19. ALESSIO
19
ALESSIO
I walk into my suite, exhausted and ready to get some much-needed sleep, but the moment I open the door, I realize that Sienna is not here. The room is completely silent, the bed still made, which means that she hasn’t been back here at all. I grind my teeth, anger and frustration building inside me as I step back out and shut the door behind me. No doubt Sofia has them all off somewhere in the house doing some sort of shit that’s going to have the rest of us irritated or laughing, depending on who she picked as a target.
I head back down the hall and towards the kitchen, since that’s the most likely place for them to be.
Our planning session was a good one, and we’ve gotten a lot of key strategies in place in case shit goes sideways. We’ve also come up with multiple contingency plans in case they manage to get past any of us to the women. I have no doubt that Sienna will put up a hell of a fight, as will Sofia, but Gia is a whole other matter, and Nico was nearly rabid at the thought of anyone daring to touch her. Before, I’d have probably made fun of him for that shit, but after being around Sienna, fucking hell do I get it.
Which is exactly why none of that will ever be allowed to happen. Not as long as I’m breathing. And if I die, my brothers or the Cattaneo boys will take over shit. Won’t happen, but nice to know that fall-back is there.
When I reach the kitchen, I frown when I see how empty it is. Other than some wine glasses sitting on the island, there is no other sign that they were in here. So where the hell did they go? I make my way out back toward the pool and see nothing there, though there are a few more mostly empty wine glasses on one of the tables. I fight down the worry that Sienna has somehow managed to convince Gia and Sofia to run off, and head back inside where I immediately come face to face with Nico and Dante, who are both scowling, clearly unhappy at not being able to find their women.
“Where the fuck are they now?” Nico snaps.
“Knowing Sofia, she’s probably got them up to something,” Dante remarks, and I hear the amusement leaking into his voice. Nico and I glare at him, but he just ignores us and leans back against the kitchen island, waiting.
I pull up the cameras on my phone, scrolling through all the hallways, but see no sign of them. Then I open up the footage outside, but still nothing. Which means that they’re probably in a room somewhere, but only a few of them have cameras, and I don’t spot them on any of them. But then I stop when I see Sofia leaving a room down near Massimo’s room, and I narrow my eyes when I see her holding some dishes in her hand. But she doesn’t make her way toward the kitchen. Instead, she moves to Massimo’s door and knocks.
“What the hell is she doing?” I mutter under my breath as I narrow my eyes at my phone. Nico and Dante move behind me and look over my shoulder as I watch my younger brother open the door in nothing but a towel. I hear Dante make a low noise behind me and I say absently, “Keep that to yourself, Esposito. I don’t need to hear that shit. Especially not about Sofia.”
“Fuck off, Caruso,” Dante growls back at me. I’m starting to think Dante is a bit more smitten with Sofia than we originally thought. I’ve always figured he never had any intention of marrying her, but maybe I’m mistaken. But that’s a problem to puzzle over another day.
I watch as Massimo glances at the room next to his, and then nods at Sofia. Sofia turns away, and I can see her laugh when Massimo waves a hand at himself. Sofia smacks him in the bare stomach and then turns and walks away, down the hall toward the back steps leading down to her own room. Dante says nothing, but I hear him stalking away and share a knowing look with Nico. I put my phone away and head out of the kitchen, Nico keeping in step with me.
“Dante is hard to put down, but it would be interesting to see you try,” Nico says drily.
There will be no try, but I leave that unsaid. Dante stands no chance against myself, my brothers, or the Cattaneo brothers, and he knows it. Not to mention, if he hurt her, Sofia would take care of him long before the rest of us even had a chance. But that’s a problem for another day. Right now I need to find Sienna and haul her stubborn ass to bed. Because she’s not spending the night away from me, even if I have to drag her back to my room kicking and screaming.
When we get to Massimo’s door, I pound on it twice and wait. We’ve always agreed we would never enter each other’s rooms outside of an emergency, but if he keeps me waiting too long I’ll gladly handle his wrath. I’m tired, and I want to get to bed before I lose my shit completely. Thankfully, Massimo answers the door, though he’s still in his towel. “Brother,” he says with a smirk, then looks at Nico. “Looking for your women, are you?”
“I don’t have the patience for any of your bullshit,” Nico snaps at him. “Where are they?”
“Sofia said they’re next door, asleep,” Massimo answers with a shrug. “Told me to make sure you two don’t disturb them or some shit. Said I’d do my best but no promises, knowing how growly you are over your women. Well, how Nico is, anyway. But I got the feeling you’re going to be the same where Sienna is concerned, right, ‘Lessio?”
I narrow my eyes at him in warning at the use of the shortened version of my name. No one calls me that, and hasn’t since we were kids. Massimo is clearly trying to get under my skin and I hate that it’s working. “Fuck off,” I growl at him. Then I turn and stalk toward the bedroom door next to his. I open the door and move inside, but stop when I see that Sienna and Gia are indeed in the big bed, curled around each other, and holding each other tightly.
