Alessandro DeLuca

CHAPTER FIFTEEN – ALESSANDRO

“Are you ready?” I ask Mila as we board my private jet.

“I don’t know. You still haven’t said where we’re going.”

I can see the hesitation in her face and hear the fear in her voice. If she wants to be with me, she’ll have to learn to trust me unconditionally. This getaway is a test to see how much she trusts me.

I don’t trust her, which bothers me because I’m growing to care for this woman. She lied to me. A simple lie that Paola was her friend and not her cousin is concerning.

I know she’s not blood relatives with Paola and the Santoro family, but I’m not sure how she’s related to them. If at all.

And she still won’t tell me about her scars.

Then she asked me if I had a daughter when I mentioned family. I’m not sure why she specifically asked about a daughter. Not a son or children, but a daughter.

Could she be related to the Valentinos? And if so, how? Does she know that Bianca’s still alive?

My thoughts drift to Bianca and our time together this last week. She’s with my parents again this weekend.

Is she affiliated with the Colombo family? Has Frederico learned about Bianca’s existence, and he’s sending Mila to take her out? A woman to get close enough to me to learn about my daughter and potentially take her out.

I don’t want to believe that, but anger fills me as my jaw clenches.

“Where are we going?” Mila repeats.

“Don’t you trust me?” I ask once we’re seated.

“I do,” she says, wearing that same nervous smile she always wears.

“Then sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. We’ll be there soon.”

“How soon is soon, Ales?”

Smirking, I reply, “You ask a lot of questions, don’t you?”

“I’m boarding a jet with a stranger and—”

“With the things that I’ve done to your body, the things that I’m about to do to your body…we’re hardly strangers, amore mio.”

She shoots a nervous glance my way, looks a bit uncomfortable, and then turns her attention out of the window.

“Mr. DeLuca, sei pronto da mangiare?” Carlotta, our flight assistant, asks.

“No. Porta una bottiglia di vino e due bicchieri, per favore.”

Carlotta nods and leaves.

“Mila, cheer up,” I say, leaning forward and taking her hands in mine. I press a kiss on them, and she turns away, staring out the window again.

“What is wrong?” I ask.

I have no idea why I’m drawn to this woman the way I am, but I can’t ignore the fact that I’m intrigued by her. I want her, and I want to know everything about her. Mila Campbell isn’t a woman that one can easily ignore or forget.

Bones and The Enforcer worry that I’m too wrapped up in her. They don’t think she can be trusted. I’ve come to believe the same thing as much as I don’t want to admit it. Knuckles simply wants me to proceed cautiously, and I assure him I am.

“Nothing,” she pouts.

“Something is bothering you.”