Chapter 23
TWENTY-THREE
Marchello
Lissia’s impulses were going to get us killed. I had allowed her to get so out of control, and now we were all going to suffer the consequences.
Why would I ever want her father’s help? That bastard tried to kill me.
“I don’t have to let you do anything,” I said.
“My father has offered us a solution.”
“What is wrong with you?” I sprung off her and sat at the edge of the bed. “What would make you think going to your father on my behalf was a good idea?”
“Didn’t you hear what I said?” She got up on her knees and draped her arms over my shoulders. “I found a way to get your dad home. Isn’t that what you want?”
“More than anything,” I mumbled. “But that isn’t something you have the power to do.”
“You’re wrong.”
“Am I?” I shook my head at her stupidity. “You can’t bring him home. What makes you arrogant enough to think you can do what I can’t?”
“I asked my father to do it.”
Wasn’t that worse? She thought her father could accomplish what I couldn’t?
“You wasted your time. There is nothing Gian can do in this situation.”
“You don’t know that,” she said.
“You need to drop this.”
“I can’t.”
“What did you ask him to do?”
My stomach coiled into a tight knot when I thought about her visit with Gian. She had been inside my organization for months and was privy to crucial information. One little slip up, and I could regret having her with me.
“I told him about Miguel and how the cartel was making your dad find out who was responsible for his disappearance or death.”
Fuck!
“He didn’t know, but he suspected your dad’s disappearance had something to do with the cartel. My father can?—”
“Stop talking!” I bolted from the bed and scooped my pants off the floor. “Your father can’t do anything because he knows nothing, and even if he did, you don’t have anything to bargain with.”
I grabbed her clothes and tossed them at her before putting on my pants.
“Your father will expect something in return.” Pacing the floor, I stopped in front of the closet door and pounded my fist into it. “That’s how this works.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t know. You don’t have anything to give him in return.”
“I might,” she whispered.
“All you did was give him information he didn’t have before. Now he has leverage against me.” I ran my hand along my jaw. “You’ve given him enough to go poking around and cause more aggravation for my family.”
She quickly put on her clothes.
“What else did you tell him?” I asked.
“About what?” She joined me by the closet. “I wouldn’t tell him anything I know about you and your business.”
“You told him about Miguel and the cartel.” I should kill Ricardo for trusting her with that information.
“I did that for a reason.”
“Why can’t you stay out of my way?” I opened the closet door and hurried inside. I skimmed my fingers along the row of expensive dresses and glanced down at the boxes of designer shoes she had stocked the walk-in with. Having her here with me, sharing a room, sharing a home, seemed so natural.
“I’m not trying to get in your way.”
“Why do you want to blow up my life?” I asked.
“I don’t.” She placed her hand on my shoulder. “Do you really want me out of your way? Is that what you’re contemplating now? Sending me back?”
“You don’t want to know what I’m thinking.” Giving her back to her father would be the easiest solution. “But I’d love to know what you were thinking when you went to him and told him all about my dad.”
“I thought I could help.”
I spun around and glared into her eyes.
“I know you don’t want my help, but whether you want to admit it or not, you need it.”
“You’re right.” I toned down my volume. “I do need your help.”
“Finally, you’re making sense.”
“I need you to stay out of my business.” Gripping her arm, I guided her out of the closet and forced her to sit on the bed. “You can help me by being here when I need you. I want you in my bed and in my arms, calming me when it all gets to be too much.”
“I’ll do all of that, but I want to do more.”
“I don’t want you to go to your father or interfere in my work.”
“It’s too late,” she said. “Can’t you see we are so far into this that we have to come up with a plan? Whether you like it or not, my dad can help us.”
“No, he can’t.” There was nothing Gian would do for me that wouldn’t end up costing me everything in the end. I stood directly in front of her, bracing myself for an answer I was certain I wouldn’t like. “What did you offer him?”
“Nothing.” She bit her thumbnail. “But he did ask for something.”
“What does he want?”
“Me.”
“You?” A second ago I pondered giving her back, but hearing her say that her father asked for her return changed my thought process.
Would she leave me because she thought it would help me?
“He called yesterday and said he had information that could be useful to you.”
