Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Luca
I held Valentina’s hand as we descended the stairs. She was as gorgeous in the black wrap dress as I’d imagined, maybe more so. Long smooth legs, small waist and generous hips, and tits for days. I was already anticipating peeling the dress off her later.
Loud voices echoed in the direction of the kitchen, which meant the Benettis had arrived this morning. Good. It was time to find Segreto and put an end to all this.
I started toward the back of the house, but Valentina tugged on my hand. “Luca, I really need to go.”
“Come.” I kept walking, bringing her with me. “I want you to meet my brothers.”
Her jaw fell open. “What? Your brothers are here? When? Why?”
The edge of my mouth lifted. “Because I told them to. They flew overnight.”
“I can’t meet your brothers. I’m . . . ” She huffed in the most adorable way. “This is weird. They’re going to know that we, you know.”
“That we were fucking upstairs, yes. And anyone who sees you in this dress would kill to trade places with me.”
There wasn’t time to say more. I put my hand on the small of her back and escorted her inside the kitchen. Enrico and Dante were sitting on stools at the counter, while Sergio was standing next to Aldo, demitasse cups in their hands.
Conversation stopped as every eye turned toward us. “This is Valentina Montella,” I announced. “Bella, these are my brothers. Dante, Enrico, and Sergio.”
“Hello,” she said shyly. “It’s nice to meet all of you.”
No one else spoke, and I could sense my brothers trying to make sense of what they were seeing. Our world revolved around trust, and I didn’t have much to give. Consequently, I didn’t invite women to my home. I took them to a hotel or their house, never mine. So Valentina being here was surprising.
But that didn’t excuse rudeness.
I lifted a menacing brow at Sergio. Jolting, he immediately put down his demitasse cup and came forward. “Signorina, come stai?” He leaned down to kiss both of her cheeks. “It is nice to finally meet you.”
“Finally?” she asked, with a quick glance up at me. “You’ve told them about me?”
“Of course.” I pulled her closer to my side. “There are no secrets in my family.”
Dante and Rico were next, greeting Valentina properly, then returning to their seats. They shared an amused, knowing glance that set my teeth on edge, but I ignored it. For now.
Before I could get to the espresso machine, a bleary-eyed Gabriele strolled in, shirtless and wearing striped pajama bottoms. “Ciao, zii ! I can’t believe you’re all here.” My son went over to say hello to his uncles .
“Gabi, buongiorno.” Sergio kissed my son’s cheeks. “How is my favorite nephew?”
“Fucking tired,” was Gabi’s answer. “Someone woke me up early.”
“Sorry if we were too loud,” Dante said, slapping Gabi’s back.
“Oh, it wasn’t you. Someone else was loud upstairs about an hour ago.”
My brothers had the audacity to laugh, but I frowned. Even though Gabriele spoke in Italian, I didn’t appreciate the joke. “Gabriele,” I snapped. “Show some fucking respect.”
He put his hands up apologetically. “Mi dispiace, Papà.” He nodded at Valentina. “Buongiorno, Val.”
“Hi, Gabi.”
“You look beautiful.” He whistled. “The customers are going to swallow their tongues when they see you in that dress.”
“It’s too much, isn’t it?” She bit her lip and looked up at me, her expression full of doubt. “I told you I shouldn’t wear this.”
“No, signorina,” everyone said almost at once. “You should definitely wear that,” Rico finished with.
“Yes, I agree,” Dante added. “You look bellissima.”
“Thank you, but I think I’ll go and grab a sweater.” She gave me her handbag. “Be right back.”
Her heels clicked on the tile as she left the kitchen and went into the hall. My teeth ground together as I carefully placed her handbag on the marble island. Then I wasted no time in closing the distance to my youngest son, my hands curled into fists. Wisely, Gabriele started backing away from me when he saw the look on my face.
“Papà, I was kidding with her.” He darted behind Sergio, putting my brother between us.
