10 - Alessia
T hirty minutes later I hear Harper walk into the living room.
I’m standing by the windows overlooking the ocean, typing on my cell to give orders to Vinnie, Alex and Elio.
Now that I’m bringing Harper with me to this meeting, I need extra security and we need to go by her place to get her stuff.
Harper’s rose and jasmine scent envelopes me when she stands behind me and circles her arms around me.
I breathe it in deeply. I’m totally addicted to that scent.
“Hi Tesoro, are your ready?”
“Hi, yes, I think I am. How do I look?”
I turn around to face her, she’s wearing a black sleeveless A-line dress with a little sparkly dark red thread woven into it.
It’s so subtle you can barely notice it but when you see it, it’s mesmerizing.
She’s wearing black pumps and her hair is hanging loose in golden waves with a pin keeping the hair out of her face.
Her brown eyes are framed with a subtle kohl liner and mascara and her lips have the slightest shade of pink on them.
She looks completely natural and it’s a look that more than suits her.
“You l ook amazing, baby.” I kiss her softly, careful not to smear her lipstick.
“It’s time to go, Elio is waiting downstairs with the car. It’s a fifteen-minute drive to the meet up.”
“Where are we going?” She asks as we walk down to the car.
“There’s a meet up with the other Dons. The DiSanti family might be the biggest family in LA but that doesn’t mean we get a free pass. We have a few other families up and down the west coast that are our allies and enemies.”
“So, something about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer?”
I chuckle, “Yeah, something like that. Now that my father is dead, we need to meet. My coronation is on Sunday and we still have a few things to talk over before that can happen.”
“So why are you taking me with you then. Tt doesn’t really sound like something I should be a part of.”“Because I want you there.” She looks at me with an annoyed look.
“Don’t look at me like that, you made my bed now you sleep in it.”
“The saying goes you made YOUR bed…” She mumbles.“No, it’s ‘my’, seeing that I just had you in MY bed, like…” I take a look at my watch, “Like twenty minutes ago? With your pussy on my face, I might add”.
A blush creeps up her neck and her face goes tomato red as I open the passenger door of my Porsche Panamera GTS. She slides i n and I walk around the car and take a seat behind the wheel.
“Isn’t Elio driving us?”
“No, he’s following along with Vinnie and Alex is going in the front on his bike.”
I start the engine and turn on the radio, I hear Alex’s bike speeding out of the garage and we follow.
I turn onto ocean avenue and focus on the traffic.
Driving is different now that Harper’s next to me, I feel nervous and anxious.
I turn the volume louder on the radio, trying to drown out the voices that say that it’s dangerous out here for her.
I can’t keep her cooped up in my house or glued to me all the time, right?
I could leave her tied up in my bed. I chuckle a little.
No that’s not healthy but fucking hell, why do I feel like I need to do just that?
But with Gianni still out there it just isn’t safe.
After a while I turn onto the driveway of a beach house.
Just as planned we’re the first ones here.
I walk around the car, open the door and hold out my hand for Harper.
Her soft fingers find mine and sparks fly between our fingertips.
Is it always going to be this way? We walk into the house, and it smells delicious.
The chef is busy making lunch and waiters are setting up the tables and drinks.
I lead Harper out onto the living room balcony.
It hangs off the cliffs and at high tide the waves crash on the rocks below us.
“This is beautiful.” She whispers.
“Yes, it is. It’s even prettier when the sun goes down and the stars start to appear one by one.”
“I bet it is. Is this yours?”
“Yes. For now it’s the house where I conduct most of my business. It’s too big to call it home and impressive enough to scare people who try to cross the family.”
Harpers face whips to me like I said something horrible.
“What?”
“It’s just… I can’t imagine you as a mafia person or whatever you call yourself. Two days ago, you were a nurse on a rooftop and now you’re somebody I should fear. I just don’t get it.”
I take her face in my hands and kiss her softly on the corner of her lips.
“I know it’s a lot to digest, Tesoro. That’s exactly why I’m bringing you. You need to see the world that I live in.”
“Come, I’ll show you the rest of the house.
” I take her hand, and we walk through the house, showing her everything.
Lastly, I show her the master bedroom. This house is the complete opposite to the Ocean Avenue house.
This one is light and airy with a lot of glass and light wood.
This room expands over half of the floor and has a hundred eighty-degree view over the ocean through floor to ceiling windows.
Behind all that glass is another balcony.
“You have a telescope?” Harper walks over to it.
“Yes. I don’t use it much seeing that I’m mostly at my other house.”
I hear voices downstairs, and I know that people are starting to arrive.
“You can stay here or come with me downstairs. Whatever you like.”
She does n’t respond and just looks out the window. I take my cell out of my clutch and send a text to Elio.
Everyone inside yet?
Almost, only waiting on Don Manchini
Okay, let me know when he's here.
I look up to see Harper staring at me, a small smile tugging at her lips.
A noise distracts me from her, and I look around to see where the sound is coming from.
Behind Harper flies a small drone. It hovers and then it flies over the house.
Probably Vinnie playing with a new toy. I need to tell him that if he wants to see and not be heard it needs to be a lot quieter than this one. My phone pings with an incoming text.
Manchini is here
“Are you coming?” I hold out my hand in question.
She takes my hand, and we walk down the stairs to the main dining room where lunch is served. I greet the other Dons and take a seat at the head of the table, the place where my father used to sit, Harper takes the seat on my right, and I can feel all eyes settling on us.
