Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
GIO
“It’s about time you showed up,” Ma exclaims as she places a kiss on my cheek in greeting as I walk into her kitchen.
Sunday dinner is a time that’s nonnegotiable. She doesn’t ask for much, so it’s not a hardship.
“Sorry, Ma. I got caught up and lost track of time. Can I help you with anything?” I ask, knowing she’s going to tell me no.
“I have it covered. Go in and sit down with your brothers. Appetizers are already out.”
I nod as I head into the living room, seeing the spread laid out on various tables throughout the room.
“Where has your ass been?” Enzo asks as I make myself a drink.
“Nowhere.” I shrug. “Just lost track of time.”
I thought I was going to jump through the screen when I was checking the camera footage from last night.
The man who paced back and forth in front of the stairs for five minutes, almost as if he was working up the courage to knock on Bronwyn’s door, looked sketchy as fuck.
If I had seen that shit when it was happening, I know for a fact I would have been in my car racing to her, Matteo’s orders or not.
Why was that man there? And so late at night.
He made her cry.
No one makes Bronwyn cry.
Tears have never brought up any feelings for me.
I’ve always felt like crying was energy wasted.
You’re giving something power over you, and that alone will always let them have the upper hand.
But her tears did something to me. She looked almost…
defeated. A girl with her beauty should never be close to knowing that feeling.
I’m going to find out who that man is and what he did to her, and I’ll make it right. It’s the least I can do. I know Matteo doesn’t want our witness disgruntled in any way.
“You, the man who is an anal nut bag, losing track of time?” Enzo asks in disbelief. “I don’t buy it.”
“Good thing you don’t have to buy it,” I answer, taking a swig of my drink. I should have known he wouldn’t buy that lie.
I’m very meticulous with everything I do. You have to be in this life. One fuck up could end yours.
“You,” Matteo says, his tone hard as he prowls in the room, heading straight for me.
Shit.
“Me?” I ask, bringing my hand to my chest. “What did I do?”
“You told me you gave her the money.”
“I did.”
“Then do you care to explain to me why I got a text this morning asking if it was okay if she pays rent late this month?”
What the fuck.
“I left the money on her table. I don’t know what happened after that. You gave me a no-contact order outside of doing the drops,” I remind him.
That no-contact order is ending tonight because I’m figuring out what the fuck is going on whether she likes it or not.
“Did you tell her it’s okay?”
“Of course.” Matteo looks insulted. “She’s never been late before, and I don’t need to give her a reason to cause us any more unnecessary headaches thanks to you.”
“I’ll feel her out and try to see what’s going on.”
“You’re not going to do anything,” Matteo orders. “We’ll see if she pays it by the date I gave her. If she doesn’t, Enzo will deal with her.”
I stiffen.
Arguing with him right now isn’t going to get me anywhere. I take another sip of my drink to occupy my mouth and ease the tension that’s wound tight in my body. My lips are feeling like they’re about to get real loosey goosey.
“Dinner’s ready!” Ma calls from the dining room. “Everyone, come eat!”
Matteo gives me a hard look as I pass him. I know he’s watching me and, like usual, I don’t give a fuck.
The pizzeria closes early on Sundays, leaving me alone as I finish things up in the office. I hate being in this fucking room. It’s small and feels like a jail cell.
Just as I slam the desk drawer closed after pulling out a cigar, the monitor that has the footage rolling of the security cameras in the alley beeps, signaling movement.
I zoom in until I’m looking at the same man from yesterday.
“What is going on with you, Bronwyn?” I mumble as I lock in on him.
This time the man doesn’t pace or seem nervous. No, he seems downright thrilled as he climbs the steps to her place two at a time.
Is this her boyfriend?
My fist clenches the cigar in my hand at the thought of her being with another man, snapping it in half. Tobacco flakes litter my lap and desk.
“Goddamnit,” I grumble as I brush it off me and onto the floor, not wanting it to ruin my suit. By the time I look up, the man is gone. “Fuck.”
He’s inside.
With restraint I didn’t know I possessed, I lean back in my chair and wait.
My attention is locked on the screen even as I bring the remaining sliver of cigar to my lips.
He doesn’t leave me waiting long, which I don’t know if I should be happy or pissed about.
He couldn’t have been in her apartment for more than five minutes.
I lean forward in my seat as I zoom in on the frame as he descends the stairs.
He’s older than Bronwyn. Too old to be a sibling.
If she’s doing some shady shit she has no business doing, I’m going to bend her over my knee and spank her ass raw. Fuck Matteo’s rule. He’ll understand. He, of all people, should get where I’m coming from with this infatuation.
By the time he’s out of view in the frame, I’m halfway out the door, the resistance I possessed moments ago out the window.
“Open up, Bronwyn!” I yell as I pound on her door, not letting up until I have a pissed-off woman glaring at me.
“What the fuck is your problem?” she demands.
I crowd her space until she has no choice but to step aside and let me in.
“Sure,” she draws out, sarcasm lacing her tone as she slams the front door shut. “Just come on in.”
I whip around as I match her glare. “Who was that?”
