Chapter 25
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
AURORA
W e’ve only just got to Inferno when my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. Not expecting to see Sinclair’s name, I hold a hand up to get everyone to pause their conversation.
I’m sitting in Dom Lombardi’s office with Enzo and Dante, reviewing the last month's financials. While boring as fuck, it’s a vital part of our business. We keep the clubs legitimate and they’re profitable for the most part, so we try to keep anything less than legal clear of them. The frat boys being caught in one of our clubs was less than helpful. The increased police presence after their little outburst hasn’t been good for business.
I answer the call and bring the phone to my ear. “Sinclair.” I nod along as he fills me in, but when he explains about the girl, I lose my temper. “ Motherfuckers.” Sinclair lets me run my mouth with a few more loud and angry expletives until I’ve calmed down. “Is she alright?”
“Stefano just got here with Luc. They’ve got Doc Em ready and waiting for her at the hospital, which is where we’re all going now.” Sinclair's voice is steady but the stilted tone betrays his anger.
“Is it not going to look a bit odd? Three high ranking Bianchi men bringing in a girl in this state?” As much as I want her safe and cared for, I have to think of the safety of my guys.
“Doc Em’s got a tame ambulance guy. We’re delivering her to them,” Sin replies as if he can read my thoughts.
“Good thinking. But she’s okay?”
“She’s alive, and none of her injuries appear life-threatening. But colibrì , she’s the furthest thing from okay.”
I nod and it’s only when he asks if I’m still there that I remember he can’t see that. “Yes, I’m still here. I’m just… fucking pissed .”
I run my hand over my face and think for a moment before saying, “I’ll meet you at the wet room with Zo in an hour. I’ve had just about enough of these frat-boy-fucks. I don’t give a damn who their daddies are. Animals like this deserve to be put down.”
“Understood, Don Bianchi. I’ll meet you there.”
The men around the office remain quiet while I take a deep breath and slowly exhale, attempting—and failing—to calm the rage that’s bubbling under the surface of my skin. They wait patiently until I feel I can speak without shouting. While the organisation has adjusted well to a female don, I still feel the need to present myself as calmly as possible at all times. I swear the first one to accuse me of having an emotional outburst will end up deep throating the pistol I keep in the holster on my belt.
Admittedly, no one in this room would ever treat me with that level of disrespect, but that doesn’t mean I want the security gossiping about volatile female behaviour. I have a lot of faith in my people, but that doesn’t mean I want to fall into bad habits that will give rise to archaic beliefs sneaking back into the collective consciousness of the organisation.
In my head though, I’m throwing chairs around the office and wanting to storm out of here, drive straight across town, and give those monsters a taste of their own medicine. Maybe with the handle end of my trusty baseball bat. Thinking about it though, I love that bat, and the idea of having to clean it after it’s been in their asses takes the fun out of the idea.
“Gentlemen, I need you to make this quick. We have an appointment to get to. Fill me in on the highlights and the areas you want to focus on. I already got your request, Dom, to consolidate office space. Explain that first, please.” I speak evenly with a soft but stern timbre.
“When Gabriella took over Manny’s remit, she inherited responsibility for a lot of real estate on the East side. With all due respect, it’s absolutely pointless keeping it. It’s not fit for purpose. She needs base camps she can mobilise surveillance teams out of and half of them are run down with no running water or electricity,” Dom says, leaning back in his chair and crossing an ankle over his knee.
“It would make more sense to sell them off. It’s not like we need a foothold in those areas. We already have plenty of other businesses in that part of town, so it’s not a question of losing territory and we could use the cash flow,” Dante adds.
“Are we cash-poor right now?” I ask, tipping my head towards Dante.
“No, but there’s also no point in maintaining buildings we don’t need and can’t use.”
“Fair point,” I say. “So where are you suggesting we base Gabriella?”
“I think she should rotate around the clubs and invest in smaller, more discreet safe houses for her teams across the city. ”
I consider his proposal. He’s an idiot if he thinks I can’t see his fascination with her written all over his face, but that doesn’t make his suggestions a stupid one. “You’re basing this proposal on your recent collaboration with her and Leandro?”
“Yes, Don Bianchi,” he replies with a hint of nervousness. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s worried I’ll refuse him or if it’s because he thinks I know about him and Gabriella. It’s probably both.
“And it won’t interfere with the day-to-day running of the clubs?”
“No, Don.”
I glance over at Dante. “And you’ll handle the real estate?”
“Yes. My plan is to sell off the properties for development and then buy smaller suburban houses to conceal Gabriella’s teams across the city.”
“And why are we having this conversation without Gabriella? It seems more than a little heavy-handed to be deciding what another capo will or will not be doing with her assets and people?” I arch an eyebrow at the men opposite me and it amuses me when Dom swallows hard while Dante looks a little offended.