I hear footsteps behind me, and I glance over to see that Nico and Massimo are both there. Massimo is smiling like an idiot, while Nico is staring at the bed with an expression I can’t quite make out. Like he’s not sure if he wants to pull them apart or leave them be. I know the feeling because I’m feeling it myself, while at the same time being stupidly jealous that Sienna is holding on to Gia the way I want her to hold on to me. Like I’m her lifeline, the only one she needs.
Nico moves toward Gia’s side of the bed, and Massimo gives a low chuckle. “Wanna bet he’s about to get his ass handed to him?” he whispers to me. I arch a brow at him in confusion. We both know Gia’s not strong enough to hurt him. He nods towards Sienna, who I’m quickly realizing is starting to rouse, and give a low curse when I see her body going tense. Shit. I’m moving toward the bed, but I’m not quite fast enough.
The moment Nico pulls back the covers and reaches for Gia, Sienna’s eyes burst open and she launches herself at him, clearly not quite awake but acting on instinct. “Shit,” I hiss as I rush forward, and I hear Massimo laughing like the crazy bastard he is behind me. Sienna rolls herself over Gia, startling her awake with a squeak, her legs coming up and her foot connecting with Nico’s jaw hard enough to send his head snapping back, making him stagger back a couple steps. Sienna keeps moving, rolling from the bed to her feet, bringing her foot out and tripping the already unsteady Nico and sending him sprawling to the floor.
I get to her just before she can do any more damage and say loudly, “Sienna, stop. You’re safe. It’s just Nico and I.” Sienna struggles for another few seconds, and I hold her tight to me until she finally seems to come back to herself and fully wake up, going still. “That’s it, coniglietto , you’re safe. I got you,” I soothe, as I look and see a horrified Gia finally coming fully awake behind her. I look over my shoulder and see Nico getting to his feet, his face murderous, and his mouth bleeding. “Nico,” I warn tightly as he stalks forward.
“It was an accident, Nico,” Gia gasps, scrambling out of bed and staggering forward toward him. “Are you alright?” she asks when she gets to him, cupping his face in her hand, and then dabbing at the blood coming from the corner of his mouth.
“Oh fuck,” Sienna gasps, shoving away from me, her own expression turning horrified.
“It’s alright, Sienna,” I try to calm her, though I know shit could go south real quick if we don’t get this under control. “It was an accident.”
“No it wasn’t,” Sienna says tightly, before deliberately stepping around me, even when I try to grab her arm to stop her. Damn stubborn woman. Like the badass that she is, she faces Nico, her shoulders back, though her face is pale. “I’m sorry, Nico. I was caught in a nightmare, and when you went to grab Gia… I just woke up and didn’t realize it was you when I reacted. I promise I only did that because I thought someone was trying to take her or harm her.”
Nico says nothing, just stares at her, fuming. Gia is standing next to him, wringing her hands and looking terrified, like she’s not sure what Nico is going to do. “Nico,” Gia whispers, her tone desperate as she gently touches his chest, like he’s going to fly off the handle. “It was an accident,” she tries to tell him.
“You are lucky you are a woman or you would be dead now,” Nico grits out, staring at Sienna.
Oh fuck no . I pull Sienna behind me, blocking her from Nico’s view, and pin him with a dark look of my own. One that I rarely let come to the surface. “Today is the day you make your wife a widow if you so much as speak another threatening word to Sienna,” I tell him icily as we stare at each other. Neither of us is willing to back down, and I can see him struggling to control his anger.
Gia’s face goes ashen. “Nico, please, calm down,” she begs.
“Stop it, Alessio,” Sienna orders me sharply. I don’t even glance back at her, staring at the man who dares to threaten my woman. Ally or not, I will follow through with my words, consequences be damned.
Nico’s face darkens even further as he shoves Gia behind him, and the tension in the room rises. It has nothing to do with the women anymore, and everything to do with us. Massimo comes over, any laughter gone from his face as he barks, “That’s enough, both of you. You’re acting like idiots. Nico, you shouldn’t have tried to grab Gia.” Nico lets out a snarl at that, and pins Massimo with a furious look. Massimo doesn’t back down.
“No one comes between me and Gia, ever,” Nico hisses. “Not even her fucking sister.”
