her pregnant. If you did, you were expected to do the right thing by the child. As for the child’s mother, well, it was widely known that Luca Benetti didn’t allow others to get in between a man and his wife, but the children of the neighborhoods and of the Benetti Family were always looked after. However, there was one exception when it came to marriage. If The Holy Trinity ever got wind that you beat your wife, you were handed over to Ciro for…sensitivity training. You could have a mistress, or a bundle of little bastards all over the place, but no one was allowed to beat on the women in their lives. No one.
“What do you feel like eating?” I asked, even though I already knew the answer. On her late days, she grabbed a to-go salad because she didn’t like to go to sleep with a full tummy.
She looked over at me as I started the car. “They have great salads at the Deli on the corner of Demount and Spruce.”
“Okay.” I backed up and pulled out of the parking spot and drove towards Demount. I wasn’t hungry, but I didn’t want Mia to feel uncomfortable eating by herself. Once we got her a salad and me a chicken salad sandwich, we headed to my place where shit was going to get settled once and for all.
Chapter 6
Mia~
The Mob sure wasn’t hurting for money.
Granted, I knew that much from the way I was raised, but Nico’s condo was proof that my brother and I weren’t special. Michael’s apartment was just as classy and exquisite as Nico’s, not to mention, I was able to go to college without any financial burdens. I knew the Made Men in the Benetti Family did very well for themselves, I just never wanted to think too much about the things they had to do to get ‘promotions’ and pull down the amount of money they made.
The condo was an open-floor plan, and spacious as hell. Then I inwardly winced when it occurred to me that the place needed to be spacious in case he had to lay out bodies side by side or something. I had to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, carrying our food to the kitchen table. The kitchen was spacious enough to have a table and an island with a bar that rounded the island. It was a pretty neat design. His house was also colorful, with surprised me. I expected simple masculine blacks and whites like Michael’s place.
“Honestly?”
Nico placed the food on the table and looked up at me as I strolled into the kitchen. “I insist on nothing else,” he replied coolly.
I grinned. “I was thinking your condo was so spacious because you needed the extra room to lay out bodies that might be in need of disposing.” Nico blinked at me, and then he threw his head back in a genuine, heartfelt laugh. I sat down and just enjoyed the sight.
God, he was beautiful.
Once he got himself under control, he started taking our food containers out of the bag and setting up dinner. He had a stunning smile, and that dimple was to die for. “For the record, no, that is not why I like the space. However, that’s something to consider should the occasion ever call for it.”
“So, no laying out bodies?”
“Not here,” he replied wryly.
He sat down and we started eating in silence. It was eerily comfortable. I knew I should be experiencing feelings of betrayal and violation to my privacy, but, oddly enough, I wasn’t. I was shocked, but not entirely surprised to know someone watched out for me. It would have been naïve to think that after years of knowing my every move, Michael suddenly didn’t feel the need to watch me constantly anymore. Especially, considering why he felt that way in the first place. My mother had sold me for drugs when I was eight. The night her boyfriend and buyer, was showing up to collect, Ciro Mancini and a few of his men had shown up first. When they caught Michael stealing a gun from a Benetti shipment, they had questioned him and found out he had stolen the gun to protect me.
That night, the Mafia had saved both me and my brother, and have continued to look after us. I should have known there was a Nico of some sort or other in my life.
“So, I know that you were assigned to me when you were only fourteen,” I