“I assumed this was all with her approval?” Dante says, glaring at Dom. “What are you playing at?”
“It’s nothing like that. She mentioned it the other day, but she’s been too busy working on The Knights surveillance. She’s been quite hands on because of the importance of it and I wanted to… help,” Dom blurts out in what feels like a single breath.
“Uh-huh,” I say, rolling my eyes at him. I’m sure he has the best intentions, but if I found out the man I was fucking had completely rearranged my team's resources without my permission, I’d have his balls for it. “Well then, the next time you see Gabriella, how about you present your proposal to her and get her approval? When you’ve done that—and not a moment before—send it across to Dante to action.”
“Yes, Don Bianchi.” His contrition satisfies me well enough, and he needs to know that undermining the authority of any of my capos won’t be tolerated.
“Good. Now you have twenty minutes to take me through any other business, and then I’m out of here.”
We cover some outstanding supplier issues and a few ideas for tweaks to the marketing for the other clubs. Enzo throws out some ideas. He’s been relatively quiet, but I know it’s because he’s been keen to learn the businesses. When I appointed him as my underboss, he said he wanted to take time to understand the role, hence this is the first of multiple meetings I’ve arranged to check each capo’s progress in the last couple of months. But he and Dante will attend them with me, so all the finances are transparent and any issues can be addressed together initially.
It was his idea, and he wasn’t wrong. Instead of the old way of presenting weekly information at some kind of formal summit meeting, this way we get to engage with each capos on their turf and see more of the businesses for ourselves.
When we wrap everything up, Dante makes a swift exit. The man is rigid with very little tolerance for small talk, much like his daughter. Despite sharing similar demeanours, she doesn’t get many other features from him. Where Dante’s hair is jet black and seemingly resistant to the passage of time, Doc Em’s is a rich mahogany colour. His eyes are an icy blue whereas she has rich brown ones, I’m assuming from her mother, though neither one of them will ever talk about her and I was too young when she left to remember what she looked like.
As I get up to leave I add, “Can I give you a word of advice when it comes to women, Dom? ”
He appears to startle at my words but doesn’t say no.
“As much as women love a grand gesture, and believe me we do, we also like it when people remember the little things. I’d maybe bring her something by way of an apology when you explain this meeting to Gabriella later. Because if I were her, there’d be a lot of shouting before I forgave you.”
“Understood. I’ll make sure to pick up some cannoli on the way home.”
“ Home? Interesting choice of words there, Dom,” I say as I leave his office. I can’t help but chuckle when I hear him swearing under his breath.
When we get to the car, the driver opens the rear door for me and I ask him to give us a few minutes while Enzo heads round to the other side, slides into the rear passenger seat, and puts his arm around my shoulders, kissing the top of my head.
“You didn’t have to be quite so mean to him, you know,” Zo chuckles.
“Those two couldn’t be more obvious if they tried. It’s been going on for a while.”
“Still, it’s not kind to tease your subordinates,” Enzo chastises me.
“You like it when I tease you though, don’t you?” I reply, turning in my seat before throwing my leg over his lap and straddling his hips. He pushes his legs wider, forcing mine to follow suit… and I moan as I feel the stretch in my inner thighs. I don’t know what it is about riding this man like a prize stallion, but even the suggestion of it when I feel his thick thighs moving beneath me has me eager to seat myself on his cock.
Walking my fingers along the buttons of his crisp white shirt, I stop at the collar to pop the second button, the top already being open. Slowly easing my fingers beneath the stiff peaked collar of his shirt to wrap my hand around his neck.
“I know you love the feel of my hand around your throat. I can feel it in every shudder of your breath and twitch of your dick. But how about I claim you?” I squeeze against his racing pulse points. “Tell me, mio re . How would you like to replace this hand with a collar?”
Rocking against his cock and flexing my fingers, I bite my lip with smug satisfaction when he closes his eyes like he’s savouring my touch.
“Would you like that? A constant reminder of who you belong to?” I purr in his ear.
“I’d fucking love it,” he growls, a second before bringing his lips to mine in what I’m expecting to be a wild and lustful kiss that descends into chaos, but it’s delicate and so very soft that I find myself dropping my hand from his neck and hugging him close. I kiss him long and slow before pulling back and staring into his eyes.
“You’re mine, Enzo Moretti.”
“Forever fucking yours, Don Bianchi.”
There’s a loud, and overdramatic slam of the front door, where my driver, Michael, makes sure to announce his entrance into the front seat. I let out a strangled laugh and dismount Zo’s lap. As much as I hate the interruption, we don’t have time for this now. We have more pressing matters to attend to.
Zo leans across and kisses my temple. “We’ll pick this up again later, mia guerrierotta .”
“You can bet your ass we will, Zo,” I reply with a smile laden with promise.