The Accardi Twins: A Mafia Romance Duet

Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Caleb

O kay, hold up. Is she saying she is still a virgin because she was waiting to give that honor to me ? The arrogant part of me might have considered that on occasion, but mostly I thought she was holding back until she met the right guy. Not gonna lie, my chest puffs with pride, and my dick swells behind my zipper, more than down with the idea, which is insane. I don’t screw virgins. They have zero experience, and you have to go slow and be careful, which is the antithesis of how I like to fuck.

Resolve is etched upon Elisa’s gorgeous face as she says, “I’m going to do it.” She swigs from the almost empty wine bottle as Rowan grins at her and Romeo grins at his phone while typing out a message. “I’m going to have sex with Seb,” she proclaims, and I instantly see red.

“Over my dead fucking body are you screwing that preppy douche,” I snarl, stepping out from behind the bush.

Elisa screams and drops the wine bottle. Romeo jerks his head up, the smile instantly fading from his face. Rowan quirks a brow and smirks, finishing the blunt and reaching for a beer.

“What the…what the hell are you doing here, and were you eavesdropping on our private conversation?” Elisa asks, swaying a little as she climbs to her feet.

“I came looking for you after Anais told me you showed up at my place, and yes I was eavesdropping.” I step up into the gazebo and glower at her. “You are not giving your V-card to that prick.”

Her cheeks stain red, and the vein in her neck visibly throbs. “You don’t get a say, and he’s not a prick! He’s my boyfriend, and he’s a decent guy.”

“He’s a dead guy if his cock goes anywhere near your pussy, your mouth, or your ass.”

Her cheeks are fire-engine red now.

“If you’re blushing hearing those words, you are not ready for sex anyway.” I smirk as her blush deepens further.

“Fuck you, Caleb.”

“I might if you ask me nicely,” I blurt without engaging my brain.

“What?” all three ask in unison, their voices incredulous.

“I didn’t mean it. You know we’re not like that.”

“No, of course not.” Elisa attempts to storm past me, but her feet crunch on broken glass, and she shrieks as her arms and legs flay, and she almost loses her balance.

“I’ve got you.” Grabbing her by her slim waist, I lift her over the mess on the floor. She is light as a feather, and she fits perfectly in my hands.

“Let me go,” she says, attempting to wriggle out of my arms, but I’m taller, stronger, and broader, and I’m not letting her go until I’m ready to.

“No. Not until you talk to me.”

She snorts. “Get lost and go back to that bitch. I hope you two make one another miserable.”

“Anais lied.”

“Shocker,” Rowan says, sarcasm underscoring his words.

“I don’t care.” Elisa tries to wriggle again. “Let me go.”

“No.” I smirk. “What’re you gonna do, Lili, huh?”

In an unexpected move I didn’t consider him capable of, Romeo grabs my gun and points it at my temple.

“Dude!” Rowan hops up, his eyes almost bugging out of his head. “What are you doing?”

“Something I should have done a long time ago.” Romeo prods the gun into the side of my head. “I should have protected you better, Elisa. I’m sorry.”

“Romeo, put the gun down,” Lili says.

“Not until he lets you go.”

I turn and grin at him. “About time you found your balls.”

“I hate you,” he says in a deceptively calm voice. “My sister is far too good for you.”

“I agree,” I honestly admit.

“I’m done doing nothing while you shit all over her feelings and hurt her over and over again.”

“I have never intentionally set out to hurt Lili. I could never do that.”

“It doesn’t matter if it’s intentional or not!” Romeo yells. “You see she is hurting, and you never change your ways!”

“You need to put the gun down,” Elisa says, sounding way more sober now. “This is between Caleb and me, and I don’t want you to get involved.”

“We’re all involved! We’ve all had to watch this shit from the sidelines for years.” He digs the gun into my temple, and he’s so wound up he might actually shoot me. “He knows how you feel about him, and he just continues screwing anything in a skirt, uncaring how much it hurts you.”

I release Lili from my grip, trying to reassure her with my eyes. “Romeo, I?—”

“Shut. Up,” he snaps at me.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Rowan furiously typing on his phone. Calling in reinforcements, I’m guessing.

“Romeo, I appreciate your loyalty, but this isn’t Caleb’s fault.” Elisa flashes me a look. “Yes, he broke a promise to me, but I have no claim on him. He’s free to sleep with whoever he likes, and he’s not responsible for my feelings. I can’t force him to return them, and I should have gotten over him years ago. That’s on me, not him.” She moves forward and bravely puts her hand on her brother’s arm. “This isn’t you. You don’t want to do this.”

