Chapter 19
Nineteen
Marchello
Choices. The more options you have, the more power you’ll possess.
The problem was, right now, I didn’t seem to have many.
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the old books filled with magic, mayhem, and history on the shelves. Memories of reading them with my mother filled me with a sense of happiness I hadn’t experienced in a long time.
Marchello. I could hear her soft, comforting voice as clear as the church bells that rang out at her funeral. A well-read man is a powerful man.
I didn’t know it then, but she was trying to find another way for me and Milo. She wanted to open doors for us that didn’t include guns, bloodshed, and territory.
Choices.
Would she have approved of mine? Up until now, I never questioned myself. My loyalty had always been with my family. My job was to help run my father’s business—to keep us safe and in control.
If my mother hadn’t gotten into that car that day, my life might have gone in another direction. I was a month away from leaving for Princeton. All that reading from an early age had paid off, but college wasn’t in the cards for me. My father had other plans.
At least she died believing I would be more than a gangster. More than a trained killer who did whatever had to be done to protect the Accetti name.
I stared at the cathedral ceiling. I hope I didn’t disappoint you, Mama.
“Hey. Are you busy?” Lissia stood in the doorway, holding a plate with a large piece of cannoli cheesecake, but the dessert didn’t entice me. She wore a white half-sweater that stopped just below her belly button, revealing her smooth stomach, and navy shorts that sat low on her hips.
“I’m always busy.” I pushed the chair away from the desk. “Where did you get that?”
“Ricardo froze it after we didn’t eat it the other night.” She came into the room, stopping on the other side of the desk. “I thought it was good when it was fresh, but now it tastes like ice cream.”
“Did you happen to encounter Ricardo in that outfit?” I looked her over, taking in her bare feet and long, toned legs.
“He’s used to me walking around like this.”
“Maybe you could save that stuff for me?”
“I told you I don’t dress this way to impress you.” She came around the desk, sat in front of me, and placed the plate on her lap. “I dress like this because it makes me feel sexy.”
“It makes me hard. And if it makes me hard, it makes Ricardo hard.” I ran my hands along her thighs and shook my head. “I’ll fucking kill him.”
“Your jealousy is hot.” She cut into the cake with her fork, then held a creamy piece up to my mouth. “You should taste this.”
“I’d like to taste something else.” I glanced between her legs. “But I’ll start with the cake.”
When I opened my mouth, she brought the fork to my lips. I tasted the sweet cheesecake, letting the flavor linger in my mouth for a moment before swallowing the silky indulgence.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s delicious.” I swiped my finger along the filling.
She licked her top lip, and then sucked my finger into her mouth and swirling her tongue around it.
I took the plate from her and set it on the desk, then pulled her into my lap.
“Are we done eating?” she asked.
“Depends on what we’re eating.” I licked her lips, tasting the remnants of the cake on them.
“But you said you were busy.”
“I was thinking about something before you came in here,” I said. “I was searching for clarity, and when I looked up, you were here.”
She straddled my lap, and I slithered my hands under her sweater and to the sides of her breasts. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
“I am here.” She ran her hand along my stubble. “I know how much you have sacrificed to be here with me.”
“I did what had to be done.” I kissed her fingers. “I’ll do what has to be done.”
Once her father realized I was behind the attack on his shipment, he would come at me hard. I would have to protect my territory. How was she going to look at me with anything but hate in her heart when I did what would have to be done?
It was either me or Gallanti. And it wasn’t going to be me.
“I don’t want to know about your business,” she said.
“Then I won’t tell you.” I took her delicate face between my hands and kissed her. “You’re going to have to trust me.”
The shipment I intercepted belonged to a dangerous cartel. One that didn’t have ties with the men we worked with. Collins didn’t have the relationship I had with the cartel I laundered money for. They were willing to work with me when Collins intercepted the shipment that I was moving for them. Collins’ associates were not as forgiving.
I had caused him a lot of trouble, and by extension, I made enemies for Gallanti. They were out for blood now. My blood in particular.
“I trusted you from the moment we met.” Lissia rocked into my erection. “I trusted you when you told me to get into your car.”
“My ride or die.” I kissed her neck as I cupped her breasts. “Even if I did have to take you at gunpoint.”
“That was kind of sexy.” She reached for my belt buckle. “You know what else would be sexy?”
“What?” I kissed the corner of her mouth.
“If we had sex right here, right now.”
“No, it wouldn’t.” I stopped her from undoing my belt.
“Why not?”
“Because I’m not into having an audience.” I nodded in the direction of the door, glaring at my brother.
“An audience?” She turned to see what I meant. “Milo?”
“Why did you stop?” His lips curved into a devious smile. “It was starting to get all Pornhub in here.”
I scooted her off my lap. “Princess, I need to speak with my brother. We’ll finish this later.”
She swiped the plate from the desk and kissed my brother’s cheek as she walked past him. “You have shitty timing.”
“Language,” I muttered. “Wait for me upstairs.”
I wasn’t the least bit amused with their flirty demeanor toward one another. They both did it to provoke me.
“Bye.” She blew me a kiss.
Milo turned his head and watched her leave the room with a smile. “She’s really something. And to think, I could have had her first. We saw one another a few times at the club. I even danced with her once.”
“Don’t think about it,” I said. “And if that were true, why didn’t you go after her?”
“Well, she’s Gian’s daughter for one thing. I mean, I was tempted to sleep with her to stick it to him, but then I talked to her. She didn’t seem like the kind of girl who had one-night stands.”
“She isn’t.” I guess I should commend my brother’s good instincts. “Why did you push me in her direction?”
“To be honest, I was just busting your balls the night of the auction. I didn’t think you would go there.”
“I tried not to.”
“I kind of wish you hadn’t,” he said.
