Chapter Eight
Lorenzo
It took everything in me not to pick her up, take her back up to the suite, and plant myself so deep between her thighs that she wouldn’t know what it was like not to have me deep inside her anymore.
I wanted to bury myself so far under her skin that she would stay with me despite her concerns over our world.
She was also tipsy from the alcohol she’d had while she enjoyed her spa day, and when I took her, I wanted her to be clear-headed. Instead, I took her shopping, so she could not only see a little more of the resort, but also use me as her personal Ken doll and pick out a suit for me.
I didn’t realize how isolated she’d been all these years.
I knew she had dance, and her sisters and Rome, but outside of that, it didn’t occur to me that she was so alone.
The look she had on her face as we walked through the hotel suite was one of pure awe.
She lived in a mansion on the edge of Brooklyn, complete with a wall surrounding it for added protection.
I’d seen her bedroom as both a kid and an adult; she had plenty of space and a good-sized bathroom.
Her family was more than well off; she was set for life from her father’s business dealings, but with all her wealth, what did she have?
Nothing. No friends. No vacation memories.
Just her siblings, dance, me, and memories that brought her pain from her dad’s way of life.
She’d been in awe of the room, but I’d been in awe of her.
She was stronger than she gave herself credit for.
Her body had been trained to move with grace on a stage. She was tiny, but strong.
She wasn’t getting the wedding she deserved yet, but I would give it to her later.
For now, we had to settle for what the situation demanded, which was quick and quiet, but one day I’d make it right.
In the meantime, I had to show her that she could still have her wings and live as long as she did it with me by her side.
“Try this one.” She held up a midnight black three-piece suit, complete with a vest.
“Okay. Any particular shirt you want me to try on with it?” I asked, letting her have her way.
She smiled and grabbed a deep red shirt from the rack. “This one.”
I nodded and accepted the clothes that she pulled in my size. “What size shoe do you wear?” Her excitement made me smile. “We’ll get my shoes in a bit. Have a seat right there and wait for me.” I nodded at the soft sofas just outside the dressing rooms.
She sighed, exasperated at me, but nodded and went to sit down.
I watched her pull her phone out before I opened the door to the fitting room and slid inside.
My cock had been at half-mast ever since I picked her up from the salon.
When I held her against me, I’d been rock hard, but forcing myself to calm down, I was able to keep my dick mostly under control.
Bianca was captivating when her inhibitions weren’t lowered by alcohol.
With her inhibitions down, she was fucking lethal.
I’d planned to order a bottle of wine at dinner tonight, but I didn’t want her to have regrets come morning.
I also didn’t want her to have a chance at saying it was a mistake because she was too drunk.
I removed my clothes and changed into the suit Bianca had picked out for me.
It fit like a glove, and the dark colors of the suit with the deep red of the shirt made me look exactly like what I was, a made man.
Typically, I didn’t do the whole suit thing–that was Romeo’s MO as the underboss.
Since I was a soldier, not even a capo, I was able to get away with wearing jeans most of the time.
I finished buttoning up the vest and pulled the jacket over it before walking out of the dressing room to find Bianca sitting there, and a man I recognized standing over her as they spoke.
“Alek,” I snapped when his eyes met mine. He had an amused, predatory smirk plastered across his face.
Alek Zakahrov, aka The Grave Digger, was one of the deadliest men I’d ever met. His body count was all speculation, but I would wager it was higher than anything anyone would deem to consider. He was the hitman for the Kozlov Bratva who owned the Obsidian.
“The boss wants to see you,” Alek stated with a Cheshire grin as he sat down on the arm of the chair next to Bianca.
“I’ll change and drop her off in our suite.” I nodded, not daring to defy the Russian Bratva’s boss on his own turf, not if I wanted to keep Bianca safe.
“No need. She can come with us.” He notched his chin. “Wear the suit. It’s on the house.
At least that meant he wasn’t planning to kill me, yet. Why give me a four-thousand-dollar suit only to ruin it with bullets and blood? “Okay,” I agreed. “Thank you.”
I didn’t take my eyes off Alek as we stared each other down. We weren’t enemies, but we weren’t friends either. “Bianca, do me a favor and grab my clothes from the dressing room for me.”
