Chapter Fourteen
Jane
I took a seat next to Alessandro, though my eyes felt like they were hanging from strings as I looked around the table at the powerful men and gorgeous women. I focused on Ethan, the scar cutting across his jaw significant somehow as he spoke.
“Good.” His gaze stayed on Alessandro. “Would you like to start?”
He nodded, then turned his full attention on me. “The bullets at your shop were a warning...a message to me and my family.”
My heart beat erratically. “What do you mean? Who were those people? What do they want from me? Wh-what was the message?”
He inhaled slow and deep, his emotions as distant as his voice. “Those people were mobsters from either the Accardi or O’Malley family, perhaps both.”
“Mobsters,” I whispered starkly, my blood draining from my face. “What would the mafia want from me—from you ?”
Alessandro held my stare. “Jane...my family are mobsters too. Our enemies want our power and prestige, our money and associates, and they’ll do whatever is needed to get it.”
I gaped. “ You’re a mobster?” I swallowed hard. “That’s how you make your money—by murder, blackmail and threats.”
At least now I had a fair idea what his bad habits were. No doubt he also enjoyed coke along with other drugs, and a plethora of women and whores.
Ethan leaned back, no doubt enjoying the show along with his brother’s discomfort, while Carlo smirked as though anticipating our romantic downfall. I didn’t bother glancing at anyone else, I was hardly aware of them in the room.
“I make plenty of money with other, legitimate ventures—we all do,” Alessandro added. “Not everything is soaked in blood or illegal.”
At least now I understood his sarcasm when he’d said they were one big, happy family.
I pressed a hand to my brow. “Is that supposed to make me feel better?”
“No, but it’s the truth.”
My glass clapped sharply against the table as I put it down. “I-I really can’t deal with this right now.” I pushed my chair back and got to my feet. “I want to go home.”
Alessandro stood and put a hand on my arm. “You really think you should go home right now? You’re not safe there, little sparrow.”
“Little sparrow?” Chantilly repeated in a soft voice to Valentino. “He really does like her a lot.” She blinked my way as I looked at her. Sending me an unapologetic smile, she added a little louder, “I heard about the shooting. It’s not the greatest way to be welcomed into the family.”
“Not the greatest way at all,” I conceded.
Chantilly nodded. “If it helps, I can vouch for the Agostino family.” She shuddered. “I barely escaped from the O’Malley family, it’s only thanks to these guys that I’m still here.”
I sensed she was making light of a heavy, dark topic. That it made me withdraw even more and make me feel ten times more vulnerable wasn’t something I was ready to admit. I didn’t know these people, I certainly didn’t trust them. They might appear to have my back but they’d turn on me quicker than a lightning strike if they decided I wasn’t worth their time.
They were, after all, underworld criminals.
I turned my attention back to the man who’d brought me here. The same man who’d brought my body to life. A pity he’d all but killed my trust. “I guess I have you to thank for the shooting.”
He sucked in a harsh breath. “It was never my intention to—“
“What? Get me shot and killed?” I snorted, though something withered inside my chest as I added, “That’s good to know.”
His eyes hardened fractionally, showing his true colors. “Stay here with me, have breakfast. Then I’ll take you to my place where we can talk some more.”
I was stupidly tempted. But I had some pride left despite being fooled into thinking he was someone special. “Thanks, but no thanks. I have friends I can stay with, other places I’ll be safe.”
Sabrina shook her head. “Believe me, nowhere is safer than with any one of these men.” She pointedly didn’t look in Carlo’s direction. “Alessandro has your best interest at heart. It’s not safe now for you to be alone, not anymore. If those first shots were a warning, the next ones will likely be shoot to kill.”
“N-next ones?” I asked, despising my shaky voice.
Sabrina bit her lip, then looked to Ethan for apparent confirmation before she nodded and said, “You were lucky they gave any warning at all. I’m guessing they have yet to realize how important you are to Alessandro.”
I felt his eyes on me, sensed his desire to drag me into his arms while telling me everything was going to be okay. Except that was the last thing I wanted from him. He’d turned my life upside down and inside out. He was to blame for my current nightmare.
“You really are safe with me,” he said softly but with unyielding certainty.
“Am I?” I asked, my voice cracking and my heart bleeding with betrayal.
Valentino cocked his head to the side, his beard that was sprinkled liberally with silver reminding me of the pelt on a bear. “You couldn’t be in better hands.”
Sabrina smiled. “That’s quite a compliment coming from our enforcer.”
I took a backward step, my breathing as erratic as the pulse jerking about in my throat. “Enforcer?” I couldn’t help but look at Valentino differently now, becoming aware of the gun holstered at his chest, at his inherent hardness lurking just beneath the surface. Even his big hands made me wonder how many necks he’d broken. “You kill people for a living.”
He twisted his lips. I guessed it was a smile. “Only the ones who deserve it.”
The elevator pinged then, a dark-haired man walking through the foyer and into sight. In his dark suit with a blue silk dress shirt and no tie, he looked arrogant and self-assured. He slowed, his gaze swiveling from one person to the next. “What have I missed?”
“Evander,” Alessandro said wryly. “I’m glad you could make it. I’ve been trying to talk my...girlfriend out of walking out on me.”
I blinked. Girlfriend ?
Evander cocked a dark brow even as his stare appraised me. “And you want me to change her mind?”
I lifted my chin. “Evander, I suppose you’re a mobster too.”
Alessandro sighed. “Of course he is. But don’t get sucked in by his charm. Evander is our underboss, one rank under our don, Ethan.”
I turned wide eyes to Alessandro. “So what does that make you in this mobster hierarchy?”
“I’m a capo. I have my own small group of soldiers with my own enterprises I look after.” He shrugged. “Each of us brothers has a knack at making money, no matter which position we’re in.”
Evander chuckled, his eyes staying on me. “You’re not Alessandro’s usual type.”
I narrowed my eyes, sick to death of hearing it. What exactly did everyone mean by that anyway? Was Alessandro sick of his usual type, whatever that might be, and I was something of an oddball, a woman who’d snared his interest? Even if that was true, how long before my eccentricities would become less enticing, maybe even embarrassing? How long before I was a turn-off rather than a turn-on?
Too much of a good thing had a habit of going from sweet to sour.
I squeezed my eyes shut. Why was I making it all about him? I should be thinking about me and my turn-offs. I did not want to be involved with the mafia in any capacity, particularly as a mafia capo’s lover who’d be discarded as quickly as I’d been picked up.
I lifted my chin and held Alessandro’s stare. There was only one thing that would determine if Alessandro truly wanted to be with me...or not. I valued a man for his loyalty and devotion more than I did his looks, but did he feel the same way? “I’ll stay at your house on one—no, two—conditions.”
His eyes warmed. “Name them.”
“I’ll stay with you for only as long as my shop is closed.”
He frowned, but reluctantly nodded. “Deal. Your second condition?”
“I’m allowed to have a hairdresser or anyone else in your home while I’m stuck there alone.”
He grinned. “Agreed. Not that you’ll have a lot of time on your hands little sparrow. I’m going to fill your—“
“Enough,” Evander said drily. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m the only single male left in this family and I don’t need to hear your dirty talk.”
“Hours,” Alessandro said. “I‘m going to fill her hours.”
Evander snorted. “Yeah, right.”
The elevator dinged then and Ethan clapped his hands. “Enough talk, our breakfast is here. Let’s eat.”