7. Dario #3
Lev takes out his phone and sends Mia a text, and like she’s been waiting for the invitation her whole life, she’s knocking on the door a fews seconds later.
Dominic hollers at her to come in, and I’m not at all surprised to see her walk in with her head held high, refusing to be intimidated or to show weakness of any kind.
I’m proud of her in a way that I shouldn’t be, and when my cock gives a twitch at the sight of her defiance, I force my body into submission, refusing to give in to that line of thinking because now is definitely not the time.
Mia looks around the room, clearly confused as to what’s going on, and when her eyes meet mine, she refuses to hold my stare and quickly looks away.
“Have I finally been invited to the all-boys club?” Her mouth lifts in a small grin, and my eyes are immediately drawn to the cut that I’d just reopened not that long ago in the closet.
“You have,” Dominic says, making Mia’s eyebrows rise.
“Are you serious?” She looks to her brother and dad. “You’re letting me join the Bratva?”
Lev shakes his head. “Sorry, little witch, it’s not that, but Dominic needs your help with something.” He quickly adds, “You can say no, and, in fact, I highly encourage it.”
She steps further into the room, putting her near the chairs Sandro and I are sitting in and asks Dominic, “What do you need me to do?”
“I need you to go to Italy. I’m having trouble with someone, and I need you to draw him in.
All you have to do is show up, get his attention, and when he gives chase, which I’m confident he will, you just need to hold him off until my men can step in.
You won’t be in any danger,” Dominic assures her.
Her excited expression drops a bit at that, but then she grasps onto the silver lining and asks, “I get to go to Italy, and I get to wear my weapons and potentially use them? ”
“Yes, yes, and yes,” Dominic says. “And Sasha is coming with you.” She smiles over at her brother, and then I see her enthusiasm take a dive when my cousin adds, “And Dario and Sandro will be watching over you. You won’t go anywhere without them.”
Vitaly laughs and smacks his brother on the back. “Uh-oh, I think I see where this is headed.”
Lev narrows his eyes at his brother. “What the fuck does that mean?”
Vitaly waves a hand at where Sandro and I are sitting and laughs again. “Come on. No one else sees the possibilities here? This is Nat and Dominic all over again.”
I can tell the idea never entered Lev’s head, but now that Vitaly has been so kind as to plant the seed, it’s already taking root.
“I changed my mind,” Lev quickly says. “She’s not going.”
It’s Mia who gives a lighthearted laugh and jerks a thumb in our direction.
“Relax, Dad. I’m not Nat. I’m not going to fall in love with some guy who’s old enough to be my dad.
” She looks at Dominic before very briefly shooting her eyes to my brother and me.
“No offense, but it’s just not my thing. ”
I bite the inside of my mouth hard enough to taste blood. La mia piccola vipera strikes again. Her words sting more than I want to admit, as does her flippant, casual tone, but what really pisses me off is knowing she’s lying and knowing she’s doing it to hurt me.
Sandro laughs. “None taken. My brother and I have no interest in teenagers.” He reaches over to smack my arm. “Isn’t that right, Dario?”
“That’s right,” I say, ignoring Mia as I look over at her dad. “You have nothing to worry about.”
My assurance is vague at best, but it seems to appease him, especially when Mia laughs and says, “There might be some really hot young Italians, though, right?”
Vitaly laughs. “You’re going to give your dad a heart attack.” He looks at his brother and grins. “She’ll be fine. She just needs to have a little fun.”
If Mia feels the intensity of my stare, she hides it well. Still refusing to look at me she says, “Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll behave. Sasha won’t let me get too out of line.”
“And neither will we,” I add, hiding my smile when I see her body tense at the sound of my voice.
“Fine,” Lev says, “but I swear, little witch, if you don’t listen to your brother, I’ll make sure your ass is on the first flight home.”
“I’ll do everything he says,” she promises, barely able to contain her excitement at being allowed to do something dangerous. Her smile is contagious, and I have to turn away before I accidentally return it.
