“You sure everything’s okay? You seem kind of distracted lately.” Dante says as we walk down the hallway toward his study.
Distracted? That’s a fucking understatement and a half. “Me? No. Everything’s good, compagno.”
Everything is not good. I’m lying to his face. I need to speak to him about Vito, but the time never seems quite right. Finding out I have a sister and her showing up and telling me her father went missing, probably over some video recording, is the biggest secret I’ve ever kept from him.
Until Joey.
It’s been two long and torturous days since I allowed her to suck my cock right here in his house. I’ve done my best to avoid her ever since, but I miss her like hell.
He arches an eyebrow. “You met someone?”
“Fuck, no,” I snap. And right at that moment, someone turns down the hallway and comes face-to-face with the two of us.
“Hey, guys,” she says with a flutter of her eyelashes. Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail and sweat glistens on her abs. She’s wearing those tight-as-fuck yoga pants that cling to every single inch of her perfect fucking body, but that’s not the most distracting thing about her today. My eyes drop to her t-shirt, which she has tied up in a knot so that her tan, taut stomach is still on display. The shirt has two words emblazoned across the front, stretched across her beautiful tits. Tap Out.
Girl is going to fucking kill me.
My jaw ticks as I grind my teeth together and will my cock to stop twitching in my pants.
“How was your workout?” her older brother asks.
“Great.” She gives him a huge smile. “Toni is such a great trainer. She’s amazing. Really knows how to get the best from me, you know?” Brat!
“No need to lay it on so thick, kid. She isn’t standing behind you,” Dante teases her.
Joey rolls her eyes and avoids my gaze. “Are you going over the new casino deal?”
“Yeah.”
How does she know about the new casino deal?
“Cool. Can I sit in?” she asks.
“You want to grab a shower first?”
She wrinkles her nose before looking down and assessing her clothing. I can’t help doing the same. I want to rip them off her and fuck her until she begs me to stop.
“Nah, I’ll shower after. I’m going out with some friends this afternoon.”
“Toby?” Dante asks.
Her cheeks flush pink. “He’ll be there, yes. But I’m not going out with him.”
Dante chuckles softly while my muscles tense at the thought of that douchebag being anywhere near her.
We continue walking down the hallway and Joey falls into step beside us. Once we’re inside Dante’s office, he takes a seat behind his desk, and Joey and I sit opposite. I try to avoid looking at her, but when I glance sideways, she gives me a wicked smile.
“Tell me how it went with Ralf last night,” Joey says as she leans forward in her seat. “Was he open to the buyout, or did he take some convincing?”
Feeling like I just stepped into an alternate universe, I frown at Dante. I know I should keep my mouth shut, because this is their family business and she’s as much a Moretti as he is, but I can’t. “You told Joey about Ralf?”
“Yeah,” he replies. “She wants to be more involved in the family business—”
“And you thought the casino deal was a good place to start?”
Dante frowns at me, unaccustomed to me questioning his methods, but those methods have never involved putting Joey in harm’s way before. And he’s never blindsided me like this. Usually, I know everything that’s going on. I guess I’ve been more distracted than I thought.
“Fuck’s sake,” Joey mutters under her breath, but I ignore her. I’ll deal with her later.
“It’s not like I’m asking her to blow someone’s head off, Max, but …”
“But what?” I snap.
“She’s a fucking Moretti. This is her legacy too. If she wants to be a part of the business …”
I can’t believe the change in him. The same man who sent her off to school in Italy at the age of eighteen, even though she cried and pleaded with him not to, is telling me that she can be part of the family business. “You really think that’s a wise move? Putting her at risk like that?”
His hands ball into fists. “Are you seriously questioning my decision-making when it comes to my family?”
“Your family?” I say with a snarl at the suggestion that somehow I’m no longer a part of it.
He bangs his fist on the desk. “Yes! My fucking family.”
“Jeez, guys, calm down,” Joey yells, but I keep my glare focused on her older brother.
“This city. All of this”—he waves his hands in the air—“is as much hers as it is mine and Lorenzo’s.”
“I’m not suggesting otherwise,” I bark. “But it’s too fucking dangerous.”
“You’re the one who’s spent the last two months telling me how tough she is,” he snaps back.
“He has?” Joey says. I glance over. Her cheeks are bright pink, but I can’t think about the reason why right now.
“That’s different,” I say, returning my attention to Dante. “Why now, D? When all of those years you were determined to protect her, why are you letting her be a part of this now?”
“Because the man I needed to protect her from is fucking dead, Max,” he shouts. “I fucking killed him, remember?”
He’s talking about their father. We all protected Joey from the worst of him. But when Dante found out their father was operating a sex trafficking ring with the head of the Bratva and had known about an assault on Kat years before, he went to his house and put a bullet in his head. But Salvatore wasn’t the only threat. There are too many people who’d see Joey Moretti as an easy target. Too many people who might use her to get to her brothers.
“Are you telling me you don’t think she has what it takes?” he asks, and I swallow harshly.
Both their eyes are locked on me as they wait for my answer. How do I answer that? Of course she has what it takes. She’s a fucking Moretti through and through. Smart and tough. I have no doubt she could be as ruthless as her brothers if necessary, but there’s more to it than that.
“Max?” he says.
“She’s …”
“I’m what?” Joey snaps. “A girl?”
You’re fucking mine. “She’s too good for this life, D.”
Joey jumps to her feet. “This is my fucking life, Max. It’s all I’ve ever known. If you think I’m going to spend all my days sitting at home painting my damn nails, then you don’t know me at all.”
I growl at her. “I never said that.”
“No? You’re thinking it though, right? Just a spoiled little princess.” She leans down, bringing her face close to mine as she glares at me. “Well, I am a fucking princess, Max. Chicago royalty. Heir to the goddamn Moretti empire, and don’t you ever fucking forget it.”
Then she storms out of the room, slamming the door closed behind her.
“Fuck,” Dante sighs, rubbing a hand over his face as he leans back in his chair. “Why couldn’t I have only had brothers?”
“It would have been easier.” I sure as shit wouldn’t spend almost every hour of every day thinking about being inside his brother.
“She’s going to be a part of this, Max. How can I refuse her when she has a point? If I stop her because she’s a woman, aren’t I as bad as him?”
“You’re nothing like your father.”
“I know she’s young and naive in a lot of ways, but with some experience, I think Joey could be an asset to our business. Don’t you?”
I nod because we both know it’s true. “I can’t help worrying about her though, D. The kind of people we deal with … they see women as easy targets. She could be the easiest way to get to you or Lorenzo.”
“Then we have to make sure she’s not an easy target,” he says with a shrug. “Lorenzo is teaching her how to handle a gun. She almost knocked Toni unconscious with her roundhouse yesterday.”
“She’s a fucking firecracker.” I smile because there’s no denying that. “But it’s more than being able to handle herself, D. I know she’s smart, but she’s also too fucking naive about so many things, and that makes her vulnerable.” And that fucking terrifies me.
“I know, compagno.” He nods in agreement. “But I can’t keep her under lock and key forever. So we make sure that the message is out there that anyone who touches her will die a very slow and agonizing death. Yeah?”
Now that’s a sentiment I can get behind. “Yeah.”
