Vengeance Aside (Wanted Men 0.5)(30)







NINE


As they left the house, Dale put Lukas’s conversation with his father out of her mind. She couldn’t think any more about what she’d heard in his voice. The understanding. The love, edged with such pain when he’d talked about his mother. Hearing him and being drawn into feeling what he’d been feeling had made her wonder if she’d imagined him smashing Nero’s head onto that glass. How could that have been this tender, emotional man?

“Is the hospital far?” she asked as they traveled that high-walled path again, heading toward what she could only assume was the front of the property. “Do you drive yourself or…”

Her question dried up because they’d reached the end of the path. There was no courtyard or circular drive with a selection of luxury vehicles. But there was a helipad with a frickin’ chopper sitting in wait.

She planted her feet that were now in heeled sandals to match the mauve summer dress Lukas had requested she wear. She’d have said yes to the lovely off-the-shoulder creation even without his comment about how beautiful the color would look with her eyes.

“Dale? What is it?” He squeezed her hand.

She decided then that she liked hearing both forms of her name from him. “Uh, I’ve never been in a helicopter before, Lukas.” She spoke quietly because three men she’d seen at Scorch were approaching.

“I’ve got you,” he assured her. “You’ll be fine.” He then addressed the men who all looked remarkably alike with their light eyes and sandy hair that was cut at varying lengths. They were all over six-feet and looked more than capable of killing with the same ease Lukas had. He introduced her, and they took a moment to shake hands and say hello. All of them had identical bulges under their suits to match the one that was once again visible under their boss’s.

“Are we ready?” Lukas asked Adam whose eyebrows seemed to be pulled down in the center to create a permanent frown on his heavy forehead. He nodded and walked on ahead with Milan. They lithely hopped into the front of the sleek black aircraft with the tinted windows. Yasha fell in behind her and Lukas and shadowed them as they went around to climb into the back.

As Dale inhaled the scent of leather while easing into one of four surprisingly roomy seats, with Lukas sitting next to her and Yasha across from them, she didn’t feel as if she was about to fly. It felt like they were in a fancy car. She kept that to herself, though, because she didn’t want to embarrass anyone by oohing and aahing over what money could buy. If she had her phone, she’d have snapped a picture and sent it to Erika.

“Lukas?”

He turned from strapping himself in and caused her pulse to kick just by meeting her eyes. “Yes?”

“Uh, would you mind texting Farah for me? I was hoping she might go to my locker and grab my purse before she leaves the club. I feel naked without my phone.”

His gaze flicked over her as he went into his pocket. “Use mine.” He held the device out to her.

Terrified of what could be found on that camera roll, not to mention his contact list, she shook her head and barely refrained from raising her hands, pinkies up. “I don’t need it right now. I…” she looked around, avoiding Yasha’s curious stare, “just wanted to take a picture, actually.” What the hell. She was just being honest. “As I said, I’ve never been in a helicopter, and my friend, Erika, would get a kick out of this.” She proved her claim as a novice when she nearly vaulted into Lukas’s lap when the engine started.

He put his phone away and grinned the entire time he fitted an aviation headset over her ears. He put one on, too, and melted her panties when he spoke.

“It can get loud your first time, and I don’t want you arriving at the hospital with a headache.”

His voice was hot-fudge-sundae delicious as it burrowed directly into her ears. Like that was what she was supposed to be focusing on at the moment. “Hm. God forbid I should have a slight headache when meeting a mafia Don who just denied entry to a bullet with his titanium cranium,” she muttered. What the fuck was she doing here? And what the fuck was going to happen to her after she was introduced to Lukas’s powerful father? What if the man assumed their relationship was serious? How would they get around that? She turned in her seat. “What should I expect to happen during this meeting?”

His relaxed chuckle made the hair on her arms rise. “My father is a Bratva leader, Magdalena, and if there is one man in this world you should not fear, aside from me, it is him. Like Farah, you will have him wrapped around your little finger in no time. Oh, and a Don is the title once used by the Italians. Many have done away with it and prefer to use Boss because that says it all, doesn’t it?”

Mafia Culture 101. Great. “I don’t need a lesson in mob terms. I need to know what’s going to happen after I meet your dad. Honestly. What’s the point in this, and how will you explain it when he gets out of the hospital and I’m nowhere to be found?”

“We’ll discuss it later.”

“When later? What will we do after we leave the hospital?” Would she spend the night with him? A couple of nights? She had a class to teach tomorrow afternoon, and she had to be at Scorch by seven tomorrow evening.

He glanced at their guards. “Since the boys can hear our conversation, I’ll refrain from answering that, but I’ll let you know once we get back on the ground.”

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