She drank in the sight of Lorelei. Her sister wore a black dress and looked well enough. There was no overt sign of distress or abuse, at least. Not that it meant anything. It hadn’t been long since she married Romeo. Lorelei watched her with a wary look that Rose didn’t like, but at least she didn’t have a gun pointed at her.
Romeo’s right-hand man stood at his shoulder, tense and waiting for Romeo to indicate which way he wanted this to go. Salvatore D’Angelo. He was a massive white man with sandy blond hair, broad chest and shoulders and solid stomach. Dangerous. Not someone Rose would intentionally cross if she had any other option.
The other two were Romeo’s siblings, Fabian and Drucilla. Both took after their elder brother with their coloring, dark hair and those strange amber eyes. Fabian had the look of a rich playboy who’d never gotten his hands dirty once in his life, but it was a mask. Rose had seen photos of his work with a knife, and he wasn’t a threat to be underestimated. Drucilla was a social media influencer, and there had been talk of a reality TV show before Romeo shut it down. She played to expectations, but she was just as dangerous as her brothers.
They didn’t matter.
Romeo was the one who made the decisions for the family. He was the one she had to convince to see things her way.
Rose kept her smile firmly in place. “I thought it was time we spoke.”
Romeo considered her for a long moment before he turned to Lorelei. “Do you want to speak with your sister?”
Shock rocked Rose back on her heels. What the fuck was going on here? He wasn’t exactly being soft with her sister—she wasn’t sure Romeo Capparelli was capable of being soft—but she hadn’t expected him to consult Lorelei at all. Certainly not as someone resembling an equal.
Her sister gave a deceptively sweet smile. “Of course, muzh. She’s family.”
“Very well.” He motioned at his siblings. “Give us a few moments.”
Drucilla and Fabian exchanged a loaded look, but they didn’t argue. They simply rose to their feet and filed out of the room, Salvatore on their heels. Rose glanced over her shoulder at Vasily. “You, too.”
They hesitated, but finally nodded and slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind them. Only then did she turn back to Romeo and her sister. “You’re dodging my phone calls.”
“Call it the honeymoon phase,” Romeo said, no inflection in his tone. “We’re only just married.”
Lorelei went a little tight around the eyes, but she shrugged. “I’ve been busy.”
Can you ever forgive me for putting you in this position?
Rose didn’t ask the question. There was only so much she was willing to reveal in front of Romeo and he showed no signs of leaving. On the other hand, threats were easy enough. She propped one hand on her hip and looked down at him. “If you harm a single hair on my sister’s head—”
“She’s my wife.” He raised a single eyebrow. “I’m not sure how the Romanovs treat their spouses, but Lorelei is in no danger from me.” He finally looked at his wife. “Your sister and I have some business to discuss. She’ll come talk to you after.”
Rose expected Lorelei to argue or say…something. But she simply nodded and rose. She slipped past Rose and out of the room without a word. She was acting too placid, too docile. Not like the Lorelei Rose knew at all. What the fuck was going on?
Rose turned back to Romeo. “Did you do something to her?”
“No.”
“Why won’t she talk to me?”
He shrugged. “That business is between you and your sister. You didn’t come here for a family reunion.”
No. She hadn’t. She needed his cooperation, but the weird interaction with Lorelei had rattled her. “We need to talk.”
“Si.” He motioned to the chair across from him. “Sit.”
As she sat, he took the bottle of wine and poured her a glass. It was only once she picked it up that he continued. “If you try to take Lorelei from me, you won’t like the consequences.”
She set the glass down without drinking. “You wanted her from the beginning. Not me.”
Another shrug. “Why are you wasting time parroting back information we both already know to be true?”
She kind of wanted to shatter her glass on the table and impale his neck with it. Rose could almost see the spatter of arterial blood that would cover everything. It wouldn’t solve anything, would only make more problems, but it would feel so good. She gave herself a shake. “I want to know why you picked her.”
“That’s not why you’re here.”
No, it wasn’t, but now that she sat in the same room with him, she had to know the truth. “I still want to know.”