Francesco DeLuca: Savage Bloodline by Theresa Hodge

Author:Theresa Hodge [Hodge, Theresa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Theresa Hodge
Published: 2022-08-31T16:00:00+00:00

11

ANAIS

“This is delicious,” I told Francesco as I bit into the pastry. “I’ll have to remember this place. It’s a little distance from my apartment, but it would be worth the trip. Thank you for buying me breakfast.”

The pastry was good, but it was a little rich for me. I wanted him to think I appreciated everything he did. If I could get closer to him, maybe I could learn more about this thumb drive. I sat eating my pastry and sipping on my Irish Cream cappuccino. I just wished it was real Irish Cream liqueur. No, probably a bad idea. I needed to keep my head about me. It was hard enough not giving into my desires. Alcohol would make it worse.

“Bree, what are your plans today?” Francesco asked me.

“I need to put in a few applications,” I replied. “I haven’t even gotten a call back yet. Other than that, I’m free.”

“I can introduce you to a few people I know, and they can help find you something,” he offered.

“That would be sweet,” I answered. “I would appreciate that.”

“Then it’s settled,” he announced. “You’re spending the day with me. Have you been to the aquarium? It was a favorite of mine as a kid. I would really love to show you.”

An aquarium? Well, not what I planned, but why not. He looked excited, probably more than I have seen him up to this point. We walked out to the limo, and after a short drive, we stepped out in front of the New England Aquarium.

Francesco walked up to the ticket booth and paid the lady behind the glass.

“You’re Francesco DeLuca,” I remarked after he bought the tickets. “Couldn’t you get in for free?”

“Yes,” he admitted. “But I don’t want to do that. The aquarium needs the money to continue to operate. I donate enough that I’m what they call an aquarium member, but I still pay. My mother brought me here all the time as a child, and I love it. Come on, let me show you around.”

It was like I witnessed this tough mafia capo turn back into a little kid. His eyes practically gleamed as he walked around, and I could hear the excitement in his voice as he talked about practically every exhibit. Before I knew it, I had a huge smile on my face. It wasn’t from watching all the marine life, but from watching Francesco. How is it possible that the man I see excited about aquarium exhibits the same one that killed my husband?

Halfway through, he talked to an employee, then took me behind the exhibits. We climbed up a set of metal stairs and stood looking down into the shark exhibit. Two other employees climbed up with buckets of fish. It was feeding time. Francesco grabbed one bucket and gave it to me.

“Throw a few in and watch the sharks,” he remarked excitedly.

I reluctantly reached in, picking up a dead, stinky fish, and tossed it into the tank. My face grimaced at the slimy feel as it slid out of my hand.

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