26. Zeno
CHAPTER 26
ZENO
THREE DAYS LATER
I grin down at Vito as he stops walking and drops to the floor in Lily’s kitchen, flipping onto his back. I bend down to give him one of the belly rubs he’s learned to love in the short time he’s been here. Lily adopted him the second she could get back to the animal rescue. After that final attack, she didn’t want to waste another second without having him by her side.
She never talks about her grandfather because she doesn’t really remember him, but I know how much it meant that Vito was by her side. I think she felt like her grandfather was protecting her, not that the girl needs any bit of protection. Lily is brutal, dangerous, and ruthless.
Not to mention damn luscious.
I can’t believe it’s only been a few days since that whole mess with Messina was finally cleaned up for good. I smirk, thinking about Chloe and her bleach.
Seems like we really disinfected those assholes to death.
It’s ironic because filthy streaks like that can’t even be scrubbed completely clean and soon enough, another one will muck up our lives. It’s just the life we live.
Lily breezes past in a cute little jumpsuit thing that shows off her toned legs. Her arm is in a sling and will be for the next few weeks as it heals from the gunshot wound. Luckily, it hasn’t hampered our playtime at all.
When she slides to her knees next to me and drops a kiss onto my lips, I have the urge to tear it off of her and carry her into the bedroom for a little afternoon delight.
I can use it since there’s nothing remotely delightful about what’s about to happen.
She tilts her head to the side and grins at me. “You look a little nervous,” she says.
I rub the back of my neck. “How about we skip lunch and just hang out here? Like, in your bed?”
She gives me a little punch. “It’s going to be fine, Zeno. I promise.”
“Easy for you to say,” I grumble. “You’re not the one who’s about to be roasted. And not in the Comedy Central kinda way.”
Lily rises to her feet and pulls me up with her. “Come on. If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late.”
“I have no problem with being late.”
“You can’t avoid this forever,” she says, laying her arms around my neck. “And this isn’t only about you. It’s about your family and the Severinovs and the Marcones. So, man up and let’s get moving! Own what you did, Zeno.” She grins at me. “They’ll respect you more for it. I do.”
I let out a deep sigh. “Fine! Okay, you gave your pep talk. Let’s get going because the sooner we have this meeting, the sooner I can get you back here and naked.”
“That’s the spirit,” she murmurs. She rubs the underside of Vito’s chin. “We’ll be back soon and don’t worry. We’ll bring you lots of yummy steak, baby,” she croons.
A knot twists in my gut as we speed back to the Excelsior for the luncheon meeting hosted at Tommy’s restaurant. Christ, I can’t even begin to think about food right now. The Severinovs want my head on a spit after what went down with Messina…and about me dragging Lily into it. And the Salesis? Hell, I’m sure they want to jam that spit straight up my ass.
Everyone flew in last night, and today is the day we decide whether or not we will work together as part of Red Ladro. My father and older brother Ciro are pissed as hell at me for jeopardizing their chances to be part of this group.
Eh, fuck it.
If they turn us away because of what I did, you know what?
Good riddance.
And guess what else, Salesi? Imma still nail your daughter every chance I get.
That thought is the only one to make me smile as I pull up to the hotel entrance. We get out and walk into the hotel. It’s a beautiful sunny day in Vegas. Hot as Hades, but that goes without saying.
A few weeks ago, I figured this stint in Nevada would be a temporary pit stop until I could get back to my real life in Sicily.
A few days ago, I realized this is the real life I want.
Here in Vegas, with Lily.
And Vito, of course.
Yep, I sound like a big badass assassin, right?
Pussy-whipped and proud to be.
We walk through the casino, hands clasped, although it doesn’t ease the sense of dread that threatens to consume me every step closer we get to the restaurant. I tug at Lily’s arm before she bounds inside, and she stops to look at me with a questioning look on her face.
“You know I won’t take orders from your father,” I say in a low voice. “I did what I did and I stand by it all. But if he thinks he’s gonna get here and try to keep me away from you, he’s fucked in the head because that ain’t happening. He doesn’t scare me. None of them do.”
Lily squeezes my hand tight and steps toward me, standing on her tiptoes to place a kiss on my lips. “I’m certainly glad to hear that,” she murmurs.”