“Perfect,” Dominic says. “I’ll let you know when I’ve set everything up, and thank you for letting us borrow Mia.”
Lev points a finger at the don of the Alessi Mafia and says, “It’s not permanent. This is temporary, and I better get her back in the exact same condition she’s in right now.”
I run my eyes over Mia, knowing he won’t be getting his daughter back in the same condition. Every part of her is going to belong to me before she returns to America. She’s losing her innocence in Italy, and I’m going to be the lucky bastard who gets to take it.
“Of course you will,” Dominic tells him, and then when everyone starts to leave, he tells me in Italian, “I hope you know what the fuck you’re doing.”
“Either way, this is going to be one hell of a trip,” Sandro says.
Ignoring him, I ask, “What happened in Italy?”
When Sandro and I are the only two left in his office, he says, “Two of our men were doing business near the city and were shot at. One died, the other was injured badly, but he’s expected to live.
No one is claiming credit, but I know it’s Leonardo.
He’s the only one stupid enough to do something like this.
“While you’re in Italy, I want you to meet with Giuseppe Santoro. Tell him our suspicions but don’t force anything. He’s the most level-headed don there, and he knows how to keep his mouth shut. When the time comes, he’ll remember what you told him and he’ll speak up in our defense.”
“Sounds good,” Sandro says, and I nod my agreement.
Then my brother adds, “So what should I do about Romeo over here?” He hooks his thumb in my direction in case there was any confusion about who he’s talking about.
“Because he’s got it bad, and she’s being stubborn, and I can feel this becoming a really tense sexual situation. Pretty awkward for the rest of us.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I ask, but he just grins and flips me off.
“He’s right,” Dominic says. “Can you get control of this, Dario? I don’t want you thinking with your cock. We’ll have one chance to get Leonardo, and I can’t have you fucking it up because you’re daydreaming about Mia.”
“First, that’s insulting. I know how to do my goddamn job, and in case you’ve forgotten, I’m pretty fucking good at it,” I tell him.
“You always have been,” he agrees.
I hold his stare. “I’ve never failed this family before, and I’m not about to start now.”
“Well, that’s good to hear, because I had this made.” He opens his desk drawer, takes something out, and tosses it at me.
I catch the American passport as he says, “You might want to keep that to yourself until you board the plane.”
Opening it, the first thing I notice is Mia’s beautiful face staring back at me, and the second is her name.
Mia Alessi is written beneath her picture, but it takes me several seconds to process what I’m seeing.
“Jesus Christ, this is going to be one hell of a trip,” Sandro says while I stare at the passport in my hand, feeling like an idiot who’s lost his ability to speak.
“She needs to pose as your wife, Dario,” Dominic says, unable to hide the grin he’s giving me. “I had no idea anything was going on between you two when I made the decision.”
“Aww, it’s like fate,” my brother says. “Isn’t that cute?”
“Does he have to come on this trip?” I ask Dominic.
“He does,” our cousin says.
Sandro stands up to leave, but before he walks off, he says, “Don’t you dare show her that passport when I’m not around to see her reaction. I bet you fifty bucks she punches you when she sees it.”
As pissed as I am, I hold out my hand to shake my brother’s because it’s easy money. She won’t punch me. She might try to stab me, but she won’t punch me.
After he leaves, Dominic says, “This only works if it’s believable. Do you think she’ll go along with it?”
“She will,” I tell him. “She’s pissed at me right now, but she won’t fuck up a job just because she’s angry at me. That’s not who Mia is.”
I ignore the smirk he gives me and say, “I’ve been training her for a long time. She’s not a spoiled brat or some little diva who’s going to throw a tantrum just because she’s mad about something. She’ll do the job, and she’ll do it well.”
“I can tell you’re impressed by her, which is rare coming from you.” He grins and adds, “That’s probably why you married her,” before he walks off, leaving me alone in his office.
I look down at the passport I’m still holding, reading her name again, and refusing to acknowledge how much I enjoy seeing it.
God, she’s going to be so pissed when she sees this.