Chapter 19
CHAPTER 19
Nero
“ T his is excellent, Amato,” Sebastian hums from across the table after the first bite of his stromboli.
We are in a five-star restaurant at the other end of town from the Lucchese mansion. The place is tasteful and exclusive, with a waiting list that’s over a year long. It’s owned by Carmine Amato, a man who controls almost all the weapon trade in the whole of Italy.
I’ve been trying to get Amato’s attention for the better part of a year, but so far, all my attempts have been rebuffed.
It’s a good thing I managed to keep my identity secret, or this dinner would have gone sideways before it even started.
“You must compliment my chef. She’s my secret weapon. I can’t go anywhere without her,” he laughs.
Amato isn’t a physically impressive man. He stands at about five feet six at most, with a barrel chest and small, sunken eyes, but I know the man is a force to reckon with, and him being on Sebastian’s side will pose a problem.
I file the information about his chef to the back of my mind and continue eating silently.
The chicken Piccata is excellent, and whoever this mystery chef is deserves an accolade. But the wonderful food isn’t enough to distract me from the green-eyed woman across the table from me.
Sofia is in a gray, cowl-neck dress that sweeps down a few inches past her knee. Her hair has been swept away from her face, and she’s wearing light make-up and something that makes her plump mouth look too kissable.
I struggle to drag my gaze away from her, wondering for the hundredth time why Sebastian brought her here. As far as I’m concerned, this is more or less a business meeting, which is really no place for her.
The rest of the occupants of the table are Cosa Nostra men, and neither of them are present with a wife or girlfriend. Not even the elusive chef has managed to show her face.
That uncomfortable feeling crawls down my spine again and I reach down to tap my chest for the familiar security of my Glock, then remember that our weapons were taken at the door.
I’ve never in my life felt more like a sitting duck.
“About the guns,” one of the other men says. “Time is slipping by, Amato.”
The short man makes a sound of disgust and tosses down his napkin. “What’s the problem with this younger generation? In our time, we knew it was sit down and have a drink or two first before we started talking business.”
Sebastian laughs. “You know what I like about you? You remind me so much of my father.”
Amato tuts. “Your father was an excellent one. One of the few ones who I knew wouldn’t have let everyone run wild and get careless.” Then his beady eyes crawl over to Sofia. “And this must be your wife. What’s with your manners, Lucchese? I thought she was beautiful at the wedding, but now I see how truly iridescent she is.”
“Yes, she is, isn’t she?” Sebastian replies in a soft voice.
My head shoots up to look over at them, and I find her looking like a deer caught by headlights while he’s staring at her like a besotted fool.
What the hell?
“Young love,” the older man laughs. “I love to see it.”
“Have you met Castello?” Sebastian nods in my direction. “You must remember his father at least.”
“Of course, I know Jacobe Castello. Bravest bastard I ever met,” his eyes fill with admiration. “Smart and loyal.”
“Hmm,” Sebastian raises his glass of wine and takes a sip. “Loyalty. That’s a word I don’t hear often anymore.”
My muscles tense, and my fingers tighten around my fork. And then he turns to Sofia, and he reaches for her chair and pulls her closer to him before throwing his arm around her shoulder.
“I’ve been thinking of your future, Castello.” The words make me perk up with alertness. “You’ve always been a good shot. Still good?”
I don’t know what Sebastian is driving at, but I nod in response, one eyebrow raised in question.
“Even as kids, Castello could shoot a target from halfway across the compound,” he tells Carmine.
My interest isn’t in his words, though. It’s in the way his fingers are moving across Sofia’s arms, almost teasing, possessive. It makes my teeth clench so tightly that my jaw begins to hurt, and I have to put in effort to pry my jaw open for another fork of my dinner.
“I don’t think he’s had much opportunity to polish his skills, though,” the stout man points out, hand cupping his jaw. “They say he’s been traveling the world. So, unless he was going around putting a bullet in everyone he came across, he’s probably not handled one in?—”
“Give me my gun back and I can shoot the bird’s eye in that painting.” I nudge my head at the painting of a peacock across the otherwise empty restaurant.
“Interesting,” Sebastian nods then turns to his wife. “Would you like to see that, baby?”
Baby? My spine stiffens.
She peeks at me and then her lashes lower. “I don’t like guns.”
For some reason, that’s the funniest thing he’s ever heard, and he throws back his head and lets loose a bark of laughter. “Of course you don’t, my dainty, peace loving bride.”
Someone needs to explain to me in the most simple of terms what exactly is going on here. I eye Sofia, wondering if there’s something she hasn’t been telling me. It’s then that I spot the diamond necklace on her throat. It’s so large and sparkly that I’m bemused to just be noticing it.
Her hands brush over it softly. The touch is careful, reverent... dare I say, pleased.
“I hate to see you waste your talents, Castello.” Sebastian’s voice drags my attention back to him. “I would like you to join the ranks. You know, work your way up and start to earn some money and know the ways of things.”
