Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Confused as to why Elle would bother putting in so much thought for a question to ask, Chloe stared at her friend. “Why?”
Elle raised her eyebrows so high they looked like one line. “Are you kidding? He’s—”
“Gorgeous,” Adalyn filled in for her after a big swallow.
“I was going to say hot, but he’s that, too.”
“Seriously?” Chloe looked at her in disbelief, beginning to feel as if she was missing something about the professor’s appeal. “You, too?”
“Yes.” Elle gave her a strange look. “Me and most of the students who go here. You don’t find him attractive?”
“Find who attractive?” Lake asked, finally able to join up with them as she placed down her own food.
“Professor Miller,” both Elle and Adalyn said in unison.
“Oh yeah, he’s hot,” Lake easily agreed.
Chloe decided to state the obvious that all her friends were clearly missing, “Um, he’s our professor.”
“So? That doesn’t mean I don’t have two eyes in my head, nor that I would ever cheat on Vincent, but … I can still appreciate how fine he is,” Lake said, opening her salad.
“Well, I don’t,” Chloe said simply.
The three girls looked at her as if she had sprouted two heads. Then Adalyn made all of them jump when she suddenly snapped her fingers, coming to a conclusion.
“I know why you don’t find him attractive. It’s because of Lucca.”
Huh?
“What does Lucca have to do with it?”
Adalyn wagged her eyebrows at her again. “Because he’s finer than the professor.”
“Ah …” Elle sighed. “That makes total sense. Lucca is more attractive.”
“If that’s the truth, I don’t see you guys trying to get Lucca’s attention when we hang out together.”
Her friends stared at each other before turning to stare at her.
Lake asked, “You going to tell her, or should I?”
“I will,” Elle replied, setting down her sandwich to focus on her words. “Other than we love our men and would do nothing to jeopardize our relationship with them, neither Lake nor I would ever flirt with Lucca. He’s too scary.”
“Yeah, and I wouldn’t flirt with him anymore …” Adalyn interjected, making herself clear. Being a mafia wife had been her dream, and Lucca being the boss would have made her a UMW: Ultimate Mafia Wife. But ever since he’d met Chloe and she’d met Angel, she was more than happy of not becoming a UME, of course.
“Lucca isn’t scary.” Chloe couldn’t believe this blas—
“Scary like Zac Efron playing Ted Bundy scary,” Elle told her gently.
“Oh, I have better than that …” Adalyn bounced in her chair. “Skeet Ulrich in Scream scary.”
“That’s a good one,” Lake agreed while Adalyn tried to keep her swooning to a minimum. “I can definitely see the resemblance there.”
Chloe was shocked by her friends’ view of her fiancé, so much so she felt the need to defend him. “Lucca isn’t a serial killer.”
“We aren’t saying that, per se …” Elle made at a face at Adalyn when she started eating again to avoid her eyes. “We’re just saying he puts off the attitude he could be.”
“Wow …” An appalled Chloe looked each one of her girlfriends in the eyes before she moved on to the next. “I didn’t know you thought that about Lucca.”
Adalyn rolled her eyes upward. “Oh, come on, Chloe; you have to admit Lucca is kinda scary.”
“He isn’t to m—”
Lake raised a brow this time. “Be truthful, Chloe … you weren’t ever afraid of Lucca?”
Chloe had to think back for a moment. It seemed like an eternity since she had woken up in his bedr—
Oh … Nervously, she bit her lip. Well, shit.
TWELVE
BACK TO THE OLD WAYS
Lucca stared at the black soot beneath his feet. His first day on the job had gone up in flames, literally. The only reason he had kept his sanity up until this point was because he knew Chloe was safe at school.
“Thankfully, the firefighters were able to put it out before it reached the Casino Hotel.” It was clear Sal tried to look on the bright side. “But the diner will need to be demo’ed.”
“And the cause?” Vinny asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
Sal shoved his hands in his trouser pockets and rocked. “Don’t know yet, but by the looks of it … arson.”
Crouching, Lucca picked up some of the ashes, letting them run through his fingers. “One-Shot did this.”
“Are you sure?” Vinny asked.
He nodded confidently. “Certain of it.”
“I think so, too,” Sal agreed. “The diner was one of the first businesses your father placed under his protection. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that, on your first day of taking over, this place gets hit. One-Shot is sending you a message.”
Lucca stood defiantly, making a promise and wishing that fucker were here to hear it. “Well, I plan on answering it.”
Brring.
Vinny’s phone ringing had him retrieving it from his pocket. “I need to take this, but I’ll think about how to best handle the matter we discussed,” he promised before stepping away as Lucca gave him an appreciative nod.