Alek grinned, knowing I didn’t trust him enough to turn my back and leave him alone with Bianca again.
His pale blue eyes were filled with deadly amusement and reflected the ice in his soul.
He was a lethal son of a bitch, and if his boss wanted to start shit with the Morellis, the request to talk to the boss wouldn’t have been so affable.
I never asked Bianca for a favor, so she moved without question to do as I asked. The more distance between her and Alek, the easier I could breathe.
“She’s beautiful,” he commented as she disappeared behind the fitting room door.
“She is,” I gritted out. I knew other men looked at her, hell, her own guard ogled her until I put the fear of God in him, but it didn’t mean it didn’t piss me off to have someone so blatantly comment on her physical appearance.
“She’s yours then.” He notched his chin toward me.
“She is,” I admitted, claiming her as mine. She’d always been mine, but tomorrow it would finally be legal and official.
“She’s also Morelli’s daughter.”
I nodded, confirming her identity. He wasn’t asking questions he didn’t already know the answers to. He was fishing for something, but I wasn’t sure what.
“The boss’s daughter.” He cocked his head, studying me. “Seems to me I heard a rumor that one of the Morelli girls was soon to be married to Antonio Arias.”
“You were misinformed,” I gritted out and clenched my fists. “There were discussions, but no confirmation that the marriage would take place.”
“Is that right?” He grinned.
“What’s your game, Alek?” I grew tired of whatever he was searching for. I wanted him to get to the point.
“No game. Just gathering intel.” He shrugged.
“You don’t need intel on the Morellis. It’s a different world down here.”
He laughed. “You’re not wrong about that. It is a different world, but knowledge is power, and men like us can never have enough power.”
“I think that depends on the man and what he intends to do with that power,” I said flatly. “Bianca, you can come out,” I called out to her, still not taking my eyes off Alek.
I felt Bianca come up beside me. She carried my clothes in her arms. Her body pressed against my arm as she slipped her free hand into mine. I could feel her body trembling in fear. She was smart; Alek was definitely someone to fear.
Alek noticed her fear and sent her a smile. It surprised me that he gave her that small gesture of kindness as he was a hard, cold man, and lethal as hell. “You’ve nothing to fear, Bianca Morelli. You’re safe here.”
I could feel Bianca’s hand relax in mine, and I heard her small sigh of relief before she whispered her thanks to the hitman.
It was laughable, thanking a hitman for keeping you safe seemed a little crazy, but Alek wasn’t one for bullshit.
If he were here for a purpose other than to bring me back to his boss, he would have gotten to the point by now.
“Let’s go.” He rose from his perch on the couch. We followed him out of the dressing room. As we passed the counter with the cash register and the associate, Alek nodded toward us. “Whatever they need, they get on the house. Send the receipts to me, and I’ll get them taken care of.”
“Yes, sir.” The man’s voice quivered in fear as he readily agreed with Alek.
We followed him as he led us back out through the main casino floor. “What’s going on?” Bianca whispered only loud enough that I could hear over the sounds of the slot machines and laughter.
“I don’t know, but stay close to me at all times. Follow my lead, and we’ll be okay. If Alek wanted to hurt us, we’d be dead already.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm, and I could all but hear her eyes roll.
If we weren’t on our way to see Alek’s boss, I would have laughed.
Instead, I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her close.
She was carrying my clothes; I would have taken them from her, except I wanted to leave my hands free in case I needed to protect her.
“No, my presence is what’s supposed to comfort you,” I whispered back. “You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Alek took us down a short hall to a door that had a keypad. He gave me and Bianca pointed looks that said glance away, which we did. We heard a series of beeps before he opened the door. The door led to a foyer of sorts. There was a bench and a private elevator.
We watched Alek as he scanned a badge and then placed his palm on a small screen on the wall. The elevator doors opened once his identity was confirmed through the system.
On the elevator, he leaned forward to a retinal scanner before he was able to hit the third level.
“You have enough layers of security?” I joked at the excessiveness, but I had to admit the setup they had was pretty cool.
“We have an expert who designed the system. This is the only elevator in the building that leads to the third floor besides the freight elevator, and the freight elevator has even more security on it.
“You’re joking?”
Alek raised his brow, “No. I’m not.”
***