Chapter 23
EMILIA
“Mr. Venosa, can I have a moment, please?” A man’s voice called over the hum of the room.
I felt Nico stiffen when he stopped. He turned and pasted a smile on his face.
I expected him to step away from me, but he let go of my hand and placed his hand around my waist, pulling me partway in front of him.
His arousal was impossible to miss, and just to add a little torture, I rubbed my ass against him. His grip tightened on me, and he leaned down to my ear. “Stop it, Emilia.” He whispered as the man stopped reaching out his hand to Nico.
“I’m so glad I caught you.” Whoever this man was, he didn’t attempt to acknowledge my presence.
I wasn’t offended. I hated meeting people, and tonight I was at my limit.
Looking around, I saw a man staring at Nico.
The look on his face was pure murder. Letting my eyes scan the room, I made a point not to really look at the man and feign interest in what the man in front of me was saying.
Turning, I looked up at Nico’s irritated face.
“I’m so sorry, I’m suddenly not feeling well.
Nico, we need to go.” Nico’s hand moved to my wrist, and I knew my pulse was hammering.
I didn’t know how to let him know there was a problem without alerting the entire room, which would surely cause mass chaos. “Now,” I said through gritted teeth.
He didn’t wait to say goodbye; he just pushed me to the door. His grip on my wrist was bordering on painful. “We have to get out of here,” I whispered as we neared the door. He didn’t turn to look at me; he just kept walking. The cold air hit me like a hundred knives, but I couldn’t worry about it.
Our car was fifteen feet away, and I was basically running, trying to keep up with the long, purposeful steps Nico was taking.
The slam of the car door shut out the world; the next door closing was the driver getting in.
Shifting in the seat, I looked behind me and saw the man rushing down the stairs.
“Go!” I yelled at the driver. He didn’t hesitate; the car was speeding away from the gala, and I flopped back into the seat.
“Would you care to explain what that was all about?”
“Fernando Ajello.”
“How did you know?”
“He didn’t belong, too dishevelled, rumpled suit, laser focused on you, and I’ve seen him before.” I knew I was rambling, but being in a situation where I didn’t know anyone wasn’t my usual.
Darkness enveloped the car as we left the lights of downtown.
Nico moved his hand to my neck, “god, I’m glad you had control of the situation.
” His mouth crashed against mine, and he pulled me onto his lap.
There was no sensuality in his kiss; it was a passionate need.
He roughly shoved his tongue in my mouth, and I shifted on his lap, and I felt his rock-hard erection pressing against me, and I moaned.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me anymore?” He asked, never taking his mouth off me.
“I might have just saved your life. I think I proved how valuable I can be.” I whispered as he dragged his tongue down my neck.
I let my head fall back, giving him more access.
He clamped his mouth on my neck and then moved lower and repeated the same move down my collarbone before moving back to my mouth.
My brain engaged, and I pushed him away. “Did you just trail hickies down my neck?”
“Yes, and if they aren’t prominent enough, I will do it again tomorrow.” Nico moved his hand and dragged his fingers over the line he’d made.
“Did you forget your family is coming tomorrow?” I looked at him through the darkness. We’d driven out of the city and were speeding toward the house.
There should have been no lights behind us.
Antonio was in the passenger seat. We’d gone out with no extra security.
I didn’t have time to open my mouth, and Nico pushed me off his lap.
With the length of my dress, I got tangled up in it and fell to the floor.
“Stay down.” He growled at me, and I knew better than to disobey him.
What I needed to know was how he knew; somehow, he knew there’d been someone following us.
Shifting in his seat, he pulled his gun from the holster on his side. “The others are just ahead of us.” Antonio turned around and ignored me sitting on the floor. The driver stepped on the gas, and I tumbled into the other seat.
“Walter, be careful, I’m the only one who puts bruises on my wife.
” He grumbled as he looked down at me, dragging his fingers over my neck.
Walter? The driver’s name was Walter? How did I not know that?
Focus on the problem at hand, Emilia. Again, my brain is bringing me back around to the nightmare.
Headlights whizzed by, and our car slowed, making a turn through the gates and pulling to a stop in front of the house.
“I’ll get Emi into the house, and be right back.
” He shouted to Antonio as the pops of gunfire erupted outside the gates.
I didn’t have to guess how fast we’d move; Nico grabbed my arm and pulled me through the front door.
Nico was silent as we ran through the house. “Stay here.” He opened the door and pushed me in. Don’t open this door unless it’s Anto or me, got it.” His words hurried, and his gaze so intense I couldn’t speak, I only nodded. The door slams shut, and I hear a loud click as the lock engages.
Glancing around the room, I realized there were no windows, and if I weren’t staring at the entrance, I wouldn’t have known there was a door there. I didn’t know why he thought I could open the door; there was no doorknob.
There was a wall of books on one side of the narrow room, and a couch on the other.
Gray paint made the room depressing, but I supposed if it was a safe room, it wasn’t the place for a party.
Walking over to the bookshelf, I grabbed one and noticed a gap between the shelf and the back of it.