“Fuck off.”
“It’s not that I don’t like her for you, but you know, Dad’s rule and all. We don’t get involved because people can find the weakness and use it against us.”
“I didn’t set out to get involved.”
The last thing I needed was for an enemy to use a woman against me. My father was the strongest man I knew, but losing my mother brought him to his knees. It took months for him to recover. Not that he would ever get over losing her. He never let his guard down again, and he made sure Milo and I didn’t either.
“Speaking of Dad.” Milo sat in the chair across from the desk. “I just got off the phone with him.”
“How is he?”
“Furious.” Milo clasped his hands. “He wants you out of the safe house and back in control.”
My father was right. I could no longer fight this war in hiding. It was getting too dangerous for Milo to take the chance to come to me.
“You have to prioritize,” he said.
“Lissia is my priority. I can’t hand her back to them. Do you know what they will do to her?”
I may have come from a brutal family, but there were some lines we would never cross. My father made it clear when we started working with the cartel that women and children were off-limits.
“I know.” Milo leaned back in his chair. “Dad agrees with you. But as much as he doesn’t trust Gallanti, he doesn’t want to believe the man would sacrifice his daughter.”
“He sacrificed her when he promised her to Collins. How does a man do that to his own flesh and blood?” I got up and walked around to the edge of the desk. “Dad originally thought I could use Lissia as leverage, but given the circumstances, I don’t think that’s an option.”
“Oh, the beast fell for the princess.” Milo laughed. “You may have to put off the wedding until we figure out if we’ll even be alive next week.”
“Why would you say that?” I straightened my posture. “We will take out whoever is necessary.”
“Even if it means killing Lissia’s father?”
“If that’s what I have to do.”
Milo nodded, but there was skepticism in his eyes. I didn’t blame him. How could I kill the father of a woman I had feelings for? This was exactly why my father didn’t want us involved in serious relationships.
Taking a rival mafia don’s daughter was a huge violation in our world, but stealing her away from her family and expecting her to choose me was an even bigger problem.
What the fuck am I thinking?
“ We have to get Gallanti, Collins, and Bello off our asses so I can get back to business,” I said.
A creaking sound in the hallway halted the conversation. Milo got up, strode to the doorway, and glanced down the hall. He shut the door and returned to his seat. I waited for his assessment.
“It’s probably just the house settling or the wind rattling the windows.” He shrugged. “It’s nothing.”
I nodded for him to continue.
“Dad is in Milan,” he said.
“Is he secure?”
He’s staying at a safe house there while he tries to make a connection with Gallanti’s cartel contact.”
“How’s he going to do that?”
“It’s Dad, remember?” Milo asked. “He just gets shit done.”
My father could get things done in another country while in hiding, and I couldn’t manage to find a way to handle my shit here.
“He’s hoping to reach out to them and explain that we have the shipment. He’s going to tell them we’re in a serious turf war and we intercepted, not realizing it was their merchandise.”
“He’s going to make a deal with them.”
“And steal Gallanti’s biggest investor right out from under him in the process.” Milo stretched his legs. “Somehow, you managed to do something right by retaliating against Collins and Gallanti.”
“It could work to our advantage,” I said.
“As long as this particular cartel wants to do business. Dad will make them understand that we didn’t steal their shipment because we have a problem with them. We’ll move it wherever they want us to move it.”
“This is a delicate situation. If our cartel finds out that we are working with someone else, we could have a bigger problem on our hands.”
“Lucas thought the same thing,” Milo said. “He’s prepared to go to South America and meet with them. We just have to give him the order.”
“Let’s see what Dad comes up with, then we’ll know how to move forward.”
“I have a feeling Dad is going to find his own way out of this mess.”
I slammed my fist on the desk. “I’m failing him.”
“Hey.” Milo got up and shoved my shoulder.
“What the fuck?” I got in his face.
“I’m tired of listening to you and this bullshit talk,” he said. “You’re not failing anyone but yourself. Let Dad figure out what to do with this new cartel, and you and I will concentrate on fixing shit here.”
When had Milo become the brains of this operation? When I fled to the safe house with the mafia princess. That was when I lost control.
“You’re right.”
“I know, but say it again so I can record it.” He held up his phone. “Tell me I’m better-looking than you too.”
I swatted his phone out of his hand, sending it across the room.
“Fuck.” He went to retrieve it. “And here I thought sex was going to make you less grumpy.”
“I did have sex before I met Lissia, you know.” It wasn’t as fulfilling, except I didn’t know that until I had been with her. “Can we get back to business?”
“Yeah.” He scrolled on his phone. “I’m going to forward you documents for the dealership. We need to transfer funds, and in Dad’s absence, both of our signatures are required. I also have to return a few calls and see where we are with replacing the cars Collins vandalized.”
“How’s that going with insurance?” I asked.
“They aren’t happy that our cameras weren’t fully operational that night.”
While that wasn’t entirely true, if we had handed over the evidence to the police, Collins would have been their problem and not ours. I would much rather take care of him myself.
“Our IT guys explained that a storm surge took out the cameras. They haven’t challenged us, so I’ll see about getting the claims expedited.”
“You’ve taken on a lot since I’ve been out here,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
“It’s my legacy too.”
“I like it better when we’re at peace.”
“This happens every few years. It’s harder this time because whoever wants this territory has enough power to force Dad underground. But we’ll figure it out.” He motioned toward the door. “I should get going if I want to be back in the city before the dealership closes for the night.”
Choices. It all comes down to them. I had to make a crucial decision if I wanted my family to remain in power.
“Milo,” I said. “Dad’s right.”
“About?”
“It’s time for me to come home and correct my mistakes.”
“You could get yourself killed.”
“Maybe. But this is the choice I’m making.”