we came in. I hadn’t known what to do, so I had sat down on the settee that sat along the right side of the room. Not two minutes later, I looked up as Leonardo and Salvatore Benetti came walking towards me. I immediately stood up in a poor show of strength. I had nothing against the two Benetti brothers, but I didn’t trust them either.
Where Luca was the spitting image of Giovanni Benetti, Leo and Sal looked like both their father and their mother, Carlita Benetti. They had the Benetti black hair, but they had green eyes like their mother and a set of dimples designed to fool people into thinking they were kind men. And unless things had changed, I also knew Leo was the kinder of all three Benetti brothers, where Sal was evil. Luca was hard and unfeeling, but Sal was sadistic like their father.
They both looked surprise to see me, but neither of them stopped to say hello. It was then I noticed Luca walking behind them. Leo smiled as he past, but Sal smirked, and it wasn’t lined in humor. However, I wasn’t about to question it. I’ve been gone too long to make assumptions about what these men were capable these days. I knew Luca wouldn’t let them harass me, but I wasn’t going to borrow trouble either.
And then I remembered the marks.
Since I had only been coming up to see Luca, I hadn’t bothered with covering my neck, dressed in only a black t-shirt and jeans. Leo was a gentleman enough to ignore the violent marks, where Sal was probably getting off on them. And while there wasn’t anything I could do about them now, I knew I’d have to wear a scarf for the foreseeable future outside this building.
Luca waited until Leo and Sal exited the front door before addressing me. “Francesca,” he greeted. “Phoenix said you wanted to talk.”
I stared into his striking face and saw the boy who used to crawl through my bedroom window and sleep in my arms. No matter how broken he was, no matter how battered and bruised he was, he always let me gather him close and sleep in my arms. Giovanni Benetti used to beat his son so severe, I often wondered if Luca would live to see adulthood. Since the age of seven, and he was nine, I been the only person to see him fresh from a round with his father. I held onto his secrets and vulnerability fiercely, but I’ve never known why Luca had chosen me instead of Ciro or Phoenix to share that weakness with.
My chest filled with the bone crushing weight at how I left, without a word, leaving him to face his demons alone. I knew by the time we were in our twenties, Gio had stopped beating on Luca, but there were still times when Luca would come over, take me by the hand, and lead me out to the backyard where we’d sit in silence as I’d circle my arms around him. Ciro and Phoenix never questioned it, but even if they had, I would have never told.
My leaving had broken Phoenix’s heart, disappointed Ciro, and abandoned Luca.
“Yeah, if you have some free time,” I replied, realizing how stupid I sounded. If he didn’t have time for me, he wouldn’t have told Phoenix to send me up. I was nervous though.
“Come with me,” he instructed, and I followed him through his penthouse until we got to a door that led to his office. I had hurried to keep up with him, so I hadn’t had a chance to get a good look at his home, but what little I did see, it was breathtaking.
Once we entered his office, Luca guided me towards one of the brown plush leather armchairs positioned in front of his huge oak desk. He didn’t walk around to sit at his desk and that surprised me. Instead, he leaned up against the edge, looked down at me, and waited.
I took a deep breath and then repeated everything Phoenix’s told me since yesterday. When I was done, I asked, “Is it all true?”
Luca didn’t bother bullshitting me, and he didn’t ease into breaking the bad news to me either. “Yes. It’s all true,” he confirmed. No compassion. No softness. No sympathy. His tone was as exciting as an automated telemarketing call.
“Luca-”
“It’s been decided, Frankie,” he said, repeating Phoenix’s vile words. This was Phoenix’s confirmation that Luca wasn’t going to help me.