Mafia Heir

Chapter 30

Luca

When I left Charlotte, I went straight to the bar. All I could think about was numbing the thoughts swarming my mind right now. I fucked up. I was an asshole. I was stupid. And Charlotte had called me out on my shit.

I was used to having the upper hand in conversations--strong-arming and bullying people into what I wanted. When you were as powerful and intimidating as I was, it was easy to do. But with Charlotte, all it did was blow up in my face. She was right. I couldn't approach her the same way I did nearly everyone else in my life, not if I had any hopes of this working out. I had never had any woman I cared about like Charlotte. Any woman I was scared to lose. And when she kicked me out of the studio tonight, that possibility was at the forefront of my mind.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and nearly turned around swinging until I heard Angelo's voice.

"Is it working?" He smirked, sitting down on a barstool next to me.

"Is what working?"

"Drinking away all of your problems? You feel better?"

I rolled my eyes. "Not in the slightest. I feel worse."

"Reggie told me what happened. I guess he overheard some of your fight with Charlotte."

"Reggie needs to learn to keep his head down and mind his own business. Guy can't even follow orders." I pressed my glass to my lips, taking a big gulp of whiskey and letting the slow burn warm me up.

"You and I both know how persuasive Charlotte can be." Angelo chuckled. "Give the guy a break."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and Angelo ordered another round. My conversation with Jenni was still weighing heavy on my mind. I didn't want to fuck this up more than I already had. What if I wasn't the right person for her? What if she really was too good for me and I was holding her back and trying to force her into a role I wanted her to play, just like Elena said? How did I make sure she was safe, while still keeping all of the parts I loved about her intact?

I wouldn't know what a functional relationship looked like if it hit me on the head. The only examples I had were my own parents and Elena and Antonio, and neither of them were prime examples. So far, I never let it get far enough with a woman to be an issue--keeping them out on a limb, like Jenni said. But if I didn't figure it out soon, I was going to lose Charlotte.

"So what are you going to do?" Angelo asked, slugging the last of his beer back. "Sit here and drink with me all night or get apologize to your girl?"

"She made it clear she doesn't want to speak to me." I let out a sharp laugh, replaying the conversation in my mind.

"What exactly happened?"

I let out a heavy sigh. "Reggie texted me that Grant was there, and that Charlotte was trying to get him to leave. So I went over, and I found Charlotte and Grant alone in the back room together."

"Doing what?" His eyes widened.

"Absolutely nothing." I chuckled. "In fact, she was kicking him out. But all I saw was red. I jumped in and threatened to kick his ass. And when he left, I told her that if I was another Don I would beat the shit out of her."

"Jesus, Luca." Angelo looked at me like I was insane, and maybe I was. Telling the story again made it sound even worse than experiencing it the first time. "What did she say?"

"She said she wasn't going to be with me if I was going to treat her like one of my soldiers and that I needed to go home and think about it."

Angelo burst out laughing. "Girl's got guts, I'll give her that. But honestly, she's right you know..."