28. ALESSIO
28
ALESSIO
I walk into Nico’s office, and I can’t help but grin when I see he has his wife leaned back over the desk, kissing the hell out of her. And, of course, being the general shit disturber that I am, I can’t help but pull Sienna in further with me before crying out in mock outrage, “Boo Bear, how could you? How could you do this to us? I thought we were in love!”
Gia startles and then starts to laugh, pushing at Nico, who pulls away and shoots me a look that promises my death will be long and painful. I manage to keep my horrified expression in place, even as Sienna groans behind me and mutters, “You really do have a death wish. Nico, ignore him. He’s clearly lost most of his sense while he was sleeping,” she says as she steps around me and heads toward a now red-faced Gia, who slides off the desk.
Nico ignores her, and I barely have time to realize what he’s about to do before the knife is out of his pocket and flying. I dodge easily, and grin when it lands in the wall next to my head. Gia gasps, Sienna sighs, and I pull it out of the wall before giving Gia a look of theatrical despair. “Gia, I know when I’m beaten. Promise me you’ll take good care of him. I only ask that you help him think of me once in a while, huh? You know, find a really thick dildo for his ass and?—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Nico snarls, incensed.
Gia giggles and nods her agreement even as her face flames at the suggestion, while Sienna snorts out a laugh. “Nico, if you kill him, does that mean I can stay here with you?” Sienna asks Nico, who shifts his glare to her. I can see her smile falter slightly before that backbone of steel she possesses takes charge and it changes to a grin. “I’m a lot less of a pain in the ass than him, I promise.”
“Literally,” Gia snorts, also earning Nico’s glare. “Sorry, sorry. Of course you can stay here. Nico knows how important you are to me.”
Nico grumbles something under his breath. I can’t hear it, but Sienna does, and her lips pull into a wider grin. “That’s what happens when you marry someone who has a long lost sister. Who knows, maybe there are more of us out there and you’re going to have us all here with you at some point.”
Oh, if only she knew how true that was. I haven’t yet told her what we’ve discovered, but I’ll get around to it at some point. Right now, I’m looking to find out how the raids went. We decided that it would be too predictable for us to hit in the middle of the night, so we changed our plan to strike this morning. It carried more risk, but it makes a larger statement. So far, my men have been checking in with Alonzo, but the final results should be reported any minute, as long as there’s no serious problems.
“I’ll be locking you all up in rooms on opposite ends of the house,” Nico growls, releasing Gia and stepping back. He moves around his desk and takes a seat, but his eyes never leave Gia, making me roll my own. Still, I haven’t stopped looking at Sienna since we both got up not long ago, so I suppose I can understand.
When she woke up, she looked a lot more rested and her eyes weren’t as troubled, but she’s still far paler than I would like. Hopefully that will return as the day goes on. When I finally got to bed last night, she hadn’t stirred, but had instead turned into me and cuddled closer, easing some of the anger and concern inside me.
That simple action solidified to me that she’s exactly where she belongs.
“We’d still find our way to each other,” Sienna smirks. She winks at Gia and adds, “And then we’d have to show you the error of your ways for thinking you could get away with it.”
“Please tell me you’re taking her with you when you leave,” Nico demands.
“Nico, don’t be rude,” Gia scolds, losing her smile and frowning at him. He holds her stare, uncaring. She looks back at Sienna and rolls her eyes. “Ignore him. He must be hangry or something. Are you up to making a trip down to the kitchens? Maybe if we’re lucky, we can sneak some of the Chef’s food early.”
Sienna nods. “I’m starving. Besides, we need to fuel up for our workout later. I’m going to wipe the floor with you, babe,” she jokes.
Gia laughs and they link arms. “Considering how terrible I was last time, that’s probably likely.”
“Sienna,” I call out to her before they reach the door. She stops and looks back at me, arching a brow in question. “Forgetting something?” I ask her, pointing to the space in front of me.
