Nero was the most like their father. Both of them having cases much milder than the other two.
Lucca was who he was. He didn’t change for anyone and invited the world to see him for who he was. Between them all, he was the most unstable. The only thing in this fucking mad world that kept him tethered to the ground and not in hell was his fiancée, Chloe Masters.
Maria was a different story altogether. After she had heard she had ASPD, her young self had gone home and snuck into her father’s office to read one of the books he had about mental health. She discovered more about herself that day than she ever had or would. As she read each trait, it had sent tiny goosebumps up to prick her skin ….
Charming.
Narcissistic.
Cunning.
Manipulative.
Shallow.
All traits she knew she possessed but hadn’t known psychopaths carried. You would think they were loners or even losers, but they weren’t. Psychopaths were winners.
The last trait, however, was more complicated—lack of empathy. It wasn’t that psychopaths didn’t have empathy at all; it was more described as having an empathy switch, which in turn allowed them to never feel remorse.
It was what made Lucca one of the greatest underbosses in Mafia history, as every day his reputation became far stronger than their father’s.
For Maria, though, it was what made everyone underestimate her, and because she was an underestimated woman, it helped keep Maria tethered to the ground.
It wasn’t that she didn’t have empathy; there was just very little of it. The only people to whom she felt true feelings for were the women in her life and Leo. There was never a man whom she had looked at and felt something for … until Kayne. Women, though, she could meet and click with instantly. It was why everyone around her probably thought she was into women and, truthfully, she’d never been able to see herself with a man. Similar to how the men in the Caruso family expected certain things from her, other men expected certain things from women and in their future wives. That was where she fucking drew the line.
She held respect for very few men, like Lucca and Nero, but she only truly cared for Leo, and that was because Leo was everything they weren’t. He wasn’t broken and dark inside. He was pure and light. Just like their mother had been.
It wasn’t until after her death that Maria wondered how her mother had ended up with her father.
It was funny how, after someone died, it changed every memory you had with them, as if death came with a different lens. The fond memories that were once seen through rose-colored glasses became tainted with shades of gray. Her new lens had left her questioning if her mother had been happy with her father, not seeming to remember if she truly had been.
There was no question her father had been, as there was never another nor ever would be another for him. Although he was still of the living, Dante died the same moment his wife was killed in the parking lot.
Watching Lucca put the ingredients into the pot, he was just like their father in that Lucca had only one person meant for him. Except, for Lucca there would be no living if Chloe died. And, if there was a God, He would let the devil take Lucca’s soul first.
“Do me a favor,” Nero started, reaching into his pocket. “Find out if any of the students attending on scholarships have any charges on their lunch accounts. If so, pay it, if Legacy Prep wants money so fucking badly.”
Looking at the wad of cash that Nero placed on the counter, it was clear that the Caruso men were cursed by the love of one good woman.
She just hoped, for once, that being a woman in this family would finally pay off and exclude her from that.
Five
“I’ll be Wanting A Dance, princess.”
Maria’s foot had touched the first step to head upstairs for the night when a knock on the front door sounded. Wondering who the hell would be knocking on the door at this hour, she padded her bare feet across the foyer floor, wanting to just take a look through the peep hole. It wasn’t until she peered through the fish-eyed glass did she decide she would open it herself after quickly running her fingers through her hair.
Ew, did I just do that?
Stopping herself from further embarrassment, she finally opened it to see the man on the other side without the weird distortion.
“Hello, princess.” His smooth voice slid over her body, along with his hazel eyes, taking in her crushed pink, velvet shorts and matching tank top. “I thought, even at home, you might wear heels and fur.” Glancing down her body again, this time much slower, seeing just how short the shorts were and how her top revealed her toned lower abdomen. “Guess not.”
“I don’t like to be called that, Dominic.”
His face seemed to switch from surprised to amused. “Well, that’s too bad.”
Crossing her arms, she raised one of her bushy brows as she blocked the doorway. “May I help you?”
“Sure.” He took a step into the doorway, standing toe to toe with her before that bit of slyness he held quickly vanished. In its place was a seriousness so deadly that it took her by surprise, letting him easily push past her. “You can take me to Lucca.”
That look on his face nearly took her breath away, especially after just seeing him yesterday for the first time in years. She had spent a few hours with him, but Maria hadn’t seen him like this …
…Knocking on the Lucianos’ front door gave her pleasure. She loved ruining someone’s day.
When the door flew open, Angel’s other half greeted her.
They might have looked like the same person, but they couldn’t have been more opposite. Whereas she was beginning to like Angel, the Luciano brother whom the Carusos held as collateral, this one, however …
“Hey, princess.” The head-to-toe inked brother smiled as his eyes traveled down her body.
…I did not. It was impossible to miss the mask he put on the second he opened the door and saw it was her.
Matthias put on a façade, fooling those around him, but he didn’t fool her for one second. She could see right through that mask for what he was—broken.
Todd, her bodyguard, barreled through the door, pushing Angel’s twin brother out of the way to check the house before she went in.
“Who the fuck are you?” Dominic, the oldest brother, stood when he entered.
Maria stepped into the house before Todd got killed. “He’s with me.”
This time, it was Dominic whose eyes went down the length of her tall body, taking in her high heels, short dress, and fur coat. “Why the hell are you here?”
It had been a long time since she had seen the oldest Luciano brother. At the time, she was younger, so she hadn’t taken a good look at him. Now, as she took in Dominic’s appearance, she saw that he looked much different than the twins and their sister, Katarina.
Whereas they were pale, with charcoal-gray eyes, Dominic had tanned skin that matched his chocolate hair and set off the brown in his hazel eyes, but it was the beautiful green in them that made them sparkle.
“I, um …” She had to think a minute about what it was exactly she came for. “To see Kat.”
“And what do you want with her?” He crossed his strong arms over his chest.