“I will do it for you. So you can move forward.”

“Do you honestly think I could ever move forward if you killed him because of me?”

“Romeo, no!” Alesso yells, racing toward us from the direction of the house with Serena hot on his heels.

“Please, Romeo.” Lili’s soft tone pleads with her brother. “Put the gun down. This has gone far enough.”

“I’m only doing this for my sister,” he says, lowering the gun and handing it to me.

“I know, and I respect you for it.” I tuck the gun away.

“I don’t want your respect, and I still hate you.”

“That’s your right. I would feel the same way if it was Rosa.”

“What is going on here?” Alesso asks when he reaches us, his gaze bouncing around all of us.

“I’m defending my sister.” Romeo folds his arms as his phone vibrates in his jeans pocket. “And I’m not sorry.”

“You can’t pull a gun on a don,” Alesso says.

“I don’t fucking care,” he yells.

“Romeo!” Shock splays across Serena’s face. “What has gotten into you?”

“I’d say weed and alcohol by the look of it.” Alesso’s face is grim. “Apologize to Don Accardi and then go inside, immediately.”

“I’m not apologizing to him.”

“Romeo.” Alesso’s stern tone brokers no argument.

“It’s fine,” I say, letting him off the hook. “It’s not necessary.”

Alesso drills me with a lethal look. “No son of mine will disrespect any don.” Even if it is you is left unspoken.

“There are right ways to defend your sister,” Serena says. “But this isn’t one of them. We raised you better than this, Romeo. Apologize to Caleb now.”

Romeo looks like he’s swallowed a bucket of lemons when he turns to me and hisses, “Sorry, Don Accardi,” in his most scornful, unapologetic tone.

I work hard to smother a laugh. Who would have thought Romeo Salerno had it in him? He has only gone up in my estimation. “Apology accepted though next time you’re threatening a man with a gun you might want to turn the safety off.”

Romeo flips me the bird behind his back as his mother steers him into the house, and a chuckle escapes my lips.

“Go into the house, Elisa,” Alesso says before swinging his gaze on Rowan. “Home. Now.”

Rowan holds up his hands. “I’m going. I’m going.” He leans into me as he passes. “Thanks for dropping by, man. This was the most entertainment I’ve had in weeks.” He waggles his brows and grins before walking off.

The sad thing is it’s probably true. Sierra has wrapped him in cotton wool since the assassination attempt.

Alesso sighs, rubbing the back of his neck as we face one another. I’m preparing myself for some kind of lecture, so his words surprise me. “I know I bust your balls, Caleb, but it’s not because I dislike you.”

“Could have fooled me.”

“I have nothing against you personally. I just don’t want you with Elisa. She deserves someone who will burn the world down for her. Someone who will love and cherish her because she is inherently good and kind and compassionate with the biggest heart. Elisa deserves to find true love with someone who reciprocates it, a man who can shower her with affection and remain loyal to her. We both know that man isn’t you.”

“Thanks for the glowing recommendation.”

“Why do you do this?” His tone carries an edge. “Grow up and quit with the attitude and all the fucking around, Caleb. You wonder how Marino could so easily turn loyalty? It’s not just because he was the one close to the men on the ground. They had respect for him.”

My jaw tightens as I grind my teeth and clench my hands at my side. I wish I could dispute his sentiment, but I can’t. It’s obvious there is a faction within our famiglia who doesn’t respect Joshua or me. If they did, they never would have sided with our deceased underboss and signed up to annihilate us.

Alesso’s features soften. “To gain respect, you need to earn it first. Be the leader the men need you to be, Caleb. There is a reason why family is so revered in our world. A wife and kids ground a man. I was like you once. I thought I would never marry, and then I met Serena. She was married to that monster, and I still believed I would never marry. If I couldn’t have her, I didn’t want anyone.”

“Is there a point to this?”

Alesso stares me in the eyes. “I get it. You’re in your prime, and women are throwing themselves at you, but if you want to be taken seriously as a made man at your level, you need to find a woman and settle down. And maybe then Elisa can properly put her feelings for you to bed and find a man worthy of her.”

He might as well have bitch-slapped me in the face.

“What if that man is me?”

“We both know it isn’t.”

“So, what you’re saying is you want me to deliberately hurt her? Is that it? I need to be sure I’ve got this right.”

“You may not have meant to, but you have strung her along for years, Caleb, and it’s not right.” He steps back, combing a hand through his hair. “Do the right thing, Don Accardi. Cut the strings and set her free.”