“Nope. I’ll see you later. Try not to kill anyone else, huh?” Then she heads for the door, but I’m over to her in a few strides, and the smart woman that she is, pulls away from Gia, but not quick enough to stop me. Instead, her arms are trapped between us as I wrap mine around her waist, pinning her against the doorframe and taking her mouth. At first she struggles, but then she sinks into me and kisses me back. Triumph has me nipping at her lip and making her hiss when I pull my mouth from hers. “Asshole,” she grits out, licking at her lip to ease the sting.
“Mmm, but I’m your asshole, coniglietto . And when you’re leaving a room, you are to come over and kiss me. No matter the situation. Got it?”
She gives me a defiant look and my cock hardens instantly. Fuck, I love when she looks at me like that. “I think you’re becoming a little too bossy for my liking, Caruso,” she retorts. “How about you let me go, and I won’t make you hurt too much?”
She brings her leg down from my hip, sliding her knee over the front of my slacks, putting pressure on my dick. Instead of releasing her, I feel a slow smile pull across my lips, especially when her eyes heat when she feels my erection. “You tempt me, cara mia . Perhaps we should see just how much you can make it hurt before I get free and fuck you so hard that you’ll feeling me for days?” I suggest seductively, rubbing my fingers at the underside of her breast, encased in her sports bra and a shirt she borrowed from Gia. One that’s a little tight and shows off her perfect breasts so nicely.
“Jesus Christ, cut it the fuck out,” Nico barked. “We have shit to handle.”
“He’s just jealous seeing me with you, cara mia ,” I tell Sienna with a wicked grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll settle him down and we can finish this later.” She smiles, even as I kiss her and release her. I wink at Gia, who quickly takes Sienna’s hand and pulls her out of the room.
“Holy shit, that was hot,” I hear Gia exclaim loudly in the hall. “I knew Alessio was hot, because, well, I have eyes, but wow. That was something else. You lucky bitch.”
My smile is Cheshire as I turn towards a furious Nico, who looks like he’s ready to murder me. “You better step up your game, honey,” I croon at him, sitting down in Dante’s empty seat. “But don’t worry, if you want some tips, I’m sure I can help you.”
“I’m going to kill you,” Nico vows. “And I’m going to make it last for days, maybe even weeks.”
“Sure thing, Boo Bear,” I snicker.
Before he can make good on his threat—and I’m sure he’s going to, considering he’s about to get to his feet—Dante comes into the room. He doesn’t comment when he sees me, but he does arch a brow. I smirk at him, daring him silently to ask me to move. Instead, he turns his attention back to Nico. “The missions were successful. The team at Leonardo’s took some fire, and one of the men was shot in the shoulder, but he’s already with Doc getting stitched up. And we were right, they didn’t have as many men on their sites as before, giving us an easier time accessing them.”
“Good,” Nico responds. “Did the men find anything else interesting?”
“We have reports that Leonardo’s men are running around as normal, while Giovanni’s men are very scattered and uncoordinated,” Dante answers. “Marco’s…it seems that Marco made a deal with Seamus, because our men noticed Gallo’s men were mingling with his, and they weren’t prepared for the attack. We took out a few of Marco’s men to send our message and left Gallo’s men. They can report back to Seamus, and we’ll see just how tight their alliance is.”
Nico nods. “Get back in touch with Eion too, and see what information he can give us. If they’ve aligned, he should have some details.” Dante nods and pulls out his phone.
“Any sign of Parisi?” I ask.
“Parisi’s men are intermingled with Giovanni’s, but it’s clear that Rafaele has more men here than Giovanni. We made a point with them too, so I fully expect that retaliation will be coming quickly,” Dante tells me before going back to his phone.
“And Leonardo’s warehouse?” Nico asks.
“We picked the one closest to the house as a clear message. It was still heavily guarded, but nothing that couldn’t be handled. The men were able to monitor Leonardo’s place, and more soldiers were seen leaving to give back-up support. But just as many took their places, so it’s safe to say that of the three, he’s the most fortified.”
