Chapter 5
Vincenzo
The look on her face as she watched me squeeze that fuck’s throat won’t leave my mind for a long fucking time.
My jaw tightens with regret. Pissed at myself for causing that look.
I should have known better than to do it in front of Anna knowing firsthand the damage that Barcelo Gallini did almost choking her to death.
My mind drifts back to the broken angel lying in chains and left for dead just over six months ago.
It quickens my steps as I make my way downstairs, out the private exit from the casino, and into the sleek black limousine parked at the curb.
Terry gives me a glance in the rearview.
He already knows where we’re going, I know Nicolo has the asshole who dared put hands on Anna waiting in chains. But still he asks. “Where to boss?”
“Warehouse.”
I’m in no mood for small talk, my mind spinning with thoughts of Anna, her mistrust of me and my family, and outright denial of the attraction that anyone with a fucking brain knows exists.
She can deny it all she wants but we both know she wanted to go to the lower level of DeLuca X Club as much as I wanted to take her to the playroom. The only thing stopping me from fucking her into oblivion after I made her come all over my face was wanting her to know exactly who I was first.
Fuck chivalry to hell. Now she just thinks I’m a liar and said it right to my face. I swear that woman has not one ounce of self-preservation in her delectable little body.
This damn life. My blood races with fury. So close to having the angel of my dreams and this life, this organization steps in once again and fucks it all to hell.
Usually, Nicolo and I use the soldiers for the rough stuff at the warehouse, leaving enough room between them and us for plausible deniability. Thunder rumbles deep in my chest, a fury not only at the fuck face who threatened Anna but with myself for making her remember all her trauma again.
But our soldier, the one who thought a billion-dollar payday was better than loyalty to my family and threatened my angel, he’s going to be the recipient of every bit of my rage tonight.
The warehouse, where we keep all the rats, the enemies we capture for interrogation, and any other fucker who crosses our family in a vie for territory, money, or power comes into view.
As we get closer my younger brother by a year steps out of a black caddy parked close to the entrance. His step is unusually fast. Something’s wrong with Nicolo.
Terry stops the car as Nicolo walks quickly toward us. A formidable underboss and my very best friend. He slides in beside me. “Drive, Terry.”
My brow furrows. “The fuck?”
“You’re too fucking close to this, way too hot over this situation and emotionally invested. We need information, you’ll kill him.”
“Since when—”
He growls. “You taught me that, Vincenzo. It’s for the protection of the boss, of the family, of our entire organization. We’re not hotheads, we’re smart, controlled, and you are all of that all the time, but for some reason this woman has gotten you into a fucking spin, a major fucking spin.”
I lean my head back against the coolness of the black leather seat as Terry turns the car wide and heads back to the casino. My little brother is smart enough to keep quiet while I calm. He’s not fucking wrong. I’m known for my cool, and if I do get hot, we handle it through the soldiers.
This was personal. That fuck threatened Anna, my angel, my princessa.
Deep down it’s not only that though. It’s the fact that he caused her fear, caused me to bring back a painful memory, when I promised myself I was going to shelter her from it all.
“You make sure they find out exactly what his connection to her is, and who they planned to contact.”
“Already being taken care of, Vincenzo.”
My mind drifts on the way back to the hotel. The minute I saw her walking through my casino like the angel that she is, I knew. Drawn to her, attracted by her angelic look and sexy sway until she turned and I looked right into her eyes.
Masked for the masquerade party of the elites or not, her eyes were undeniable.
Shocked as shit that she was alive after believing her dead for six months, but that same attraction, that almost magnetic, animalistic draw was just as it was six months ago as I carried her from that fucking place where Barcelo left her chained for dead.
There’s no denying I should tell her the fucking truth but there’s a part of me that wants her to learn for herself how wrong she is about me.
I’m not interested in telling her what she should think, what I want her to know.
I want her to feel that I would never harm her in the depths of her fucking soul.
Fuck… There’s no way that I can tell her the truth anyway. One word of this gets back to Massimo and he’s going to demand that I give her back, or we’ll have his soldiers at war with ours, and no one’s going to win in a case like that. The families will kill each other.
The Sarones… I’m not fucking worried about them, no matter that Nicolo is right now. But somehow there’s got to be a way to keep her and my family out of war with the Rosellis at the same time.
Nobody is going to win in a war like that, and Anna is going to end up being collateral damage because she’s no longer safe with Massimo.
He may not know it, or believe it, but the Gallinis, they’re not going to stop coming for Anna until Bastian is satisfied that she’s either not really alive or until she’s dead at his hands.
The thought of him anywhere near her makes my blood race with unprecedented rage.
