Chapter 3
THREE
Milo
Opening my palm, I stared at the bracelet. My link to Sable was gone within minutes. The immense rage that plunged into me over how this all went down somehow dissipated into a bizarre sense of relief.
Letting her go was the only option. My family was protected now that her brother wasn’t in our lives, and she was safer without me.
The war with Medina was about to escalate and I had to be at the top of my game.
Now that the other prominent cities in the organization were on board with his plan, we had a bigger fight than we anticipated.
I couldn’t guarantee Sable’s safety. As long as she was with me, she would be a target. Like my mother had been for my father and like Lissia was for Marchello. I didn’t need that kind of distraction. My family depended on me, and now I had to prove I could handle whatever came our way.
The goodbye kiss was selfish. The false hope in her expression gutted me. I never meant to make her cry. I only wanted to feel her lips on mine one last time.
A soft knock on the door drew me from my thoughts. Could Sable be back?
“Come in,” I said as I dropped the bracelet into my inside pocket.
When Camila came through the door, a wave of disappointment seeped into my chest. It wasn’t Sable and that realization rattled me more than it should. How was I going to let go?
Would it ever be Sable again?
“Hey.” Camila came in and shut the door behind her. “Are you ignoring my calls?”
“Not at all.” I had to put Sable out of my head and get back to business. “I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy for me?” She kissed my cheek, resting her hand on my shoulder. “Is it because you’re brooding?”
“Why would I be brooding?” I stepped back, creating some distance between us.
Camila and I had been together a few times, but when the boutique took off, we decided it was best to not mix business with pleasure. That didn’t mean she didn’t try on occasion, but once I started seeing Sable, she respected my boundaries.
“I ran into Sable downstairs.” She unbuttoned her coat and removed it. “She looked like a homeless person dressed in those ratty clothes. A hoodie, really? I don’t know what she could have been thinking coming here dressed like that.”
“The term you’re looking for is unhoused,” I said. “Which Sable is not.”
When she rolled her eyes while she draped her coat on the back of the chair across from my desk, something inside me snapped.
“And the fact that you would use someone’s misfortune to describe them, when you know how many women my mother’s charity has helped over the years, is quite offensive to me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t—”
“I’m not finished,” I said. “It wasn’t that long ago that I took you out of your cheap clothes and put you in designer dresses. I gave you a fucking boutique to run as you see fit because I saw potential in you.”
“I know.” She moved to stand in front of me. “I’m very grateful."
She caught me on the wrong day because I needed a punching bag and she was in my path.
“Weren’t you living in a one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx when we met? Now you’re in a high-rise overlooking Manhattan. Do you have anything else to say?”
“I didn’t mean to set you off.” She came toward me and smoothed her hands along my tense shoulders. “Obviously, you’re upset about what happened between you and Sable.”
“You know nothing about me and Sable.”
The rage that had consumed me over that bracelet being in my pocket and not on Sable’s wrist was off the charts. If I didn’t find an outlet to diffuse my anger, I was going to do something I would regret.
“I can help you sort this all out.” She leaned into my ear and whispered, “Like I always do.”
That is not the outlet I need.
“I don’t think so.” I grabbed her arm and forced her into the chair. “That’s not what I want.”
“Do you want to play rough?” She smirked. “Because you know I like that too.”
“I’m going to say this as clearly as I possibly can so there is no misunderstanding.” I pointed at her. “You and I have a history. I can’t deny that.”
“You don’t have to.” She sat up straight and crossed her legs. “It can be like before.”
“No.” I leaned on the edge of my desk. “I’m not looking for that. I want you to understand that we are business partners. If you want to continue that relationship, you need to back off. I’m not fucking around with you.”
“Fine.” She sighed. “But promise me something.”
“What?”
“If you decide you do need to relieve your tension, promise it will be me you turn to.” She pushed her hair from her face. “I know you better than you think, and I can get you through those dark moods of yours. You can brood as much as you want. Be as rough as you want with me.”
“I appreciate the offer, but no.” The thought of being with anyone other than Sable sickened me. Maybe I am in love. “I have work to do, so why don’t you tell me what was so important that you had to come here in person?”
“I don’t think you’re going to want to hear why I came.”
“Try me.”
“That dress you ordered from Italy arrived yesterday.”
Of course it did.
“I wanted to get Sable in for a fitting,” she said. “I’m trying to coordinate with the seamstress.”
“That’s not going to be necessary.” Talk about a punch to the stomach. I wanted to give that dress to Sable as a Valentine’s Day gift. “Sell it to someone else.”
“Milo, that’s an exclusive dress. It’s really expensive.” She hopped out of the chair. “It isn’t something I can put on the rack, you know?”
