11. Emilia
CHAPTER 11
The urge to take the yacht out and sunbathe the day away struck the moment I woke up. Unfortunately, Cruz, Derek, and Javi were out running errands and checking in on other teams, and Marco said no.
“So you’re too weak?”
He narrowed his soulful brown eyes over his coffee mug. “That’s not what I said.”
“You said you don’t have backup.” I crossed my arms over my bikini-covered chest. I was serious about this.
“Right.”
“Because you don’t think you can keep me safe on your own?”
His glare was a very cute attempt at being threatening.
“You need backup. Because you’re the weakest of the four of you.” I smiled sweetly. “At least you’re aware of your shortcomings. We don’t love overconfident men. Especially when they have nothing to be cocky about.”
His brows furrowed. “Why are you bringing my dick into this?”
“I didn’t.” I mocked a gasp. “But now that we’re talking about little problems––”
He smirked. “There is nothing little about my dick. You’ve screamed about its profound size before.”
Touché.
“Too bad it isn’t an accurate representation of the rest of your manhood.” I sighed and dropped my hands to the counter. “Derek handles me by himself all the time.”
His eyes lifted to the ceiling.
I leaned over and stared up in the same direction. “What are we looking for? Your spine?”
He shoved my shoulder, forcing me out of his space. “Why did you wake up today and choose violence?”
I straightened. “I’m bored, and I’m sick of being inside. Please, can we go out?”
“You hate boats.”
“I hate having to take one just to get to our car. I like the yacht, especially the bed in the front.”
“The bow.”
“Whatever.” I waved him off. “Please? Pretty please?”
He cocked a brow. “You’re begging.”
I nodded. “See! I really, really, really want to go.”
“Not only does it take hours to call in the crew but the boat has to be prepped and fueled. And it’s not just ours. It’s like a timeshare. We have specific days we can use it, and the rest of the time, the other owners can take it out. This week is someone else’s.”
“Can’t we call and check? Maybe they aren’t using it.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “It also requires more than one of us because it is a rather large, rather vulnerable target. If Brazzi or Dias sent men to attack, it’s too difficult to protect.”
“The boat or me?”
He sat his mug down. “Both. Plus, the human crew would be at risk. Do you want to put a dozen innocent men and women in jeopardy just so you can get a tan?”
Well, that’s one quick way to kill my joy.
“Fine.”
“We can go up to the pool if you’d like.”
I scrunched my nose. It wasn’t the same, but at least that option involved fresh air and sunlight. “Fine.”
He rolled his eyes and rinsed out his mug before loading it into the dishwasher and walking past me. “Give me a second to change.”
I didn’t bother waiting for him. We had private, sole access to the roof through the staircase in our apartment. I claimed a lounger, which was not nearly as comfortable as the bed on the yacht, and laid out my towel before dragging one of the tables closer and putting my water and phone next to me.
As soon as I was situated, the door swung open, and Marco stalked over.
“Why so grumpy?” I lowered my sunglasses and checked him out while he brought another lounger toward me.
He was less bulky than Derek and Javi but more defined. Each ab muscle flexed as he leaned over and spread out his towel.
“The guys haven’t checked in yet,” he muttered before meeting my gaze with a raised brow. “What?”
I eyed him, biting my lower lip.
He straightened. “Em, I am not a piece of meat for you to ogle.”
I smirked. “Then put a shirt on.”
“And get a tan line?” He dropped onto his seat and closed his eyes. “Never.”
“Then don’t get mad at me for appreciating the fine display.”
He cracked a smile. “I’d never get mad. Feel free to appreciate with more than your eyes.”
I laughed and leaned my head back as I slid my glasses back up. “You wish.”
“I really do,” he said just loud enough for me to hear.
“Maybe if you’re lucky later.”
He growled and turned his face away from me. “Tease.”
As if we hadn’t spent the whole night fucking.
Just as I was finally relaxed and on the verge of snoozing, my phone rang.
“Is it them?” He leaned toward me as I showed him the screen. He frowned and plopped back down.
“Ama!” I answered.
“Hey, Millie, I miss you so much!”
“I miss you too.” I didn’t even have to lie. Attending events with Alessio was much more fun with her around. I hadn’t meant to become friends with her, but it was too hard not to.
“How are you doing?” Her voice lowered. “My mom told me what happened. I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine how scary that was.”
“I’m okay. I’m relieved we were all fine.” Well, besides the two guards that died.