“Oh for fucks sake.” I hear Sienna huff. Before I can tell her to be quiet, I grunt in pain at the feel of her elbow getting me hard in the kidney and sending me curling forward. She steps around me, out of grabbing range and moves to stand next to Massimo. It’s my turn to snarl at the sight of her beside my half-naked brother. “Shut up, you overgrown neanderthal,” Sienna snaps at me. Massimo chokes back a laugh, and then lets it full out when she looks at Nico and snaps, “And that goes for you too.” Nico doesn’t say anything, but the way his fists clench has me quickly straightening. “God, and you wonder why I didn’t want to come here. Listen to yourselves. I don’t give a flying fuck right now that you’re a Don. For all I care, you could be Toucan Sam, because it doesn’t fucking matter. Considering your position, you’d think that you would have enough brains to know not to grab someone when someone else is sleeping, especially when that other person has already been through one kidnapping only a number of hours ago. If I’d had a gun or a knife, you’d probably be dead.”
“Sienna,” I warn her, because she’s already on thin ice and I can hear it cracking with each word, and the disrespect she’s showing Nico.
“Shut up, Alessio,” she snaps at me. “I’m getting to you.” She looks back at Nico and pins him with a look that is almost scolding. Any other time I would be amused as shit, but I can’t manage it. “I’ve already apologized, but I’ll do it again. I’m sorry that I kicked you and then knocked you on your ass. You got me in the middle of a nightmare. Next time, at least fucking wake me up first. But I will not apologize for protecting Gia. I would think that you would be grateful I was taking care of her and not just letting someone try to take her. If you had been anyone else with nefarious purposes, she’d have had the chance to get away.” Those words seem to do the trick as Nico’s eyes start to clear and he unclenches his fists. But I don’t dare relax yet. “You want to still be pissed at me, fine. You want to take your pound of flesh, we’ll do that later. I have other issues to handle first.”
“Like fuck,” I bark.
She ignores me, as does Nico. He stares her down for another couple of seconds and then gives her a curt nod. “Fine,” he says stiffly. “And no, if I’m going to take my anger out on anyone, it’s going to be this stupid fucker.” He jerks his head at me and I scoff. As if he can take me. He looks back at Sienna. “That was your one and done. You ever try to get between Gia and I again, sister-in-law or not, you and I are going to have problems.” It’s a clear warning and threat all rolled together, and Massimo stops me before I can launch myself at Nico, furious that he would dare even say those words.
“She’s my sister, and you are not going to keep her from me,” Sienna tells him coldly. “Especially not when I’ve only just met her. And I wasn’t getting between you, I was protecting her. I’m going to give your adrenaline-addled brain a chance to calm down and I’m sure you’ll see the difference.” I hear Gia giggle behind Nico, and Nico rounds and glares down at her.
Gia steps around her husband and says simply, “I think we all need to just go our separate ways for now. Clearly we’re all tired and irritable. Sienna apologized, you accepted, honey, and it’s done. Right?” Then she looks at Sienna and adds with a quick smile, “I really need you to show me how to do that.”
“Like hell,” Nico growls, pulling her into him.
“No problem,” Sienna tells her with a smile. Then she loses it and turns toward me, her eyes flashing as she stares at me, still being held back by Massimo. But before she can say anything, her eyes widen as she takes in Massimo, and then she gets a wicked look on her face as she glances back at Gia. “I see the good genes run to the other brothers too,” she tells Gia, who looks at her in confusion and then at Massimo, before her face goes red but still ogles my brother. “Wish I had my camera. I have a friend who would love a good look at him.”
Nico and I instantly look at Massimo, who’s grinning like an idiot, and standing there stark naked because his towel has fallen to the floor. “Any time you want pictures, cara mia , you just let me know,” Massimo flirts, and then grunts in pain when I punch him in the gut and make him stumble back.
I quickly pick up the towel and toss it at him. “Put that the fuck back on, cocksucker,” I snarl at him. Nico is also glaring at him and has turned Gia into his chest, where she’s still giggling and playfully fighting against the hold he has on her head when she tries to sneak another peek. I step in front of Sienna to block her view, because like fuck am I going to stand here and let her stare at my naked brother. Massimo just laughs and puts the towel back on, tying it tightly. Once it’s secure I tell him, “Now get the fuck out of here.”
Massimo smirks and heads for the door. “Don’t be killing each other. I need to get my beauty sleep.” Then he’s gone. I know that as soon as he’s back in his room, he’ll be telling the others all about this.
“Come along, topolina ,” Nico says, scooping up his wife. “We have a few things to discuss ourselves.” Without another word, he stalks out of the room, and Gia can only shrug and wave at us.
Once they’re both gone, that leaves only Sienna and I, and we both stare at each other, neither of us saying a word. Finally, sick of the silence, I cross my arms over my chest and pin her with a glare. “Overgrown neanderthal?” I repeat, my tone calm, even cool, but there’s no doubt how irritated I am with her.
“You’re the one that was acting that way by shoving me out of the way, trying to speak for me, and then getting pissed because I was beside your brother and not you,” she tells me in an equally calm and cool tone, fists on her hips as she glares at me.