I just need time to get a plan together that works for everyone. Unfortunately, time is not on our side. Bastian doesn’t move slow and he’s already in the states.
It’s not just a game to him, to anyone in a crime family who’s been wronged. It’s a right, and revenge is a show of power after the death of his brother at the hands of the Rosellis. And if he’s learned that Anna was in my club, he’ll come for the DeLucas too. Of that there is no doubt.
But that’s where Massimo and I are different.
He may have perimeter soldiers with all the weapons in anyone’s army, but I have technological advantages.
An entire tower of the casino is impenetrable by anyone without specific clearance, and aside from my employees no one has access but me and my brothers.
We’ll have to rethink how we clear staff after today’s stunt because we’re sure as hell not going through that again.
Maybe in the back of my mind that’s really digging at me too.
The very first fucking day of keeping her safe and some low-level schmuck gets access to her simply by helping Rosa deliver a tray of fucking food.
I inhale a deep breath. “I want all the staff relocated for the time being. No one has access to the penthouses except the four of us.”
He turns. “I’m good with it but Gianni and Agosto will probably have something to say.”
My lip curls because even at a time like these thoughts of our two brothers and their penchant for the good life is more than amusing. “Talk to them. Keep it on the low down. They tell no one.”
He’s thoughtful for a moment. “I have an additional circle of soldiers between us and the ones at the city limits. The minute a Gallini comes to town we’ll know and can make a stop right there.”
It’s his eyes, and what Nicolo isn’t saying that’s bothering me. “What?”
“What about the Rosellis? They’re out there looking for Anna while we’ve got her in your fucking bedroom. Jesus, Vincenzo.”
“The spare bedroom.” Big fucking difference if you ask me. If she were in my bedroom, I sure as fuck wouldn’t be sitting in this car with him.
His eyebrow arches. “Fine, the bedroom right fucking next to yours. Kept as a prisoner, after you lied right to Massimo’s face about her not being in that car when we got there.
You’ve had a while to think about it now.
What’s the plan? We can’t just keep her and pretend that we don’t have her.
To what end? If the Gallinis want her, and the rumors are that she was promised to Barcelo by her father, then his brother has the right to take her as his bride with Barcelo’s demise.
What choice do you have without starting a war? ”
I glare at my brother. Question of the fucking day. He waits for an answer, but I don’t have one that I plan to give. Even to him. “When I know, you’ll know.”
His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t push. That’s one thing about Nicolo.
He may not approve of what we’re doing, and knows he can tell me anything, but he and my brothers are as loyal as they come.
He’ll tell me straight up how he feels, and I expect it.
No matter what, they’ll stand beside me, whatever I decide.
No matter what trouble comes to our door as a result.
I inhale a deep breath knowing that I could be dragging my entire family into a multi crime family war over a woman who wants nothing to do with me.
My thoughts go back to how I found her lying on the floor of that pit, battered and bloody, unable to speak or even open her eyes, mere hours from being gone.
One bad decision on my little brother’s part put me in Massimo’s debt and in the path of Anna. My jaw tightens with frustration. This should be done, over, finite! That no good piece of shit Barcelo got what was coming to him, but Massimo should have sent Anna underground.
My anger with him renews in strength. Too caught up in his new bride to keep Anna safe.
Sure everyone was fooled for a while with that fake funeral stunt, but did he really think she would be okay with being a prisoner in his home long-term, that there wouldn’t come a time when she would need her freedom?
The minute we’re back to the DeLuca casino Terry lets us out.
Nicolo catches up to me as we walk through the entrance and head to the elevators.
Seldom am I mad at Nicolo, but that fuck in Anna’s face deserved my wrath.
He’s quiet for the ride letting me simmer in silence until we get off and head to our respective penthouses.
“Sorry if I overstepped. It seemed like the brotherly thing to do.”
“It’s fine. You were right, Nicolo.” The minute I’m inside my place, I stalk down the hallway, head to the bar, and pour Dalmar into my glass.
Isn’t it exactly what I’m doing? When they find her, what happens?
We move into a full-scale war with the Rosellis and Gallinis.
And if Massimo finds out I’m holding Anna, have lied to him straight out about what happened, or she gets away and is hurt, I’m well aware it will be on me and that my entire family could pay the price.
I know damn well that’s exactly what was on her mind when I caught her staring at those ships earlier. I make a mental note to have Nicolo get a message to our ship bosses.
Because letting Anna go, into the arms of a man who wants to marry, torture, or kill her?
That’s not going to happen. No matter the cost. I’ve already made the decision.
Anna is not leaving my tower because I’ve already decided Anna is mine to protect.
She has been since the very day I carried her out of that building and I’m not fucking giving her back.