“He obtained information in less than twenty-four hours, and you believed him?” I shook my head. “I don’t have time for this.”
“I think we should hear him out.”
“Do you?”
“He could have something.” She got up on her knees and clasped my hand. “The idea of getting me to come home may have motivated him.”
Could she really be this naive? How could she trust her father after everything he had done?
“So, what? You’re going to offer yourself to him in exchange for this so-called information? Then what? Marry the arms dealer? Maybe your dad will send Danny to deliver the information and retrieve you. Sound familiar?”
“I get why you’re skeptical,” she said.
“Why aren’t you?”
“Because if there is the slightest chance I can make things right for you and your family, I’ll do it.”
Rage bubbled inside me with each breath I drew from my tired chest. My head pounded, and my body ached. Physically and emotionally, I didn’t have much left. I couldn’t deal with her now.
The longer I stayed in this room, the better the chances were that I would explode and take her with me, creating damage that we wouldn’t be able to come back from.
“Marchello.” She traced her fingers over my smoking gun tattoo, following the outline meticulously.
“I should warn you that I’m seconds away from losing it. You went to your father with vital information—details that could put my father in grave danger. I could consider that a betrayal.”
“I didn’t betray you.” She squeezed my hand. “I could never do that.”
“Choose your words wisely.”
“What if what I’ve done can bring him home? Isn’t that what you want?”
“You are asking me to choose between you and my father.”
If Gian had the information she thought he did, in order to bring my father home, I would have to sacrifice her.
“I know who you’ll choose,” she whispered. “I just need to hear you say it. Tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”
Running my hand through her hair and twisting my fingers in the strands, I tilted her face and lowered my lips to hers.
“You don’t fucking know anything about me,” I growled. “I’m not sure you ever have.”
“Marchello,” she gasped.
I released her from my hold and hustled out of the room before I lost my shit.
Striding down the back stairs my feet thundered against the floorboard. I stopped in the kitchen and slammed my hand against the countertop. The audacity of that woman. Had I not been clear enough when I said I didn’t want her help? Why didn’t she understand I would never negotiate with her father?
I didn’t have the energy for another one of her absurd plans to blow up in my face. My men were preparing the docks for both cartels to bring in their shipments. There could be no mistakes. The Accetti family had to receive the shipments and keep them safe until I thought it was clear to move them through.
In and out. I had to pull this job off as smoothly as my father would. Only, he didn’t have the distraction I had. The one thing that could bring me down.
“Marchello!” Lissia rushed down the steps.
Right on cue.
She stopped when she reached the bottom of the steps, looking more disheveled than I’d ever seen her with her sex hair and flushed cheeks. My bite marks and fresh scrapes were prominently displayed on her neck and cleavage.
I leaned against the counter, resisting the urge to grab the vodka and drink it from the bottle.
“What can I do for you, princess?”
“Why did you walk out on me?”
“Why do you think?” If I had stayed, I might have snapped her in half.
“Because you didn’t want to hear the truth.” She placed her hand on her hip, but she didn’t hold any authority standing there in her underwear.
“Your version of the truth.” I stalked toward her, but she didn’t retreat. My jaw was clenched so tight my head hurt. “Do you honestly think I would send you back to your father? The man who wanted to marry you off to an arms dealer. The same father who took a shot at you.”
When I said it out loud, it sounded really bad. Was that how she saw me?
“You tell me all the time you’ll always put your family first.” She shrugged. “I’m giving you the opportunity to do that.”
I didn’t know what upset me more. The fact that she thought I would sacrifice her or that she didn’t know I considered her family.
“I don’t want to go back to my dad,” she said.
“Then why are we having this conversation?”
“Because if there is anything I can do to show you how much I love you, this would be it.” She rested her palm on my jaw. “You need your father here. I can see the conflict in your expression, and I hear you with Milo. I know the cartel is demanding you to do more, and now that you’re working with Lorenzo, you have more pressure.”
She had been paying attention.
“You said as long as we were together there could be no peace. I didn’t want to believe that, but it’s true.”
“I don’t want it to be true,” I said.
