FRANCESCA
I fell asleep on the drive home, using his long-sleeved shirt as a blanket, the seat warmer on and his hand on my thigh. I stirred when I felt his arms hook underneath my body and lift me out of the vehicle and against his chest.
I heard the door handles pop back into the car as the Range Rover locked itself when he walked away.
“You don’t have to carry me,” I mumbled into his chest, making no move to leave his embrace.
The smirk was even audible in his voice.
“I’ll always carry you, baby.” He carried me up the stairs and placed me in my bed before he pulled my dress over my head like he was tucking me in for the night.
He set my clutch on my nightstand and took out my phone so I could easily reach it.
He pulled the sheets up to my shoulder, being the gentleman I’d met earlier.
Then he walked out of my bedroom and headed back down the stairs.
I was too tired to get up, not even sure what time it was. We’d fucked a couple times, eaten the cold food he’d brought from the restaurant, and then hooked up again before he drove me home. So it was probably two in the morning.
I wasn’t sure if he intended to leave for the night or if he was just locking up the house before bed.
He returned a moment later with a bag over his shoulder and set it on the armchair in the corner.
I closed my eyes when I realized he intended to stay.
He helped himself to my bathroom and showered before bed. I fell asleep and then woke up again to the feeling of him getting into bed beside me, his weight making the mattress shift to accommodate his size.
Then I felt his warm chest pressed against my back before his arm hooked over my stomach, and he pulled me into him. He hugged me close and rested his face against the back of my neck, right in my hair.
Even when we went to sleep, he was possessive.
“Goodnight, baby,” he said.
No man had ever called me that before, and I liked it. “Goodnight, babe.”
The smirk was in his voice when he spoke. “A couple hours ago, you wanted to be friends. And now you call me babe.”
When I woke up, I showered and got ready for the day before I headed downstairs.
I was surprised to see him there, sitting at the dining table with a plate of breakfast in front of him. Shirtless with his hair still a little messy, eyes tired like he hadn’t fully woken up yet, he sat in a chair that was too small for him because he was a big guy.
“I thought you started at dawn.”
“Not anymore.” He took a drink of his coffee.
“My father moved you from the warehouse?”
“Nope. I moved me from the warehouse.”
I decided to leave this issue between the two men. I went to the espresso machine and made myself a cup of coffee before I added milk to it. I carried the mug to the table and set it on the surface. He sat at the head of the table, so I took the chair on his right.
He grabbed me before I could sit down, tugging me onto his knee and hooking his arm around my waist.
My arm automatically dropped around his neck.
He kissed me. “Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
Then he gave my ass a gentle spank, like he was ready for me to move.
I sat in the other chair, feeling warm inside first thing in the morning.
“Hungry?”
“You don’t have to make me anything.”
He left the chair and crossed the room, his back so chiseled that the muscles hugged his spine. “Already did.” He grabbed a plate from the cabinet and served the over-easy eggs and strips of bacon onto the plate. He grabbed the slice of bread still sticking out of the toaster then carried it to me.
“Thanks.”
He returned to his chair and finished his food, his phone sitting next to his plate.
He’d just shown up at my place last night without notice, and now we were eating breakfast together like a couple. That was fast.
“I’m worried they’ll notice your Range Rover since it’s daylight.”
He shrugged. “I don’t care.”
“You don’t seem to care about a lot of things.”
“I don’t waste my time worrying about things that haven’t happened. It’s an approach everyone should take.”
“Okay, what if he did notice your Range Rover and confronted you?”
He shrugged before he took a bite of his bacon. “I’d tell him to mind his own damn business.”
“I know you’re trying to get in his good graces, and I just think sleeping with his daughter isn’t the best way to achieve that.”
“I’m going to say this one last time.” He set his elbows on the table as he leaned toward me. “This is my problem—not yours.”
I should be irritated when he spoke to me that way, but there was something about it that I liked. I liked that he didn’t care what my father thought, when anyone else would be too scared to touch me.
“Salvatore made it very clear what would happen if I went for you. And you know what? I don’t give a damn. I accept the consequences of my actions, whatever they may be. Now don’t worry your pretty little head about this, alright?”
I nodded.
He leaned back into his chair and continued to eat.
I grabbed my fork and sliced into the eggs he’d made for me.
“I need to find a place around here. Can’t commute hours every day.”
“Are you going to sell your place in Palermo?”
