Ruthless Spring

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: WINTER

“Hello,littleWinter.”

I jump, placing a hand to my racing heart as I turn around to find Lucia watching me intensely. I blink, trying to figure out if I’m going crazy. I’ve never seen Lucia in the club before and her appearance while I’m in the back is doubly weird.

I stare at the door she's leaning against, realizing it's one of the extracurricular rooms only certain staff and clients have access to. I’d only been in one once and I’d seen enough to realize what the rooms are used for.

“Hi,” I etch out slowly, watching her.

She tilts her head slightly, her lips inching up at the corners as she lets out a low laugh. “You know I can never fully decide whether I like you or if I hate you, Winter,” she says casually.

I swallow, running my hands along the side of my jeans. “I figured you don’t exactly hate me, since I’m still alive,” I tell her.

This time her laugh is louder. “You see, that's why,” she informs me. “All the contradictions.” She points at my hands, “You’re nervous and yet you’re still trying to joke with me, even though you fear me.”

I don’t inform her that I wasn’t joking.

“Come take a smoke break with me,” she says, turning her back on me and walking toward the door that leads to the back alley that stars in my nightmares.

My throat closes up and I look behind me for some sort of reprieve, as flashbacks of what happened with Maximo move through my mind. I clench my fingers. Where is Enzo when I need him to be stalking me?

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I tell Lucia. “I’m supposed to be working and Enzo-”

“Isn’t a Costa and can’t tell me what the hell to do. I like the soldier, but he knows that I’m the one in charge and there isn’t a damn thing he can do about it. So, be a good girl and zip your lips and come on,” she says, her tone growing hard.

I decide not to push my luck. My legs feel numb as I make them move, placing one foot in front of another as I follow Lucia outside.

The alley is dark, the moonlight shining and a streetlight allowing a bit of light. Lucia moves to lean against the wall, and I can’t help but study her. She’s not a big woman, but she is scary. There’s something about her that screams she’ll cut your fucking head off without batting an eye. Her tattoos aren’t on display tonight, covered by a pair of dark slacks. She’s wearing a dark blazer and as she tilts her head back, her hair falls over her neck.

She lights a cigarette, placing it between her lips and the only thing that comes to mind is beautiful and deadly.

I swallow, waiting for her to make the first move.

She tilts her head to the side, her eyes tracking me as she holds out the cigar to me.

I wave my hand at her. “No thank you, I don’t smoke.” Which is only partly a lie. I’ve smoked before, did it numerous times, but when money grew tight, I quit, preferring to eat over smoking. Plus, my drug of choice was always marijuana, not plain cigarettes or cigars.

Lucia’s white teeth flash and she doesn’t pull the cigar back, still holding it out to me. “Well, you better start now if you want to last, buttercup.”

Her holding the cigar out starts to feel a bit like a threat the longer I wait and begrudgingly, I take it from her fingers. She watches me closely as I place the cigar to my lips, taking a deep drag. The smoke fills my lungs and I blink at the bold, crisp taste.

Even though I’ve never smoked cigars, I know this one isn’t cheap. I blink, coughing as I hold it back out to Lucia. She lets out a laugh, placing it between her lips.

“You know I’ve watched you Winter, and I think there’s potential there.”

“Potential for what?”

“To be a scary bitch, of course,” she says, eyeing me as if I’m dumb to even ask the question.

I pause, my brows pulling together. I don’t know Lucia well, but what I do know is that she’s not just a dangerous woman, but a dangerous person. The way she took that hit from Giovanni and then continued to remain strong.

I’d be a liar to say I didn’t admire her at that moment.

I tried to grow a backbone with Giovanni, and he’s broken it beyond repair, tossing me and the pieces to the ground once he was done.

I can’t even imagine going toe to toe with him the way Lucia did.

“My favorite cousin has a fond interest in you, and my other cousin hates you but intends on keeping you. That there tells me there's a soul worth saving.”