Sergio held up a hand to stop me. “Let’s stay calm.”
Reaching over Sergio, I grabbed my son’s shoulder and squeezed hard. “Do not comment on her, capisce? Not on what she’s wearing, not on how she sounds. You are polite and respectful at all times. Am I clear, figlio mio?”
Gabriele winced but didn’t try to pull away. “I understand. I’m sorry.”
“Easy.” Sergio peeled my fingers off Gabriele. “He didn’t mean any harm, Luca.”
I took a step back and straightened the cuffs of my dress shirt. “I’m taking her to work. The three of you, be ready. We will get to work when I return.”
Gabriele grabbed a breakfast roll and his phone, then hurried out of the kitchen. Dante and Rico were quiet, but Sergio said, “Don’t be so hard on him. He’s only sixteen, Luca. He’s a dumb kid and desperate for your approval.”
“I never acted like that at sixteen. Can you imagine if I spoke to one of our father’s girls like that?” My father would’ve had my balls strung up and displayed for the entire town.
“To be fair, you’ve never had a woman sleep over before. We were all caught off guard this morning.”
The clack of a woman’s heels grew louder and we stopped speaking. After I grabbed a breakfast roll off the counter for her, Aldo handed me two travel mugs. “Grazie,” I told him. “Start the car. You’re driving us.”
He nodded and headed for the back door. Valentina came in, a black cardigan sweater pulled over her arms and chest, buttoned high. A crime against humanity, that sweater. “I’m ready,” she told me, taking her new handbag off the counter.
Each of my brothers bade her a polite goodbye and we went out to the car. Once we were settled in the back seat, she took the cappuccino from me. “Why are you mad?”
“I’m not mad.”
She took a sip from the travel mug. “Luca, I have eyes. Gabi said something you didn’t like. What was it?”
I set my jaw and stared out the window. “Don’t worry about it.”
Her small hand landed on my thigh and she smoothed my trousers, almost petting me. “Baby, tell me. I know it was something about me.” She was quiet for a beat and I could almost hear her thinking. “ Does he hate the idea of me sleeping over? Is it because of his mom?”
Needing to touch her, I grabbed her hand and threaded our fingers together. “No, nothing like that. But I don’t want to repeat what he said. It doesn’t matter.”
“Did he hear us arguing this morning?”
I didn’t move a muscle, didn’t breathe, because she was so close to the truth.
It turned out she didn’t need any help from me. She was smart and arrived at the answer all on her own.
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh, my god. He heard us . . . oh, my god. That’s it, isn’t it?” Leaning forward, she rubbed her forehead with her one hand. “Holy shit. I want to crawl into a gigantic hole and die.”
I needed my hands free. Cursing my son, I took the mug from her and set it in the holder, along with mine. “Valentina.” I cupped her face in my palms and brushed my thumbs over the velvety skin of her jaw. “I want you passionate and loud. I want you to scream your pleasure so the entire town hears it. And I wasn’t quiet, either. So who gives a fuck?”
“I do,” she said, frowning. “It’s humiliating. We’re not having sex in your house again.”
No way would I agree to that. I gentled my voice. “Piccolina, I’ll fuck you in every room of that house, if I choose. And I won’t care who hears it.”
“Well, I do. And we can stay at my?—”
I cut her off. “Don’t say it. I’ll move Gabriele to a hotel before I agree to sleep at your house.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my house. Beef up the security if you want. Make it safer, I don’t care. But we’d be totally alone there.”
No, this wasn’t happening. I wanted her in my house, which was more secure than most prisons. Therefore, this discussion was over.
I unbuckled her seat belt and lifted her up onto my lap. Her ass settled on my thigh and her side pressed against my chest. I kissed her throat, my hand drifting up to cover her tit. The smell of her body wash—which I now knew was melon—invaded my senses and my dick started plumping. Fuck, I was insatiable for this woman.
