Chapter 562: Someone Pointed Him There
But he was still her father. That was the problem. Luca had no idea how Vee would feel knowing what was going to happen next. He had not wanted to mention Vito’s name.
And worse still, her reaction to Vito would tell him how to deliver the real blow. Because Vito was not the only fire.
Valentina had struck the match.
Vee looked at Luca then and drew in a shaky breath. "How did Voss know to find him?" she asked.
Marco shrugged. Vee looked at her husband. Luca, with shameless speed, copied Marco’s gesture.
Vee’s breathing trembled, but her eyes remained clear. "If my father is the witness, then he is the threat. If Voss found him, someone pointed him there. And if he is talking, then we need to know what he is saying. How do we find him?" Vee asked.
Both men thought they had heard wrong. It was not every day Luciano Genovese looked like his wife had successfully robbed him of speech. Well, in more intimate situations yes.
"Vee..." He came out of his hiding place with caution. "You understand what has to happen."
Her eyes moved to him. "Yes...I do."
Luca searched her face, perhaps looking for softness, some trace of the daughter who might still mourn what her father had chosen to become. He found none. He found exhaustion, and a terrifying clarity that made her look more like his Donna than ever.
"As long as it does not mess things up further," she continued, "yes. Val is to know nothing of this, Marco."
"Of course," Marco said.
Vee nodded once, then turned back to Luca. "I assume Voss is offering him immunity to testify, right?"
Luca didn’t understand how she was having enough brainpower right now to figure things out. God help him, he had married magnificently. "Among other things...Vito would not risk my anger if he was not getting everything out of it."
She straightened. "Have it taken care of then. As soon as possible." She exhaled. "I need a nap."
Both men watched as the woman who had just been raging moments ago turned and walked away.
Luca looked at Marco. Marco looked at Luca. Neither of them had anything clever to say.
Then Luca murmured, "I did not see that coming."
Marco let out a dry breath. "You stay in the Genovese famiglia long enough, you go numb to anything that threatens your happiness."
"True. Get some rest, Marco. We will talk later."
He nodded, because Luca’s eyes had already shifted towards the stairs. His wife came first.
Always.
Marco watched him go, then looked down at the pillows scattered around his feet. He sighed, picked one up, and placed it back on the sofa.
Luca walked up the stairs quietly. He found Vee in their bedroom. She was not taking a nap. She stood in front of the mirror, one hand resting lightly over her bump.
Beneath the fabric, their baby made the smallest curve in her body. He approached slowly. He stepped behind her and wrapped his arms around her, careful of her hand. His palms settled over her stomach.
"You okay?" he asked.
Vee looked at their reflection. His face above her shoulder. His arms around her. His hands covering their baby. "No."
Luca closed his eyes briefly and kissed the side of her head. "I know."
"What was the point of keeping it from me, Luca?"
"I thought..."
"You thought I would still feel something for him," she cut him off.
He said nothing.
Vee’s eyes burned. "I gave him too many chances. I gave him chances when he disappointed Val. When he made me feel like loving him was some debt I had to keep paying because he was our father."
Luca held her closer.
"He spent my whole life proving he would trade us for whatever saved him in the moment," she whispered and looked down at his hands on her stomach. "This is my family now. This mad, violent family that somehow still protects its own better than the man who gave me his blood."
Luca’s eyes lifted to hers in the mirror. Her face hardened.
"You think I would let him ruin my family?"
"I didn’t want to hurt you," Luca said. He was simply a man who loved her like breathing was optional and she was not.
She turned around in his arms. His hands stayed at her waist. "Luca," she said, looking up at him, "I have a family to think about. I have a family to protect." She lifted her good hand and touched his chest. "You. Our baby. Val. Marco. Matteo. Carol." Her mouth twisted slightly. "And for the life of me, I do not know why, but that list includes Don too."
Luca’s lips curved. "Yeah," he murmured. "Don has a sneaky way of getting under one’s skin."
"Like a rash."
His smile deepened.
Vee’s expression sobered again. "My point is, whatever threatens that family dies."
Veronica had always been fierce, always willing to bleed for the people she loved. But the famiglia had taken that loyalty and sharpened it. She was no longer only protecting people with sacrifice. She was learning to protect with consequence.
"I will never do anything I believe will hurt you," he said. "Always remember that." He caught her chin gently. "I need you to know it. I would stand in the way of it myself. You and only you are all that matters to me."
That was what made loving Luca both beautiful and exhausting. He meant every impossible thing he said. If the world threatened her, he would burn it. If his family threatened her, he would cut blood from blood. If his own heart became a danger, he would probably shoot it.
"Something still stinks, Luca. No way my dad knew to go to Voss," she said. "How did Voss know? You think one of your men is stepping out?"
"Only Marco and I handle favours," Luca said. "No one else knows what goes on behind my doors. I give orders, they follow them."