off. “I am proud of you, Kyle. I didn’t lie about that.”
“I know,” Kyle replied, looking up at his brother.
Lucca gave a nod of his head. “What else do you have for today?” he asked. “I’m headed to a meeting with a potential associate.”
Glancing down at his watch, Kyle sighed. “It’s almost lunch. I tried to see if Mick wanted to grab something, but he’s headed to see Aria.”
“Aria?” Lucca frowned. “The chef that fucks him, but has a thing for Nathan?”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “Please don’t start with that shit again, Lucca.”
Lucca and his fucking theories. Since the beginning of Mickey and Aria’s relationship, Lucca had been against it based on his random belief that the young woman had ‘not so innocent’ feelings for Nathan, who considered the woman nothing more than a younger sister.
“I speak no shit, brother,” Lucca defended. “But go ahead and believe what you all must.”
“We only believe what’s true,” Kyle interjected. “Aria is in love with Mickey.”
“Bullshit,” he protested, shaking his head. “She’s with Mickey, but that’s only because she hoped he’d be more like Nathan than he is. This kind-hearted, protective killer.” He chuckled softly again. “She’s no better than a fucking groupie. He needs to end it. Listen to me, I’m older than you. I know of what I speak.”
Kyle nodded. “Of course you do,” he said sarcastically. “Your knowledge in romance has definitely aided you well in your tireless pursuit of Davina.”
“Fuck you.”
Kyle laughed, sitting back down in his seat.
Lucca picked up Kyle’s stapler and tossed it at him, hitting him on the arm. “I’m working against forces you couldn’t imagine, Valente. And I happen to be right on track in my pursuit of Ms. Delavigne, thank you. I will make her mine, and it won’t take me two fucking years to do it.”
Rubbing his arm, his laughter calmed. “Say what you want about my methods, but unlike you, I just spent the weekend with a beautiful woman that adores me.”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “I was alone because I chose to be. I’ve taken a vow of celibacy until I marry Davina.”
“Marry her?” Kyle frowned. “Why until marriage?”
He smiled slightly. “Wouldn’t you like to know …”
Kyle’s brow rose in question. “I actually would.” Lucca was even more of a nympho than Kyle was. Celibacy was not a word Kyle would have ever thought he’d hear Lucca use. That was unless he’d said the words ‘I will never embrace …’ before it.
Of course Lucca didn’t explain anything to Kyle; he just shook his head, as he reached forward and tapped the edge of Kyle’s desk. “In the future, brother, if there’s an issue with Miss Davina, do me a favor and voice your disapproval in a calmer manner. I’m afraid I may not remember that you are my brother next time.” He looked up at Kyle. “Understand?”
Pressing his lips together to keep from smiling, Kyle nodded. “Fair enough,” he said. “I apologize.”
He’d known Lucca would bring up the interaction between him and Davina eventually, and he completely understood. Even though he was amused by how love seemed to have made Lucca even more homicidal than usual, Kyle knew from experience that walking in on a man raising his voice at the woman you love was fucking infuriating.
“I’ll be sure to mind my temper next time,” Kyle vowed.
Seeming pleased with Kyle’s response, Lucca nodded. “Very well. What’s on your agenda for the rest of the day?” he asked again as he mindlessly shuffled around the papers on Kyle’s desk.
Kyle’s phone vibrated, briefly stealing his attention. “Meeting with David,” he answered, pulling his cell from his pocket. When he saw the name on the screen he immediately frowned, turning his screen toward Lucca.
Lucca’s brows rose. “Aniyah?” He chuckled softly. “I thought you handled that.”
“I did.” And he’d prefer that it remained handled. “Why the fuck is she calling me?”
“Why does any ex call after a break-up?” Lucca shrugged. “She probably is not in complete agreement in regards to the ending of your relationship.”
Kyle rolled his eyes. “I seriously don’t need this shit.” Promptly, Kyle declined the call. “I was kind, and I explained all that I was willing to in the message I sent her. What the fuck else could she possibly be expecting from me? I’m not going to sit down with her and explain my reasoning for ending things with her like she’s a fucking child. I said I was done, and that should be that.”
Lucca shook his head. “If only that were enough …”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
He sighed, turning back to face Kyle completely. “It means that its not as easy as all that, brother, and you of all people sh
ould know that.”
Kyle blinked. “And why should I?”
Pressing his lips into a frustrated line, Lucca’s nostrils flared in annoyance. “What the fuck kind of question is that?”
“A reasonable one.” Kyle shrugged.
“You should know that because …” Lucca closed his eyes, seeming to calm himself, then opened them back up swiftly, narrowing them on Kyle. “You should know because, in your past, you are notoriously known for making women who are normally upstanding citizens in society, lose their fucking minds with rage whenever you decided—in their opinion—out of nowhere, that you no longer want anything to do with them.”
Kyle opened his mouth to say something, then quickly decided against it. The man had a valid point. The evidence was there in the many women he’d fucked around with in the past; Kyle really couldn’t argue against the claim.
Lucca shrugged, continuing to make his point. “All I’m saying is, although you may wish that shit would just move along smoothly now that you have everything you want, it’s probably not going to be that easy at first.” He frowned, a serious expression falling over his face. “There are bound to be a few bumps in the road, brother, that’s just life. Don’t expect your sudden ending of a near two-year … whatever the fuck you had with that woman to be over without a hitch. To expect something like that would be unrealistic, Kyle.”
And just as the man finished talking, Kyle’s phone began to ring once again.
Aniyah. Shit!
“You know how much I don’t like to say that I told you so, but—”
The man’s words cut off with deep laughter when Kyle picked up one of the folders on his desk and threw it at him.
Fucking asshole.
Staring down at the screen Kyle groaned, running his hand over his face. “Fuck,” he muttered as he pressed the answer key, and brought the phone to his ear. “What the fuck do you want, Aniyah?”
~*~
Reanna had always dreamed of the moment when she’d tell her sister she was getting married, that she would finally be able to right the wrong of her past and do things the right way.
Dangerous Beauty: Part Four: Beautifully Broken Page 34