Veiled Amor by V. Theia
FIVE
“He’s the one with the key.” - Lucia
Someone was following her.
Her paranoia had been twitching like a crackhead for days.
Having never been versed in espionage, other than watching The Blacklist, Lucia couldn’t say for sure what the unsettling feeling was.
For the fifth time that day, she looked over her shoulder.
“I’m freaking paranoid.”
She’d been out of her father’s house for nearly three weeks, and nothing had happened. If he’d somehow found her, he would have made his presence known.
No, that wasn’t correct.
Her father didn’t do the grunt work himself.
He had enough people working for him, that included crooked cops.
Louisiana was beautiful, and she soaked up every building she went by like a starry-eyed tourist, all the while ignoring the crushing loneliness she was feeling.
Lucia was too aware of the possibility her father most probably paid off one of her friends, so she been radio silent. It was a terrible thing to mistrust everyone, because everyone had their price of betrayal.
Not letting it get her down, she headed to the diner. That nagging feeling at the back of her neck once again had her checking for anyone watching her.
The diner lady greeted her with a friendly smile. Lucia slid onto a counter stool. While she waited to be served, she looked over her shoulder several times. A man in a black bomber jacket came in, but he paid her no mind as he chose a corner booth and picked up a menu. Then a family of five bustled in. Lucia smiled as the littlest kid pestered her daddy for pancakes.
A claw-like pang clutched at her stomach.
Another memory best not thought about.
She had so many now. It was a wonder she didn’t have a split personality. Sheesh.
“What can I get you, honey?”
“Hi,” she smiled. “I’m in the mood for some hot soup and bread.”
“We have just the thing. The cook made Cajun corn soup this morning.”
“Sounds perfect.”
The bell above the door dinged again, and she swerved to see another man entering. His eyes landed on her for a second, and a slither of panic turned her stomach. Was he one of her father’s soldiers? The man took his gaze away and found a seat at the end of the counter, knocking his knuckles on the stainless steel surface, and another server poured him a cup of coffee.
“Expecting someone?” The diner lady asked, pouring Lucia a coffee.
“Hm? Oh, no. No one.”
“You’ve been looking at that door like you expect someone.”
“I’m people watching.” she smiled. The older woman looked at her speculatively, as though she knew Lucia was talking a lot of shit.
She ate her soup alone like a paranoid idiot and wondered if he was even bothering to look for her.
She’d been born to become an asset and he hated to lose anything.
What if she was being watched?
Where could she go?
So deep in her thoughts, she didn’t hear the diner lady ask if she wanted a refill. “Sorry, no, I’m good.”
“Honey, I know you said everything is fine, but is it? You’re jumpier than a cockroach on a bonfire.”
It was clear what she wanted to do, and she had avoided thinking about it for days now. “It will be. Is there a payphone I can use?”
“Sorry, that thing broke last year, and the owner is too cheap to fix it. You can use my phone.”
Thanking her, she took the offered phone and went to sit in a corner for privacy. It was nervous excitement sluicing through her veins as she typed in the numbers she’d memorized because, on some level, she knew her life would come to this, where she would reach out to him for help.
Only when it rang did she gulp back her anxious energy, a white converse sneaker shaking from side to side.
And then.
A syrupy gruff, “Hello.”
Oh, God.
She didn’t know how much she relied on those weekly calls with him to keep her sane. Hanging off his every word. Generic conversations, she sensed he hated going through the motions, and yet his voice, as silky rough as it was, gave her reasons to get through another lonely week.
Before she could speak, she rubbed a hand around the front of her throat, nerves making her swallow. “Giancarlo? It’s me.”
There was a lot of explaining to do before she could ask him for help.
For all she knew, he might have enjoyed the last few weeks without having to endure a call with her.
As always, she was about to be a giant inconvenience to Giancarlo.
But as he’d told her once, they were family, and family could ask for anything.
Not anything, as she’d later found out. He’d never taken the hint when she dropped them about visiting him in Colorado.
But this wasn’t anything frivolous she was asking for.
If his club was as notoriously powerful as she read about, then they’d have the means to disappear her for good.
She was banking a lot on Giancarlo still holding some family affection for her as his once sister-in-law. After not seeing him for over six years, he could be a completely different person.
No time like the present to find out.
He was the only one she trusted to help unlock her cage.
Taking a deep breath, Lucia started to talk.