“You two just need to talk things out,” Vanessa suggests.
“There’s nothing to talk about, Van,” I sigh. “He’s the don, and I’m just—s**t, I don’t know what I am.Maybe Sonya was right. Maybe I am just his plaything. A temporary bed-warmer.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Adriano mumbles through a full mouth, already wolfing down his secondslice of pizza. “It’s just that Lucio has never been great with showing his true feelings. I don’t think helikes being that vulnerable. Around anybody.”
“No s**t,” I say. “He bosses me around like I’m one of his men.”
“Control is how he shows affection.”
I roll my eyes at Adriano. “What a charming personality quirk.”
He chuckles. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but I’m being serious. In his mind, he thinks controllingyou might keep you alive longer. Esp
