Chapter 8 Cassian
CASSIAN
“Is she the reason you left so quickly last night?” Jet asks.
I watch Jet watch Allegra disappear. When the door slams shut, he looks at me, raising his eyebrows, waiting for my answer.
“My reasons are none of your business,” I say, not liking him surprising me here like this. Not liking him looking at her. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
“Talked to my contact this morning and thought you might be interested in what she had to say.”
His contact is the woman who tipped him off that the call that led to the raid and seizure of my shipment came from Moretti.
I take a deep breath in and exhale. “I am,” I say, and turn back to the kitchen where I pour Jet a cup of coffee, top mine off then lead the way to my study.
Once we’re inside, I close the door. “Sit,” I tell Jet, but remain standing, leaning against my desk and sipping my coffee.
The Little Moth is still taking up too much space in my mind and I need to focus.
“I can come back. You seem… distracted.”
“I’m not. Sit.”
He shrugs and takes a seat on the couch. “They found something in that shipment that’s apparently got them looking in a different direction. A group out of Russia.”
“What?” I ask, surprised. I safeguard shipments so they can’t be linked to me should they be seized.
It’s happened before. Ultimately, it’s an odd game, even if there’s no snitch, it can happen.
In this case, the Feds managed to link it to me.
That’d be Moretti’s doing because I know for a fact they wouldn’t have found evidence in the shipment.
Them showing up at the casino was a flex.
My stepbrothers aren’t involved in mafia business.
They wouldn’t know anything to give anything away. That was the Feds sending me a message.
“Russians,” he repeats. “It’s a small group.
” He opens his jacket to take out an envelope he has tucked into his breast pocket and sets it on the coffee table.
He leans back and crosses his ankle over the opposite knee and sips his coffee.
“Malek Lombardi provided this new evidence just this morning.”
“Lombardi?”
He nods.
“What the fuck is he doing?”
Jet shrugs a shoulder. I study my stepbrother.
Ever since his mother married my father, he’s been curious about mafia business.
Where Severin has made a point of steering very clear of my family, Jet’s not queasy.
Not that Severin’s queasy. Money like we have doesn’t go hand in hand with queasy.
Severin’s made it very clear he wants his little brother out of this side of things, but thing is, Jet’s not a kid anymore.
He’s a grown man and although I don’t include him in Trevino business, given his name, he has contacts I do not and can be valuable.
After my shipment was seized, he’s the one who got me Moretti’s name.
But I’ll only allow him so far. Jethro and I are not related by blood and at the end of the day, blood matters.
We may be stepbrothers, but our two worlds will remain separated.
That’s the one thing Severin and I agree on.
After a too long silence, I take the seat across from Jet. I set my coffee down and pick up the envelope to read what’s inside. The Russian group is one I vaguely remember hearing about years ago. They’re not important, not here.
“Malek Lombardi sent them barking up the wrong tree?”
Jet nods. “Maybe he wants the girl back. I heard she had a marriage contract in place that would be politically advantageous.”
“And where did you hear that?” I ask. I’d heard rumors about a marriage contract, but there’s no reason Jet should know.
“Can’t remember. Why did you take her? That’s not how you operate.”
“You know how I operate?” I raise my eyebrows.
He shrugs a shoulder. “I know you. You don’t involve the women. Isn’t that a rule of yours?”
I toss the sheet of paper onto the coffee table and pick up my mug. “What do you know about my rules, Jet?”
“Take it easy, Cassian. I’m on your side. Things just looked a little heated out there and it’s not like you.”
“She’s collateral, that’s all.”
“It didn’t look like that to me.”
“I’ll take care of Allegra. You don’t need to worry about her. In fact, I don’t even want you thinking about her.” I stand up. “What do you want for this?”
He finishes the last of his coffee, sets the mug on the table, stands and buttons his jacket.
“What do I want?” he asks, eyebrows raised.
“Nothing. It would be bad for Blackstone business if our stepbrother were to be connected with a seized arms shipment, don’t you think?
” he asks testily. “Besides, since when do I have to want something to help you out?”
I’m being an asshole. I know. I push a hand through my hair. “Then I’ll thank you for bringing me the information.”
“You’re welcome.” He checks his watch. “Better go. One word of advice. Watch out with her. She’s under your skin. It took me a split second to see it. They’ll see it.”
By they he means her family. Jethro isn’t stupid.
