Chapter 9
NINE
Marchello
Milo pointed to my empty glass. “Want another round?”
“No. Lissia’s right—the alcohol is cheap.” I glanced around the club, a knot forming in my gut. “Where the fuck is she?”
“She was just over…” Milo stood. “I saw her by the stage a minute ago.”
Dom and a few of the guys were scanning the scarce dance floor, confirming my suspicion that they didn’t know where she was either.
“Son of a bitch.” I hurried toward the stage, Milo following me. “Didn’t I tell her to stay where I could see her?”
“She doesn’t listen,” my brother said.
I shot him a disgusted look.
“Maybe she’s in the bathroom,” he said. “There’s a set down that hallway.”
“Marchello,” Dom said. “She was right here. I don’t know how she got out of my sight.”
“I’ll deal with you later,” I snapped. “Just find her.”
Dom pointed for two guards to check the entrance while he and three others followed Milo and me toward the dark hallway.
I pushed past a small group of people, who began yelling. When I glared at them, they must have realized who I was because they snapped their mouths shut.
“There.” I nodded toward the hallway as I placed my hand on my gun under my jacket, knowing I couldn’t pull it out in public without creating a panic.
Lissia tried to get past Collins as I approached.
“Listen up, you little bitch.” Danny tugged her toward him. “I’m going to give you a message, and this time you make sure your husband gets it.”
“Why don’t you give it to me yourself?” I blocked the entrance of the hall. “You have about a second to get your hands off my wife.”
Collins shoved Lissia in my direction. “You can have the whore.”
She slammed into me, and the rage inside me broke free. I handed Lissia off to Milo before swinging at Collins’ jaw, sending him hurling to the ground.
He yelped when I kicked him in the ribcage.
The commotion behind me should have stopped me, but all I could think about was what that piece of shit had done to Lissia.
“Get up!” I kicked him again. “Stand up and fight me like a man instead of coming at me through her.”
“Chello.” Milo placed his hand on my shoulder. “We have an audience.”
I didn’t care how many eyes were on me—how many videos were being taken. Collins had my wrath coming for weeks.
Two of my men pulled him to his feet and stepped away, letting me finish this.
Danny motioned at me with both hands to come at him. “Let’s settle this.”
Lissia grabbed my bicep. “Marchello. Not here. Not like this.”
I moved Lissia behind me. “Milo, get her out of here.”
“I’m not leaving you,” she said.
Even without looking at her, I pictured the determination in her eyes.
“How the hell did the great and powerful Marchello Accetti marry such an insufferable brat?” Collins laughed. “You should have let me take her off your hands when you had the chance.”
I swung at him again, and my fist connected with his jaw, but this time he stayed standing. I sensed the crowd behind me growing larger with each flash of a phone camera.
Collins lunged toward me.
I grabbed him by the neck and slammed him against the wall.
“Did you come for a fight?” I gritted my teeth. “Because you’re not really trying.”
“Why would I fight you when I could just shoot you?”
“You tried that. It didn’t work.”
“No, but I almost took out your lying bitch of a wife.”
“Fuck you!” I hauled my arm back, but he pulled his gun on me.
“No!” Lissia gasped as on-lookers shouted out.
My guards stepped in front of me faster than Collins could get off a shot, disarming and restraining him.
Without thinking, I pulled my gun from the back of my pants and pointed it at Collins’ face.
Milo hurried to my side and held up his hand. “There are cameras every-fucking-where. You know better than this. That’s why he chose now to show himself. There are too many witnesses.”
I took a breath and kept my glare trained on Collins as I lowered my gun and shoved it back in my waistband.
“My brother is right. Now isn’t the time.” I nodded at my men. “Escort him out of here. Throw him in front of a moving car for all I care.”
“I came here to collect a debt,” Collins said.
“If you’re talking about my wife, I will kill you in front of all these people.” I fought the urge to pull the trigger and worry about the consequences later.
“You can have her.” He smirked. “Didn’t she give you my message?”
