“When Dante died, Dante Sr. tapped Luca to take over. From what James said, his cousin Marco was vying for the spot, but Dante Sr. wanted his boy to take it.”
“Sowhat kind of shit is Luca involved in?”
“That’s where it gets interesting. From what I can see,he mainly focuses on legitimate businesses. It’s only in the last two years that he’s had a hand in the illegal side of the family. He relies on Marco to be the heavy, but they run the whole gamut of shit. Blackmail, extortion, gambling, guns, drugs, sex work, pretty much what you’d expect.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this shit last year?”
“Because I didn’t dig this deep. Everything I saw was white collar and not that dangerous. I thought you’d want to know that your boyfriend could do time, but I had no idea it was this serious or dangerous. I’m sorry I didn’t do a thorough job last time around, but Luca is not who you thought he was.”
“He’s a bad guy. He’s a fucking criminal.”The words were ash in my mouth.
“Yep.”
“And I should leave this all be. Forget him.”A sharp pain stabbed behind my eye.
“Absolutely.”
I started shoving all the pictures and documents back into the folders. “Well, thanks for this. Can I keep these?”
“Sure.”
Stacking the folders, I placed my hand on top of them and dropped my chin to my chest. Deep breaths couldn’t calm me. My sweet Luca was a fucking criminal. He’d probably killed people, or at the very least, hurt someone.
Suddenly, all the scars made sense. He wasa part of a violent world.
Itried to wrap my head around this new information butcouldn’t reconcile the man who so gently loved me with some hardened criminal. I needed to hear the truth from his lips. I would—
“Are you going to be okay?” Malcolm startled me out of my thoughts.
I shook my head.
“Do you want me to call Ashley and get her over here?”
Lifting my eyes, I shook my head. “I’ll be okay. Ashley would only complicate things.”
He nodded. We both knew how black and white things are to Ashley. Her world never operated in the gray.
For the first time that night, I really looked at Malcolm. By his usual standards, he was a mess. His edges were crisp, but his styled waves had grown out to curls, and a thick black beard covered his usually cleanly shaven, dark brown skin. Instead of a tailored suit, a simple t-shirt and dark jeans covered his unbelievable six-seven frame. The man was still unbelievably attractive. His relaxed look was maybe sexier than his typical clean-cut style, but he looked exhausted and rumpled. His separation from Ashley was taking a toll.
“How long are you two going to fight?”
Shrugging, he pulled his phone from his pocket. “Until she answers my calls, I guess. I fucked up, but I really thought I was doing the right thing. Idon’t know,I just miss her.”
We stood in the dining room silently while he scrolled through his phone.
“My Uber’s here. Please be careful and don’t do anything rash. Don’t make me regret giving you this information.”
“Yes, father.”
He cracked a smile as he waved goodbye.
Against my better judgment, survival instincts,and all the logic in the world, I knew I needed to see how deep Luca was in this organized crime bullshit. I was about to be extremely stupid and reckless,and I could only blame it on the drive to know who exactly the man I desperately loved truly was.
EIGHTEEN
I sat in the corner of Sunrise for four consecutive mornings before Beth Cooper finally made an appearance. When we were together, she never started her day without a hipster-approved latte.
The barista called her name, and as she turned, her brown eyes widened when she saw me at what used to be “our table.” Lacking her usual grace, she collected her coffee and stood looking toward the door and then back at me.