“No, I like it too much,” he said. “Want to go house hunting with me?”
“I’m no real estate expert.”
“Yeah, but I want you to like what I pick.”
“Why?”
“You’re gonna be there all the time.”
“I am?” I asked.
“Yep. Naked or walking around in my t-shirts with come dripping down the inside of your thigh.” He said all that with a straight face, like he meant every word.
“Well, we’ll try to figure out a time when we’re both available.”
He took a drink from his coffee as he stared at me.
“I should get going. I know my father wanted me there by ten.”
“I’ll leave thirty minutes later.”
I rose to my feet and grabbed my plate. “Want to come over tonight?”
He grinned from ear to ear, the amusement entering his eyes. “You don’t need to ask, baby.” He gave my ass a playful smack as I turned to carry my plate back to the kitchen. “You know I’ll be here.”
I felt a shroud of guilt around me like a cloud when I stepped into my father’s villa. It was a normal day like any other, but I felt like I’d made an irrevocable choice. A choice that would feel like a betrayal to my father, who hadn’t warmed up to Wolfe, despite the retrieval of the guns.
My father liked few people, and to be honest, he would probably never like Wolfe.
I was in my office on the second floor when my brother walked inside. “Hey, Frankie.” He knocked on the open door. “Dad wants to have a meeting upstairs.”
I suspected I knew what it was about. “What do you think about the whole thing?”
He sauntered to the desk, wearing his chinos and a black t-shirt. “The guns?”
“Yeah.”
“I can say I’ve never seen a guy move like that. Wolfe looked like a guy who trained with MI6 or something.”
“But do you think he planted the guns?” I asked. “Or do you think he genuinely helped us?”
He considered the question for a while before he gave a shrug. “He’s a killing machine. I don’t think he’d need to plan all this if he wanted to take us down, you know? He would just blow the gate and kill us all.” He turned back to the door. “Come on, let’s go before Dad loses his temper.”
We headed upstairs to the top floor. My father was seated at his desk, while Elio was on the couch. Salvatore was in one of the armchairs, and a couple of Dad’s other guys were scattered around the room.
I took a seat in the corner of the couch, my heart racing and my hands clammy like I was about to go on trial. I didn’t belong in this meeting, not when I couldn’t participate in this discussion objectively, not when I’d just had breakfast with him an hour ago.
“Salvatore, what do you think?”
Salvatore wasn’t normally in these meetings, but since he’d vouched for Wolfe, he was about to be interrogated. He rubbed his hands together. “His reputation precedes him. He’s not someone you want as an enemy, only an ally.”
“Do you think he’s fucking with us, Salvatore?”
His eyes dropped momentarily. “I can confidently say he doesn’t play games.
If he doesn’t like you, he’ll say it to your face then stab you in the neck.
He’s not a double-crosser. If he wants you dead, he wants you to know he’s coming.
So, no, I really don’t think he stole those guns just to prove he found them. Not his style.”
My father turned to Leo. “You were with him. What’s your take?”
“He’s a menace,” Leo said. “You should have seen the way he took out that entire warehouse. It was some Call of Duty shit.”
“Or did it look that way because he orchestrated it to?” my father asked.
“I don’t think he would have been the top lieutenant in Cosa Nostra if he didn’t do that kind of shit every day,” Salvatore said.
My father turned his stare to me.
No.
“What are your thoughts, Frankie?” my father asked.
I felt the sweat on my hands. Felt the treason in my veins. “I don’t know what to make of him.” I maintained my neutrality so I wouldn’t be incriminated later.
“Last time we spoke, you said you didn’t believe he took the guns,” my father said.
Because he didn’t…since he was with me. “I can’t see Cosa Nostra teaming up with the Lombardis. That just doesn’t make sense to me.”
That seemed to be enough because Elio took over. “Wolfe has given us an ultimatum. Make him a part of the crew, or he walks.”
I was so relieved the attention was off me, I nearly sighed out loud.
“Letting him go would be a mistake,” Leo said as he shook his head. “We cut him in, but keep our eyes peeled. Having him on the crew will actually make it easier to watch him. No one’s got eyes on him in the warehouse.”
“True,” Elio said before he looked at my father. “We give him a run but keep our daggers hidden underneath our cloaks.”
My father stared at his captain for a while, his curled fingertips resting against the surface of his desk. He tapped a couple times before he scanned everyone in the room. “Let’s make sure this dog stays on a short leash.”