Maria (Made Men 7)

The two sitting there in the dark room on the huge leather chair looked perfect enough for a painting that could hang in the Louvre. Even Maria had to agree they made one hell of a good-looking couple. The only things they were missing were crowns dipped in gold.

“I’m heading to bed.” Reaching up, Chloe placed a light kiss on his jaw. “Good night.”

“Night, darlin’.” Even though his mood seemed to change once he saw his sister, his eyes didn’t leave Chloe until she closed the door behind her.

Ew. Maria didn’t know why, but people in love made her want to vomit. It was especially hard seeing it from Lucca, knowing what he was capable of. It didn’t fit him, making it unbelievable to her. It only ever became believable when she caught them alone, when they thought no one was looking. Then it made perfect sense.

Once the door closed, Lucca snapped his eyes to Maria, who was now sitting in front of him. He, however, didn’t look at her the same way he had looked at his fiancée.

Any hopes Maria had of this exchange going well went down the toilet the second his blue-green eyes looked at her. She could also tell the stage of his unhappiness by the way he started flipping his Zippo open and closed.

“What did you say to Chloe that night she and Elle were in your room?”

Huh? That was definitely not how she had imagined their conversation starting.

“Did you ask her?”

When he flipped the Zippo closed, the room suddenly felt colder. “She won’t tell me.”

Knowing that she had sworn her to secrecy, she was more shocked that Chloe had kept it than the fact that she had touched her for the first time.

“Why do you want to know?”

“Because she hasn’t been the same since.” Flipping the Zippo back open, his face glowed from the flame, highlighting the anger that was beginning to brew inside. “I want to know what you said to her, Maria.”

If it was anyone else in the world on the other side of this desk from him, they would be praying to the good Lord right about now. But the truth was that Lucca didn’t scare her. Even if that did make her the dumbest person in Kansas City.

Maria didn’t want to divulge what they specifically talked about, but she did know what he was referring to. Chloe wouldn’t have been upset about her asking about Kayne since, shockingly, the scarred beauty was on her side. She might, however, get upset about being asked about her ex-friend who had gone rouge on her. “I asked Chloe how she knew that she loved you and not Amo.”

The Zippo flicked closed yet again. “And, what did she say?”

“She said she didn’t know that the love she felt for Amo was just as a friend … until you.”

The anger he carried slightly dissipated after hearing what she had said. Pulling a cigarette out from a pack, he held it between his lips before lighting his Zippo for the last time.

Maria could see it—the one and only fear the boogieman carried.

The fear of losing Chloe. A five-foot girl was the only thing that made the future king of this city … weak.

In this moment, for the first time, she felt bad for him … almost.

Maria parted her lips, asking an honest question and wanting an honest answer, “Do you ever think that, if Lucifer never scarred her, she would have been meant for Amo and not you?”

Everyone could see the two broken souls for what they were—meant to be mated forever. But Maria wondered if they had only been broken to fit? If one had never been broken, would it still be so? If Chloe had never gotten her scars, the girl they knew would have never existed, and the other one, the unbroken one, might have been meant for Amo. In life, people think they are only meant for one soul mate, but what if we were meant for two?

“No.” Lucca spoke the word with certainty as smoke poured from his lips. “Chloe was meant for me and only me. Her scars only brought her to me in this lifetime.”

Sitting back, Maria nodded. Who was she to disagree with how Lucca felt? She only wanted him to see it from a different angle. That was the only reason he wasn’t killing her this second, as he was used to her giving her thoughts.

“The question is”—he tapped his ashes into the ashtray—“why did you ask her that question in the first place?”

Now this was how she thought their conversation was going to start.

Maria simply shrugged. “Just wanted to know if—”

“I’d be careful to insult me more than you already have, Maria.”

Closing her mouth, she thought that was probably a good idea.

Taking a long draw, he narrowed his eyes more as he did so. “If you think I don’t know that you danced with Kayne, no less than I knew you danced with Dominic, then you are mistaken.”