Chapter 7 Lorenzo
LORENZO
When I got home, my younger brothers were waiting for me. “You said you weren’t going to stay long,” Dante said.
“You’re always saying you don’t care about the family business, so why are you even here?”
“I’ve got to keep this one from destroying the place.” He gestured toward Rafe, the baby of the family.
“When are you going to stop treating me like a fucking child?”
“When you stop acting like one,” I said.
Rafe was a fucking mess. I had to admit he was doing better running the family’s casino than I expected, but I paid off a hell of a lot of people to push his antics under the rug.
Dante and I were both worried that one day we wouldn’t be able to save him from himself.
Rafe rolled his eyes. “So did you make the deal or what?”
“It’s done. He agreed to eighty percent of what we asked for at the price I quoted.”
Dante nodded. “That’s better than I expected.”
“You took eighty percent?” Rafe asked.
Dante frowned. “It’s a steal.”
“I just don’t like you giving in to that bastard. I don’t think we should be working with him at all.”
Neither did I, but I wasn’t given that choice. “I’d prefer to wipe him off the face of the Earth, but he does have the best equipment, and he’s willing to give it to us for a price I’m willing to pay.”
Dante studied me for a moment. “Something else happened tonight. Why did you stay longer than you meant to?”
“Dimitri was busy. There were lots of other guests. I had to wait for a chance to get him alone.”
Rafe shook his head. “He was fucking salivating to talk to you about this sale. It’s the only reason he invited you. He would’ve made himself available. Tell us what else happened.”
Every time I convinced myself Rafe was as dumb as he acted, he showed me he was much more perceptive than I realized.
I wished he’d use that side of his brain more often instead of only listening to his dick.
“There’s nothing to tell. I went to the party, suffered through talking to the asshole guests, cornered Dimitri, and cut a deal. ”
“Where’s your tie?” Dante asked.
I barely stopped myself from reaching up a hand to feel for it.
It was on the floor of Nikolai’s room. In my haste to get dressed, I’d never put it back on.
I never made mistakes like that. Had Dimitri noticed my tie was gone?
Probably, but he likely thought I’d taken one of the female guests up to a room like I’d suggested to his brother. “I didn’t wear one.”
“That is a lie,” Rafe said. “You’re always perfectly dressed, especially when you think it might give you an advantage over other people. You buy into Remington’s idea that good style is the ultimate sign of power.”
Seriously, why couldn’t he be this smart when it came to business? “Fine. I had a little fun at the party, and I forgot my tie when I was done.”
Rafe grinned. “That’s more like it. Tell us all about it.”
Dante frowned. “Do not do that. I don’t need details.”
“At least tell me who it was,” Rafe said.
I tried to keep my face neutral. I was normally damn good at it, but I was rattled, and my brothers knew me too well.
“Ooh. I think we’re about to hear something juicy,” Rafe said.
Dante glared at me. “What happened?”
“I don’t have to tell you every move I made. You know what’s up with Dimitri. We’ll get our weapons within three days. I’m going to bed.”
Dante grabbed my arm as I headed for the stairs. I snarled as I turned around. “Let me go. I’ve had a long night.”
“I could’ve had a long night too,” Rafe said. “But I was sitting here, bored off my ass, waiting on you to get home. Now I find out you’ve been fucking some hot guy in Dimitri’s house, and I want to know who it was.”
Dante rolled his eyes. “You’re such a kid. That’s not what he’s hiding. I don’t give a damn if he fucked some guy at a party. I don’t have time to keep up with either one of you in that area.”
“Maybe you wouldn’t be so damn critical if you were getting enough yourself.”
I’d had it. “Both of you shut up and get out.”
“No,” Dante said. “Something happened, something that’s got you worried. I want to know what the fuck it is.”
I sighed and sank down onto one of the stairs.
“Shit,” Rafe said. “Are you all right?” He sat down on one of the lower steps. Dante remained leaning against the banister.
“I fucked Niko, Dimitri’s son.”
“Oh my God, what were you thinking?” Dante yelled as Rafe slapped my thigh and said, “Damn, go you.”
Dante growled. “Rafe, shut up. This is not something to celebrate. If Dimitri finds out—”
“We’ll have to kill him,” Rafe said. “Would that be so bad?”
Suddenly, he was an idiot again. “Have we taught you nothing?”
He rolled his eyes. “I know, I know, it could start a war. We could get hurt, and you think you have to be our protector.”
“Don’t,” I yelled. “I fucked up once. I won’t do it again. I lost my control tonight, but Dimitri won’t find out, and everything will be fine.”
“I want to hear a little more,” Dante said.
“I thought you didn’t want any details,” Rafe teased.