“Good afternoon gentlemen and welcome to today’s meeting. My chef has prepared a lunch for us.”
“I came here to talk business not to be sit and eat lunch like a bunch of housewives.” Manchini interrupts me.
“Thanks for the interruption, I was missing an unnecessary comment.” I stare down Manchini and I hear Harper choking back a snort and try my best not to join her.
“As I was saying I thought we could first enjoy lunch and afterwards drinks will be set up in the living room so that we can discuss other matters.” I nod to Elio and waiters start to place our lunches on the table.
Wine is being served and the Dons start to talk among themselves.
I take a hold of Harpers hand under the table and start talking with Don Russo to my left.
A few minutes later Harper lets go of my hand but I leave my hand on her thigh and start stroking her with my thumb.
I make slow circles up and down her thigh and I can feel her muscles clenching.
Out of the corner of my eye I can see she’s starting to feel something.
“Who is this pretty lady you brought with you today, Alessia?” Don Russo asks.
“This is Harper, my girlfriend.” I hear Harper almost choking on her chicken salad, my lips twitch up in a smirk.
“Hi, I’m Harper. Nice to meet you.” She extends her hand to Don Russo and he shakes it.
“Nice to meet you Harper. What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a nurse, that’s how Alessia and I met each other.”
After lunch, the waiters clear the table and the men walk into the living room for drinks. Harper excuses herself and walks up to my bedroom. I walk over to the men and again I feel all eyes on me.
“Let’s get down to business now, shall we?” The Dons hum in agreement.
“First order, as you know my father died which makes me the rightful heir and head of the DiSanti family.”
“And since when do we let women lead the families? Isn’t that a man’s job?” Manchini speaks again.
“Thank you for your refreshingly masochistic view of women. It’s not like we’ve never had a female Don before.
As you know, in our families it is not common to have only men in charge.
You are lucky that it has been that way for the last sixty years or so, but my father got a daughter first and therefore you have to put up with me now. ” Well, that shut him up real fast.
Manchini is one of those men who doesn’t have feminism in his vocabulary.
But that doesn’t mean he can talk to me so disparagingly and most certainly not in my house.
Too bad that this house is now neutral ground otherwise he would have been flying from the balcony without a parachute.
I look out to the balcony and see the same drone as earlier flying by the windows. Fucking hell, Vinnie.
After a long afternoon everything is set for Sunday and the men start leaving. I walk upstairs to search for Harper and find her on my bed reading. She’s completely sucked into the story and doesn’t even notice me until my weight dips the bed.
“Oh hi, I didn’t hear you come in.”
I give h er a quick kiss and ask, “What are you reading?”
“Funny enough, it’s a mafia romance. Never knew I would actually be involved with a Mafia princess.” She chuckles.
“And what happens in this book?”
“He’s the Don and he’s a total asshole, it’s an enemies to lovers trope so I hate him now and so does the FMC.”
“Glad we did the strangers to lovers thing.” I say.
“Yeah, but you are a fucking whirlwind and I kind of didn’t have a choice,” she says with a glare.
I take the book from her and toss it on the bedside table.
“Hey! I was reading that.”
“Yes, you were and now I’m kissing you.” I pepper kisses up and down her jaw and neck. She giggles and my hands start to tickle her sides. She bursts out in screams and laughter. Only seconds later Elio and Alex burst into the room, guns drawn.
“What the fuck is going on in here?” Elio bellows.
Still laughing I turn on my back to face him. “We’re fine, Elio. You can put your gun away now.”
He looks at me with an irritated look and sighs, “Fucking hell. Why did you have to get a girlfriend? My life expectancy just dropped 20 years, you know.”
“Why is everyone calling me your girlfriend?” Harper pouts.
“Because that’s what you are, and you’d better get used to it.” I give her a stern look.
“Elio, I would like to take Harper out to dinner in an hour. Can you make a reservation at that place I love and get the car ready?”
“Of course, Ma’am!”
Elio and Alex leave the room and Harper straddles me. “Now where were we?” She says.
“I thought I was on top?” I respond.
“Yes, you were, but you had your fun.”
“Oh, did I?” I lower my chin and look up at her with a devilish grin.
“Oh fuck, I’m in trouble now, aren’t I?”
“Who says that? We need to get ready for dinner, right?”
“Uhm… Yes?”
“Yes, what?”
“I guess we do, where are you taking me?”
“It’s a surprise, you nosy girl.”
She looks at me with a pouty lip and makes a motion to get off my lap.
I hold her hips in place. My hands cup her face and I kiss her deeply.
She lets out a little moan in my mouth. FUCK!
She’s so responsive, I love every little noise she makes for me.
She presses herself into me and need every ounce of control not to rip her clothes off right now.
I break the kiss and look into her dark eyes, filled with lust now.
“You look eager for more…” I say, my voice is husky. She nods. My eyes dart over her face, etching each little detail of it in my memory. I kiss her again; I can’t seem to stop. She’s like a drug to me; I need more of her every second I’m close to her. This time she breaks the kiss.
“We re ally need to get ready.” She says breathlessly. She tries to get off my lap again and this time I let her.
“Okay, you go freshen up.”
Harper goes into the bathroom and closes the door.
I let my head rest against the headboard.
My mind is still whirling since the meeting with the Dons.
Everything is in place for my father’s funeral tomorrow and my coronation on Sunday but something still feels off.
Like I’m missing something I just can’t put my finger on.
Harper steps out of the bathroom, my mind stilling in her presence. I get off the bed and take her hand.
“Let’s go, Tesoro.”