Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Joshua
“ M y job, Joshua,” she snarls, curling her lips in disgust as she rakes her gaze over me. “Not all of us have time to party.” She touches her earrings to turn off the audio, clearly not wanting anyone to listen to me rip her a new one.
I stalk toward her, working hard to leash my anger. Though she’s responsible for some of my foul mood, Gia isn’t the only reason I’m pissed off tonight. “Your job is to call me before you make any move!”
She jabs her finger in my chest. “An opportunity presented itself, and I went for it. I couldn’t call you.”
“I’m talking about you going to meet Liam without reporting it.”
She snorts out a bitter laugh. “You were too busy shoving your tongue down Sorella’s throat to notice even if I had!”
My eyes pop wide. “That’s why you didn’t stay?” I’ve been fuming all night since Cristian told me she showed up. I was angry at first. That she’d risk her cover to attend and for Cristian’s comments of how hot she looked. Then I was hurt that she couldn’t even say hi or wish me a happy birthday. “I don’t know what you saw, but?—”
“Don’t try to deny it. I saw you kissing her.”
“She. Kissed. Me.”
“You fucking kissed her back!” She shoves at my chest.
My lips kick up at the corners as realization dawns. “You’re jealous.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous. You can fuck around with whomever you like just like I can.”
She plants her hands on her hips, and it’s hard not to notice how fucking sexy she is in that showstopping dress and matching boots. Images of her boot-covered legs wrapped around my head surge unhelpfully in my brain. Sporting a boner now is not a good idea. Which reminds me. We need to get out of here. I don’t know if they installed any cameras after the shootout went down. I don’t want to hang around and find out.
Grabbing Gia, I toss her over my shoulder and stride toward my car.
“Let me down, asshole.” She wriggles and writhes while pounding her fists into my back. “I’m sick of sexist pricks manhandling me tonight.”
I’m guessing that remark refers to Liam. I haven’t received any intel on what went down in the bar. The call was to notify me she was in an unidentified vehicle on a route out of the city. It was enough to concern me that I had the guys send me the coordinates so I could follow her. When I realized where she was, I almost wrapped my car around a tree. I was terrified she’d be discovered before I could get to her.
I slap her butt hard, chastising her for the blatant disregard for her own safety. Expletives spew from her mouth, and a smile touches my lips. No other woman sends my emotions seesawing from one extreme to the other like Gia does. I purposely ignore her while I open the passenger door and carefully set her inside.
She’s still cussing me out when I climb behind the wheel and start the car up.
I wait until we’re out on the road, away from the construction site, and sure we’re not being followed before I speak. Gia has her arms folded and she’s pouting as she glares out the window. “What happened with Sorella was entirely one-sided. If you’d stayed you would’ve seen me pushing her away. She wasn’t invited. None of the women I used to fuck were invited because I didn’t want any of them there.”
Gia turns her head to face me. “ Used to fuck?”
“I haven’t fucked anyone in weeks.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think?”
“I wouldn’t have fucking asked if I knew!” She flaps her hands around, and I have to bite my tongue to trap my laughter.
“You’re adorable when you’re lying to yourself.” She flips me the bird, and this time, I can’t stop my laughter. She glowers at me, and my dick really loves it, jerking a few times behind my pants. “I haven’t fucked anyone because of you , Gia. Don’t pretend like you don’t know.”
“I thought I knew.” Her shoulders slump, and the look of anger on her face transforms to hurt. “But then I saw you smiling and laughing with her, and I don’t care what you say; you didn’t push her away immediately when she kissed you. I would have seen if you did.”
“I was trying to spare her feelings. I didn’t want to embarrass her in front of everyone.”
“What about my feelings?”
“I didn’t know you were there at the time.”
“And if you did?” Her expression challenges me.
“Then I would have immediately pushed her away because sparing your feelings is more important than sparing hers.”
She nibbles on her lip as a full-body shudder works its way through her. “Good answer,” she whispers. “I should probably feel bad for Sorella because she has more claim over you than me, but I can’t find it in myself to feel anything but contempt for that woman.”
I pull off the road onto the shoulder and kill the engine. I cup Gia’s face. “She has no claim on me. None of those women do. It was only ever sex.”
“Okay.” Her big eyes latch on to mine, and she looks so vulnerable.
I don’t fully understand why. Or why I feel the insurmountable urge to reach over and hug her, but I do. Her arms cling to my neck, and I feel her entire body shaking against me. I ease back a little, concern creasing my brow. “You’re shaking.”
“It’s the adrenaline. It’s been a pretty crazy night.”
My eyes skate over her body. “Are you hurt? Did?—”
“I’m fine.”
It’s a clear lie because she’s still trembling against me as she rests her head on my shoulder. I hold her for a few minutes before slipping out of our embrace. “Stay there,” I say, hopping out of the car and moving to the trunk. I pop it and grab the supplies I need before climbing back behind the wheel. I hand her the blanket and a bottle of Gatorade. “Put that on and drink that. It’ll help with the shock.”
“Thank you.” Tears well in her eyes, and my concern is growing.
“I’m sorry for shouting,” I truthfully admit when we’re back on the road. “I just panicked when I realized where you were. You can’t wander off without telling me, Gia. It’s too dangerous.”
“I would’ve used the alert button on my watch if I thought I was compromised.”
“That’s not good enough. The deal is you notify me when Liam has summoned you. You don’t take off by yourself without informing me.”