“Leonardo is smart, and he’s got far more experience with this kind of thing than Marco and Giovanni. Even Rafaele is still new and power hungry, and he’s making stupid mistakes. Instead of trying to attack me, he spent his focus on getting to Sienna,” Nico remarked in disgust.
“I just can’t understand why he wants Sienna or any of the women so bad,” I muse, frowning as I ponder it. “I mean, how many other families, and far more powerful ones, are out there that would gladly welcome the tie with him? What about Giovanni’s offer is so promising?”
“Money? Power? The chance to break into the Americas?” Dante suggests.
“Yes, but again, there are more families that have other connections and other available women. What is it about the De Luca women that has him so convinced he needs to have one of them?” I narrow my eyes as I stare at the windows. “We’re missing something. Something big.”
“It doesn’t make sense that he’s so determined to stay here instead of going home,” Nico agrees, frowning. “He knew that you were after her; the minute she was located in Europe, he should have been heading that way and not relying on Giovanni’s men or his own to get to her.”
“Could be that once he heard you were already on her tail, that he didn’t see the point,” Dante suggests. “You’ve been up against each other before and he always loses.”
“His men haven’t made a move back home yet. I checked with Papa first thing, and he says intel is that they’re still getting ready. More soldiers are arriving by the day from some of the outskirts of their territory,” I answer, still trying to figure this shit out. What the hell are we missing?
“Maybe it’s just a distraction to give the extraction team time to get into the grounds,” Dante proposes.
“Could be,” I agree absently. “It also could have been his way of forcing us to bring both women here. He would know that we wouldn’t dare leave them vulnerable there. And Marco’s little stunt gave him the perfect excuse to set his plan in motion because he would know that you both would come right back to see to it.” The more I think about it, the more it makes sense, and the more I don’t like what it implies.
“You think he’s going to try and take both of them, and he wanted them both here to make it easier for himself,” Nico says tightly.
“It makes sense,” Dante agrees. “Shit. Which could mean the team heading for Sicily wasn’t going there after all, but possibly coming here. Fuck.” He pulls out his phone and is already barking orders into it, even as I shoot Alonzo a quick message. Alonzo gets back to me quickly and lets me know he’ll update the men and make sure they’re ready for anything. Then I send Lazaro a text to let him know the same thing. He’s already landed and is making his way by car toward the small town Aurelio was able to locate Amara in. Finally, I send a message through to Aurelio and Papa to let them know what we might have discovered.
Of course, within minutes, my father is on the line, with Aurelio tapping in. “These fucking Parisi’s never can do anything normally, can they?” he gripes. “But until we see if they do try to attack us just because they can, we’ll stay put here. How are things there?”
“So far we’ve been able to hit them all successfully, but we fully expect that they’ll be retaliating soon,” I explain. “We’ve tripled the guards, and we’ve got the best of them on patrol in case this extraction team shows up here instead of there.”
“Good. And I hear Lazaro is after the second found daughter?”
I give him a run down. “We can’t be sure, but it sounds like this one is a cousin to Sienna and Gia, which would make her Giovanni’s daughter.”
“What did you say Giovanni’s wife’s name was?” he asks curiously.
“Bianca Conti.”
He’s quiet for a moment and I can all but hear the name spinning around in his head. “I’ll call you back. I need to look into something.” Then he’s gone.
“Keep me updated,” Aurelio orders. “We can send another plane to bring the women back here if we have to. Or, if Rafaele doesn’t make a move here, we can send more men over there.”
“Thanks, Aurelio,” I say before disconnecting the call. “I guess now all we can do is wait and see what happens.”
“We need to put more men on the women,” Nico says tightly. “Two to three guards each. If the team they are sending to take them succeeds, I want to make it as difficult as possible.”
“We also need to get Sienna set up to access the passageways,” Dante adds with a pointed look. Nico scowls. “You know it’s the best way, and it will also ensure that they are safe because only we can access them.”
