3. Teo
3
TEO
I ’m fairly certain I don’t breathe for about two minutes.
Isabella Natali. Isabella fucking Natali.
The daughter of my sworn enemy, on her knees before me and requesting my alliance.
Her dark eyes—deep chocolate, my mind unhelpfully supplies—stare up at me earnestly. Her perfectly curled hair drapes over her bare shoulders in a cascade of shimmering gold. Her tight, maroon dress accentuates her chest in the most distracting way.
Especially in this position.
I’ve only been the don of the Guild an hour and already the wolves have descended. It is my first test, and one I'm determined not to fail.
I use the knife in my hand to tilt Isabella’s head toward me.
“Who is in that car?”
The earnestness in her eyes disappears so quickly I would never have thought it was there to begin with.
“I gave you my name. That’s not how this works.”
The knife edge digs into her chin. “Perhaps you are unaware of the precariousness of your situation.”
“That my life hangs on a knife’s edge?” she huffs, glancing down at the blade. “You’ve actually made that abundantly clear.”
“Teo?”
I glance up to see both Dante and Mia waiting on my order.
It’s undeniably a very bold move for the Natalis to try and infiltrate this wedding. The majority of the guests consist of the Guild and our closest allies. But the venue itself has been vetted multiple times.
Defensive measures have not only been planned but routinely practiced over the last few weeks. And we made no secret of hiding what we were capable of, just in case any of our enemies thought this might be a prime opportunity to strike.
The Prince’s Hand must have known the risks of sending Isabella here, but they did it anyway.
The question is, why?
Why would the Leon Natali risk his own sister?
It would be too easy to brush this off as desperation. By all accounts, the Prince’s Hand is in as strong a position as ever.
The only thing that might cause them tension is the transfer of leadership from Tobia to Leon. If I’ve learned anything from Giuliano and Rocco, it’s that these things are as precarious as all hell.
And if there was even a whiff of discord within the ranks, something that might threaten her brother’s status as Don…well, wouldn’t I run straight into enemy territory for the sake of my sister?
“Close the gates,” I tell Dante softly.
The gated perimeter of the hotel was one of the primary reasons it was chosen as the wedding venue.
As predicted, Isabella’s eyes widen.
Because if she came here for her brother, there’s only one person in that car.
“When did he find out you were here?” I ask as Dante steps out of the room to give the order.
“I’m acting on his request. The Prince’s Hand and the Guild have been allies for seventeen years. I’m here to pay my respects.”
I hum noncommittally. “See, this is where I’m getting a bit confused. Because that alliance died with Giuliano Moretti three months ago.”
“Which is why I intend to secure it again.”
I ignore her. “And I know I would never let my sister walk into dangerous territory with nothing more than an earpiece for backup.”
Isabella swallows lightly.
“Do you want to know what I think?” I continue. “I think your brother woke up this morning to an apology note and a radio. I don’t think he had any idea you were planning to do this. And I don’t think he’d trust anyone else to get you out of here.”
If Isabella’s glare could kill me, I would have died on the spot.
“Was I close?” I can’t help but goad her.
Her jaw locks. “You’ll get yourself killed doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Assuming you know everything.”
I ignore Mia, covering her snort of agreement.
“Enlighten me, then,” I challenge. “Where did I go wrong?”
Isabella sighs. “For one thing, my brother isn’t in that car. If you knew him at all, he wouldn’t lower himself to gruntwork.”
“Then why are you so anxious about it getting gunned down?” Mia argues.
Isabella tilts her head to look at her. “Because that’s my Lamborghini Aventador, and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t ruin the paint.”
Mia sneers back, but Isabella has already turned her attention back to me. “For another thing, you really should have tied me up.”
It’s the only warning she gives before she slams into my forearm with brutal efficiency. Caught off guard, I feel the knife slip out of my hand and fall directly into her outstretched palm.
Within seconds, she’s pouncing on me. I stagger back for two painfully slow seconds before we tumble to the ground. In no time at all, I’m lying flat on my back. My arms are pinned down by her knees while her forearm presses down hard on my windpipe.
It would be so fucking sexy if she weren’t pressing the knife into my cheek.
“Open the gates,” is all she demands.
“Teo,” Mia says my name like a question. Like she would launch herself at Isabella in a heartbeat.
Isabella must hear it, too. “One step, and I’ll drive this knife into his skull.”
“You do that, and you’re never leaving this room alive,” Mia counters.
And I won’t be any closer to the answers I seek. No, if I’m going to smoke out Ida Natali, I need both of her children alive. Preferably, also in my possession.
“Be a dear, Mia,” I say, trying to casually ignore the weight of Isabella sitting on my crotch. “And tell Dante to release the Lamborghini. It seems we won’t be needing it after all.”
“Are you–”
“NOW.”
She huffs. “If she gets your blood on this carpet, I’m invoicing you for the cleanup fee.”
“Mia.”
I wait until I hear the door closed before I let out a sigh. “You know, you’re not making your case particularly compelling.”
“You underestimate how much I love my car.”
“ You underestimate how much I love this position,” I counter.
Immediately, she lifts her body weight off me, an outraged expression on her face.
It’s the opening I need. I use my legs to knock her off balance. The knife skims across my face as she throws her arms down to catch herself, and I quickly wrestle her onto her front, Digging my knee in between her shoulder blades.
