Mafia Runner

Chapter Eighteen

18.

It was probably the most awkward breakfast I had ever attended.

Lucian had dragged me here after a shower. Literally.

He told me I was being juvenile by wanting to grab breakfast through a drive-thru window rather than sit down with the Romano family. Didn't he understand that his father didn't like me? Last night, I had been lucky to have avoided any conversations with Gabriele Romano.

Now, I had to deal with his disapproving stare boring holes into the side of my head. Like hell I'd strike up a conversation with him.

"Hey Mr. Romano, how is the crime scene developing under your asshole regime?"

I sat at Lucian's left with a silent Aria sitting on my other side. Blaise sat directly across from me with a knowing grin as he stabbed his scrambled eggs. He looked up, catching my eye and mouthed, 'nice hickey'. Pointing at the painfully obvious mark on my neck, the youngest Romano son snickered as I tried to stiffen my collar over the bite.

Luckily, I had packed a collared shirt for this morning.

Anything else would have shown Lucian's mark as clear as day.

Moving the hash around on my plate, I tried to ignore the tension rising in the room. I hope Lucian felt it. What the hell had he been thinking bringing me here?

Contessa was in her own world as she fed the new Romano addition and didn't feel inclined to break the silence. The baby, Siena, gurgled, spitting up the mashed-up baby food through pursed lips. It was bright orange, probably some squash or carrot mixture.

I didn't blame the kid at all.

I glanced at Lucian from the corner of my eye. I would have thought things would have been a little more awkward between us this morning. Instead, Lucian had been in an irritatingly good mood and had refused to let me retreat or second-guess what had transpired last night. And I really had no reason to second-guess what happened.

I still felt weak thinking how Lucian's hands and lips felt on me.

Lucian's dark eyes met mine and he gave a tight smirk, almost as if he were enjoying my suffering. Maybe the Romano meals were always like this. No one else was offering up any sort of conversation, so I didn't feel it necessary to start a subject.

"Good to see you again, Conti." Gabriele, of course, had to beak my hopes of no conversation with a gruff statement. "I heard you have a detective on your tail."

No pleasantries, no questions of good health, nothing but cool suspicion. However, compared to our last... conversation, Gabriele's cool indifference and interrogation was leaps and bounds more welcoming than his total disregard to my presence.

Next to me, Lucian made no move to defend me or divert Gabriele's suspicions away. I knew Lucian was only staying silent because he knew I could defend myself. I was oddly grateful for his confidence.

"Not so much me as Lucian," I responded, glancing in his direction out of politeness.

"He may be after Luciano, but he's using you to get there. He thinks you're an easy target, one that will give him free passage into the Family." Gabriele chewed his ham smartly, his dark gaze, while dark like Lucian's, somehow seemed duller. "You're not an easy target, are you, Conti?"

"No, I don't believe I am, sir." My tone was clipped as I tried to withhold my deep dislike from seeping through. "You have nothing to worry about."

Gabriele then broke out into a smile. It wasn't pleasant by any means. He wiggled a finger in my direction. "I was wrong about your appearance before, Conti. While you don't look a thing like old Benny, you have his wife's presence. She was always a minx, that one."