Nico huffs but nods. “Fine.” Then he looks at me and pins me with a hard glare. “I’ll give you, Lazaro, and Alonzo access as well, but this shit stays quiet, and you’re careful of when and where you use it. Most of my men don’t know they exist and I want it kept that way. Make certain your woman understands that.” I nod. That’s easy enough.
“I’ll get on that now. The sooner we’re ready for all of this, the better,” Dante replies. He moves around and sits down at his desk, tapping away quickly on the keyboard.
“I’ll contact Alonzo to get two more of our men on Sienna,” I tell Nico.
“I’ve already called up a couple trusted men for Gia,” Dante tells Nico absently, not even glancing our way. “They should already be on their way to wherever the women are.”
I pull out my phone, calling Alonzo, and frown when he doesn’t answer. I try again, but nothing. My gut instantly tells me something is wrong. He never doesn’t answer. “Alonzo isn’t answering,” I say tightly. “Dante, I need you to check and see if you can find him on the cameras.”
“You think they already tried to breach?” Dante asks, pulling things up on his computer. I round the desk to look over his shoulder, and I hear Nico moving to do the same. Dante moves through the security screens, but we don’t see Alonzo at all. We also don’t see anything that would suggest anyone trying to get on the grounds, or looking suspicious. “Maybe he went back to his room,” Dante suggests.
“No,” I reply instantly. “Alonzo takes his job seriously, and without Lazaro here, he knows he’s in charge.” Everything inside me is telling me that something is up, but I don’t know what the hell it is. I stare at the cameras, scouring the screen to catch a glimpse of him, but nothing. I see plenty of other guards and staff, but where the fuck is he?
Before I can leave the room to figure out what the hell is going on, my phone rings, and I relax slightly when I see Alonzo’s name. “Care to explain to me why you were ignoring my calls?” I bark into the phone.
“Probably because I have a fucking dog about to bite my balls off and a gun pointed at my head,” Alonzo bites out, making me still.
“Pardon me?” I’m sure I haven’t heard that right. Dante and Nico both stare at me, clearly having heard it too. All of us are tense. If the team made it onto the grounds, we need to get to the women. Fast.
Suddenly, a feminine voice says into the phone, “It’s his own fault. Instead of talking to me like a normal human, he didn’t want to listen. And before you send your forces out here, my name is Rori O’Brien. I’m here to see Sienna, and I’m not leaving until I’ve seen for myself that she’s alive and unharmed.”
I know immediately who she is, and while I’m pissed that she was able to sneak in here and get to one of my men, I can’t help but admire her. The woman has balls of steel to even attempt such a thing. “Ms. O’Brien,” I reply calmly. “I now know who to thank for all the sass that Sienna constantly throws my way, and her love of weapons to use against me. I assume that Sienna didn’t know you were coming?”
“Of course not. If I had told her anything, she’d have argued with me, and I didn’t have time for that. Now, are you going to come and get me and your man, or do I need to walk him back in there like this and embarrass him in front of all his friends?”
“I’m going to enjoy taking you down, woman,” Alonzo grits out.
“Oh, bless your heart,” she drawls at him, adding an exaggerated southern twang to her voice that has my lips quirking, despite the seriousness of the situation. “Now, Mr. Caruso, what would you like to do?”
“Just where have you stashed my head of security, Ms. O’Brien?” I ask curiously.
“Currently we’re making our way through this maze of a garden.”
“What the fuck?” Nico hisses. “How the fuck did she get that far in without getting stopped?”
“I’m already on it,” Dante replies tightly. “We need to do an overhaul of our soldiers, because clearly they’ve gotten slack while we were gone.”
“Tell the guards to let them through,” I order. “And Ms. O’Brien, I suggest you put the gun away,” I add pointedly.
“Eh, I just use it as a prop anyway. The dog is the real weapon,” she says carelessly.
Then the call ends, and I can’t help but chuckle. Dante and Nico eye me distrustfully. “Looks like we’re about to have another woman under our roof,” I say as I head for the door. “By the way, she’s a bounty hunter.”
