Chapter 4
Nico
The study in the Rovina mansion overlooks the garden and the Pacific Ocean and it’s by far one of the better furnished rooms in the house.
Black marble, dark wood and leather sofas.
Too bad it reminds me very much of my father’s study back in New York.
I was always a guest in that room, never had any hope of once sitting at the helm of the family behind the ornate oak desk.
The fourth of four sons. Totally unnecessary, overkill, mostly unwanted. Considered worthless by more than a few. Mostly my father. But all that’s over now. Now it’s my father who’s worthless.
So I really need to stop pining and just get on with my life. Buy a mansion of my own. Decorate my own study. Make a legacy for my children. All of who will be wanted.
“You wanted to see me,” Matteo Rovina says, rushing into the study, the very air around him crackling with urgency and haste.
He has a lot to do these days, what with being so busy rebuilding his family empire here in LA and having a heavily pregnant girlfriend.
“Yeah,” I say and then don’t know how to continue. He needs me here. I’m not just his adviser, his consigliere, but also his cousin, so I should be the first in line helping him.
Although, the first in line to help him is actually usually Marco “The Axe” Caputo, his second and a guy who never so much as cracks a grin, let alone smile. He’s standing behind Matteo now, glowering at me like I’ve done something wrong and I haven’t even spoken yet.
“I’m gonna need a few days,” I say. “Gotta go do a thing.”
Both Matteo and Caputo give me nearly identical confused looks.
“What thing? Where?” Matteo asks. “We need you here.”
Apart from being cousins, me and Matteo also look very much alike, with our light brown hair, grey-green eyes and similar builds. Although there’s an air of command and danger around him that I doubt I’ll ever be able to match.
“I’m going with Alice to see about a priest.”
Now the confusion on their faces is downright comical.
“Alice who?” Matteo asks. “The Rogue Angels MC’s Sarge?”
“And what do you plan to do about this priest when you find him?” Caputo asks.
“Kill him, if it’s up to me,” I say. “But she just wants to get him locked up.”
Matteo winces. “We don’t need that kind of attention on us. Not now.”
I can tell he wants to tell me it’s not a good idea, that I should go, knock myself out… he’s been like that ever since I’ve made so much effort to kick my coke and alcohol habit.
“It’ll be done quietly.”
“What’s this priest done anyway?” Caputo asks.
“He deserves it,” I say, since I’m not about to go betraying Alice’s confidence.
“Can’t Rogue Angels MC handle this on their own?” Caputo asks. “That’s the kind of thing they do, isn’t it?”
I don’t know what he wants me to say to that, so I just ignore the question.
Instead, I face Matteo whose face is telling me he’s still very undecided about this.
Like maybe he’s gonna say I can’t go. But does he really have that kind of power over me?
He’s my boss, sure, but he’s never actually exercised that authority over me.
“Fine, go, do what you gotta do,” Matteo finally says and grins. “It’ll be good for you to spend some time with Alice. You like her and she’s bossy enough to whip you into shape.”
The look of shocked confusion on Caputo’s face is priceless. He does not think this is a good idea at all. But he does consider Matteo his boss and I’ve never yet heard him contradict the man where anyone else can hear.
“Not sure I like this talk of being whipped into shape,” I say, grinning right back at Matteo. “But yeah, I do want to spend a whole lot more time with Alice.”
Matteo nods and walks over to his desk, sitting down with a sigh. “Good, go. Let us know if you need backup. But just do it all quietly. We seriously don’t need any extra attention on us at the moment.”
He’s said this twice now, so I’m sure he’s serious about it. But I’m not aware of any big threats to his growing empire at the moment.
I walk over to the desk and sit in one of the leather armchairs facing it, while Caputo remains hovering by the door.
“What’s going on? Do you need me here?” I ask.
Matteo shakes his head. “You’re fine to go, these problems will keep. It seems we’ve been expanding too fast and have earned ourselves all sorts of extra unwanted attention. My own fault for wanting to get as much done as I can before my son is born.”
His face always lights up in the most pleasant way whenever he mentions his son. Or that son’s mother, Gianna Codelli, for that matter.
I wonder if my face changes that way when I speak about Alice. Probably not. She’s just a conquest for me, a hard nut to crack, something new and exciting. So why do I feel so guilty for thinking that?
“It’s just a matter of going more slowly and bribing a few more people,” Matteo goes on. “And we still don’t have a solid man inside the LAPD. Once that’s settled, it should be smooth sailing. Maybe your new alliance with Rogue Angels MC could help on that front.”
“From what I hear, they do everything above board, legit and legal,” I say evasively.
I know we need a good person inside the LAPD so our many criminal enterprises go unnoticed by the authorities, but I don’t think Bianca is the ticket to finding that.
I’m helping her because I want to. Not because I want something from her.
Except the sight and feel of that sweet, tight little body of hers, that is.
Her skin is as pale as milk… and I’m sure it tastes just as sweet. I can’t wait to find out.
“And yet they’re harboring killers and fighting in mafia wars,” Matteo says wryly. “But we’ll revisit this later. Go, do what you gotta do, I’m serious.”
I stand up fast, before he changes his mind or before I come up with any more arguments on why I should stay.
Don’t even know why I would, since spending some alone time with Alice is exactly what I’ve been craving for the past few months.
Maybe it’s because she needs my help with something personal and I mostly just need to see her naked.
But that’s not it either.
I think it’s something like first date nerves, which I haven’t felt in a very long time. Because I haven’t met a woman I want to impress as much as I want to impress Alice in a very long time. Maybe never. Whatever that means.