“Can I tell you what I want to hear when we’re done here?” I nuzzle her ear with my lips.
“Daddy!” Lily squeals and I stifle a groan.
Oh, hell no. That was most definitely not the right answer.
She runs over to two men walking toward us and throws her arms around them. “I’m so happy to see you both! I’ve missed you so much!”
I stand uncomfortably a few feet away, watching, not watching, shifting, not shifting, hoping they break away from their tight embrace so I can get this whole thing over with. My eyes dart over to the restaurant. I can see my father Pietro, my cousins Matteo and Sergio, and Gallo inside of the restaurant. My father doesn’t look thrilled with me, and that message was delivered loud and clear when I spoke to him earlier.
I wonder if I’ll even have time to eat since it seems that every attendee of this meeting wants to read me the riot act.
It’s like my gangster dance card is full.
They finally break away from their embrace and the older of the two men walks over to me, a grimace on his stern face.
“And you are?” Joe finally asks, looking up at me.
I tilt my head to the side. “Oh, I guess you didn’t get my head shot along with the resume when you asked my father for that favor . You know, the one where you lied about everything?”
Lily nudges me.
I fight the eye roll. “Zeno Villani.”
Joe and Nico, the younger guy next to him I take to be Lily’s brother, exchange a look. “We should talk. Lil, why don’t you head inside?” Nico snips, giving Lily a quick peck on the cheek. “We’ll be back in a little while,” he says before stiffly stalking toward a darkened corner in the hallway next to the restaurant.
I stare at Joe until he backs away, retreating to join his son.
“Hey,” Lily whispers to me. “Don’t be a dick. Go and talk to them. Fix this, okay? For all of us. One big happy gangster family, remember?”
I drop a kiss on her nose. “Yeah, you know me.”
“That’s kind of what I’m afraid of,” she calls out to me as I walk toward the Salesi men.
It’s Nico who speaks first with a death glare fired straight at me. “How the fuck did my baby sister end up getting shot?” he snarls.
“Okay,” I say, holding up my hands. “First of all, she’s no baby. She’s a grown woman who has an incredible badass streak running through her. I guess it must be in the Salesi blood. And just so you know, she got shot taking on our joint enemy. Domenico Messina, name ring a bell? The guy whose organization you sent me to cripple to save your own asses? Well, guess what? You and your crew lost him once he went back to Sicily. Who the hell knows if he ever did go back? He wanted revenge for me killing his son, another tidbit you left out of the job description. So he tracked me here. And he tracked Lily, too. There’s a whole lot more that happened, but if you wanna know the truth, I’ve never seen a woman be that strong and willful. And if you think Lily is messed up, you should’ve seen the rest of them.”
“How in the fuck did she even end up with you?” Joe sneers. “You were never supposed to meet! I’ve tried for her whole life to keep her safe and far away from thugs like you?—”
“Hold on,” I interrupt. “Let me just tell you something, Joe. When you asked my father to take care of your Messina problem and you fucking lied to him about the target and the reason, you put Lily at risk. So thugs like me had nothing to do with what happened! Just so we’re clear!”
I look at Nico and I can almost see smoke billowing out of his ears. But Joe backs down. He takes a few steps away from us, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. “You’re right,” he finally says, turning back to us, his shoulders deflated. “I did hold back that information. But you should understand why. I needed to know that I could count on the Villani family as partners, especially if we were considering joining Red Ladro. I figured your father was the right person to ask since we’d both had issues with Messina. The guy was strong-arming me into working with him. That part wasn’t bullshit. But Messina took it too far when he had his son and nephew go after Lily.” He pushes back his hair. “I figured it wouldn’t come back to us if Messina found out it was you who took them out. You were already at odds, so he’d expect retaliation. And I wanted to keep the blood off my hands because I knew it would stain the hands of Lily and Nico. I was trying to protect my family, but I went about it the wrong way. I took advantage of your father and of you.” He turns his tired eyes on me. “I’m sorry,” he says.
“But don’t think that this means you have our blessing to be with Lily. Because you don’t. And you won’t. Ever,” Nico bellows. “We’ve tried hard to keep her away from our business dealings. I don’t want her sucked into yours.”