“She’s a fucking cop?” Nico barks, making me stop.
“No, that would be the rest of her family,” I say with a smirk over my shoulder. “But lucky for us, based on what I know, she’s not a fan of them, they’re not a fan of her, and even though she catches the bad guys, she’s got a history for being fair.”
“Fucking hell, this is the last thing we fucking need,” Nico snarls, stalking toward me. “Dante, I want all the information you can get on her by the time we’re back.” Then we’re both leaving the room, and Nico is stalking furiously down the hall. “You’ll be taking her with you too when this shit is done,” Nico snaps at me, his face thunderous. “I’m not putting up with this kind of shit around here. I’ve already got far too many problems and I don’t need another woman making shit difficult.”
“You just don’t want another bruise to match the one you already got,” I snicker, even as we reach the door that leads outside. Nico shoots me a deadly glare, and I just grin. I can all but see that he’s struggling not to punch me. We make our way down a stone path toward the back of the house, and when we round the corner, I see Alonzo right away. His scowl dark, his steps stiff, and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. I don’t see Rori, but there is no missing the giant dog that’s currently walking behind him, eyes glued to Alonzo like he’s waiting for the moment he’s given a command to take a bite.
I can also see why he was worried about the dog being able to get him by the balls. The thing is huge. If I’m not mistaken, the dog is a Cane Corso, and he looks like a demon with his sleek midnight black coat and amber eyes. Around his neck is a thick gold chain collar with a small badge tag on the front, and when Alonzo glares down at him when they finally reach us, the dog just bares his teeth in a warning snarl. Even I’m a bit wary of those teeth.
Rori emerges from behind Alonzo, who looks much the same as she did when I saw her sitting with Sienna at that cafe in California, though her hair is pulled back into a tight, military style bun, and she’s wearing a pair of camo pants and a forest green shirt that shows off just a hint of the skin of her stomach. I watch in amusement as she twirls a large hunting knife in her hand before she sheathes it into the holder at her back. Her face is tastefully done in simple make-up, and her green eyes take me in quickly, before they move to Nico who stands besides me. “Mr. Caruso,” she says serenely. “Don Armani. How are we this fine afternoon?”
The absurdity of the moment isn’t lost on me. I want to laugh, but instead, I keep my face stern as I stare at her. “Ms. O’Brien, I don’t think I need to explain the danger you’ve put yourself in by coming here?”
“No more dangerous than everything else I do. But where my best friend’s safety is concerned, I don’t take chances. Before you say anything, the only reason I wasn’t helping her get away from you when she was running is because she took off before she told me, and there was no point in playing catch up. I’m here to make up for lost time.” Her eyes are sharp on mine. “The question is, how much of a problem is it going to be for you?”
“You have a lot of balls talking to him when it’s me that will decide if you leave here alive,” Nico remarks darkly, drawing her gaze.
“Perhaps,” she agrees before looking back at me. “But it’s him that wants to marry my best friend, and considering I just overpowered one of his men, he’ll be the one to decide how the next few minutes go.”
“You didn’t overpower shit, woman,” Alonzo bites out.
“Sure thing, Goliath,” she smirks, her tone pure sarcasm. “If that heals your pride, you can believe it all you like.” Alonzo’s face flushes in anger and I can practically hear him grinding his teeth.
“We should cut our losses, kill her, and be done with it,” Nico suggests darkly. “If she is connected to the cops, we don’t need the trouble she’ll bring when they figure out where she is.”
“That is an option,” she agrees casually, holding his gaze. Too casually, if you ask me. “But I’m a contract bounty hunter, so no cops are going to be looking for me. And since I’m sure you already know my family’s connections, you should know that they are probably just as dark as you are. They’re on the payroll of a major player back in California. I also have little to do with them, if at all, so they won’t be looking for me either. The only person who will care if I go missing is Sienna.” Then she gives me a pointed look. “And I think we both know how well it will go if she can’t figure out where I am, or why I’m not answering her.”