She arched her neck to give me better access, while her hands gripped my suit coat. I nibbled and licked, then bit her gently and she gasped—a tiny intake of breath that had me wanting to lay her down in the back seat, remove her panties, and eat her pussy for breakfast.
“We’re not done . . . discussing this,” she said between breaths.
“Amore, who makes the rules?” I whispered, plucking at the buttons on her sweater, opening them.
“ Luca .” It came out more like a whine.
I dragged my knuckles along her cleavage, wishing there was time to suck on her nipples. “I should take you into the restaurant, lock us into your office, and fuck you again. Then you could feel my come inside you all day long.”
Her fingers tightened. “Everyone would know.”
“Yes, that’s true. Everyone in the restaurant would know how greedy this pussy is, how much you need my cock.”
“Oh, god.” She slumped against me, pliant and soft. “Stop talking. Aldo can hear you, and I have a restaurant to reopen.”
“Then stop arguing with me. Trust me to take care of you.”
She smoothed my silk tie, the one she picked out earlier. “No one has taken care of me in a long time.”
“I know.” I kissed the top of her head. “Which is why I want to do it. No one is more deserving than you.”
“That is very sweet.” She played with the knot of my tie. “So who takes care of you?”
I frowned, almost insulted at the question. I was raised to be strong, a man who needed no one. There hadn’t been any compassion or understanding in the Benetti household. My father’s love had been wrapped up in cruelty and responsibility, and my mother always sided with him, even after he treated her like shit. I did what I could to shelter my brothers from him, but it hadn’t been easy.
My father discussed a marriage for me many times, but died before seeing it through. Then as the years passed, I resisted bringing a woman into my world. What need was there to marry? I had two sons already and I fucked whomever I pleased. The staff oversaw the house. And I wouldn’t love a wife, so why would bother?
“Luca?”
Blinking, I glanced out the window. I was so lost in my own thoughts that I hadn’t realized we’d arrived at the trattoria. “Andiamo,” I said, setting her on the leather. “I’ll walk you inside.”
She put her hand on my shoulder and her keen brown gaze searched my face. “Are you okay?”
“Of course.”
Her expression didn’t change. Leaning in, she placed her lips on mine and kissed me sweetly. Unhurriedly. Like we had all the time in the world. I heard the door close, which meant Aldo was giving us privacy. So I deepened the kiss, needing to prolong it. I wasn’t ready to turn her over to the busy day ahead. Being with her was a tiny respite, a slice of happiness in a brutal and terrible world. It was like Valentina washed away all my sins, a benediction of kisses that made me feel whole.
The air in the car turned humid, so I pulled away. We were both panting. “You ruined my lipstick,” she whispered. “And now it’s all over your mouth.”
“I don’t give a shit. You’re still beautiful.” I wiped the edges of her now-swollen lips. “And everyone will know I kissed you goodbye before work.”
She bent down and reached into her new handbag. When she straightened she held a tissue in her hand. “Hold still.” She proceeded to wipe the lipstick off my face, her touch firm as she cleaned me. I didn’t move. No woman had taken such care with me. No one would have dared. Or maybe I wouldn’t have allowed it. It was hard to say why I was allowing it now, except that I didn’t want to hurt Valentina’s feelings.
And maybe I liked her attention.
“There.” She sat back and sighed. “God, you’re disgustingly handsome. I could swoon just looking at you. ”
The edge of my mouth lifted in a half grin. “Swoon?”
“Shut up. Let’s go. I need to get inside.”
After I walked Valentina into the trattoria, I returned to the car and Aldo headed for home. I scrolled on my phone, waiting for him to say something.
It didn’t take long.
“You should keep her.”
There was no use pretending to misunderstand. I glanced up. “She’s not a kitten, Aldo. She has a life here.”
He waved his hand as he turned a corner. “Dai, these things can be worked out, if both people want to try.”
I grunted and said nothing. Aldo didn’t know what he was talking about. Valentina had a long future ahead of her, one that didn’t include me.