“What message?” A rush of disgust flooded my system.
“What, your lovely wife didn’t tell you I called her the other night to offer my condolences for her father?”
“That’s not true,” Lissia mumbled.
“He didn’t call you?” I asked.
“She didn’t tell you.” A devious grin crossed his face as his gaze locked with Lissia’s. “How interesting.”
“Get him out of here,” I snapped at my men. “Before I kill him.”
“I want the money I lost on what I would have made from the auction,” Collins said. “Gian promised me a lot of money and territory. I was willing to take the loss on the botched marriage arrangement, but I won’t come out empty-handed.”
“None of that is my problem,” I said. “But you’ll be able to take that up with Gian when I send you to hell.”
“You heard my brother,” Milo said, his voice raised. “Escort him out of here and make sure he leaves.”
“I intend to collect, Accetti,” Collins said as my guys forced him toward the exit. “One way or another.”
“Don’t react,” Milo said. “He’s threatening you in front of all these people so when we retaliate?—”
“I know what he’s fucking doing.” I pointed out at the club, furious that I took the bait. “Get these people out of here. Shut this place down.”
Milo and my remaining men did what I asked and began clearing the room.
“Oh God.” Lissia let out an exaggerated breath. She took my hand in hers. “When Danny pulled out his gun, I thought… I thought he was going to shoot you.”
I glanced down at the worn hardwood floor. Why did we buy this dump? We needed to have more security if this was going to work.
“Marchello.” Lissia ran her hand along my arm. “Are you okay?”
“Am I okay?” I stared at her. “You tell me.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“You didn’t listen when I told you to remove yourself from the situation. Instead, you put yourself in more danger when loaded guns were involved.” I pounded my fist against the wall. “I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve done that.”
“Three.” She said the number like it was some badge of honor.
“Do you think this is funny?” I shouted. “How should I feel about my wife lying to me?”
“I didn’t lie to you.”
“Don’t you dare.” I shook my finger in her face. “He called you, and you didn’t tell me. That’s a lie by omission.”
“I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t. Do you know how much danger you’re in?”
Not to mention how much fucking trouble she was in. I could throttle her. No one had the power to infuriate me like this woman did.
“I’m in no more danger than I was a week ago.” The fire in her eyes warned me that she was about to say something I was going to hate. “Isn’t that the whole reason you married me?”
And there it was…
“What did you just fucking say?” I stepped toward her, causing her to retreat, but I clutched her arm before she could get too far. “You think that was the only reason I married you?”
“Of course not, but protecting me was high on your list of priorities, wasn’t it?” She yanked out of my hold. “You made that really clear.”
“Stop it!”
Her eyes widened.
“You’re not going to turn this around on me.” I backed her against the wall. “You kept something from me. Something vital. That piece of shit called you and threatened you, and you didn’t tell me.”
“I meant to.”
“You meant to?” I slammed my hand against the wall. “This man kidnapped you, shot at you, and planned to auction you off. He’s caught up in a sex trafficking operation, and you forgot to tell me he called?”
What is wrong with her?
Was she ever going to get in line? It wasn’t as if I expected her to obey me—I’d given up on that notion long ago—but I did expect her to understand the danger she was in. Was that too much to ask of her?
“He called the night of the funeral,” she said. “I was so tired. Your father had just told me he had killed my dad, I’d learned about the auction, you and I had intense sex, and I hadn’t eaten or slept. I…”
Her hesitation infuriated me.
“What about the next day?”
She ran her fingers through her hair, and her hand trembled.
“I was about to tell you, but you asked me to marry you. The wedding, your father leaving… Everything was happening so fast, and I still feel like I haven’t processed anything.”
“Not even us?”
Had I pushed her too far, too soon? She had gone through so much in a short time. I had always seen her strong, determined side, and because she was so brave and insistent when it came to what she wanted, maybe I overestimated how much she could take.