“I don’t mean about how good the sex was.”
“Was it good?” Rafe asked.
I glared at him, and he slumped against the wall.
“Dimitri pissed me off, and so did the others there. They have absolutely no standards, no concern for anyone. Dimitri is forcing Nikolai to make an alliance with the Ivanovs.”
“So Remington was right about that.”
“Yes, Nikolai is engaged to Alina. He’s being used as a fucking pawn, and so is she.” I considered saying more, but I was afraid we wouldn’t stop Rafe from killing Dimitri if I did.
Dante shook his head. “We cannot get involved in their family business.”
“I think he’s already involved,” Rafe said.
Dante glared at him. “Could you be serious for one fucking second?”
I held up my hand before Rafe could say anything else. “I fucked up tonight. I was tempted. I was angry. I wanted something, and I took it.”
“We should go get Nikolai,” Rafe said.
“No!” My harsh answer had my brother taking a step back. “That’s not an option. I will not put you at risk. You two are my priority.”
“We’re grown men, and that night wasn’t your fault,” Dante said. “I wish you’d get that through your fucking stubborn head.”
“Our cousin died, and he wouldn’t have been there if it wasn’t for me. How is that not my fault.”
“You’ve already done time, thanks to the trap that was set for you,” Rafe said. “Isn’t that punishment enough?”
“For a mistake that cost a life? There will never be enough punishment.”
“Renzo, it wasn’t your—”
I held up my hand. “I’m not going to argue about this. Nikolai and I had fun. I told him to find a way to get out of there if he could. I’m going to work with Remington to stop this marriage. That’s all I can do.”
“But that’s not how you wanted it to end, is it?” Dante asked. “You said you did it out of anger and temptation, but you like Nikolai.”
How did he know that? I shook my head. “He’s just a hot piece of ass. That’s all.” A hot piece of virgin ass that I would do anything to touch again.
No. That’s not an option.
“I don’t fucking understand you,” Rafe said.
“Do you understand that if word got out about me and Nikolai, it could cause a war? It’s not even just the two of you I have to protect. I could drag the whole extended family into this.”
Rafe huffed. “Dimitri’s a fucking evil bastard.”
“And what are we?” I asked.
“We’re not like him,” Rafe said. “We have standards and lines we don’t cross.”
We don’t sell our fucking family members into slavery just to get money. The memory of Dimitri suggesting I give him Tessa instead of money had me fisting my hands. That fucking son of a bitch.
“What else is going on?” Dante asked.
Rafe spoke before I could. “Just tell us all of it so he’ll shut up.”
“When I was negotiating with Dimitri, he told me he’d give us everything we wanted in exchange for Teresa Anne.”
Rafe jumped up. “What the fuck? I’m going over there right now. I’m going to blow him the fuck away.”
Dante grabbed Rafe’s arm and shoved him against the wall. “Don’t you dare walk out of this house. Your hotheaded ass is not starting anything.”
I snarled at Rafe. “You better not fuck this up. I’ve managed to keep peace for our family ever since I got out of prison. That’s not going to change now.”
“But he—”
“He insulted our family by suggesting such a thing, and I am going to make sure he is paid back for that insult, but now is not the time. We need his weapons, and we’re going to get them.
Then we’re going to let him work himself into a corner.
He’s running out of money. His business is on shaky ground.
That’s another reason for this marriage. ”
“So Ivanov is paying for Nikolai to marry Alina?” Rafe asked.
“Yes, but it’s worse than that.” They figured the truth out eventually.
They knew Ivanov’s secrets too. “Dimitri is giving him to Ivanov. They’re using Alina because she has fought her father on everything he’s tried to force her into and tried to escape from home at least twice.
She’s being forced to marry Nikolai, but Ivanov is the one who’ll fuck him. ”
“Jesus, that’s disgusting. Hasn’t Ivanov killed more than one young lover?” Dante asked.
“Yes, and they were all still in high school.”
Rafe shook his head. “That’s fucking sick.”
“Everything about this goddamn business is sick,” Dante said. “That’s why we should all have gotten out of it long ago.”
“It’s not an option. I have people to protect and no other way to do it.”
“This isn’t like you,” Dante said.
Rafe frowned. “This is exactly like him. He always gives a speech about how he’s responsible, blah, blah, blah.”
“Don’t push me,” I said.
“That’s not what I meant. It’s not like Renzo to give in to anything he wants. He’s been punishing himself to work nonstop and basically living like an ascetic since he got out of prison.”
“What’s an ascetic? Do you mean like aesthetic, like making the place look good?” Rafe asked.
Dante sighed. “Ascetic means abstaining from pleasure. He’s not let himself have any fun.”