“Who does your family work for?” Nico demands.
“The Belovs,” she answers.
I glance over at Nico and I see his eyes narrow. Clearly he knows who they are, and while I’m not as familiar with the Russian families running things on this continent, I know full well that there is a large group of Belovs in Russia, including one group we’ve dealt with in the past. They’re psychotic fuckers, and if the rumors are true, cross them and no one will find your body because they’ll feed you to the tigers, bears, and wolves they keep as pets. “And you have nothing to do with them?” I ask suspiciously.
“No. They got involved with them long after I left home. As far as they are concerned, I know nothing about it. But I overheard my father and brothers talking about them one night when I was visiting. Out there, even the most naive know who they are and what they’re capable of. So I left without saying a word. I don’t need that kind of trouble.”
“But you’re willing to deal with that kind of trouble here?” I ask doubtfully. “You didn’t think things through before you came here, Ms. O’Brien. Because there is no leaving after this. You don’t get to go back and live your normal life.”
All I can see in her eyes is acceptance. “I think you underestimate me just like everyone else does, Mr. Caruso. The only family I care about is Sienna, and that means I will do anything I have to to make sure that she’s safe and happy. If that means giving up my life for it, then I will. If that means I have to spend the rest of my life in Sicily, I will. The only thing I require is my dog. Everything else I can manage without.”
I have to admire her, because few would do such a thing for someone who is without a blood tie to them. I also believe every word she’s saying. I glance at Nico, who doesn’t appear the least bit convinced, and when I look at Alonzo, despite the anger still gleaming in his eyes, he doesn’t give me a signal that tells me he thinks she’s lying.
“Fine,” I say with a nod. “But you’ll call off your dog, and Alonzo will search you. As long as there isn’t anything we shouldn’t find, I’ll agree to offer you protection under my name.” Then I step forward, ignoring the dog when he lets out a warning snarl. He quiets with a hand signal from his owner, but I can still feel that dangerous gaze on me. “But if you double cross me, or if you try to get in my way where Sienna is concerned, I’ll kill you and your dog without hesitation. Is that understood?” I continue, my voice low and dangerous, and my expression cold and unyielding.
Fear remains absent from her eyes. “Fine.”
“You will be assigned a guard until I’m certain that you can be trusted,” I add. I look at Alonzo. “Alonzo, that will be you. She will be with you at all times, unless you’re required elsewhere, and then you will ensure she is guarded by someone else. Understood?”
Alonzo nods, though I can tell he wants to curse me. But if anyone can determine if there is anything to worry about where she is concerned, it’s him. He turns toward Rori, and I don’t miss the dark anticipation in his eyes. Rori gives a command when the dog starts to snarl again.
Alonzo takes his time searching her, checking everywhere he can, and with each passing second, Rori’s eyes grow more and more infuriated. By the time he’s done, he pockets the knife and one gun, unloading it and putting the magazine in his back pocket. “She’s clean,” he answers, stepping back toward me.
I nod. “Alright. You and your dog are cleared to come in. Be warned, however: if you sic your dog on any of our men without just cause, I’ll kill him.” The last thing I need is a killer dog on the loose here. She inclines her head in understanding and gives another signal to the dog, who is instantly by her side, pressing into her leg. I’m shocked he doesn’t knock her over, considering the size of him. “Good.” I pause before I turn away. “What’s his name, anyway?”
Now she gives me a sharp smile. “Hades.”
“Fitting, I suppose,” I remark. “How many men have gone to the underworld because he sent them there?”
“Enough that the bad guys stop running when they see him coming,” she quips. She glances up at Alonzo with a taunting smile. “Isn’t that right, Goliath?” Alonzo doesn’t answer her, but the glare he aims her way is enough to kill.
Nico doesn’t even look at me as he storms back into the house. Things are about to get interesting, and something tells me that it might not be a bad thing. Especially if that dog is as good a guard dog as she says.