Chloe (Made Men 3)

“I love you, too, Chloe.” A tear dripped down her face.

Chloe smiled at her as they enjoyed this moment together. “Okay, now stop with the crying. You’re going to ruin your makeup.”

Elle laughed as she wiped away the tear.

“I hope I’m not interrupting,” a sweet voice butted in.

Turning, Chloe saw Nero’s sister Maria.

“Elle told me you were leaving, and I wanted to see you before you left. I hope you don’t mind. Plus, it was a good excuse to come shopping,” Maria joked, taking a seat beside Elle.

Chloe’s eyes traveled to the man behind her, and she held her breath when his blue-green eyes settled on her. She hadn’t seen him since he had gripped that bat in his hands. Truthfully, she hadn’t seen Maria since then, either.

Chloe, Elle, and Lake had been in Nero’s apartment when a gunman had broken into the apartment, expecting Maria to be there. However, she had been sick and hadn’t come. Chloe never liked to ask questions about why someone had tried to go after Maria, because she didn’t feel it was her business.

Maria was everything a girl ever wanted to be. She was tall, blonde, and looked like a supermodel. Chloe was convinced she was, considering she always came with bodyguards. Even though she enjoyed Maria’s company, she didn’t ever feel comfortable with her. After all, not only had she almost died the last time she had tried to spend time with her, but most of the time, Maria’s bodyguard ended up being Lucca.

She barely managed to pull her eyes back to Maria. “I-I don’t mind.” She twisted her hands under the table. “Thank you for coming.”

Chloe’s eyes moved back to the man who was now coming closer to the table. His dark appearance didn’t remind her so much of their last encounter. Instead, it reminded her of their meetings under the white gazebo in the Caruso’s backyard. The first time she had met him was the night Elle had been attacked while going to work. Elle had been terrified of him at the time, but she had also found him attractive. Any attractiveness she had seen in him had disappeared the night he had crashed a bat down ruthlessly, showing her his true self. Or so she had thought …

She had expected to be horrified and disgusted if she ever saw him again; instead, she found just found him … chilling.

Lucca’s cold voice shivered up her spine. “Still running away, darlin’?”

She slowly nodded her head, knowing exactly what he meant by running. He seemed to somehow always know the hidden secrets she kept locked away.

Amo came to the table then, setting down a tray of food in front of Chloe. He seemed to stare Lucca down for a moment before he took a seat beside her.

Lucca kept his eyes on Amo for an extra second before he turned his gaze back to Chloe. “Be careful out there, darlin’; you won’t have anyone to save you if you get into trouble.”

Watching him leave to take a seat at the table behind Maria, she saw he sat down, facing her. It felt like he was looking into her soul.

“Chloe, are you going to eat?” Amo’s voice finally had her looking away.

“Y-yeah.” Trying to shake off Lucca staring at her, she did her best to ignore him as she picked up some fries.

“Are you all packed up, Chloe?” Maria asked, stealing some of Nero and Elle’s fries that he had brought to the table.

She could see another scary man take a seat beside Lucca. Another bodyguard? She swallowed hard. Another bodyguard meant it was bad for Maria.

“For the most part.”

Lucca’s eyes had yet to move from her. You could always feel his eyes on you. It was like his gaze created ice on your skin.

“What time does your flight leave?” Amo asked as he slung his arm over the back of her chair.

She didn’t know why she looked at Lucca when he did that, but she could feel him wanting to slowly kill Amo. She had seen that look on him before when he had taken a baseball bat to a lifeless body.

“E-eleven.”

Amo leaned in closer to her, almost brushing her shoulder when he stole a fry off her plate. “In the morning?”

She could imagine it now, imagine Lucca killing Amo. It was like the fury in his death glare was painting a picture in her mind.

Somehow, she managed a nod. Between Amo’s close body and Lucca’s daggers being thrown from his eyes, she didn’t know what was going on. She wanted to rip her skin off; she was that uncomfortable.

I can’t take it! Quickly, she stood from the table, grabbing her purse. “I’m not hungry. I’m going to get my suitcase.”

“I can go wi—”

“No. Stay,” she cut Amo off then took a quick, calming breath. “I-it’s just right there. I’ll be back in a minute.” She quickly walked away, leaving stunned faces behind.