Bend Me, Daddy

This was Luca, the underboss. Even if we'd been in a crowded room, I would've known who he was. There was a sense of unmerciful power about him, tempered only by the possessive way he touched the woman with him. When she saw his attention was diverted, she swung around, and her welcoming smile landed on me and Enzo. It didn't escape my notice the way her eyes warmed when they landed on the man standing beside me, and I felt a twinge of something cold and hard toward this woman.

It didn't last long, though, because it was difficult to have any kind of bad feelings toward someone who jumped out of their chair to rush over and give you a welcoming hug so hard you couldn't breathe. "Sera, this is Veda," Enzo said. "Veda. Sera."

"I've heard very little about you," she told me once she'd released me from her death grip, "but I'm so happy to meet you."

"Thank you," I responded. "And I can say the same about you."

She laughed. It was a strange sound to me coming from a home like this. There was never laughter in my own growing up. Not so happy and carefree. "I like her already," she told Enzo.

Luca rose from the table and came to stand beside Veda. "It's nice to meet you, Sera. Please make yourself at home while you're staying here." He didn't offer me his hand either, and I was grateful, for mine were shaking. "Thank you," I said. "I appreciate it."

His blue eyes roamed over my face, sizing me up, as he said, "Veda, why don't you show Sera where she'll be staying? I'll have a few of my men bring up your things."

"That's not necessary," I told him. "I only have a suitcase. And"-I waved in Enzo's direction-"so does Enzo."

"Please, allow one of the men to take care of it for you," he said. "I insist."

With no other choice, I gave him a nod. "Thank you."

He turned to Enzo. "Come to my office with me while Veda shows Sera around. I need to get you caught up on a few things." Enzo squeezed my hand and released it. "I'll see you soon."

I gave him a small smile and followed Veda out of the room.

"Lisa, Luca's cook and general house servant, will be starting dinner soon. But if you're hungry or anything, we can scrounge you up something to hold you over after the tour." "I'm good, but thank you." I frowned. "House servant?"

Veda nodded with a little laugh. "That's what I call her. She's the only one he'll allow to work here, so she cooks, buys groceries, cleans, and anything else he needs her to." "Oh."

"Do you like to swim? The pool here is gorgeous..."

Veda rattled on as she gave me a tour of the floor we were on, then we headed upstairs. The house had six bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. She and Luca were in the largest room to the right. Enzo and I would be staying in the one farthest to the left to give us the most privacy.

"But if you need some alone time," she told me, "just do what I did and move yourself into another room. It confuses them and they don't know what to do about it." She grinned, but there was an edge of sadness to it. "Although I have to admit, the couple of times I did stay in my own room, it was because I wasn't in a good place. Luca let me have my privacy, but only until he decided that time was up."

"How do you do it?" I asked her quietly. I'd seen the security cameras throughout our tour, and I had no idea if there were listening ears attached to them.

"Do what? Oh, this is your room. What do you think?"

I looked around. The bedroom was decorated in shades of white. White walls, off-white carpet, white molding on the tray ceiling. The bed was also white, the color of the palest wheat, with a dusky blue comforter and pillows and a pale blue leather ottoman at the foot. But it was the wall of windows looking out over the lake on the far wall that drew me past the bed, underneath a dividing archway, and into the small sitting area directly in front of them. The loveseat and lounge chair matched the bed, creamy white with blue pillows. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was red and pink and orange and blue over the water. It was beautiful.

"The bathroom is right through here." Veda pointed to a door to her left near the bed. "There's a full walk-in closet in there too."

"This is gorgeous," I told her honestly.

She joined me by the windows and plopped down on the lounge chair as one of Luca's men carried our luggage in and placed them near the bed. "So, what was your question?"

I dragged my eyes away from the window. "I asked how you do it. How do you live here with him? With Luca," I whispered. "Knowing what he is." Enzo had mentioned to me that Veda wasn't from our world, though he didn't go into detail about how she'd gotten here.

She glanced out the window as she thought about her answer. "It's not easy," she told me in a solemn voice. "But I love him, and he's not going to change. So it was either accept him for the man he is or live without him. I chose to be with him." She paused and her eyes became haunted with memories I wasn't sure I ever wanted to know. "Luca fought so hard for me. And we're both paying the price. But we have each other."

"Doesn't it scare you? I mean, he could get arrested. Or killed. And so could you just for being with him."

"It terrifies me," she admitted. "Luca is a powerful man, but he's not invincible, no matter what he believes."

"Yet you still stay with him of your own free will."

"Sure. Now." She laughed. "But at the beginning, our relationship was much more one-sided. His side. Not mine. And the only reason we even met was because he thought he was kidnapping my twin sister." A dark shadow passed over her pretty face. "I got caught up in the game being played out by Luca and his brother, and sometimes I'm amazed I survived at all." She shrugged. "But here I am."

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I should've been shocked, but I wasn't. Not at all.

"You don't seem surprised," she said.

"That's because I'm not. My father is mafia. I grew up in this shit."

"Well, I guess that's good. You should have a much easier time adjusting to living here than I did. Hell, I still go to therapy."

Her smile was back, and I didn't want to ruin the mood by telling her the truth of my situation. "Are you and Enzo close?" I asked instead. "You seemed happy to see him when we came in." I hadn't meant to ask that question, but my mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.

"Mmm," she made an indecisive movement with her head, "I don't know that 'close' is the right word. Enzo doesn't let anyone in very much. Except maybe Luca and Tristan. But they have a long history. However, when things were bad with me and Luca, he was probably the closest thing I had to a friend since I came here. He was the one who always had to watch me, and we got to know each other a little bit. And he was teaching me selfdefense, so we spent a lot of time together." "Oh." I definitely didn't like the idea of how up close and personal the two of them would have to be for that.

"He would also die for Luca, and he and Tristan both have taken bullets meant for him. So, how could I not love him?"

I didn't remember seeing any evidence of previous injuries. But then again, it's not like I'd ever given his body more than an admiring glance. I'd always been too shy about it. Unlike Enzo, who probably knew every stretch mark and freckle I had after only a few nights together.

"I consider him a friend, Sera. Nothing more."

I blinked, coming back to our conversation. "Oh. No. I believe you. And it's fine either way. I was just wondering. That's all." The lies flew from my mouth, and I didn't know who I was trying to convince more, Veda or myself.

I couldn't grow attached to him. There was no way in hell I was going to end up stuck here like Veda. I wanted to be free.

And Enzo Delligatti could never be free. His world would always be ruled by the family of organized crime. And if I chose to be with him, so would mine.