Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
The woman, Harriet Fran, Mrs. Giuliani just introduced to me is the wife of some politician in attendance. She could be a valuable friend to have for when I’m pushing for building permits. And then she goes and ruins the good vibe I had by looking at Alfie like she wants to eat him.
I stand by my words. This man is not my boyfriend, but we are at this event together, which means tonight he is mine and I can be a little territorial over what I consider mine.
Alfie doesn’t disappoint, though. He reads me like I’m an open book. Wrapping his arm around my waist, he pulls me against his side and then places a kiss to my temple. Tender, soft, caring.
I’m blushing, because of course he does all of this right in front of his mother, and he doesn’t seem to have a care in the world.
“Mrs. Fran, mind if I steal my girl away?” he asks with that panty-melting smirk of his.
“Ah, no, Alfie, of course,” the woman stutters.
“Wait! I want to show Molly something before you steal her away all night,” Mrs. Giuliani says, already linking her arm through mine as she looks at her son. “You’ve had her all day, Alfie. I think you can share her with me for five minutes.”
“Fine,” Alfie grumbles, clearly unimpressed. “I’m going to the bar.” He leaves me with his mother, who is now leading me to the opposite side of the room.
“Whatever it is you’re doing, keep doing it,” Mrs. Giuliani tells me.
Okay, not what I was expecting her to say. I was expecting her to order me to get my claws out of her son.
“Um, I don’t know…” My words trail off because I have no idea how to respond to that.
“I’ve never seen my son so besotted. Even that one time he had a girlfriend, years ago, he didn’t really care for her.
I think he was trying out the whole relationship thing and decided really quickly it wasn’t for him.
I honestly thought he might just die a lonely old man.
But now, I have hope. You’re different,” she says.
“Oh, we’re not… I mean, I’m not…” I shake my head.
“You’re both in denial then.” Mrs. Giuliani sighs. “Okay, well, between you and me, he has not taken his eyes off you since you walked in this room. Even now, he’s at the bar scowling at you.”
I turn and look over my shoulder. And sure enough, Alfie is looking right at me.
“To be honest, we’re kind of on opposing sides of business at the moment.
I came here to purchase some properties, and Alfie is doing everything in his power to prevent those sales from going through,” I admit.
“I don’t think that’s a foundation for a relationship. ”
“Are you going to quit and leave town without a fight?” She lifts a manicured eyebrow at me.
“No.” My face scrunches up.
“Good. What is it you’re planning to do with these buildings?” Mrs. Giuliani asks.
“Usually, we knock down and rebuild. But we’re going to refurbish these. Basically gut them from the inside out. Make them green.” I give her tiny details, because I don’t want to be rude. But I’m also not an idiot. I’m not going to hand the woman my entire business plan for her son’s properties.
“That doesn’t sound that bad,” Mrs. Giuliani says. “Well, I wish you luck in getting those buildings, Molly. I’ll let you get back to Alfie before his glare sets this place on fire.” She laughs and turns to walk away.
“Thank you,” I tell her.
On my way back to Alfie, I spot my target. Levi Brown. The creep is eyeing me up and down. He has no idea who I am. I pretend not to notice and continue to the bar.
“You are turning heads,” Alfie says, reaching out and pulling me flat against his chest. His palm lands on my lower back, right above my ass.
“And so are you with all this PDA,” I tell him.
“Does it bother you?” Alfie asks, looking into my eyes.
I shake my head. “No, but your family is watching.”
“Let them.” He leans down and presses his lips to mine briefly. “I don’t care.”
“Okay, who are you and what have you done with my brother?” a feminine voice asks from behind me.
Alfie drops his arm from my waist, and I turn around. “Molly, this is my little sister, Frankie.” He hugs the girl, kissing her cheek before his arm is back around my waist again. “And this asshole is my cousin, Emilio.”
“Also known as my husband,” Frankie adds. “It’s nice to meet you, Molly. Hudson was right.”
“Right about what?” Alfie grunts.
“She’s way out of your league.” His sister laughs. “No wonder you’re holding on to her as if she’s going to disappear.”
“Huh, maybe I should ask Emilio for advice since he’s an expert at stealing things out of his league,” Alfie retorts.
“I am.” Emilio grins before shifting his focus to me. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” I tell him and look to his wife. “I love your dress.”
“Thank you. My Aunt Evie, well, my mother-in-law is a fashion guru.”
“Evie Lopez, right?” I ask. Because of course I’ve heard of the woman.
“Yeah. She’s amazing,” Frankie says. “We’re headed to the table. I want the good seat. Also, I heard a certain little Aussie is going to be here tonight. I want front-row seats to watch CJ squirm.”
“Daniella’s in town?” Alfie quirks a brow.
“Yep, with her brother.”
“Bet Jake’s going to love that.” Alfie chuckles as Frankie and Emilio walk off.
“Who is Daniella?” I ask him.
“Daniella De Bellis, she’s… ah… from an Australian crime family. CJ has a thing for her.”