I’m sure the same thought that crossed my mind has crossed his.
Now that her father is gone, I could expand my territory.
Michael isn’t his father and Malek isn’t blood.
Any truce we had in place they broke when they tipped off the Feds.
Allegra could be the bridge. If I want that.
When I went over there last night, it was not with that in mind. When she walked into that office and I laid eyes on her, that wasn’t my first thought. She may be more useful than I realized at first, but that’s not why I took her.
I see.
I want.
I take.
I am a man. And when I saw Allegra, I wanted her. So, I took her. Simple as that.
I nod to Jet. It’s not that I don’t trust him. Out of the three of them, Sybil, Severin and Jet, he’s the only one I’d come close to trusting. But I wouldn’t give him my back.
Once Jet is gone, I go into my bedroom to find Allegra sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the door. No, glaring at the door.
“I want to see Amal and Daniel,” she demands. “They’ll be worried.”
I pause for a moment, thinking, then walk into the closet to grab my suit jacket. I pull that on and walk back out.
“Fine. Let’s go.”
“Wait. What?”
“Fine, we’ll go see them.”
It’s clear from the furrow between her brows that she’s surprised and suspicious. “Why?”
“You’re concerned for them. Or am I mistaken?”
She narrows her eyes, but stands. I notice she’s wearing the ballet slippers she had on last night. She will need a proper pair of shoes and a coat. It’s freezing out there. The shoes she’ll have to wait on. The coat I can provide.
“So, you’re just going to take me because I’m concerned for them?”
“No, I’m going to take you because you asked so nicely,” I say with a wide, sarcastic smile. I open the door and gesture for her to walk out ahead of me.
She studies me, obviously not trusting me, but is smart enough not to push it. She walks out of the bedroom.
I follow her out, sliding one hand beneath the mass of long, dark hair and wrapping it around the back of her neck. She stiffens and I wonder if it’s my touch or the reminder that we have unfinished business regarding those scars.
“Where’s your brother?” she asks once we reach the door.
I take one of my coats and drape it over her shoulders.
It hangs all the way to the floor. I pull another one on myself.
The soldier at the door opens it. The air is bracing, sun bright on the freshly fallen snow.
A path to the SUV has been cleared, but Allegra’s ballet slippers look like just that, slippers. “Stepbrother,” I say, and scoop her up.
She yelps, hands closing on my shoulders, surprised, then, when she realizes she’s holding on to me, she fights to get free. “What are you doing?”
“Be still.” I look down at her upturned face, her fire eyes, the oval of her angry little mouth. I tighten my hold and carry her to the waiting SUV. Enzo opens the back door, and I slide Allegra in then follow. She quickly scoots to the opposite side, tugging my coat tighter around herself.
“What the hell was that?” she demands.
The soldier closes my door and climbs into the passenger seat. “You’re wearing ballet slippers. Didn’t think you’d want to land on your ass first thing this morning.”
I reach across her and she grips my forearm, pressing her back into the seat. I note the flush of her cheeks and grin as I draw the seatbelt across her chest and click it into place before sitting back myself.
“Do I make you nervous, Moth? Or do you like me being so close?”
She clears her throat, shakes her head. I imagine she hasn’t had much experience with men, but surely some. “I am capable of walking, and I can certainly buckle my own seatbelt.”
She looks down at her feet clad in those ridiculous shoes. Are they even considered shoes? Why does women’s footwear make no sense?
“We’re not blood,” I say, sitting back and buckling my seatbelt as we pull out, one SUV ahead of us and one behind.
“What?”
“Jethro. My father is married to his mother, but we’re not blood.” I’m not sure why I’m explaining this to her.
“Oh. Is your father alive then?”
I nod once.
“Did he send you last night?”
“Excuse me?”
Her forehead furrows and I can tell she’s considering whether or not to continue. “My father had mentioned once that he was sick, so I thought he’d died since it was you who came to our house, but you said he is married to Jethro’s mother. Not was.”
“He’s alive.”
“He can’t be that old.”
“He’s not.”
“What’s your background anyway?”
“Pardon?”
“Your coloring and your eyes.”
I raise my eyebrows as I watch that flush creep up her neck. She’s embarrassed to have asked. I grin. I’ll exploit that.
“Little Moth, do you find me pretty to look at?” I taunt.
She turns away, face bright red now. “The combination is unusual. That’s all. If you’re going to be a jerk, then never mind. Forget I asked.”