“And why was that, Sienna?” I demand, my grip on my control slipping. I want to rage at her, to make her realize how much danger she was in. “Could it be because you put yourself in fucking danger again .” Alright, so much for control. The darkness that’s reared its head inside me is far too close to the surface. “Could it be because instead of letting me handle this shit, you walked around me to stand within grabbing distance of the very man that wanted to kill you? It would have been within his right as a Don, to kill you if he chose. If he was anyone else, he would have pulled a gun and killed you instantly for the disrespect you showed him. And you gave him a fucking clear shot,” I rage, my voice rising.
“Nico wouldn’t have shot me,” she snapped.
“Fucking hell, that’s not the fucking point!” I roar. Her eyes widen in response. “You don’t fucking get it, Sienna. There are no women’s rights or any of that bullshit in this world. There is no women fighting a Don, there is no women telling a Don she would have killed him. And no matter how well intentioned you were, there is no women telling a Don that he should be grateful for them protecting his wife. You insulted him and all but told him that he can’t protect her, being completely disrespectful. You have no sense of preservation. You need to learn the fucking rules, because next time I might not be able to save your ungrateful ass.”
It’s like a switch has been flipped, and the woman in front of me becomes one I haven’t seen before. The utter rage on her face is like nothing I’ve ever seen. Her entire body shakes with it, and her voice is so loud that I have no doubt that Massimo, and possibly the rest of the house, will hear her. I’m too in awe of her to do anything but watch and listen.
“And how the fuck am I supposed to know any of that? How the fuck am I supposed to know any of this, huh? You showed up and completely turned my entire world upside down, Alessio. You chased me all over the fucking place, telling me that if I didn’t come with you, didn’t marry you, that I was going to be taken, beaten, and raped by a bunch of unknown people. What, you thought I was going to stop in amongst all of that and search up fucking mafia etiquette? I don’t want to be a part of the fucking mafia in the first place!
“Did you ever stop and think about the fact that you pulled everything I am and everything I know out from under me that day? That you took away any kind of security I had? Or think about the way it was going to affect me? Affect the life I’ve worked to build, or the family I already have? No, because instead of trying to explain things in a way I could understand or offering to help me, you tell me that you’re going to take me to meet my real family, but wait, only one or two of them, because the rest are going to take me and sell me off like a fucking cow for money and power. And on top of that, you tell me you’re going to make me marry you because it’s the only way to keep me safe. You took away my choices, Alessio, and you continue to do it.
“Instead of letting me process shit, or letting me figure out how to handle it, you charge right in and act no better than the rest of them. You try to force me to go with you, scaring me with details of what could happen if I don’t. Then when you do catch up to me, you act like you own me, like you’ve bought and paid for me already and I had better fall in line. Because that’s your right, huh? All because you’re a big bad underboss with a cock. You expect me to comply and obey and to act like a good little bitch so you can go on about your business. Screw my feelings, or what I want.
“Have you ever once considered that I want time to my fucking self, Alessio, to decompress and get my head wrapped around this whole fucking mess? To figure out what I want to do? No, because all you care about is yourself, your money, your power, and making sure that the rest of us little women fall in line. You don’t give a shit if I’m happy, do you, Alessio? You don’t care if you separate me from my family, from my friends, from the only life I’ve ever known, as long as you get what you want, right? I couldn’t even have one evening with the sister I just met. Who I learned has been through some horrible shit that I couldn’t protect her from because I didn’t fucking know about her. No, because the only thing any of you were concerned about was putting us where you wanted us, right? Gia with her husband, and me with you. You never even considered that I am emotionally wrecked and exhausted with all that’s been going on, or that I just need a fucking break. One fucking night where I can be alone with my own thoughts and try to come to terms with my new reality. To accept I can’t go back to what I’ve always known. That I’m alone with a bunch of people I don’t fucking know, that I miss my fucking family, that I miss my friends. All because you all couldn’t leave me the hell alone, for one fucking night. You, my so-called father, uncle, and apparently brothers. As far as I’m concerned, right now, none of you are any better than them.” She stares at me, and her eyes are wet, tears slipping from them to trail down her cheeks, and it feels like a punch to the gut. The darkness inside me instantly recedes, and in its place is panic and guilt.
Without another word, she turns and walks out of the room. I follow, but I don’t follow her down the hall. I stand there, staring after her, unsure of what the fuck to do.
Massimo’s door opens and he steps out, fully dressed, his expression full of sympathy. “I got this, brother,” he tells me softly. “You need to leave her be for tonight. I’ll watch over her.”
I want to argue, to snap and tell him no, that I’ll watch over her myself, but I can’t, so I just nod and watch as he hurries after her. Because she’s right, and I don’t know how to fix any of it because as terrible as it is, I’ll never be able to let her go. Even if she hates me for it for the rest of her life. And what kind of man does that make me?