The Mafia Boss’s Dog Chose the Plus-Size Woman Everyone Ignored—Then Refused to Leave Her Side

Chapter 8

The armored car moved through the rain with two vehicles riding close on either side. Guards spoke through hidden earpieces. City lights slid across Luca’s face without softening it.

“They followed me because of you,” Ruby said.

His jaw tightened. “They won’t do it again.”

“You can’t know that.”

“I can make certain.”

The calmness of his voice frightened her more than anger would have. The rain had slicked the streets to black mirrors, and the city passed by in smears of neon — red, gold, white — none of them warm. Ruby pressed her hands flat against her thighs to stop them shaking, and watched the reflection of her own face slide across the glass, looking smaller than she knew she was.

By the time they reached her apartment, four guards were already positioned around the building. Luca followed her upstairs, checked every room, every window, even the narrow cupboard beside the kitchen. He moved through her small home like a man reading a map for hidden roads, his coat dripping on her hallway floor. Caesar had been brought from Luca’s house and had immediately climbed onto Ruby’s couch with the pink pig in his mouth, stretching across all three cushions, filling the space like he had lived there his whole life. Ruby watched Luca pause at the doorway of her bedroom, and something in his careful face loosened — just for a second — at the sight of her frayed quilts and the row of dog toys lined up like soldiers on the windowsill.

Luca ordered two men to remain outside her door.

“No,” Ruby said.

He continued speaking into his phone. Ruby stepped in front of him. “I said no.”

Luca ended the call and looked down at her. “This is not a discussion.”

That sentence changed everything.

Ruby folded her arms over the soft curve of her stomach. “My home, my business, and my life are always a discussion when you’re making decisions about them.”

“Someone has been studying your routine.”

“Then tell me what happened, and let me decide what precautions I accept.”

He shook his head. “I will not gamble with your safety.”

Ruby gave a short, humorless laugh. “You’re not protecting me, Luca. You’re replacing my choices with yours.”

The next morning, two black vehicles were parked outside Harbor Light. The sight alone frightened a rescue dog so badly it refused to leave its owner’s car. Ruby spent twenty minutes calming the animal, then marched back inside and called Luca. He refused to remove the guards. She hung up. Fifteen minutes later he arrived with Caesar beside him and three security men trailing a few steps behind.

Ruby waited until the front door closed. “Your men are scaring my clients.”

“Your clients aren’t being watched by criminals.”

“Neither were they yesterday. But now everyone entering this building feels like a suspect.”

He told her the arrangement would last until the threat disappeared. Ruby asked how long danger usually lasted in his world. Luca had no answer.

Their argument sharpened. Luca insisted the men who photographed her might use her to reach him. Ruby stared at him.

“So that’s what I’ve become. A weak point.”

He realized too late how the words sounded. “That is not what I meant.”

“It’s exactly what you meant.” Her voice stayed steady, though the hurt in it was clear. Harbor Light had been built as a safe place for animals that had already spent too much of their lives surrounded by fear. She would not turn it into an armed checkpoint simply because he was accustomed to controlling every risk.

Luca stepped closer. “I am trying to keep you alive.”

“And I am trying to remain myself.”

Caesar moved between them and dropped the pink pig at Ruby’s feet. When neither person reacted, he squeezed it until the toy gave a loud, indignant snort.

Ruby’s anger softened as she crouched and held his broad head between her hands. Caesar leaned into her, unaware that the place he had learned to rest was about to disappear from his life.

“Caesar can’t come here while your enemies are watching me,” Ruby said.

Luca’s face became still. “He needs this place.”

“I know he needs you.” Ruby swallowed. “That’s why I’m sending him away. Before something happens here.”

He looked around the center — the bright mats, the toy baskets, the chair where he had first learned to sit without watching every door. “And me?” he asked quietly.

Ruby rose with some difficulty. “You need to decide whether caring about someone means standing beside them — or taking control of them.”

Luca was silent for several seconds. Then he called his men and ordered the vehicles removed from the street. Ruby should have felt victorious. The empty ache in her chest made the moment feel like a loss.

At the door, Caesar refused to leave. Luca called him once, but the dog remained pressed against Ruby’s legs. She bent down and kissed the top of his head.

“Go with him,” she whispered. “He’s going to pretend he doesn’t need you.”

Caesar licked her cheek, leaving a wet line from her jaw to her ear, then slowly followed Luca outside. Ruby watched the black car disappear through the rain, and stood in the doorway until the street went empty, until the storm soaked the hem of her sweater and the cold crept up her bare ankles. She told herself the wetness on her face was only the rain.