Riding Dirty: Luciotti Crime Family (A Bad Boy Mafia Romance) - Kara Hart Page 0,48
my grudge. It was a surprise finding out who he really was, but maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought he was.
“I know you are. You should be. I’m a bastard. I’m not one of those golden guys that every woman wishes they’d settle down with. I’m a hard man from the streets. Plain and simple. I don’t deserve your well wishes. I don’t deserve anything.”
He sighed and collected himself. “Look, here are the facts. He wanted to make a statement so he took your daughter. Obviously he knew we'd find her. He wanted us to. The big win for him was making an impression on Jen. We can't let him do that again,” he said. The way he wanted to protect Jen really got to me. Why did he care about us so much? What did he have to gain by helping us? The answer, of course, was nothing. If anything, he had more to lose than gain.
“Will he be back?” I asked, thinking about the trauma Cade had caused our family already. Seeing him face to face would be the worst thing that could happen to me right now.
“Have you really killed people before?” I squeezed out the words from my throat. Just the thought of it scared the hell out of me. However, it was information I needed to know.
“Sure have. Some very bad men. Men who have killed hundreds of other men. When you sign up to be a part of the underworld, you live by a code. We’re soldiers, Dahlia. Some soldiers get gunned down in the line of fire.”
“Is Cade a soldier then? Are you going to ‘gun him down’?” I asked him.
“If he touches anyone close to him again, I shouldn’t need to justify gunning him down. He’s not a soldier, no. But he’s a son of a bitch who deserves to rot for what he’s done,” he said. “And I’ll stick by that for the rest of my life.”
I lifted my head off his chest and found myself saying the worst possible thing I could. It was like I enjoyed falling into trouble’s arms. “Why don’t you stay here? You know, for the night. I’m scared Cade will come back for Jen. We could use the protection,” I said, eying the curvature of his shoulders. Was I really doing this? Again?
“Sure. Uh, I could do that. I'll patrol the house while you sleep,” he laughed.
“Well, I was thinking you could sleep in my room. It would make me feel safe. I think I need that right now. You know, to feel safe. That is, if you want. The bed is, er, comfy.” I stuttered and looked away awkwardly. Get it together, Dahlia.
“That sounds peaceful,” he said. He stood up, renewing his energy. “It's obvious you've had a tough week. Let me make it up to you,” he said.
“I'd like to see you try.” It was the first time I let myself smile since discovering Jen was missing.
“Maybe we could make a night of this bullshit and take Jen to the park to watch the fireworks. I'm sure she would rather be outside than cooped up here,” he said.
I had totally forgot. It was 4th of July and this holiday was one of Jen’s favorites. Back in Seattle, she would go crazy over the fireworks. “Jen would love that,” I said. “Just don’t be weird. This doesn’t mean we’re together or anything.”
He laughed and stood up, extending his hand. “Right. I’m just a hired gun. I think I can live with that.”
I grabbed ahold of his hand and he lifted me up onto my feet. “Jen!” I shouted, “Come in here!”
She ran into the room, holding a flower in her hand. “Mommy! I picked this for you earlier. Do you like it?” Half of the petals were missing and it looked like it had been sitting in her pocket for a good amount of time, but it was the little things that counted in this life and I loved it.
“It’s beautiful, Jen! Thank you so much.” I kissed her cheek and she hopped on her heels.
Lucas knelt down before her and asked “Hey, you don’t by any chance like fireworks, do you?”
“Yes!” She jumped.
“I was thinking, maybe we could go to the park and watch some tonight. What do you say?”
Jen couldn’t contain herself. She was already running around the room. “Really? You mean we can actually see some?”