“Then we’ll store it and I’ll auction it off at my mother’s charity gala.” I held up my hand because I didn’t want her to argue with me. “I don’t want to discuss this any further. Make arrangements to store it, and once we have a date for the gala, we’ll go from there.”
“It really is over between you and Sable.” She shrugged. “I told her that was for the best.”
“You what?” Could this day get any worse?
“She’s not your type.” Camila walked over to the window and looked out. “I knew that from day one.”
“I don’t have a type.”
Normally, I wouldn’t let Camila bait me, but there was a fight inside me that needed to be addressed. I couldn’t take it out on Sable without admitting my part in our breakup.
“You do.” She continued to gaze out the window, acting as if her schooling me on what I wanted in a woman was such a hardship for her. “I’ve seen the women you’ve been with. I’ve even helped you entertain a few of them.”
Regrettably.
“You like classy, sophisticated, submissive women who like when you spend money on them. Sable may be submissive, but she’s not classy or—”
“Watch it.” I reached for her arm and turned her to face me. “We’re not talking about her, and I’m not going to let you insult her.”
“It’s alright that you made a mistake.” She pressed her palm to my cheek. “The important thing is that you realized it and you can move on now.”
“Put the fucking dress in storage.” I grabbed her wrist and removed her hand from my face. “Go back to the boutique and do your job.”
As annoying as she could be, she was good at making money. That boutique was a perfect front for me, and Camila didn’t ask any questions when I funneled money in and out of there.
A hard knock on the door caused Camila to jump. A second later, my father stepped into the office.
“Milo,” he said. "Are you done entertaining guests? Because we have business to tend to.”
“Yes.” I let go of Camila but held her stare. “Do you understand what I want?”
“I’ll make sure the dress is put into storage.” She retrieved her coat from the chair as she stumbled toward the hallway. “It’s nice to see you, Mr. Accetti.”
“You too.” My father widened the door for her and then closed it when she hurried out.
“Thanks for the assist.” I walked over to the cabinet where I stored the vodka. "She can be a lot.”
I poured the much-needed liquid into two glasses and handed him one.
“Please tell me you didn’t trade one distraction for another.” He raised his glass to me. “You have enough going on.”
“What do you mean?” I sipped my drink. “I’m focused.” That was a lie, but once I settled into business I’d be fine. “You don’t have to worry.”
“Don’t I?” He touched my collar. “You managed to get lipstick on your shirt, but Sable wasn’t wearing any.” He took a hearty chug from his glass. “Camila was.”
“Always so observant.” I brought my glass to my lips and finished the contents. “I said goodbye to Sable. I can handle Camila. She’s my business partner. Nothing more.”
“Right.” He set the glass on my desk. “I trust you’ll have it all figured out very soon.”
That was my father’s way of saying he was losing patience and I better get my head back in the game or he was going to get it there for me.
“What’s our next move?” I asked. “Whatever you need me to do, I’m ready.”
“I just heard from Sal Canucci.”
“From Philadelphia.” I nodded. “What did he want?”
“He wants to arrange a sit-down between us and Medina. Apparently, Medina told him we’re not being cooperative.”
“We’re not.”
“I told him a sit-down between us and the other east coast families wouldn’t make me more receptive to allowing a trafficking scenario in my city. I’m not going to bend on this and they know it, but they’re in a tough spot. I’m sure they promised Medina they would try to get me to agree.”
“How did Canucci react?” I gripped my empty glass. “I’m guessing not well?”
“He was apprehensive to challenge me, but he is pushing for a compromise.” My father walked over to the window and stared down at the busy street. “Whatever Medina is offering them, it’s pretty lucrative.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I want Marchello home before we make a decision. I’d feel better if we were all in the same location. It’s safer that way.”
He wanted us under one roof and in the scope of his protection, which meant he anticipated trouble. If Boston, Philly, and Chicago were joining forces, we were going to have a bigger problem than just Medina. None of us would be safe until we gained the upper-hand.
“So, you’ll tell them to fuck their sit-down?” What else could he do? He couldn’t allow Medina to control the narrative. That would make us appear weak. If there was one thing Nico Accetti wasn’t, it was weak.
“For now.” He turned and faced me. “But if I do that, you need to be prepared for backlash.”
“We all do.”
“You can’t have any vulnerabilities or weak spots. Do you understand? You can’t give anyone a reason to come at you through someone else.”
“I don’t anticipate any problems.”
“Those are the situations that tend to give us the most problems.” He picked his glass up from the desk and handed it to me, indicating he wanted a refill. “The ones we don’t see coming.”