“I was mad at you,” she softly admits, huddled under the blanket, sipping the sugary drink.
“And that is why us starting something is not a good idea. You can’t endanger yourself or your safety because you’re jealous of another woman.”
“I know it wasn’t professional, but I can’t switch my feelings off where you’re concerned.”
“Is this because it was Sorella?”
She shrugs, looking contemplative. “Seeing you kiss any girl would make me mad but especially her. We don’t like one another.”
“Why?” I slow down as I approach the last junction before the highway.
“She took my brother’s virginity and taunted me about it. When she mocked his performance in front of others, I swung at her. Knocked her unconscious, and she got a concussion from hitting her head on the ground.” A mischievous grin spreads over her lips. “My parents went ballistic, and I was grounded forever, but it was worth it. No one talks shit about my brother and gets away with it.”
I think I fall in love with her right in this moment.
“Then a few years ago, a guy she was dating dumped her to date me,” she continues, turning sideways on the seat under the blanket and staring at me. “I didn’t know he’d been seeing her, but of course, she blamed me. Said I did it deliberately. Since then, she flirts like crazy with my boyfriends or any guy who shows the slightest interest in me. It’s kinda pathetic.”
“I had no idea she was like that. I was already planning on formally ending my arrangement with her, but I’m not wasting time now. I’m going to do it tomorrow.”
Gia’s eyes blink rapidly.
“What?” I ask, moving onto the highway.
“You’d do that for me?”
“I won’t be a pawn she uses against you, and I told you she means nothing to me.”
“Ouch.”
“I’m ending it with the others too.”
Her eyes drill into the side of my head, and I’m sensing she wants to ask more, but it’s late, and I refuse to have a serious conversation in the car. I don’t really know where my head is at. Just that I have no desire to sleep with anyone else, and I missed Gia tonight. I wanted her at my party. By my side. Helping me to celebrate my birthday. My brother’s words have been playing on a loop in my mind, and I think I want to try things with Gia. It’s a big step and not one we can take yet. She needs to finish her assignment, and then we can discuss what happens next.
“Did you hear anything important tonight?”
She nods, sitting up a little straighter. “Does the name Barone mean anything to you? I’ve been wracking my brain trying to remember where I know it from.”
My brows knit together in concentration. “I’ve heard that name too, but I can’t recall the context.” I glance at the clock on the dash. “If it wasn’t after two, I’d call Ben or Leo, but it’ll have to wait until morning. What else happened?”
She fills me in on the conversation and I listen intently.
“I’m guessing ordinarily that’d be enough to confirm Liam is knee-deep in this,” she says when she’s finished explaining. “But now we know Italian Americans are involved, and there’s some mysterious big boss calling the shots, I’m guessing it’ll be better if we halt making a move on McDermott and I keep close to him.”
“That seems like the smartest play, but it’ll be up to the board. I’ll call Massimo in the morning and ask him to set up a meeting.”
“Have we found evidence of the rat yet?”
I shake my head and sigh as I switch to cruise control and coast along the quiet I-287. “Caleb and I met with our underboss, Marino, earlier today. He’s gone through our list of men, crosschecking their trackers and locations to see if there are any anomalies. He also double-checked to see if anyone was close to the vicinity of Staten Island the night of the hijacking, or close to any of the delivery vans that were attacked, and there is no evidence of any corruption within our famiglia .”
“That’s a good thing, so why do you look so glum?”
“The other dons have gone through their lists too, and they can’t find anything either. Either the rat isn’t in New York or it’s someone super fucking smart who’s covering their tracks. If it’s the latter, how the hell will we ever smoke them out?”
“Maybe we need to set a trap,” she muses, tapping her finger on her lip. “Maybe we should create some fake intel. Something our enemy would find useful. Create different intel for each famiglia and spread it out. Then if it’s acted on, we’ll know which famiglia , if any, is sheltering a traitor.”
“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll raise it at the board.”
“What else?” Her eyes pierce mine. “I know something else is bothering you.”
“We were finally able to identify the remaining men who died on the ship.” While our capos were able to identify most of the men, some of the bodies were so mutilated their tracking chips were gone and we had to pull dental records and organize autopsies to confirm who we lost. “Three of them were Accardi soldati . Caleb and I visited their families today to tell them. One of the men was a father to four-year-old triplets. His wife was inconsolable.”
She reaches out and touches my arm. “I can guess why that’d be especially harrowing.”
I smother a yawn, conceding what I’d chosen not to confront earlier today. “It’s always awful having to relay such horrible news, but it affected me more than usual. On the drive back, I kept thinking that must’ve been how my dad reacted when he was told about Juliet.” My eyes flick to hers. “My bio mom,” I add, in case she isn’t aware that was her name.
She nods, and her eyes shine with understanding.
“It was a sobering moment for both of us.” Caleb rarely lets anything in when it comes to our bio parents. Especially our father. But I could tell it impacted him too.
“You must miss them.”
“I miss my dad, sometimes, even though he was a pretty shitty dad. Especially at the end. It’s different with Juliet. I don’t remember her, and Nat is the only mom we’ve ever known. She was our only present parent growing up, and we owe her everything.”
“I love Nat. I know she’s my godmother, but she’s more like my second mom.”
“Man, how did this conversation get so heavy?”
“I don’t know.” She yawns, finishing the Gatorade and placing the empty bottle into her purse.
“You should sleep. We still have at least an hour to go.”