DeLuca (Mafia Romance)

Frankie

Present

I held the tears in all the way home. I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. He’d pulled that shit on purpose to get to me. He didn’t deserve any more of a reaction than he’d gotten.

It was dark and eerily silent in my apartment when I got home. My heart was pounding in my chest as I rushed around turning on every light and double-checking the windows and doors. Once I was satisfied there was no one else there with me and no possible way for someone to get in, I went to my bedside table and pulled out the gun Enzo had given me for protection when I first started working for Carlo.

I’d never had a need for it. My contribution was behind the scenes, and only a handful of people knew that my work for the DeLuca family went beyond my legitimate IT job. Enzo had taken me to the outdoor shooting range Carlo had set up in a clearing far out on his property, so I knew how to use it. I just wasn’t particularly comfortable with it.

Taking a shaky breath, I placed it on the nightstand, along with a box of ammunition. I didn’t keep it loaded, even though I realized that an unloaded gun would do me absolutely no good in an emergency. Having a loaded gun just a foot away from my head every night while I slept freaked me the fuck out. Staring at the gun, I wondered if the situation arose, would I be able to pull the trigger?

A loud banging on my front door caused me to jump. My breath caught, blood whooshed in my ears, and my pulse pounded. I slowly slid the magazine into place, switched the safety off and chambered a round, just like Enzo had taught me. My hands were shaking as I slowly crept to the front door. I had to switch the gun from one hand to the other so I could wipe my clammy hands on my pants.

The pounding on the front door started up again, the sound echoing loudly off the exposed brick walls of the apartment. This time though, the pounding was followed by Enzo’s voice.

“Frankie, I know you’re in there, open up!” he hollered through the metal door.

I let out a huge breath I hadn’t known I was holding and rushed forward pulling off the security chain and flipping the two deadbolts before flinging the door open. I was so relieved it wasn’t someone trying to kill me that I didn’t even think about how furious I was with him just moments ago.

“Jesus!” Enzo exclaimed as he clocked the gun in my hand. “Here, give me that thing.”

He took the gun from me, closing and locking the door behind him. He didn’t say a word as he went around the apartment checking all the windows and locks. My anger from before had rekindled and was burning in my stomach again as I watched him do exactly what I’d done not ten minutes before.

Does he think I’m incompetent?

Finally satisfied, he came back to where I stood. I hadn’t moved an inch since he walked in.

“Why are you here?” I asked abruptly before he had a chance to say anything.

“I’m sorry for what I said. I was out of line, but that doesn’t change the fact that I need to keep you safe. This isn’t something I’m going to give on; I don’t want you to get hurt. Your safety is my top priority-always.”

I scoffed, I had to. His words were laughable, because my physical safety was the only thing he cared about. The hurt he’d caused me over the years was immeasurable; just because it didn’t leave physical scars, didn’t make it any less painful.

“I’m serious, Franny- ”

“Don’t…” I warned.

Enzo groaned and ran a hand over his head. “Sorry. But I’m serious. Someone came into your apartment while you were sleeping without you knowing. Do you have any clue how fucking dangerous someone like that is? It takes a lot of balls to do something like that, or an insane person. Either way, it’s way too dangerous to let you stay here by yourself.”

I considered his argument. He was right, of course. I’d been determined to not let some crazy person run me out of my home or give into Enzo, but the moment I’d come home to my dark apartment, I knew that staying alone wasn’t going to be an option.

“Fine,” I said choosing what I hoped was the lesser of two evils. “You can stay here, but I have conditions.”

Enzo cocked his head to the side slightly. “What?”

“You sleep on the couch, don’t eat my food without asking, don’t touch my shit, and hands off the Red Bull. Don’t even fucking ask.”

“Done,” he said, a stupid grin tugging on the corners of his mouth.

I rolled my eyes. The least he could do was pretend he wasn’t enjoying my surrender. Leaving him standing there, I stalked to my bedroom and slammed the door. I wasn’t trying to act like a child, but he brought out the worst in me-always. After I changed into my pajamas, I realized I hadn’t given him any bedding for the couch.

So much for my dramatic exit.Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.

Pulling a pillow off my bed, I headed out to the living room, stopping in the hall to pull out a sheet and spare comforter from the closet. Enzo had made himself comfortable on my couch, feet kicked up on the coffee table, one hand resting on the back of the couch while the other flipped through the channels.

Just seeing how casual he was pissed me off. It was the only reaction I allowed myself. Because if I wasn’t angry about it, I might’ve found that I liked having him in my space, sitting on my couch and channel surfing like it was the most natural thing in the world.

“Here,” I said sharply, throwing the bedding as hard as I could at his face and turning on my heel to storm back into my bedroom. Before I reached the hallway he called out to me.

“Thank you, Frankie. I mean it. Thank you for not fighting me on this.”

I paused for a second. I didn’t have anything to say in response so I just nodded sharply and hurried to my room.