“Are you planning to tell her? You know, about Palmieri and her father? She might be pissed.”
“I don’t see a reason to tell her. If I can find Segreto and get answers, then all of this goes away.”
“And you’ll, what? Return to Catanzaro and leave her here?”
I hadn’t thought much about it, but wasn’t it obvious? “Yes.”
“What if you don’t find Segreto? What if you have to turn her over to Palmieri?”
A dark, sick feeling bloomed behind my sternum, a cancer that slowly infected my bloodstream with dread. I stared at my phone but didn’t see it, my mind stuck on my sweet girl at the mercy of Palmieri and the GDF. She was too trusting, from a small town where no crime occurred, according to her. She didn’t even speak Italian. I couldn’t let Palmieri get his hands on her.
But what happens if I refused?
“I will do what needs to be done as the head of this family,” I said, my voice flat.
“That is what I’m afraid of,” Aldo muttered. Then he turned up the music in the car, drowning us both out.
My brothers were waiting in the kitchen when I returned. They immediately quieted and waited, watching me as I set my travel mug on the marble countertop. Aldo walked in behind me. “Another cappuccino, Luca?”
“Sì, grazie.”
Before I could address the three men staring intently at me, my mobile buzzed. Grateful for the reprieve, I answered. “Pronto.”
“It’s Rossi. Your brothers have left town, I’m told. Does this mean you’ve found her?”
I rubbed my eyes. Rossi was the last person I wanted to deal with right now. “No, I haven’t. There’s another complication here.”
“What complication?”
“Dai, you know I won’t answer that.” Not on my mobile, when anyone could be listening.
“This has dragged on too long, Luca. Our friend in Roma grows impatient.”
“That is too fucking bad. I don’t answer to him.”
“True, but you answer to me . And I want this business concluded.”
I seethed, too angry to speak, my fingers strangling the metal and glass in my hand.
“Allora,” he continued. “When you find her, bring her to me first. Then we’ll decide how to deal with Roma, capisce?”
Allow Rossi to get his hands on Valentina? Absolutely fucking not. And why would he want to intervene, if getting Valentina to Palmieri was so imperative?
Again, more fucking questions.
“I need to go,” I told him. “We’ll keep you updated.” Then I disconnected.
“Rossi?” Sergio asked.
Nodding, I folded my arms and leaned against the far counter where I could see all my brothers. Their gazes were filled with hesitation and worry. I addressed the Valentina issue head-on. “Don’t bother trying to talk me out of it. She’s with me and that’s all you need to know. And I won’t turn her over to Rossi or Palmieri, so that is off the table.”
“Are you willing to risk prison for her?” Sergio asked. “To destroy everything we’ve built?”
It was a fair question, so I smothered my irritation. “It won’t come to that. First, I don’t believe Palmieri ever had Niccolò. So if the GDF is building a case against me, it’s bullshit. Second, I know where Flavio Segreto is.”
Rico paused with his cup halfway to his mouth. “You found him?”
“He found me. He’s here, watching her. Watching us .”
“Porca puttana,” Sergio muttered. “I thought she hadn’t talked to him in years.”
“She hasn’t.” I accepted the cappuccino from Aldo and took a sip. “He’s staying close but not interacting with her. She has no relationship with him.”
“Did he approach you?” Dante asked. “What did he say?”
“He called me,” I said. “Not sure how he got my number, but he knew I took her to Manhattan. He warned me away from her.”
“This is a small town,” Aldo said from the coffee machine. “How has he gone unnoticed?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Why didn’t you notice that we were being followed in the city?”
He had no response for that.
Sergio put down his cup and leaned on the counter. “By all accounts, Segreto was crafty. Smart. Did a lot of dirty work. No one had any idea he was skimming money until it was too late.”
“He has to know that no one ever forgets,” Rico said. “He’ll never be safe, no matter where he goes.”