“Who was who?” she asks, playing dumb as she cocks a hip out and crosses her arms, challenging me.
“Don’t play with me,” I say, my voice low. “You know exactly who I’m fucking talking about.”
“Why is it any of your business who was here? If I had known you would be using the cameras to be a creepy stalker, I would never have asked for them.”
“A creepy stalker?” I snicker before dropping my voice. “Baby, I’m the person your stalker needs to be worried about. Now, save me the trouble of having to track him down by telling me who he is and where he lives.”
Bronwyn looks at me in shock. “Why would you need to track him down? He didn’t do anything to you.”
Oh, but he did, baby, you just don’t know it yet.
“Because he was looking like a fucking creep hanging around outside your place. I don’t fucking like it.”
Bronwyn gives me a look of disgust before she goes to her fridge and grabs a drink out of it that I fucking bought her. “Again, not to sound like a bitch, but it’s none of your business. My lease doesn’t say I can’t have guests.”
“How much money did you give him?”
She freezes with her drink halfway to her mouth as her eyes widen slightly before she recovers quickly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I slam my fist on her coffee table, cracking the top of it as she jumps. “I told you not to play dumb with me. It’s not a good look for you. That’s the last time I’m going to repeat myself.”
“Get the fuck out,” she grounds out as she points toward the door.
“How much money did you give him?” I roar.
“None of your fucking business!”
“It’s my business when you can’t pay your rent after I just gave you five grand!”
“What?” she hisses as her head rears back. “How do you know about that?”
I sharply inhale, trying to calm myself down before I break any more of her things. I’m not used to people not listening to me.
“Your landlord, Matteo, is my brother, Bronwyn.” She says nothing as she stares at me, blinking. “Yeah. So, about now would be a good time to cut the bullshit and tell me what’s going on. Maybe start with an address for that fucking tool.”
She sighs as her shoulders slump, looking resigned. I’ve backed her into a corner with no way out. “That was my dad. Even if I knew his address, which I don’t, I wouldn’t give it to you.”
Her dad?
“How do you not know where your dad lives?” I ask slowly, not liking where this is going.
“We aren’t exactly close. I see him every once in a while.” She tries to hide the hurt in her voice, but I hear it.
I hear it all.
And the more I hear, the more it makes me see red.
“You mean, you see him when he needs something and not a second before that.”
Bronwyn flinches. “Something like that.”
“How much did you give him?”
“Six grand,” she admits quietly.
My head tips up to the ceiling as my fists clench at my sides. Jesus Christ, she’s going to be the one who makes me snap.
“Why would you give a man who clearly doesn’t give a fuck about you six grand?” I ask, my anger shining through.
Bronwyn’s face hardens defensively. “He’s my dad, Gio. What do you want me to do?”
“Uh, tell him to fuck off and go back where he came from?” Is this woman for real right now?
“That’s easy for you to say.”
“What did he need the money for?”
She opens her mouth to speak before closing it and second-guessing herself. “That’s none of your business. You need to leave.” Bronwyn stomps to the front door and opens it.
I slowly cross the room to her, invading her space. I know my anger is radiating from me. Hell, I can practically taste it, but she doesn’t flinch. She doesn’t cower. She doesn’t even fucking blink.
And fuck me if that isn’t the hottest goddamn thing.
My hand grasps the top of the door as I force it out of her grip and close it, locking us both inside.
“One thing you need to learn about me, cara, is that I’ll leave when I’m good and ready to leave.
Until then, well, you’ll just have to find a way to fucking deal,” I say, my voice low and commanding.
I bring my finger to the side of her face and gently stroke it down.
“Now, are you going to tell me why you gave him that much money?”
“Are you going to back up?” she asks, her blue eyes holding a challenge.
“No.”
She lets out a resigned sigh. “You’re really not going to leave until you get what you want, are you?”
“Now you’re catching on.” I smirk.
She looks tired and worn out as she moves to sit down on her couch, slumping against the back. If I were a good man, I’d leave her to it and stop pressing for information I know is none of my business. Matteo would be losing his mind if he knew I was digging deep right now.
But I’m not a good man.
“I don’t know the specifics.” She flicks her wrist out as she talks. She still manages to keep the attitude while sounding tired as fuck. “But from what he told me, he owes someone a lot of money, and he was out of time.”
Well, that’s an interesting development.
“He didn’t say who or what it was for?”
Bronwyn finally meets my eyes. The pain swirling in the depths of them is enough for me to want to make this all go away for her.
“Apparently, he had to borrow money to pay a gambling debt. That’s all I know. I don’t know who he borrowed from or who he was gambling with.”
Fuck.
That’s not good.
It shouldn’t be hard for me to find out, but depending on who he borrowed from, he could be in a giant fucking mess.
I know it’s not with us though because I would have been the one busting down his door for the money.
Reaching my hand up to her face, I stroke my finger down the side of her cheek. “Was that so hard?” I ask as she holds her breath.
“It’s just none of your business,” she whispers.
Everything about you is now my business.
“Lock up after me,” I demand as I finally open her front door and walk out without a backward glance.
Poor girl has no idea what she just walked into with me.