Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
MATTEO
G abriel was waiting outside my bedroom door when I got up the next morning.
I didn’t know how long he’d been there, and I wasn’t about to ask either. If that was how he wanted to spend his morning——leaning against the wall, arms and ankles crossed like he was waiting on the bus instead of for his younger brother to finally roll out of bed—that was his business.
My business, on the other hand, was no doubt piled up on my desk at La Sera since I’d spent last night buried between Chastity’s thighs instead of worrying about the club.
But I had to admit it was a far more entertaining way to spend the evening.
But as our father, Giuseppe had always liked to remind his sons—every pleasure comes with a price.
And apparently, payment for last evening’s affair had come due.
“Good morning, brother,” I said after softly closing the door behind me. “I was just about to get breakfast in the kitchen. Want to join me?”
Chastity was still asleep in bed, and I didn’t want our conversation to wake her. Especially not if it turned out anything like yesterday’s argument.
But Gabriel just shook his head. “The only thing I want is to know when you lost your goddamn mind.”
So that’s how this was going to be.
“I’m guessing you heard about last night,” I said.
“That’s a good guess,” he shot back sarcastically. “Now go ahead and guess which part I heard first—that you made a show of kicking every Costa out of Bianco’s or that you did it so you could screw Michael Costa’s daughter loud enough for all of lower Manhattan to hear.”
I straightened up, pulling my shoulders back.
Gabriel might have been my twin, and I was loyal as hell to him, but there was a limit to how much of this bullshit a man could be asked to swallow.
“Stop referring to her as that man’s daughter,” I demanded. “Her name is Chastity.”
“ That’s the part you have a problem with?” Gabriel demanded. “So it is true? All of it?”
“Every goddamn word.” But if my brother thought I would be ashamed or apologetic, he didn’t know me.
He cursed under his breath. “What the hell were you thinking?”
“That a display of strength would make the Costas rethink any desire they had for a war,” I explained. “ And it appeared to be effective. Not one Costa soldier gave us pushback.”
“I don’t doubt that for a second.” However, although Gabriel seemingly agreed with the outcome, he didn’t appear pleased with the method. “No man with even half a brain would put his life on the line for some other asshole’s pride.”
“So what the hell are we arguing about?” I asked.
“Shit, Matteo. You’re supposed to be the smart brother,” he said. “So why are you acting like a fucking idiot over some girl?”
“First, she’s not some girl ,” I hissed, the vehemence in my voice surprising even me. “She’s?—
“—Chastity,” Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. “You keep saying that.”
“And I’ll stop when you finally start listening and get it right,” I shot back. “How would you react if I called Olivia some chick or kept referring to her as Theo Collin’s sister?”
My brother’s face turned deathly serious. “We’d have a fucking conversation.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Watch it, brother,” Gabriel warned, even though I knew he’d rather die than do anything to harm me. “Liv is my wife.”
“And Chastity is both my guest and my responsibility for the next two weeks. Maybe more,” I told him plainly. “That means she deserves respect.”
The line of Gabriel’s lips tightened as he reluctantly accepted the truth of what I was saying. But that didn’t mean he was ready to give up his own argument.
“Fine,” he said. “But I am the boss in this family, and if you come up with any other bright ideas about how to deal with this Costa situation, I expect to hear about them beforehand. Not through the grapevine afterward.”
Strangely, it didn’t help to know that he was right. Gabriel’s position as head of the family didn’t just mean he got to make all the decisions. He also had to take all the responsibility if shit went sideways.
And, if I put myself in his shoes, I could almost understand why he would be reluctant to do so for the sake of some Costa he hadn’t seen since childhood.
Almost .
Still, it took me a second to swallow down my pride and give him my own begrudging nod.
“Agreed,” I said. “But only about the plans dealing with the Costas. I’m not about to ask your permission to take Chastity to bed.”
I could tell from the night lines bracketing Gabriel’s mouth that this was the part of the conversation he’d been dreading the most. “As long as you keep whatever is going on between you two behind your bedroom door, I don’t have a problem.”
I cocked my chin to the side. “And if we don’t?”
“Come on, Matteo,” Gabriel said with a groan. “Don’t do this.”
“Don’t do what ?” I asked honestly. “Since when do you care where anyone in this family fucks?”
All of us D’Angelo brothers were damn good at what we did, but none of us were saints.
Before Gabriel and Dorian had met and married their wives, the three of us had spent almost every night out, doing business with long-legged club girls on our laps, and finding dark corners to screw them in. Those days might’ve been long gone for them, but they certainly weren’t forgotten.
“ I don’t,” Gabriel said. “But Michael Costa sure as shit does.”
Just the sound of the man’s name disgusted me.
“I thought we just agreed we weren’t worried about him.”
“Not about going to war with his family,” Gabriel clarified. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t try something stupid himself if you push him too hard. Costa might not be the smartest man in Brooklyn, but he is proud. Especially when it comes to his daughter. And if he hears what you two got up to last night, he won’t take it well.”
True enough.
“You’re worried he’ll come after me,” I said.
I should have known that this kind of upset reaction from my twin came from a place of concern.
Gabriel shrugged. “I’m worried he’ll try something ,” he said. “Whether it’s aimed at you, me, or the people we care about, I don’t know.”
I let out a long breath and nodded, understanding slowly coming over me.
“If he’s stupid enough to come after any D’Angelo, he won’t succeed,” I stated.
“And it will be the last thing the bastard ever does,” Gabriel said before pushing himself off the wall and heading down the stairs.
At least we agreed on that.