Chapter 3
Chapter Three
“Niko,” is all Marco said as he accepted the call.
“The old man is calling a meeting tonight,” the gravelly voice on the other end said. “At ten. He wants all the lieutenants there, at the club.”
Marco fought hard to keep his anger in check. All he wanted was a night alone with his little cutie, far removed from all the shit of the Family. Was that too much to ask for? Why couldn’t he just hear her laugh and soak in her sweet smile? Fucking Niko had to call and ruin it.
He reminded himself it wasn’t Niko calling the shots.
This meeting was called by the man at the top: Enzo Bianchi—Niko’s father.
And no one dared tell the old man no. If he called a meeting, then there would be a meeting.
“I’ll be there.”
“Bring your girlfriend. What’s her name?”
Marco bit back a curse. Niko knew Kelsey’s name.
As much as Marco had wanted to shield her from the people he worked for and with, sometimes wives and girlfriends were expected to be at Family events.
That’s just the way it was. They had a certain culture.
And if one knew what was good for them, they didn’t buck tradition.
But why tonight? Especially with everything that was going on? Was now really the best time to involve the wives and girlfriends?
Again, though—what the old man wanted, the old man got. And Niko was his mouthpiece. The bastard was as stupid as he was smug. He just did whatever his father told him to do.
God help everyone if he ever gained control of the organization. He’d run it into the ground within a year.
That was a problem for another day, though. Marco had enough weighing on his mind without adding to it with scenarios that may or may not ever happen.
“We’ll be there,” he said.
“Good. Come hungry.”
The call ended. Standing in the hallway, Marco thought things over for a moment before going back into the nursery.
That room, just on the other side of the door he’d closed upon leaving, held his entire world.
Kelsey.
He had to get her out of his ugly world.
Poor thing. She didn’t even realize what he was involved in. Sure, she had to have inklings, at least. But the full extent? Nope. He’d kept her in the dark.
The thought of her thinking less of him was enough to drive him nearly insane.
And the juxtaposition wasn’t lost on him.
In their penthouse that towered high over glitzy but sleazy Las Vegas—a space paid for by Family money and the things Marco did for a living—was the cutest Little he’d ever seen—a woman who was the portrait of innocence and sweetness.
Sure, she was a strong, capable woman, but as a Little, she preferred her world be about having fun with friends and silly adventures and even toys and such.
His world, on the other hand, was about other things. Darker things.
Dangerous things…
That wasn’t the way he wanted it to stay, however. He was going to get out of that life—and he’d make sure Kelsey was far removed from anything or anyone who could hurt her.
She was the only thing he gave a damn about now. The money, the power, the city—none of it mattered.
Not even the Family.
Now, he just needed to find a way to make his exit plans all come together. For his own sake.
And most importantly, for his babygirl’s sake.