I’m not lacking for money at all, and I’m about to politely decline when he speaks up again.
“Do you know what the best part about being a man in this world is? It’s the sense of family, the brotherhood.” His blue eyes sharpen. “The knowledge that you’d willingly take a bullet for your brother in oath, that you’d never betray him. You’re the most loyal man I know, Castello. You would make a perfect soldier, or you can put that perfect aim to good use helping me take out some rats.”
Carmine’s gaze swings between us, and I can feel the other men watching too.
“I haven’t caught the bastard that set that fire, but I will,” he begins to cut into his meat. “And it’s not a question of if . When I do, I’m going to destroy him. But until then, I want to have you by my side. Keep your friends close, you know the saying.”
And your enemies closer , I think to myself.
“You want him to be your bodyguard?” The older man’s voice is full of surprise. “Isn’t that?—”
Sebastian waves his fork in the air dismissively. “I just want to give him a sense of belonging, and I can’t exactly thrust him into the thick of things. And everyone started from being a soldier.”
“You didn’t,” I point out.
When his eyes meet mine, they are full of something I can’t discern. “It’s different for me. It’s my birthright.”
Anger curdles inside of me at his words, but I keep my gaze in a placid expression.
“What do you say?”
“I’ll be honored to be your soldier,” I tell him.
A slow smile splits his face. What he doesn’t know, of course, is that he’s not going to live long enough to achieve his dream of making me into a mere grunt. He must know how humiliating the discussion is, or maybe he doesn’t. With him, I can never tell if he’s being an ass or his usual, careless self.
“And the shipments?” someone asks from down the table. “We need to conclude on it soon.”
As the men begin to discuss containers of weaponry, I find my focus drifting to the woman pushing her food around her plate. I should be listening to them, trying to glean out important information that can aid my mission, but instead, my eyes track down her frame and stop at the unwanted hand around her shoulders.
As if she can feel the heat of my gaze on her, her head snaps up.
A pretty blush steals up her cheeks, and her teeth come down on her bottom lip. Christ, she shouldn’t look at me like that in public. That look should be flagged as public indecency.
“By Sunday, we should be able to move all the crates into the island and to the docks. You’ll have all the weapons your heart desires by the end of that day,” Carmine assures them.
“No mistakes, Amato,” one of the men says.
The man’s hooded eyes narrow to dangerous slits. “First of all, that’s Mr . Amato to you. Second, the next time you try to tell me how to do my job, you will end the night as brain matter on my wall. Is that clear?”
There is silence in the room for a long while. And then Sebastian finally breaks it by laughing.
“Relax,” he tells the older man. “You’re ruining my appetite, and you’re scaring my wife.”
I hate those words from his mouth. She’s not his . She’s mine . I know it’s a ridiculous thought, because even when she’s gasping and crying beneath me, fingers clawing at my back, I can still feel her wedding ring like a cruel reminder.
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have brought her to a business meeting,” Carmine chuckles, but it’s lacking in humor.
I eye him with renewed interest, and wonder if I should try my hand at approaching him again. The problem with him is that he’s comfortable with how things are. He’s making money from his hotels and restaurants, and the gun trade is only getting bigger.
The current administration favors him in every way, so what the hell am I supposed to offer a man who seemingly has it all?
“This is embarrassing to admit,” Sebastian smiles, “but I’m a bit obsessed with my wife. I can’t be without her for so many hours. Look at her, Amato, would you want to leave such a woman for even a second?”
She raises her head from her plate, green eyes opened wide on her husband.
“Don’t you agree that she’s exquisite, Castello?” His gaze is still on her when he asks, and a tingle of suspicion rushes through me.
What does he know?
This entire dinner has felt like one big jest, a perfect way to taunt everyone before he makes his move. I shouldn’t have left my gun at the door.
Before I can answer, he cups her jaw in his hand and covers her mouth with his. As he pulls her further to him, my gaze falls down to where his hand is sliding down her hip. I see red.
The creaking of my chair as I jump out of it has everyone turning to me, but I ignore them all.
“Where’s your bathroom?” I grit out to one of the servers.
He looks startled for a second. “Uh, down the hall, third door on your left.”
I’m already reaching for a cigarette before I’m fully out of the room. When I remember that I tossed them into the trash can in my bedroom on an impulse, I almost pull my hair out of their roots. I’m furious at both Sebastian and Sofia, burning with jealousy, unarmed, and without even nicotine as a clutch.
This entire shitshow has gone on too long. It’s high time I put it to an end. I no longer believe that I have the element of surprise, at least not completely. If he knows something, though, he will need some days to plan, and also, with the arrival of the shipment, he will be too busy to do anything.
Which is why I intend to take him out on that day.
Four days from now, I’m finally going to get the revenge that has been over a decade in the making.
I’m ending this once and for all.