I narrow my gaze on her. She really does know more about the Mafia way of life than she's letting on.
"Is he angry?" Penny giggles nervously.
Yes, he is. He's angry on my behalf. He's pissed off that I lost the lead role. In fact, he looks so enraged, he looks like he’s going to tear the building apart with his bare hands. Or, more specifically, a man.
"Oh hell." Yep, I’m allowed to use hell when I swear, just not the F word. At least, not aloud. I can think it though.Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He reaches for the handle to the door and I leap forward. "Stop." I close the distance to him and grab hold of his outstretched arm. Not that I can stop him, for he grips the handle.
"Stop it. Don’t do this."
He twists the handle.
"Luca. Stop," I yell.
He blinks.
"You can’t hurt him. He had a point. As the lead actress of this musical, I should have been there for the rehearsals every day. And I wasn’t."
"Because of me." He glares at the door as if he can shoot through it with laser eyesight. "You couldn’t make it because of me."
"I didn’t make it because I was kidnapped."
He swivels to face me. "Thatbastardotook you only because of some warped plan to get back at me and my family."
He’s right and I don’t know what to say to that. It could have been me, or it could have been someone else. But... "I’m glad it was me."
His gaze widens. His nostrils flare. "Care to repeat that again?" he asks in a low voice.
I release him. "You heard me." I wrap my arms around my waist. "I’m glad it was me, okay? I’m not happy I lost the lead role, but on the bright side, because of that, Olivia gets to be the lead. And if it’s not me, then I’m glad it’s her, so it’s not all bad."
"And why is it that you’re glad it was you?" His lips curl.
Jerk. He knows exactly why, but he’s going to make me lay it all out for him. Typical.
"I’m not going to say whatever it is you are trying to get me to confess."
He releases the door and turns to face me. "And what am I trying to get you to say?" His eyes gleam. He puffs up his chest, and if his shoulders get any bigger, he’s going to go into full happy Hulk mode. Is there such a thing as a 'happy' Hulk? No matter.
I tip up my chin and jut out my lower lip. "You know."
"No, I don’t."
"You know and that’s why I agreed to marry you."
A shriek splits my eardrum.
I don’t need to turn my head to know that was Penny. "You’re marrying the mobster?" she gasps.
Olivia doesn’t say anything, but I sense the unspoken questions she’s chucking in my direction.
I hold my hand, palm face up, in their direction, signaling I can’t deal with their inevitable interrogation.
"You know why I’m marrying you," I say in a voice low enough only for him to hear. "Because you saved my life, and because it’s a deal to help you with your family situation."
"You accepted the deal because you wanted to get back in time to make it on stage and now you won’t."
I shuffle my feet. "It doesn’t matter."