My nostrils flared and I clenched my hands at my sides to keep them there. There was no doubt that Luna was beautiful in a haunted kind of way. Her brown hair was always up in either a messy bun or a braid. Today was a mixture of the two. Her eyes, clear and focused, pulled me in, but they were nothing compared to her full lips. Lips that were always bare of any lipstick but that begged to be touched.
Fuck. I couldn’t think like this, not now. Not when I needed something from her. I was using her for my own gain, but at that moment, I didn’t care how it made me look.
I pulled in a breath and the sickly-sweet smell of drugs wafted from the apartment. “You on drugs?”
Luna raised her brows and stepped out of the apartment, closing the door behind her. There was only she and I out here covered by the darkness of the night.
“Kind of blunt, aren’t you?” I didn’t answer her, knowing that she was trying to deflect. Her shoulders slumped, a sadness appearing in her eyes. “I’m not on drugs.” She shook her head. “This was meant to be a fresh start.” She sighed and leaned against the rail of the balcony. My fingers itched to pull her off it so that she didn’t fall. It wasn’t totally unsafe, but something itched inside of me to pull her close and protect her.
I leaned against the wall next to her door. “Yeah?” I tilted my head to the side, wondering what wasn’t in the file about her. I knew more than anyone that just because a piece of paper depicted your life, it didn’t mean someone could understand who you truly were.
“Yeah.” She looked off to the side and I stared at a strand of hair that blew across her face. She didn’t bother moving it, instead she just let it do its thing, either not bothered by it, or too in her own head. “They were clean before we moved here.” She snorted. “I should have known it wouldn’t last.” Her face paled, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of what she was saying, or because she was saying the words out loud.
“Addiction,” I started, swiping my tongue over my bottom lip. “I get it.”
“You do?” She blinked, slowly turning her attention back to me.
“My mom,” I gritted out. Everything in me wanted to listen to her, to take in the pains she’d grown up with and let her know that I knew what it was like. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell her that it would be okay because I didn’t know if it would be. And I had to get somewhere. It had already been ten minutes, and I knew it would take fifteen to get to the mansion. But I needed her to understand before I asked her. I needed her to know what to expect. “She’s a drunk. Always got a bottle in her hand.”
Her lips parted, realization flickering over her face. With only two sentences, I’d explained everything. She knew what it was like, which was why the longer I stood here, the more I knew she was the perfect person for the job tonight.
“I erm…” I scrubbed my hand down my face. “I need to ask you something.” I pulled in a breath, wincing as the smell of drugs wrapped around us. “Would you watch Cardo and Chiara for a couple of hours? My boss just called and he needs me asap and—”
“Sure.” She didn’t hesitate, if anything, I was sure that relief washed over her features. I pushed off the wall, but she was quicker than me, already heading down the stairs. Her actions were speaking louder than her words, and I wondered how much she regretted moving here with her parents. She’d gotten a scholarship to college, a time where you were meant to leave the stresses of home behind and start your own life, but she’d brought them with her. She had no escape, something I knew too much about.
But I knew my time trapped here was limited. Hers wasn’t. She was stuck here until she finished her degree.
She didn’t look back once, not until she was standing outside the apartment door. Her head turned, but her body faced the door, waiting to be let inside. I stepped closer to her, my front pressing against her back as I reached around her for the door handle. I grasped it but didn’t make another move. I breathed her in, taking in her vanilla scent.
The top of her head came to my chin, so I leaned down and murmured, “Luna,” in her ear, my breath fanning over her neck.
“Mateo?” she whispered, her eyes fluttering closed.
Neither of us moved an inch, instead, we took our fill of the moment. A moment I hadn’t seen coming but didn’t want to deny. I was drawn to her; had been from the moment I’d seen her sitting on the curb braiding Chiara’s hair. It had been a punch to my gut seeing her like that. If only I could do something about it. If only I wasn’t the captain in the Beretta Mafia. If only she wasn’t trapped in the same life I always had been. We were too similar, but also too different.
And at that thought, I turned the handle, and pushed the door open.
She stepped forward, entering the apartment, but I didn’t move. “If my mom wakes up, don’t let her run you off. You stay here until I get back.” I waited until her stare met mine. “Got it?”
“Got it.”
I took one last look at her, then pulled the door closed behind me and locked it. My cell beeped, reminding me that I needed to haul ass to the mansion. So I spun round and sprinted to the SUV. I was peeling out of the lot within thirty seconds, leaving Luna in my place, and hoping she would still be there when I got home.
Maybe I was too trusting of her. Maybe I was taking a leap of faith when I shouldn’t have been. Either way, I had no goddamn choice in the matter. She was my only option right now.
I shook my head, pushing all of that aside as I drove to the mansion. Fifteen minutes later, I was pulling through the gates. Several cars were parked, telling me that I wasn’t the only one who had been called in.
The mansion door was unlocked, guarded by one of the soldiers who told me they were all waiting in the command center. I speed walked there, then input the code that would let me inside. Several clicks of the locks rang out, and then the door whooshed open.
There were only four people in the room, Lorenzo, Christian, Antonio, and Alonzo. None of them were talking, most likely waiting for me to turn up. I wondered how long it had taken them to get here.
Lorenzo looked at me, pointed at the last empty seat, and said, “Everyone is here now. Tell them what you told me.”
I pulled out my usual seat and stared at his cell that sat on the table. A voice came out of it, one that we all recognized. “I have one of them in my ranks.” I blinked at the sound of Dante’s voice. “I have an FBI agent undercover.”
“Fuck,” Alonzo spat, leaning forward. He’d been Lorenzo’s dad’s right-hand man, someone who Lorenzo had relied on when he first took over as boss.
“And you let them live?” Antonio barked, slamming his palm on the table.