“You fucker!” she exclaims as she wildly tries to thrash her arms behind her, hoping to catch me with the knife.
It takes no effort at all to catch her arm and twist it back until she drops it.
“Now,” I say as I unfurl my hand in front of her, revealing the earpiece I snagged from her when she first flung herself at me. “Shall we have a little wager about who’s on the other end?”
I don’t wait for her reply as I connect the device to my ear and tap the receiver button.
“Issy? What the hell is going on? Pick-up has been abandoned. The fuckers boxed us in. Where are you?” a sharp, male voice immediately crackles into my ear.
“Leon Natali.”
The line goes silent.
Isabella squirms beneath me. “Don’t give him a fucking thing, Leon!”
“Teo Vitale,” the voice replies, entirely devoid of its previous emotion.
“I should thank you for delivering such an…exquisite gift to the new don of the Guild, Natali. You’ve far surpassed any of our other previous allies.”
“Give her back, Vitale, or I swear to God I will burn your precious Guild to the ground.”
I let myself chuckle at that one. “Is that really how you want to speak to me? I thought you wanted an alliance.”
“I want nothing from you except my sister’s safe return.”
“That’s a pity because?—”
I’m cut off by my own grunt as Isabella’s leg collides forcefully with my back.
“Stay still,” I growl at her as I attempt to wrestle her back to neutrality. It takes a moment, and by the time she stills, we’re both breathing heavily. My other leg is now clamped down over the back of her knees.
“Get. Off. Me,” she grits out.
“So you only like it when you’re on top? Is that it?”
Suddenly, Leon lets out an ear-splitting roar in my ear.
“YOU SICK BASTARD! IF YOU’VE SO MUCH AS TOUCHED HER, I’LL?—”
It suddenly clicks that I’ve found Leon’s weakness.
“You’ll do what, Leon?” I pant back. “Drive into a hotel full of people who will kill you without so much as an order from me?”
The woman writhing beneath me, about ten seconds away from clawing at my skin, has made him show his hand so plainly that I’d feel embarrassed for him if it wasn’t taking all my concentration to wrangle her into submission.
“You’ll be dead before anyone so much as touches me.”
Threatening Isabella makes him lose all sense of self-preservation. If I can just utilize this to my advantage…
“You want to try it and find out? Or do you want to hear my offer?”
There’s a beat of silence before he responds. “What do you want?”
“A few things really, but a lot of those are for Isabella’s ears only,” I goad him through the phone.
The desired effect is immediate and deafening as Leon roars so loudly I’m certain Isabella can hear it, despite the tiny speakers in the phone.
“But from you,” I continue, ignoring his outburst. “I want the current and future locations of Ida Natali.”
Isabella stills beneath me. “Don’t you fucking dare, Leon.”
“And because Isabella here has put me in such a good mood. I’m going to give you twelve whole hours to get me this information.”
There’s silence for a moment, and then. “Where shall I meet you?”
“How about the front entrance to the Plaza Hotel? I think you know it.”
“I’ll be there in six hours.”
I blink. So he really wasn’t in the car? Or is he just finally thinking clearly enough to buy himself some time to gather reinforcements?
“Take your time,” I say lightly. “I’ll be keeping Isabella company while we wait.”
I remove the earpiece and crush it on the floor before I have to hear another of Leon’s furious cries.
Hopefully, that’s enough for him to act impulsively in my favor. The only thing that could get in the way of securing Ida Natali’s location is if he sees through my bluff. Which means I can’t let it get back to him that Isabella is in no real danger.
As pretty as Isabella is, I’m not the kind of man who would stoop to that level.
A slow melody slowly begins to fill the quiet of the room, and I realize the first dance must have started. There’s still a party happening in the next room.
“What’s a Mafia wedding without a bit of drama?” I comment mildly as I remove my knee from Isabella’s back and lock her arms together with my own.
She grunts as I raise us both up to a standing position. “He won’t do it.”
“Do what?”
“Give you my mother,” she snaps at me.
I walk her over to the wall and push her into it face-first. She’serfectly detained and unable to fight back.
“You didn’t hear how much he cared about you,” I reply, trying not to ogle at her as I text Dante.
“What happens if he doesn’t come tomorrow? You’ll be out of bargaining chips.”
I pocket my phone. “Perhaps, but I suppose you might know where your mother is.”
“I’d rather die than tell you” she spits.
I lean in close, my chest pressing against her back as I whisper in her ear. “Oh, you would…eventually.”
I feel her breath catch in her throat. But the satisfaction of scaring her is marred by the sudden flush in her cheeks.
What…
I push against her again experimentally, harder this time, and twisting her arms behind her.
The groan that escapes her lips is…
“The tracker was placed on the Lamborghini before it— oh!”
I pull away from Isabella at the sound of Dante’s voice, feeling oddly caught.
“Dante,” I clear my throat. “Take Ms. Natali to my room and make sure she stays there. Pull backup from the party.”
Thankfully, Dante doesn’t question me as he approaches to drag Isabella away.
She glares at me as she goes. “So what, you expect me to just wait around for you or something?”
I shrug. “I think this place has Netflix. If you get bored.”
“My brother could arrive any minute!”
“He said six hours, and I have a best-man speech to make. So…” I wave her off with a patronizing little gesture.
I’m praying to all the Gods that capturing Isabella Natali will not be the death of me.