033
1081 Words
LORENZO
~•~
By the time I got to my office, Lucia was already seated.
She turned around when I entered. “Was that Isla?”
“You’ve done your homework,” I commented, sitting down opposite her.
“Romano mentioned a few things. Heard you keep torturing her. The poor girl must be tired of living with you.”
“She’s older than you are, Lucia.” I pointed out blankly. Before she could ask me any more about Isla, I interrupted her. “Did you come here to ask me about Isla?” I questioned as I placed my suit on the arm of my chair.
“No, I came to let you know that my father agreed to work with you. You can send Romano to sign the contract or pick a date to visit if you have more terms to add.”
“I trust you’ll handle it properly. I’ll send Romano.”
“Okay,” she nodded.
I stared at her. She stared right back at me. I let out a sigh. “Is that all?”
She smiled sheepishly. “Come on, I just wanted to see you. For some reason, you can function for years even without seeing me but we’re not the same.”
I let out another sigh. Unfortunately, we couldn’t meet often. We had to be careful because we could easily be found out, especially with the number of people watching. If people knew about us, she was going to be in danger. Her father could protect her but nothing was guaranteed.
“Anyway,” she added when I didn’t say anything. “Concerning the people that attacked you the last time, I just found out his son is in Chicago. I don’t know if they’re estranged or if he just doesn’t visit his father often, but yeah, he’s here in Chicago. I’ll try to find out if this father loves his son. If he does, it’s a win for us. If his son isn’t involved in the family business, then we’d have to find another way to take care of him.”
I nodded. It was easy to get him killed but I didn’t want a situation where a survivor would go into hiding, plan for years, and attempt to assassinate me later in the future. I wanted to eliminate every possible threat when I dealt with him.
His entire family deserved to die. It wasn’t like he cared about his people anyway. He sacrificed his people just so he could get a chance to kill him and he still wasn’t brave enough to attempt it himself.
“You don’t have to worry about that. Thanks for the information but Romano can handle it from here.”
“Ungrateful,” she muttered.
Lucia was quite protective of me. I didn’t like that she was involved in matters like this but she also could tolerate anyone attempting to harm me which was why she liked to take matters into her own hands.
She wouldn’t have known about the ambush if it weren’t for Romano’s big mouth. For some reason, he told her everything.
The sound of shuffling behind the door caught my attention. I straightened immediately. Someone was listening in on us.
As if it wasn’t their lucky day, their phone started ringing. The sound was loud and sharp but it was immediately followed by rushed footsteps.
I closed my eyes briefly, letting out a chuckle. When I made no move to check, Lucia stared at me. “You aren’t going to check who was eavesdropping?”
“No need.”
“Isla?” She chuckled too. She took my silence as an answer. “She’s pretty brave. No wonder she has lasted this long in your care.”
“You’re oddly interested in her.”
“Of course. I have every reason to be.” She finally stood up. “I’ll come visit you some other time.”
“Make sure you inform me this time, Lucia.” My tone was stern. I was hoping she actually got the message this time. She was such a stubborn person who had little to no fear of anything. “I have some unfinished business and I don’t want you to be affected.”
“Don’t worry. I can take care of myself.”
I trusted her on that.
She turned to leave but stopped at the door. “I heard you needed contacts from Frank. Shall I help?”
I had so much going on that I had almost forgotten about that. I was trying to adapt to the real estate business while watching my back and making sure no one was coming after me or whatever belonged to me. “You’re going to help whether I want it or not.”
She grinned but didn’t say anything else before she took her leave. Lucia was good at socializing. Since Frank had only one child, I already knew she was going to try to befriend Racheal. If that didn’t work, she could get her dad to get Frank’s contacts and take them for me. She was very useful. Hopefully, she never got caught.
After a while, I stood up as well and left the office.
To no one’s surprise, Isla was sitting in the living room, reading a book, but the book was upside down.
I shook my head to myself. She didn’t even know it but she had already walked into my trap. I didn’t expect Lucia today but her presence was helpful. It kept Isla curious. It made her jealous. It stirred something within her. Something that was going to help me in the long run.
Her game plan was obvious. Unfortunately for her, I’d been playing for years.
“Go get dressed. We’re going for dinner.”
At my voice, she lifted her gaze. “We’re eating out?”
“I feel like dining out today.”
“Oh,” she looked at me, then at the front door where Lucia must have gone through a few minutes ago. Her curiosity was basically written across her forehead. She wanted to know badly who Lucia was. Lucia wasn’t a secret to anyone in the household but it wasn’t such a bad idea to let Isla simmer over it for a while.
As expected, she didn’t ask directly. I’d already shut her down earlier. Instead, she went upstairs, changed her clothes, and came downstairs to join me inside the car.
- Writer
