All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(59)
“He told me once that you’re overprotective, but that’s really above and beyond.”
“I know it must seem extreme, but I’ll always do whatever it takes to keep my brother safe.”
“Including breaking the law and invading his privacy and that of the person he’s dating.”
“I had no choice! It’s incredibly dangerous for Luca to get involved with a Dombruso! I did some digging into your role within the organization, and I don’t believe you personally are a threat to my brother, Nicolo. If I did, this would be going very differently right now. But the same can’t be said for your relatives, and I don’t want Luca within a thousand miles of them.”
“My family isn’t dangerous.”
“Really? Tell that to my father. Oh wait, you can’t, because he was gunned down in Rome just a couple years ago. I don’t know which member of your family was responsible for that, but I know for an absolute fact a Dombruso pulled the trigger.”
My voice rose as I said, “After what your father did, breaking into their home and murdering my uncle and his wife and baby daughter in their sleep, can you blame us?”
“No, actually. My father was a monster, Luca and I both know that. But my point is, the feud between our families is alive and well, and the assassination of my father proves it. For centuries, the Natoris and Dombrusos have been mortal enemies. None of that’s changed, and my brother wouldn’t be the only one in jeopardy if you two had kept seeing each other. There are plenty of people in my family who’d put a bullet in your brain just out of spite. They wouldn’t think twice.”
“So why are you being nice to me, given all of that?”
“Because I make up my own mind about people, and so far, despite being a Dombruso, you haven’t given me any reason to dislike you.” He turned his head and looked at me, and said in a voice so low and steady that it made me shiver, “But if you were to go back to Luca and put his life in danger again, knowing all you now know, you’d see a very different side of me, Nicolo. Our father lived the last twenty-plus years of his life on the run from your family. That means Luca grew up without a dad. Probably a good thing, frankly, given the type of man our father was. But my point is, I stepped in from the time he was little and dedicated myself to protecting my kid brother. You really don’t want to find out how far I’ll go to ensure no harm comes to him.”
He turned his attention back to the road again and I stared at his profile for a long moment. Finally I asked, in part to dissipate the heavy silence that filled the sedan, “How did you find out he was dating me in the first place?”
“Luca asked for you at the front desk of the hotel the day after he met you. When he found out you were a Dombruso, he panicked a bit.” I recalled running into him in the hotel lobby that day, and the way he’d pulled away from me. Suddenly, it made sense. Andreo was saying, “My brother called one of his best friends, a guy named Theodore Curran who’s been working for our family for years. He swore Theo to secrecy, then asked him to look you up and see how you fit into your family’s organization. Theo has access to the information we’ve been compiling on the Dombruso family for the better part of two centuries. There wasn’t much about you, but he told Luca what we knew. Then Theo did the right thing and called me. I was on the next plane to Viladembursa.”
“You keep track of every member of my family?” When Andreo nodded, I asked why.
He said simply, “Know your enemy.”
*****
We arrived at the airport maybe an hour later, and when Andreo pulled up in front of the international departures terminal, he asked, “Do you have what you need to get yourself home?”
I nodded and got out of the car, and he did too, then went around to the trunk and unlocked it for me. I pulled out my suitcase and turned to him, and he met my gaze as he said in a low voice, “You seem like a decent guy, Nicolo. That’s why I hope we never meet again.” Subtle threat received, loud and clear: stay away or pay. I certainly shared the same desire to never again lay eyes on Andreo Natori.
Once inside the terminal, I pieced together my trip home. Then I found a seat to wait for the first flight, which was Malta to Amsterdam (with another layover at JFK before finally heading to San Francisco). I had over an hour before boarding would begin, and I stared unseeingly out at the tarmac.
I’d been trying to push down thoughts of Luca, and had succeeded temporarily during that nerve-racking car ride with his brother. But the moment I was alone, an onslaught of emotions tore at me. It was like running through a field of brambles and feeling them cut me in a thousand places, leaving me raw and aching with a pain I thought might never stop.
I wanted to yell, or cry, or hit something. But I was in public, so I did none of that. I just sat there quietly and bled.
Chapter Twelve
I’d become a hermit since returning to San Francisco. Nana and Jessie and the rest of my family kept asking what happened with Luca. All I could tell them was, “It ended,” before retreating back to my room.
After a week of that, Jessie knocked on my door and played the grandmother card. “Nana is worried about you,” he said. “We’re going to a housewarming party at Chance and Finn’s new place, I really think you should come. It would make her happy.”