A calm and collected Romano sits opposite me. With Frankie to my right, he pours us all a brandy. I pull my phone out and set it on the table, waiting for Keller’s message. He left a couple of hours ago for the shipment.
My leg bobs up and down. I hate being stuck so far away just waiting on a call.
“Nice courtyard,” I say, looking over at the sea view.
“You seem distracted.” His voice is low as he lights up a cigar.
“Just overseeing your shipment. Hard to do in a different time zone, with little warning,” I reply.
Frankie clears his throat next to me.
“Been a while since you’ve been in Italy, Franks.”
‘Franks’, what the hell is that? I bite back a laugh.
Frankie crosses his leg casually. “No need to come back here. I got my revenge. I’m home now.”
“How did you do it?” Romano asks. A tendril of smoke works its way around Romano’s head. It almost looks like two horns erupting from his hair. Fitting, considering his daughter is a she-devil.
“Bullet between the eyes.”
Romano scoffs, banging his hand on the table. “Boring. I tortured my brother for five whole days before he begged me to end his life, with a knife straight through the heart.”
Romano turns to me. “You’d never kill your brother?” he asks.
“No.” I’m not giving him more than that.
Our attention turns to my buzzing cell on the table. Romano smirks. “You might want to get that. And make sure we can all hear.”
Shit.
I snatch it up. Relief floods through me when I see Keller’s name.
“What the fuck was that, Luca?” he yells into the phone so loudly my speaker crackles.
“What?”
I stand, and Romano points at me. “Sit boy. I want to listen.”
My heart hammers. “Keller, what’s going on?”
“What’s going on? I just nearly had all my limbs blown off. ”
My eyes narrow at Romano, who’s laughing.
“Is everyone okay? Are you okay?”
“I will be when I get on a plane to Italy and come fucking slit his throat.” His tone drips with violence.
“Calm down, I’ll straighten this out. Just go home.”
“Go home? I have two dead bodies to take care of. O-fucking-K?”
I flick Frankie a look, who’s giving Romano a death glare.
“Who?” I’m trying to remember who I assigned to help him.
Keller’s voice gets quieter. “Jax, do a headcount. Who are we missing?” I can’t hear the names, but at least Jax is well enough to help.
“Keller. Let Jax take care of this. I trust him. You just get home.” I need him back with his family.
“We’re having serious words when you get back, brother.”
“We will.” I slide my phone back into my pocket. “Fuck you,” I spit out at Romano.
He sips on his brandy. “Maria doesn’t share very well, Luca. You’ll do well to remember that,” he says calmly.
My heart stops. Rosa.
Frankie looks at me, confused, and I shake my head. Not now. I wrack my brains. How would he even know? Maria hasn’t been at the villa–there’s no way.
“Frankie, we’re leaving.”
I storm out of the pavilion with Frankie hot on my tail.
“Maria is waiting for you by the front door, she’s coming back with you,” Romano calls out.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper. As if this day couldn’t get any worse.
By the time we arrive back, it’s dark. The villa is lit up, it’s romantic, really. It makes me just want to find Rosa and sneak off again. My blood boils and I storm up the stairs.
“Where’s our room?” Maria asks.
“Your room is down the hall,” I point. “Last on the left.” I can’t even look at her.
Her door slams shut, and I jog down the stairs. I have to see Rosa.
I come to a halt at the landing when I hear shouting.
“You’re going out dressed like a fucking whore, Rosa. That’s why I’m pissed!” Dante roars.
Glass shatters, and I run to the kitchen. My hand resting on my gun. I have had enough of today, and I need to release some of this anger. Dante the douche just gave me my outlet.
“I’ll go change.” Her voice trembles.
Like hell she will.
When I come around the corner, I see a pale Rosa standing there, shaking, as he looms over with his fists clenched and half raised.
I clear my throat and as he spots me, his eyes go wide.
“Rosa, I need you to go upstairs for me.”
She looks at me in horror and shakes her head. When she doesn’t move, I ask again.
“Please.” The word ‘baby’ nearly slips from my tongue.
She sighs and drops her head. The back of my hand brushes hers as she walks past.
I can feel the heat of anger rush through me when I hear her bedroom door close.
“You think that’s how we speak to women?” Not just any woman, my whole world.
I stalk towards him, and when he doesn’t respond, I shout, “I’m your boss, and I’m asking you a question. Is that how you speak to women?”
“N-no. But she was—”
I hold up a finger.
“She was nothing.” I cut him off. “That will be the last time you speak to her like that. Otherwise, you’re done.”
His jaw ticks.
“The slut needs to be put in her place, boss.”
No one talks about my Rosa like that.
I launch myself at him, pulling back my right fist and punching him square in the jaw.
He retracts his arm and throws a sloppy right hook that I easily duck away from. I lay into him until his nose cracks under my fist and blood splatters up my shirt.
Grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, I throw his head down onto the marble counter. Hefting the glass bottle next to me, I smash it next to his head.
Pinning him down, I hiss into his ear. “If I ever hear you call her that again, I will rip out your tongue.”
“Luca!” Grayson shouts.
Holding Dante down, I look up at a shocked Grayson. And hold my hand with the broken bottle up to wave at him.