“No, not us.” She placed her shaky hand on my cheek. “I want to be your wife. I’m meant to be your wife.”
I was convinced she meant that. She would stand with me until the bitter end.
But I wanted to make sure the end wasn’t any time soon and that nothing about it would be bitter.
“Why didn’t you tell me he called you?”
“I don’t know.” She gazed into my eyes. “It wasn’t intentional.”
“Then what was it?”
“I put it out of my mind, thinking I could make it go away. You were already dealing with so much. I didn’t want to pile on more.”
“You can’t make it go away.” I removed her hand from my face and kissed her knuckles. “You can’t keep stuff from me. I can’t protect you if you keep secrets.”
“I’m sorry.” She bit the corner of her lip. “I figured since Danny was calling me instead of showing up in person, he wasn’t a threat. But tonight he did show up, and he pointed a gun at you.”
“What did he say to you?”
“He said he was glad my father didn’t cut me off because I owe him.”
“You don’t owe him shit.” I should have killed him when I had the chance. “He’s not going to get near you again.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” She sighed. “He said he was going to kill you and make me watch.”
“You don’t have to worry about me. He’s stupid and sloppy. It’s only a matter of time before I get to him.”
“You heard what Milo said. Danny came here to provoke you in front of witnesses. If you kill him now, you’ll be the number one suspect.”
“I can be patient.”
As much as I wanted to deal with Collins, I had to be smart. I also had to be vigilant. Protecting Lissia was my priority. The longer Collins drew breath, the longer she was a target.
She had to help me. Keeping things from me wasn’t going to keep her safe.
“I caused this.” She leaned against the wall. “I brought Danny into your life. If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t be caught up in all of this.”
“That’s not true.” I tilted her chin, forcing her to look at me. “He and your father are the reason I’m caught up in this. They are the ones who set up the trafficking in my territory. You didn’t trigger this war.”
“I’m the reason there is a target on your back.”
“I’m not scared of the arms dealer. I’ll handle him.” I lowered my lips to hers. “I’ll keep you safe, but we have to be in this together.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She spoke against my mouth. “I can’t live without you.”
“You’re not going to have to.”
It was me who couldn’t be without her. I was the one who feared losing her every night my head hit the pillow. I had only one weakness. And I couldn’t live with the agony and guilt my father experienced over losing my mother. That kind of pain changed him.
“Just promise you’re going to be straight with me. We can weather any storm as long as we’re honest with one another.”
“No more secrets.”
“Give me your phone.”
“Why?” She wrinkled her nose. “Are you going to throw it in the river again?”
“Let’s go, brat.” I held out my hand. “Don’t make me ask twice.”
“Please don’t take it from me again.”
When I didn’t respond, she reached into her back pocket and gave me her phone with more hesitation than I would have liked. I scrolled through her recent calls, finding the number from the night of the funeral.
“Is this his number?” I showed her the screen.
“Yes.”
I blocked the number, though that wasn’t going to stop him from coming at her. Only I could do that.
“Don’t answer any more unknown calls.” I gave her back the phone. “Or I will toss it in the river.”
I tugged her to me and kissed her possessively, igniting a slow burn in my body that could only be resolved between the sheets.
“Tell me who you belong to so I can take you home and fuck this whole night away.”
“You.” She licked her lips. “I’m ready for a hard, relentless fuck.”
“Let’s get out of here.” I took her hand. “I’ve had enough of this place for one night.”
“Once I make it the in place, you’ll think differently.” She glanced around the empty club. “You really know how to clear a room.”
“There you are,” a familiar voice said.
I looked over.
Lorenzo sauntered toward us. “You people always find a way to make things interesting, don’t you?”
I didn’t expect to see him in New York. I thought that since I had handed over the missing shipment and my father eliminated Gian, Lorenzo and I were even.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I shook his hand.
Something told me our business was far from over. Lorenzo wouldn’t be in New York if his cartel didn’t want something that only I could deliver.
“I’m about to make things even more interesting,” he said.