Riding Dirty: Luciotti Crime Family (A Bad Boy Mafia Romance) - Kara Hart Page 0,41

is he tied up in this? I wondered. Everything was getting a little too weird for me.

I took a small sip and set the glass down. He did the same. “I’m from the Luciotti family,” he stated, leaning back in his chair and carefully observing how I reacted.

“Is that supposed to mean something to me?” I asked.

“You don’t know about us?”

“No, I don’t. Can you just tell me what the hell is going on already?” I asked, feeling as though my head was about to burst.

“Those men in those pictures. See that one on the right, with the cigar? That’s Chris Giocanda. He was one of the first wise guys to join our crew. That was before my time, of course. I never really knew the guy. My father, however, has a lot of stories about him. Now, see that other guy? The one with the angry look on his face? That’s Joe Viatola. He was a tough son of a bitch and I knew him plenty before he died. I can go on if you’d like,” he said.

“You’re telling me that…” I stopped speaking. There was a knot in my throat that I couldn’t swallow.

“You had me figured out a long time ago, I guess,” he sighed.

I whispered, glancing out of my peripheral to make sure no one else was around us “The Mafia?” I swallowed loudly, feeling my body temperature start to rise.

“I like to use the phrase ‘organized crime’,” he said.

I stood up out of my chair and backed away from the maniac. How many people had he killed in his lifetime? How many poor families had he run into the ground? He was evil. He was worse than Cade!

He grabbed my arm and said “Sit down.” I slapped him clear across the face.

“Get away from me, you maniac!” I shouted. “I'll scream! I swear to God, I'll scream!”

“What the hell?” He felt his cheek and took a step back. “Calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. That's not my intent.”

“Tell me … have you?” I choked out the question, feeling my body start to shake. Last night was so great. But now everything was falling apart. My old life came flooding back into plain sight. And there was the question that begged to be answered: what was I going to do? Better yet, where were Jen and I supposed to run to next?

“Are you asking me if I've killed someone before?” he asked, somehow straight faced and calm.

“Yes. I need to know,” I whispered, standing as near to the door as possible.

“Yes. I have,” he said.

I felt my body weaken. I grew faint with disgust and dread. “I need to leave now,” I whispered. I hoped to god he would let me out, that he wasn't one of those psychopaths who kept women in their freezers. “Never talk to me again,” I said.

“Wait, you don't understand! They weren’t normal, good people.” I unlocked the door and backed out onto the porch. “They signed up for the same life as me. We all know the rules of the game,” he said.

The rules of the game. Was that how he saw all this? A game? In any case, I didn't want to stay and find out. “Goodbye, Lucas. I wish we had never met,” I said. Jen would be out of school by now and I needed to figure out a plan of action for us. We weren't safe now. Not with Cade. Not with Lucas.

12

Lucas

“Fuck!” I screamed as I destroyed every God damn thing in the house. “Mother fucker!”

The worst part wasn't knowing my rage was useless. It was knowing I wouldn't be able to get her back. A man who lived a life of crime? Hell no. A woman like her knew better than to stay with a man like me.

So I smashed everything in the house. The pictures on the wall, the kitchen table – everything. The bottle of wine might have been the only thing left for me there. I fell to the floor, breathing heavy and deep, and reached for the bottle. I drank that half within seconds and went to searching for more. When there was none to be found, I called my brother.

“Ricky. It's time to burn the city down,” I said.

He didn't even need to respond. He was there within the hour.

His heavy footsteps echoed against the trees outside and slowly made their way to my porch. “Lucas? Oh, shit. Brother, what have you done?” He sighed as his