Cruel Saints

I should get up and leave, but I’m unable to make myself move.

Lucian takes a deep breath before he says, “I can kill Capone, but that will start a war between our families.” Slowly, he rises to his feet, and then he walks toward me.

Lucian stops next to me, and I have to tilt my head far back to meet his eyes. When he holds his hand out to me, I hesitate for a moment, not sure what to make of him.

“I can show you how to kill him,” he says the one thing I’ve desperately wanted to hear.

Could he be the answer to my prayer?

Cautiously, I place my hand in Lucian’s, and he pulls me up from the ground. When I’m standing in front of him, I ask, “Why would you help me?”

“When you kill Dante, and you take over from your father, I expect you to remember this moment. Your loyalty will belong to me.”

It’s a strategic move on his part. One I’m in no position to decline. I can use all the training I can get. I’ve seen him handle a gun, and I want to become just as good as him.

“When I take over from my father, my loyalty will belong to you,” I agree, knowing that day will never come. I won’t follow in my father’s footsteps, but Lucian seems to have forgotten I told him that when we first met.

Once I’ve killed Dante, I plan on disappearing and starting a new life somewhere else… somewhere safe. But that’s something Lucian doesn’t need to know.

His fingers linger on mine before he lets go of my hand. I see the questions brewing in his eyes, but instead of asking them, he murmurs, “Go sleep, little bird. We start tomorrow morning.”

Little bird? Instead of it sounding demeaning, it actually sounds as if Lucian might care. About me? How ludicrous. He knows nothing about me besides that I’m the daughter of Valentino Lucas.

I nod and begin to turn away from him, but then stop to ask, “What about your own training?”

The corner of Lucian’s mouth lifts slightly, and it makes him even more attractive. “I’m almost done.”

Needing to know how long I have, I ask, “When are you leaving?”

“If all goes well, I’ll leave in a month.” Lucian gestures for me to walk. “I’ll escort you back to your suite.”

It’s when he does things like this that it confuses me. I’ve spent the past two weeks trying to figure out why he showed me how to handle a gun.

Why does he help me the one second only to practically ignore me for days on end? Not that I mind being ignored. I prefer it.

If Lucian thinks he can get to my father through me, he’s going to be disappointed when he learns I mean nothing to my father.

We fall into step next to each other, and as the night swallows us, I become overly conscious of the man next to me. Power radiates in every step he takes. My hearing focuses on the rustle of his suit. The side of my body is hyper-aware of Lucian’s muscled frame.

Who is Lucian really? The dangerous man I’ve been warned to avoid at all costs or…

“When you return home, you’ll take over from your father, right?” I ask softly, filled with a weird need to get to know him.

“Yes.”

So he will be the head of the Mafia in four weeks.

“Yet you’re offering to help me,” I state.

“The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” he murmurs, and it has my eyes darting up to his face.

I’m sure he has many, but still, I ask, “Who’s your enemy?”

“Didn’t your father tell you?” Lucian’s gaze drops to mine.

“He doesn’t tell me anything.”

“Our families are being targeted. Our fathers are trying to find out who the new threat is,” he informs me.

“Oh.” So that was the new problem my father was referring to before he sent me here.

Lucian and I step into the castle, and the narrow hallway has his arm brushing against mine. I glance up at him again as something begins to niggle at the back of my mind. A frown forms on my forehead, trying to figure out what it is.

There’s no more conversation until we reach our suites. When I open mine, Lucian asks, “Didn’t you lock your door?”

“I forgot,” I admit. I was too upset from the nightmare to think straight.

Lucian moves past me, pushing my door open. I watch as he steps inside, and then my lips part as he checks all the rooms and possible hiding places.

A foreign sensation spreads through my chest as he comes to stand in front of me.

“Always lock your door. Just because we’re on neutral ground doesn’t mean we’re safe.”

I nod, and when Lucian passes by me, and crosses the hallway to get to his own door, I say, “Thank you.” He glances back at me, and it has me continuing, “For helping me and checking my suite.”