“But it is.” Rare tears skimmed the brims of her eyes. “I want more than anything to have a future with you, but we can’t focus on tomorrow if you’re constantly fighting with my father and trying to keep things afloat between two cartels, all the while doing whatever you can to find information to help your dad.”
A lone tear managed to escape and slip down her cheek.
“It’s too much, Marchello. I can’t watch you in so much anguish.”
I wiped her tear away with my finger, but another one quickly followed.
“Don’t cry.” I pressed my lips to hers. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Loving me so much that you would put yourself in a position of misery and pain.” I took her hand and brought her to the center island. “The problem with your very flawed plan is I love you so much that I would never send you back to your father. I wouldn’t risk him handing you over to Collins.”
“Even if it meant reuniting your family?”
“I haven’t made something clear.” I lifted her up and sat her on the counter, stepping between her legs. “You are my family.”
Her eyes widened.
“I thought you understood how much you mean to me when I told you I loved you.” I caressed her cheek. “I need you. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I didn’t know it was possible.”
“I don’t ever want to be without you but…” She sighed. “It was a stupid plan.”
“Extremely.” Taking her face between my hands, I slowly kissed her. “Getting my father home is not your responsibility, but staying with me and keeping yourself safe is.”
“I would do anything for you.”
“You don’t have to prove anything to me.” I twirled the end of her hair around my finger. “I need you with me.”
Knowing she would risk herself to help me didn’t sit well with me. If Collins got his filthy hands on her again, she might not be as lucky as she was last time. I had to find him and kill him before that could happen.
Another problem that needed my attention.
“Promise me, no more stunts.” I kissed the inside of her wrist. “If you don’t respond to my fury or my punishments, maybe you’ll respond to my emotions. I have too much going on right now to have to worry about you putting yourself in danger.”
She gazed into my eyes and smoothed her hands up my arms and across my chest before leaning in and kissing me. I ran my palms along her thighs and to her waist, closing the small gap between us until our bodies touched.
The kisses were long and slow, tethering us to one another. The connection created a spiritual bond that went deeper than our usual frantic passion. There were no threats in this encounter. No push and pull from either of us. I didn’t try to control her. It was just the two of us revealing our raw feelings.
She draped her arms around my neck and trailed her lips along my jaw.
“I’ve never had what we share with anyone.” She snuggled her head into the crook of my neck. “No one gets me the way you do.”
“We don’t need your father,” I said. “I’ll find another way.”
“I trust you.”
“I need to trust that you won’t leave me.”
“Never,” she whispered. “I’m sorry I told my dad about Miguel.”
That was the least of my problems. I still had to carry out my father’s orders and eliminate Gian while keeping two cartels happy. Protecting the Accetti territory was crucial if my family expected to stay on top.
“Please stick to shopping and makeup.” I smirked. “Let me handle the organized crime department.”
“I want to do more than shop and look pretty.”
“I know you do, and when we’re in a more secure time with my business, I’ll support whatever career choice you decide on.”
My phone began buzzing, and I retrieved it from my pocket.
“It’s Milo,” I said. “I have to take it.”
She nodded.
“What’s up?” I answered.
“I’m at the docks, and it’s swarming with the FBI,” he said.
“That means we can’t move either of the cartel shipments until shit dies down.”
Another fucking delay I didn’t need. I hadn’t successfully moved a shipment into the ports in over a month. Juan and his people were not going to tolerate another delay. This wasn’t the best way to form an alliance with Lorenzo and his crew either.
“There is nothing to move.” Milo sighed. “The Feds confiscated both shipments.”
Lissia took my hand and smiled, but not even her touch could calm the storm rising inside my gut.
“How the fuck did that happen?” I shouted. “We had people in place to make sure it would arrive safely. Informants, agents in our pocket.”
“We are slowly being dismantled,” Milo said. “They are targeting our cartel shipments because they know if we don’t keep them happy, we don’t stand a chance.”
Gallanti.
“No more warnings.” I gripped the phone so tight I thought it would crush under the pressure. “We’re ending this tonight.”
The time for a quick ambush was over. Gian would suffer, and he would see me coming. It wasn’t the first time I’d planned a risk like this, but if I let my anger get the best of me, it might be the last.