Undressed By The Mafia God-Chapter 155: Still As Threatening As Ever

Carol felt she had pretended to be sick enough.

If she stretched the act any longer Luca might start calling doctors, and that would ruin everything.

Now the two of them sat on the couch.

An old sitcom played quietly in the background while a bowl of popcorn rested between them.

Carol picked a few pieces from the bowl lazily. Her son leaned back against the couch, one arm resting along the backrest behind her. He looked relaxed. "How is your father? I never did ask," Carol said casually, her eyes still on the television.

Luca reached into the bowl and grabbed a handful of popcorn before answering. "Still as threatening as ever. The older he is, the stricter he becomes."

Carol hummed quietly. "I always thought you were going to take after me...." Carol began.

Even before she finished the sentence, he felt the old reflexive irritation crawl up his spine..

"Mum...please don’t start. Can we not fight?" Luca whined. He had been here for days now, hovering around her, fetching food, checking on her, pretending he believed the act. The last thing he wanted was one of their usual arguments.

She gave the back of his head a smack. "Don’t cut me off while I am speaking."

The slap wasn’t hard, but it was sharp enough to sting his pride more than his skull. Luca rubbed the back of his head.

"Sorry."

"I thought you were going to take after me. But seeing you now, you are a balance of both of us and I wouldn’t have it any other way."

That was...unexpected.

"that’s the first nice thing you have said to me all my life." Luca chuckled.

"Yeah, well, you deserve a bit of my generousity seeing as you have been tending to my sick ass."

It had taken him a while, but the pieces had eventually fallen into place.

"I know you aren’t sick mum."

"What?" Carol snapped giving quite the innocent performance.

The woman had nerve, he’d give her that. Her eyebrows lifted, her mouth fell open slightly, the very picture of offended confusion.

"Well, I didn’t figure it out rightaway but I eventually did."

At first it had just been little things. The way she moved too easily when she thought he wasn’t looking. The fact that she still had enough energy to yell at the television during her evening shows.

Carol chuckled. "So why didn’t you say anything?"

Luca shrugged. "It seemed important to you that I stay. Plus, I missed you."

For years he had kept his distance from this house, from her temper, from the complicated mess that was their relationship. Life had been easier that way. But sitting here now, hearing her voice fill the room again, he realized how much space that distance had left inside him.

Carol smiled. "You do have to return. I know how demanding your job can be. When you are away for too long, things tend to fall apart."

Luca looked down at his hands for a moment, thinking about that.

She wasn’t wrong. Things stacked up quickly when he disappeared for too long.

"I’ll leave tomorrow." He said.

"What are you going to do about your girl?"

Luca leaned back in the chair, running a hand through his hair. "Love her as hard as I possibly can." he answered.

Carol snorted softly. "You are truly your father’s son. Loving the mistress more than the wife."

"I hate that word! Mistress...She’s...uh...damn. How can it feel so right and yet the label surrounding us is just...wrong." He pushed himself forward in the chair, elbows on his knees.

The truth was, the word mistress made everything sound cheap.

Dirty. Temporary.

And Veronica was none of those things.

"Because it is wrong, Luciano. You are married! And your entire point of coming here is to find a way to keep her safe, which tells me she isn’t safe at the moment, no?" Carol asked.

Luca exhaled slowly. "I just want to be on top of things. This woman, Veronica is her name, I call her Bambola, she...she’s burrowed herself under my skin, mum. I don’t even know how to explain it. I miss her with every breath, I want her with my entire soul. Nothing feels right when she isn’t with me." He laughed quietly under his breath.

God, he sounded insane.

"She keeps me falling and falling and I have no grasp at anything and I am afraid of losing her in any capacity."

Luca leaned back again, dragging a hand over his face.

"I’d love to meet her. She sounds incredible." Carol said.

"you have no idea." Luca muttered. He shifted slightly in the chair, suddenly restless. "Will you...will you visit New York one of these days?"

"uh..." Carol sighed. "Its been so long. But I will when you quit the mafia."

Luca huffed a laugh, shaking his head slowly. "Mum, that’s not happening."

Carol lifted a shoulder in a casual shrug. "It was worth a try."

Luca couldn’t help it. A grin spread across his face. "Still as sly as always."

******

Veronica laid on the hospital bed, Valentina by her side as Detective Voss entered. Her thigh throbbed beneath the bandages, a dull burning pain that pulsed with every heartbeat. She tried not to move too much, but even breathing reminded her of the bullet that had torn through her flesh only hours ago.

When the door opened and Detective Voss stepped inside, irritation flared instantly.

"You again? What do you fucking want?"

Valentina shifted slightly in the chair beside the bed but didn’t say anything. She simply crossed her arms, watching the detective with narrowed eyes.

"The hospital reported a gunshot wound, your name rang straight to my desk." Voss closed the door behind him.

Veronica rolled her eyes. "Don’t you have anything better to do, like catch some real criminals?"

Of course the police would show up. A gunshot wound wasn’t exactly subtle.

Still, the last person she wanted sniffing around her life was Detective Voss.

"Like your boyfriend, I am guessing. Trust me, that’s why I am here." Voss answered.

(Brought to you by Janelle Fox)