“Okay. And who is Jake?”
“Jake is the asshole who’s married to my cousin Jazzy. Come on, I’ll introduce you to everyone.” Alfie takes hold of my hand.
“Is there anyone who’s not an asshole? Anyone you actually like?”
“You,” Alfie replies without thought.
“Oh, you’re definitely going to think I’m an asshole when I take that throne of yours, Giuliani.”
“No, I’ll think you’re fucking impressive if you manage to do that,” he tells me, and it’s not the first time he’s said that.
I don’t believe him, though. No one likes to lose. Especially a man like Alfie, who is so used to getting his way all the time.
As soon as we reach the table, Alfie introduces me to all of his cousins, along with their partners. When he gets to the guy he introduces as Jake, I realize I recognize him. It didn’t come up in my search that he was connected to the Giulianis. Interesting.
“Jacob, it’s been a while.” I smile politely at him.
“Molly.” He nods.
“You two know each other?” Alfie glances between us.
“We’ve met,” I say, picking up the glass of water in front of me.
“You stole my building. That’s not meeting, Molly,” Jacob grunts.
“I didn’t steal anything. I won a war you shouldn’t have entered into if you didn’t want to lose.” I shrug.
Jacob laughs. “What are you doing in Vegas?”
“I’m buying up some more properties,” I say with confidence.
“She’s trying to anyway,” Alfie adds.
“Wait. Are these the properties you’re blocking?” Jacob looks to Alfie and grins. “Yeah, you’re not going to be able to stop her.”
“We’ll see.” Alfie smiles back at him. “Not all of us are pussies, Jake. Some of us are more equipped to go into battle.”
“Okay, well, that was entertaining. Molly, it’s nice to meet you. And I’m sorry that my husband is a sore loser,” Jazzy says.
“It’s okay. Most men are,” I tell her.
“Yes, they are,” Frankie chimes in. “Except for Emilio. He’s perfect in every single way.” She turns to her husband with lust-filled eyes.
“Is it too late to kill him?” Hudson grumbles.
“It’s never too late,” Alfie replies.
I don’t have siblings or cousins. This is all very new to me. But I can see just how much they really do care. Even if they’re constantly giving each other shit.
I spot Levi Brown eyeing me from across the room and pull my phone out of my clutch to text Angus.
Me:
Now.
“I’m just going to the restroom,” I tell Alfie.
“I’ll come with you.”
“No, I’m fine. Honestly, won’t be long.” I stand and walk away before he can argue with me.
I make my way towards the restroom doors, because I know Alfie is watching. And once there’s enough crowd to get lost in, I turn and make a beeline for Levi Brown, who smiles sleazily at me. I’m not going to feel bad about giving him a shitty price on his building.
“Mr. Brown, you’re a hard man to catch,” I greet him.
“Now that you’ve caught me, what are you going to do with me?” he asks.
“First, I’m going to make it very clear that what I’m offering you is a onetime deal. And you have exactly five minutes to have the contract that just landed in your inbox signed and sent back to me. I think you’ll find the price fair, Mr. Brown.”
“Who the fuck are you?” he hisses.
“Molly Olive, of the Olive Group.”
“Yeah, I’m not selling to you. Fuck off,” he sneers.
“You might want to have a change of heart, Mr. Brown.”
“And why would I do that?” he asks.
“Because if you don’t, the evidence I’ve collected of your son’s embezzlement scheme is going straight to the feds. I already have the email drafted. I also have a press release ready to be sent to every media outlet in this country detailing both your and your son’s involvement in the scheme.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not involved in shit and neither is my son,” he says.
“Check your emails, Mr. Brown. You now have eight minutes.” With that, I walk back to the table. Alfie watches me the entire way.
“That doesn’t look like it went well.” He smirks.
“Oh, it went exactly how I wanted it to go.” I sit down, and right as I do, my phone dings with an incoming email. A huge smile spreads across my face.
“Oh, I know that look,” Jacob says from across the table. “It’s the look she gets when she’s won something.”
“What just happened?” Alfie asks me.
“I just secured my first property on the Las Vegas Strip.” I expect him to get angry, to yell, to cause a scene and throw me out. Alfie doesn’t do any of that. No, he leans in, presses his lips to mine, and then smiles at me.
“Congratulations. I don’t know what you just did, but I’m impressed.”
“Oh, I just told him how I found out about his son’s embezzlement scheme and said I had a draft email to the feds ready to go if he didn’t sign my deal.” I shrug.
“What? His son’s embezzlement scheme?” Alfie pulls back to meet my glare.
“Yeah, Mr. Brown’s son has been stealing money from the company for about a year now.”
“You have proof?”
“Uh-huh.” I nod.
Alfie shares a look with Sammie J and then CJ. I don’t know what I just said. But both men stand up at the same time, excusing themselves.
“What just happened?” I whisper to Alfie.
“He’s not stealing his father’s money,” Alfie grits out between clenched teeth. “He’s stealing our money.”