“Me too. I also spoke to Alessio. Let me tell you, when he said you left him, I was shocked. And worried. And a bit mad. Then he told me he kidnapped you! Girl! When I got done with him, he was six feet under. Figuratively. I destroyed him. I was ready to fly back just to beat the lesson into his thick, stupid head. I cannot even begin to understand why he thought he could not tell you where you were going immediately, then to take you to another country! Not okay! Ever. I get he had the best intentions, but when I told him to look at it from a different perspective, like, what if I was in your shoes? What if the guy I was dating flew me to Panama, then shit went down, and instead of bringing me back here, he flew me to Ecuador or something? That really got to him.”
I waited to see if she was done or just taking a breath. Marco chuckled, not bothering to pretend not to eavesdrop. “When did you talk to him?”
“Yesterday.”
We hadn’t talked much since I left him in front of the restaurant, claiming to be busy. Between Martin and the warehouse, I assumed he was, but if he had time for Ama, maybe he was just hiding.
“I’m glad you got through to him.”
“You guys are okay now, right?” There was just a hint of panic in her voice.
I blew out an exaggerated sigh. “He knows he’s on thin ice. On his second strike, I guess. I had to remind him that what happened isn’t normal. I know we haven’t been together for very long, and I haven’t asked a ton of questions. I don’t feel like it’s my place to dig in yet. But he said the men who attacked were from his enemy here—Brazzi. I thought they were just professional rivals, like they both wanted to buy the same building or something and had bad blood from competing. That’s normal. My dad has men he hates in his industry too, but he wouldn’t send armed men to their homes!”
“Yeah,” she huffed.
“When I step back and think about everything that’s happened, it feels like too much. My family isn’t squeaky clean. No one is in the oil industry, but it’s never affected me. My dad keeps us completely separate from the business. This is a lot to handle.”
“I know. I wish I could––”
“You don’t have to tell me anything,” I assured her. “This is something Alessio needs to explain himself, but obviously, he’s keeping things from me. He’d never purposely put me in danger, but it’s still happened more than once. I really, really care about him, but at the same time, I don’t trust him. At least, not completely.”
“Make him work for it. Put him through the wringer. He needs to prove himself to you, but please don’t give up on him.”
Marco arched a brow at me, but I ignored his look. In the real world, I wouldn’t give any man a second chance after this shit, but I didn’t have a choice here, no matter how little self-respect I’d appear to have.
“I won’t. Not yet.”
“Good.” She sighed. “He would do anything for you. I’ve never seen him so in love.”
I cringed at that word. “He’s not––”
“He might not have said it yet, but I know my brother. He’s completely different with you.”
He told me he did, but I didn’t believe him. I wasn’t sure a man like him could feel real love. Obsession? Sure. I was a prize. Something pretty to show off. I was his perfect woman, only because it was my job to be exactly that.
“We’ve only been dating for a few weeks,” I protested. “We’re still getting to know each other.”
Marco looked at his phone and hopped up, moving around the edge to the far side of the pool before answering.
“But you see him, Millie. That’s something he’s never had before.”
“What do you mean?”
“From the very beginning, when you blew him off at the gala and ignored Brazzi, you showed him you don’t care about the public persona or what he can offer you. You’re not chasing him for his money or clout.”
“That’s because I don’t want it.”
“Exactly!” She laughed. “You’re more alike than different. He sees you as more than your family or money.”
I closed my eyes. Yeah, my backstory was written just for him, to make us the perfect couple.
“That’s true,” I admitted.
“You’re the closest he’s ever come to finding an equal, and because of that, your relationship is real. The typical obstacles don’t matter.”
I blew out a breath. “You’re right.”
“I know I am.”
I could picture her smiling with that knowing glint she was so good at. “I really miss you.”
“Me too. I’ve got to run, but I’m glad we got to talk. Bye.”
“Bye.” I hung up.
Marco paced a few feet away until he noticed I was off the phone and came back to his seat.
“Okay, I’ll let her know.” He tapped the screen and turned to me. “We need to push him.”
“Alessio?”
“Yeah, the gamma team watching his warehouses reported more frequent shipments. He’s preparing for something, and we need to distract him, pull his attention away from his plans and back on you.”
I cocked a brow. “Any ideas how?”
He smirked. “Your birthday.”
“Is in May,” I finished.
“Is this week,” he corrected.
“No, it’s not.” The file stated May seventh, and it was listed on Millie’s social media accounts.
“It’s been changed and updated everywhere.”
I let out a laugh. “You can’t retroactively change it though. What if he or Ama already saw and took note?”
“Then you say that you put that because of a creepy ex or something.”
“That makes no sense,” I deadpanned.
“You don’t like personal information to be available?” he tried.