Sliding my hand along it, I hit something and heard a latch unlock.
The entire bookshelf opened, and I quickly stepped out of the way and stared at a wall of weapons.
Guns, knives, and ammunition lined shelves and hung on the wall.
This should scare me, but it didn’t. My father had nothing like this.
If anyone got into his house, he only worried about himself, and I was sure he’d cower away and let everyone else get butchered.
I don’t know how long I was in the room; there was no clock, nothing to count the time.
Flopping down on the couch, I opened the book and tried to read.
What if he forgot I was in here? There’s enough weapons to arm a small militia, but no food?
Seems like poor planning for a safe room.
Water, why isn’t there water? Well, there’s no bathroom, so that might be a problem.
If Nico and Antonio are killed, who will look for me? I’ll die of dehydration or starvation, which would happen first? Probably dehydration. I nod as if I’m having a silent conversation with someone other than myself.
Looks like I’ll be sleeping in a ball gown again.
Why does this always happen when Nico’s involved?
Oh, right, because he’s a mob boss, not just a boss, one of The Five.
They make my father’s operation look like a two-bit side show.
What I was dealing with was short-term compared to what Nico does day-to-day.
That realization hit hard. His life was threatened every moment, for just being who he was.
“Emilia, wake up.” A warm hand caresses my face. I startle awake and try to scramble back on the couch until I realize who’s crouching beside me.
“It’s you.” I throw my arms around his neck and pull him to me.
His low chuckle sounded like music in my ears.
“What the hell were you thinking, tossing me in this prison? Do you know there’s no food in here?
” I let him go and punch his shoulder. He groans, and I look down to realize I’d punched the shoulder that received a bullet last night.
“I’m sorry.” Closing my eyes, I scrunched up my face and waited for him to get mad.
“You’re sitting on the food, and I see you’ve found the weapons stash.
” He pulled me off the couch, closed the decoy bookshelf, and then lifted the couch cushion.
A stockpile of junk food and dehydrated packages sat under the couch in organized rows.
He lowered the cushion and lifted the next one, which held water and juice.
“It’s all here. Put your hand on this.” He pointed to a spot on the bookshelf, and I did as he said. The wall opposite us opened, revealing a bathroom.
“Well, you’ve thought of everything, too bad you didn’t share that information. Can I leave now?” I cross my arms and wait. He stepped out of the way and motioned for me to leave the room. I wanted to apologize to him, I also want to hit him again for just tossing me aside.
“Fernando Ajello tried to avenge his son’s deaths.
” Nico reached for my hand and laced his fingers with mine.
We walked together to the stairs and took them slowly.
“Last night, we took out most of his organization at the docks. He was trafficking women, and we caught wind of it. We might not be the most honest men in the world, but there’s one thing The Five won’t tolerate, and that’s trafficking.
” We stopped outside our door, and Nico didn’t try to open it.
“One of his sons got away, and they decided they could take me out at the gala. The man who stopped us on the way out was one of his men. If you hadn’t seen him, there would have been a lot of innocent people hurt.” He took a step toward me and held my hand tighter. “I won’t ever doubt you again.”
I wanted to kiss him, I wanted him to take me to bed, but my brain was moving too fast. “What happened to Fernando?”
“We captured him and his only surviving son and took care of them; that’s what took me so long. I was hoping to get information from them, but they knew less than I’d imagined.” He sounded dejected, and like there was more going on that I didn’t know.
“Something else is wrong,” I said, narrowing my gaze and making him look at me.
“Your father’s trying to mount a fight. There’s been quiet chatter that he’s going to come after you for humiliating him.
” My blood ran ice cold, and I took a step back.
“I won’t let him close to you, amore, of that I will guarantee.
We took out a large chunk of his allies in the Ajello’s, but I was hoping to find out who else he was trying to work with, but Fernando didn’t know. ”
“You have to tell me everything as soon as you know it. I will not tolerate you keeping this from me. This isn’t the business anymore, this is my life.” My voice rose, and I was almost shouting now.
He put his hand on the back of my neck and crouched so he was looking me straight in the eyes. “I swear on my life, I’ll tell you everything as I find it out.” His eyes focused on mine, full of fire, and I knew he was telling me the truth.
Without another word, we climbed the stairs to our room.
When Nico shut the door, I wanted to be out of this dress, in his arms. “Could you unzip me?” I turned and looked over my shoulder.
Nico’s eyes were heavy with lust; hell, they always were when he looked at me.
He let go of me and dragged his hands over my hips and up my back.
“You were magnificent tonight. I was so proud to look out in that crowd, and see you sitting there, knowing you’d be going home with me.
” The sound of the zipper being lowered filled the room.
“Then you threatened Lilly, and I wanted to take you right there.” He pushed the dress off my shoulders and ran his palms over my back.
“Well, I have to admit seeing you on that stage, under that spotlight, I looked around the room, and every woman wanted you. They saw your power, sexiness, and the slight terror of your reputation, but I was the only one you were leaving with, and you weren’t shy about it.
” Turning, I wrapped my arms around his neck and smiled.