I’d been thinking a lot about this. “He’s too smart to live openly. My guess is that he’s in hiding, but nearby, and he has someone watching her and reporting back. ”
Sergio nodded. “Someone in town. That makes sense. Didn’t you say the mayor was too close to her?”
“The mayor is a coglione and too stupid to be a spy. She would notice him right away. No, it has to be a person she trusts.”
“The woman from the coffee shop,” Aldo suggested as he sliced open a brioche roll. “Or one of the girls from her book club.”
I considered this. “They’re not around enough. And I’m not sure a woman would work with Segreto.”
“Maybe she doesn’t have a choice,” Dante said. “Maybe he’s blackmailing her.”
“Maybe,” I allowed, still thinking. It didn’t feel right, though. Segreto was a hardened criminal. How would he get close enough to any of those women to blackmail them? The town was small and people talked. An association like this would be hard to keep secret.
“So if it’s not a woman, then a man.” Sergio asked. “Who is she close to? Male friends?”
“There are none.” My tone was brittle, like cut glass.
My brother put up his hands. “Calm down, I mean no offense. It could be someone at the restaurant.”
“We ran background checks on all of them,” Aldo said. “Even the ones she fired. They all checked out.”
“Except one.” I lifted my head, suspicion nagging at the back of my neck. It was like when I knew someone was lying to me, or when they had more to tell. My intuition was rarely wrong. “One employee failed the background check.”
“Cazzo, I forgot about him,” Aldo said. “The former dishwasher. John Natale.”
Sergio stared at me like he’d never seen me before. “You let a man who failed a background check work in her restaurant? Ma che cazzo?”
I lifted an eyebrow at his tone. “The restaurant closed immediately after we learned about him. He hasn’t been around.”
“Not to mention we were busy with other things,” Aldo added.
Everyone in the room knew he meant me and Valentina. And I had no defense—I’d let her distract me. I ground my back teeth together. John Natale was a loose end, and I never left loose ends. “We need to find him. He’ll lead us to Segreto, I’m sure of it.”
“What do you know about him?” Sergio asked.
I dragged a hand over my jaw. “Late twenties, so not Segreto’s age. But he has tattoos that look done by hand, not a needle.”
“So prison?” Dante asked.
Rico slapped the back of his brother’s head. “Yes, prison. Pay attention, idiota .”
“Quiet,” Sergio told them, then turned to me. “What else?”
“I got the sense he felt protective of her. He didn’t like me eating dinner with her that first night. He offered to drive her home.”
“And you couldn’t find anything on him?”
I shook my head at Sergio’s question. “No records of any kind. No driver’s license. It’s a fake name.”
“Is he back at the restaurant?” Aldo asked and took a bite of his breakfast roll.
“Let’s find out.” Within a minute, I called Roberto at the trattoria and got my answer. I told my brothers, “Natale never returned for a dishwashing job. Roberto has no idea who we’re talking about, and all the current employees have passed background checks.”
“He has to be around,” Sergio said. “If he’s helping Segreto, he hasn’t left town.”
I could kick myself for forgetting about Natale. I slapped my palm on the countertop. “We need to fucking find him— today .”
Aldo reached for a second breakfast roll. “The easiest way to find him is to follow Val.”
This was true—and she needed security now that she was mine. “Let’s put two guards on her when she’s not with me,” I told Sergio. “Tell them to stay hidden and be fucking vigilant. I also want her house checked for bugs. Rico, you and Dante do that now.” If there were listening devices, my brothers would find them. All of us had been raised from birth to guard against being eavesdropped on .
“I’ll text you the address,” Aldo said as he found his mobile on the counter. “Key fobs are on the table.”
“We’re on it.” Rico finished his cappuccino and set the empty cup down. “Let’s go, D.”
My youngest two brothers left through the back door and silence descended. Aldo was busy chewing, while Sergio regarded me through his lashes. I scrolled on my phone and waited. Sergio would have his say sooner or later.