“But suddenly I changed my mind today?” I turned and dropped my legs so we were almost knee to knee. “It would make more sense if I didn’t change it.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and picked up his phone, tapping it twice before staring at me. It rang over the speaker and Cruz answered.
“Yeah?”
“Undo the changes. Em made a good point.”
“But I thought––”
“Just trust us.”
Cruz sighed. “Fine.”
“Thanks,” I offered.
“Oh, hey, Em.” He suddenly perked up. “This is your idea?”
“Yeah?” I raised a brow at Marco.
“She pointed out that if we leave it in May, she can say she doesn’t like to give out personal information and made up a date. It’s too hard to explain the change.”
“Got it.” The sound of typing came from his end. “It doesn’t look like anyone’s seen it anyway.” More typing. “All right, it’s back.”
“Thanks, Cruz.”
“Sorry. We didn’t think it through or talk to you first,” he said. “We should know better.”
“Yes, you should,” I teased.
“Okay, she’s got to call Dias now,” Marco said before ending the call.
“And say what?” I leaned back to grab my phone.
“Ask if he’ll be around on Thursday night. When he asks why, mention it’s your birthday and you want to spend it with him. Tell him you don’t feel like a night in. You want to dance, and mention that someone recommended a new club with a good DJ.”
I scrunched my nose. “I’m not the dancing type.”
“You are on your birthday.” He looked down at his phone and found something before showing me the screen. “You want to go here.”
I read the name, but it didn’t sound familiar. “What is it? One of Brazzi’s?”
“No, it’s owned by a local gang. They just happen to be his number one rival.”
“Worse than Brazzi?”
“Well, those two are beyond rivals and into enemy territory. So far, tensions haven’t boiled over to action between the gang and Dias’s business.”
“Yet.” I understood. “But we can push things by showing up.”
“And him requesting VIP access.”
Would this really be enough to cause a disruption? It felt more like a potentially awkward situation than a way to cause instability within Alessio’s men.
“What do you think?” he asked.
If this was what the team came up with, then that’s what we’d do. “I’ll do it.”
Before more doubts could creep in, I called him. It took four rings before he answered.
“Mi amor.” He sounded distracted. “Is everything alright?”
“Yeah, I know you’re busy this week, but I was wondering if you’ll be around on Thursday.”
A male voice called to him in the background, but he answered me. “Ahhh, I can be. Why? Do you have something planned?”
“Not yet.”
“So?” He dragged out the word.
“It’s my birthday, and I was hoping to spend it with you. At least the night.”
He cursed under his breath, but I caught it. “I didn’t know.”
“I don’t normally make a big deal out of it, and we don’t have to this year. I know we’re still getting to know each other, and you’re busy.”
“No. I’m never too busy for you. Of course we’ll go out and celebrate. We can go to one of my restaurants.”
“Actually, I was kind of wanting to go dancing. It’s been so long and––”
“Then one of my clubs. I’ll reserve the entire upper floor.”
“Oh, that would be nice.” I made my disappointment clear.
“That’s not what you want?”
“It’s just one of the women I was at a luncheon with last week mentioned a new place she found. She said the DJ was amazing, and she and her friends had so much fun.”
“What’s the name?”
“Tartare, which is a weird name, but maybe they’re trying to say they’re fresh or raw?” I babbled while his silence built. “It’s probably not your normal vibe, but I thought it would be fun to go somewhere that doesn’t feel like you have to be on duty. You won’t have to have your owner hat on, you know?”
He didn’t speak.
“Baby?” I bit my lip as Marco chuckled quietly.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry, yeah. I’ve heard of that place.”
“She mentioned it can be hard to get in. Do you think that will be a problem? I don’t mind waiting in line.”
Marco fell back, clutching his stomach, and I waved my hand for him to be quiet. I just majorly insulted Alessio, but Millie was ignorant enough about his business to get away with it.
“It’s not that.”
“It’s not owned by Brazzi, is it?” I groaned. “Of course he’s involved with the one place I want to go.”
“He’s not,” he quickly assured me.
“Oh, well, if you don’t think you can make it happen, I understand. I could try calling and seeing if my name gets us anywhere.”
“No, amor, it’s fine. I’ll take care of it.”
“You’re sure? I don’t want to ask for too much,” I needled.
“You ask for nothing. This is the least I can do.”
I grinned. “Thank you, baby.”
“I’ve got to go. I’ll see you soon.”
“Bye.” I quickly hung up, and Marco sat up, chuckling.
“I’m so glad we’re on your good side. You’re evil.”
I winked. “Don’t forget it.”
He shook his head as he leaned back. “This should be interesting.”
“Hopefully, no one gets killed this time.”