“Did you ever think that maybe if you didn’t try so hard to shelter her, she’d be able to protect herself better against your long list of enemies?” I shake my head, letting out a dry laugh. “She is perfectly capable of handling herself. She proved that many times over the past week. That should make you feel good. And you’d better believe she’s as safe with me as she would be with either of you.” I lift an eyebrow. “Besides, if she’s living out here by herself, wouldn’t you rather her be with family ?”
Joe and Nico exchange another look.
“And just to add to all of that, try to tell her something she doesn’t want to hear and see how far that gets you, because in case you didn’t know it, Lily isn’t the kind of girl who takes instruction very well.” I fold my arms over my chest, biting back a smirk. “So, what do you say, partners ? All for one and one for all, yeah?”
* * *
I walk into the restaurant behind the Salesis, the stress knot at the base of my skull so damn tight, because even though it seems that I’ve managed to smooth things out with them, I still have plenty of others to deal with.
I groan inwardly when I see the massive Severinov brothers flanking crazy Kat near the front entrance. They exchange quick hugs with the Salesis and then fix their menacing stares on me.
Who knew I’d be the guest of honor today?
I square my shoulders, fully prepared to strut right past the unofficial welcoming committee, but Kat steps in my path, her arms folded and her eyes spitting white flames.
“Where do you think you’re going?” she hisses.
“To eat, if you don’t mind. I think I’ve earned that right, yeah?”
“What you’ve earned is a fucking brutal ass-kicking!” she says.
I quirk an eyebrow. “So, what, you think you’re gonna toss me around this place?”
“I don’t think,” she seethes, her fists clenched tight at her sides.
“Listen,” I say, poking her in the shoulder. “You may have landed a punch once, but it was only ’cause I wasn’t paying attention. Don’t be stupid enough to think?—”
Pop!
“Fuck!” I shout, holding the side of my face. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Kat!” A dark-haired guy walks up to us and pulls her away from me with a roll of his eyes. “Rocco Lucchese,” he says to me. “Her husband.”
I snort. “Who’d you piss off?”
He chuckles and leads Kat away, but not before she flips me off.
“She’s just upset,” Kazimir says. “Lily is like a younger sister to her, and when she got caught up in all of this, with you…” He shakes his head. “It was hard for her to hear it. She’s had Lily’s back plenty of times, and to know she didn’t this time makes her crazy.”
Hence, my nickname for her.
“Yeah, well, maybe she should learn to channel some of her inner beast.”
Alek smirks. “It’s the inner beast that keeps our enemies at bay.”
I lift an eyebrow at him. “Are you gonna left hook me, too? Did I fuck up your plans for Salesi?”
“Nah,” Alek says. “He’s in. He may not admit it, but he’s thankful for what you did. He knows what you put on the line, and I think he realizes now that the control he had over Lily is a thing of the past. She’s her own woman.” He narrows his ice-blue eyes at me. “A very special woman. You may not have paid any attention to my warning the first time, but let me tell you this, if anything happens to a single hair on her head, I will gut you and have Tommy put you on his specials menu. You feel me, Zeno?”
A gorgeous brunette sidles up to Alek and puts a hand on his arm. It’s Gianna Marcone Severinov, his wife and Tommy’s sister. “Sweetie,” she coos. “You’re very tense. I can see the vein in your forehead protruding again. You told me you’d relax today.”
His lips stretch into a thin line. “Gianna, I’m just finishing up with Zeno. Why don’t you go into?—”
“No, I think you’re already finished.” She winks at me. “And we can go into the back room together.” She loops her arm through his and guides him away from me and Kazimir.
“So everyone is here, cozying up to each other,” I say, watching the family patriarchs talk at a corner table off to the back of the restaurant. I see a lot of hand shaking and nodding. A few chuckles follow. I guess those are all good signs. Maybe I won’t get my ass handed to me by my father after all.
“Looks like you didn’t fuck it all up. Cheers to that. I’m used to being the loose cannon, and I’ve gotta say, it’s nice to hand over those reins,” Kazimir snips.
“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “What in the hell are we even getting ourselves into with this Red Ladro shit?”
Kazimir slaps me on the back. “Just think of it as an extended family.”
“Most of my family wants to put me in traction.”
He snickers. “Better us than the enemy, yeah?”
I roll my eyes.
Sometimes I wonder if they aren’t one and the same.