My brother stirred his cappuccino slowly, the spoon clanging lightly against the porcelain. When he set the spoon down, he said, “She’s beautiful.”
I slipped my mobile back in my pocket. “And?”
“And what happens after we find her father?”
“We get answers.”
“And?”
“And if I find out Rossi has lied to me, we take him out.”
“You’re going to kill the head of the region. Ma sei pazzo?”
“No, I’m not crazy. If it brings war with the other clans, so be it. I won’t be made a fool, left to dance on Rossi’s string.”
He nodded, like this was what he expected me to say. “And Valentina? Are you moving her to Catanzaro?”
“I think he should,” Aldo put in, but we ignored him.
I stared at Sergio, unsure why he was pressing on this. Was he worried she would disrupt my life? As I told Aldo in the car, I would return to Catanzaro alone. Valentina had the restaurant and her friends here, and my work consumed all of my time. I didn’t have time for dinners and dates.
So who takes care of you?
The answer was simple. I took care of myself, as I’d been doing my whole life. My mother never made her children a priority and my father had raised killers, not sons. The housekeepers over the years had shown us more affection than our own parents. And still we thrived, the four of us boys, like a pack of wild dogs that stuck together .
So, no. I wouldn’t take her to Catanzaro, even if this burning sensation in my stomach, this inexplicable craving for her, never abated. I would learn to live with the ache.
Family came first.
“No.”
Sergio’s shoulders relaxed, like a weight had been lifted, and he exhaled toward the ceiling. “Thank fuck.”
“Why do you care?”
Sergio leaned down on his elbows. “Do you really believe she’ll forgive you after she learns why you’re here? To use her to find her father. Not to mention you were originally prepared to kidnap her and turn her over to the GDF. Think about it, Luca.”
“She will never find out.”
“Dai, Luca. You can’t be this naive.”
My voice turned hard. “Do you have a death wish, fratello?”
“I am looking out for you!” He straightened and faced me. “For the family. We are all in jeopardy right now because of this woman and your decisions. I’ve been holding everything together in Catanzaro since you left, then you order me here at a moment’s notice. I barely slept on the plane and arrived here to learn you’ve moved her into your house. What the fuck ?”
“There is no jeopardy, stronzo.” I stalked over to the island and stared him in the eye. “We are going to find Segreto and get answers. Whatever happens outside of that doesn’t concern you.”
“ Anything related to you concerns me. You are don of this family and every decision you make affects all of us.”
“You think I don’t know this? I have lived with the responsibility longer than you’ve been alive. And it won’t change until I’m dead.”
“Which could happen at any moment now.” He dragged a hand through his hair and began pacing, which was unusual for my normally calm brother. “You are completely exposed here in the middle of nowhere. The house and grounds aren’t nearly as secure as back home, and you don’t have enough men. And why are you risking your life? For a woman who won’t speak to you after she learns that truth.”
“I understand that you are worried?—”
“Of course I’m worried!” He stopped moving and pinched the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger. “First you fucked Palmieri’s wife, now this woman . . . You know it’s dangerous to move her in, yet you did it anyway. It’s like you have a death wish.”
My upper lip curled into a sneer as I considered it. “I’m not scared of Segreto. And it’s safer for Valentina to live here until this business is sorted out.”
“Safer . . . or just more convenient for you?”
Fury flooded my veins and my muscles bunched in preparation for violence. I’d never hit him, not once even when we were young, but I wanted to hit him now. I wanted to punch him until these disrespectful words stopped coming out of his mouth.
But I couldn’t. This was my brother, my closest confidant. My family.
Through sheer force of will, I remained calm. “Stay out of my relationship with Valentina. She’s here until I say otherwise and that’s all you need to fucking know.” Sergio’s jaw tightened and he stared at the wall, but I didn’t care. I turned to Aldo. “Gabriele moves out to the pool house today. See that it’s taken care of.”
I didn’t wait for his response. I walked out of the room and headed for the office. I needed to be alone.