“All fine in here, just teaching him some rules.”
He looks down at Dante with a frown. “I think he gets the message.”
“Aw, don’t ruin my fun, Dad.”
Dante starts to say something, and I lift his head and slam it back on the counter. “Did I say you could speak?”
“Luca, just let him go.” Grayson’s eyes flick upstairs.
Rosa.
With an exasperated sigh, I toss Dante on the floor like the piece of trash he is.
“I suggest you stay away from me,” I spit out in disgust and storm outside, grabbing a cigarette and lighting it.
“What the fuck happened?” Grayson asks.
“He smashed a glass at Rosa and called her a slut.”
He leans back against the wall and crosses his arms. “You’re in deep, aren’t you?”
I laugh as I exhale the smoke.
“Whatever gave you that idea?” Taking a drag, I stare into the dark sky. “I love that woman so damn much I don’t know what to do with myself anymore.”
“Shit.”
“Hmm. Shit, indeed. The worst part is, she loves me just as much. Yet here we are, both engaged to two of the worst creatures on the planet.”
He grunts as he rubs his fingers over his wedding band. “Why don’t you run?”
I pin him with a stare. “Oh, trust me. Every time I’m with her, I debate packing a bag and running as far away as I can.”
“Well, what’s stopping you?”
The fact that I make one slip up, Romano has my family killed. I can’t protect them if I run.
But, I can’t tell him that. So, instead, I raise a brow. “Am I that bad of a boss?”
He will know my plans soon enough, but right now isn’t the time.
“What? No. I don’t mean it like that.” Grayson waves his hand and pushes from the wall. “I just know how it feels to want someone so bad you’d sacrifice everything for them.”
“I can’t leave, not yet. I have to finish what I started. I don’t want this to all backfire on you, Keller, or your families. Sometimes, you have to sacrifice some of your own happiness for everyone else.”
I take in another drag. I have to find a way to fix this before next weekend. I need the commissioner to agree to work with Frankie, to let him take the reins on removing the Capris. He’s more than capable.
“Luca, you’ve given up your life for this mafia. Isn’t it about time you take what’s yours?”
I laugh and toss the cigarette butt to the floor and stub it out with my Oxford.
“I can wish in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up first. I’m going to go check on Rosa.”
“You two are making it obvious.” He gives me one of those concerned father looks.
“Seriously? How? Was it her screaming my name in the pool last night that gave it away? Or the session we had outside of the villa earlier?”
His eyes go wide, replaced with an approving grin. “I’m impressed.”
I shrug. “What can I say, we’ve spent the last few months sneaking around. We’ve gotten pretty damn good at it. A far sight better than you and Maddie ever were.”
“Fuck off.”
The door slides open, and Frankie storms through and slams it shut.
“Why the fuck did you nearly glass Dante to death?” he angrily whispers.
“I was protecting your niece, Frankie.” I walk towards him, my nose inches from his face. “I suggest you stop questioning my actions, especially as I’m looking out for your family. I’m not in the mood.” I barge past his shoulder and slip back inside.
“Don’t. Not now, Frankie,” Grayson replies.
Okay, progress. At least Grayson didn’t punch him this time.
I breeze past Dante, who’s still in the kitchen. He’s holding an ice pack up to his swollen nose.
I don’t give a shit what any of them think right now. I need to get to Rosa. I need to know what is going on.
After double-stepping up the stairs, I tap on the door. Nothing. “Rosa, can I speak to you?” I keep my voice stern, in case anyone’s listening.
Maria is in the room next door. The last thing I need is that vile creature coming out of her lair.
The door cracks open and relief washes over her features. I wrap her up in my arms, kicking the door shut.
If Dante does come back up, I need to know, so I leave my back against the door as I hold her.
I press a kiss to her glossy red lips and brush the stray strand of hair out of her face.
“Rosa, baby. What happened back there?”
Her face scrunches together and she tries to look away, but I don’t let her. “Come on, you can talk to me. Has he hurt you? Has he done this before?”
Her eyes go wide and she quickly recovers her expression. “N-no. I don’t know what happened tonight. He’s never behaved like this around me before.”
Hmm.
“You swear?”
She nods, but it’s not enough.
“Words, Rosa. Because I swear to god, if he has touched you, or even spoken to you like that before. I will go down there and stab him to death and let him bleed out in the pool.”
She opens her mouth and snaps it back shut. She dips her head and nuzzles it into my chest.
“No. Luca, I swear. He’s never done anything like this before.”
So why did her voice just break?
“Hmm.” Is all I can say, my mind reeling.
“He loves me, Luca. He would never hurt me.”
I tip her chin up so we’re nose to nose. I don’t see a way out; that little glimmer of hope I had was wiped away today. It was that easy for Romano to get to Keller.
“No, baby. I love you. I am the only man who truly loves you. That piece of shit doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as you. Today I realized something–no matter what I do, until the Capris are gone, I can’t keep everyone safe. So I am speeding up my plans. Soon, this will be over.”
“Really?” Her hands clasp together over my chest.
I nod. Once I land back in New York, I will put an end to this. I pull her tight, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. I will get her away from Dante. I will make sure my family is safe.
And then we are leaving.
