“He’s bigger than that. He’s government big.”
“How big in government? Is he pulling strings?”
“We’re looking into it. They’re going to be a juggernaut to deal with, and they seem to have their sights set on you.”
Good. No part of me ever wanted to cower in the corner. My dad didn’t raise me to be that way. I couldn’t save my father, but I could make him proud. I’d stayed in the hot seat to make a difference for the helpless women who’d become prey for people like Jimmy. Mario took him down after I’d brought the right information to the family. Mario wanted trafficking out of the business for good. I would help them do that.
If Georgie was who Rome was saying he was, I could help so many more and solidify my spot in the family.
“I should have choked him out, then?” I joked and nudged Rome in the shoulder.
He glared at me. “No. You shouldn’t have ditched out of the back of my bar into a dark alley. You should have stayed, Katalina.”
The dark depths of his eyes, the way he ground out the words, the way he hovered in my space made me feel wanted, cared for, special.
I leaned away from him, not needing to get lost in the feeling. My purpose was bigger than finding out what love could offer.
I cleared my throat and picked at one of my fingers. “Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“Act like I have a place with or near you. I needed to go. What we did was over and—”
“That’s bullshit. You don’t walk out of my bar into the dark of the night.”
“I do whatever I want.” I raised my voice.
“Not after I sleep with you, you don’t.” He leaned into my face, and his eyes flicked to my lips. “Don’t make me hate you even more, Kate-Bait. Don’t make me regret it.”
I sighed. Rome was the push to my pull and the enforcer to my plan. I baited and trapped the men, and he killed them all for the family. Still, our team dynamic was sandpaper to a wound as we brushed against one another. He couldn’t forget who I was and that I was too close to the family for our relationship not to be messy. I couldn’t forget how fast and effective he’d been at making me want him as he took the life of the man who threatened mine day in and day out.
I couldn’t get any other words out to make him regret what we’d just done. My heart sped up thinking about his kiss, about the way he touched me. I needed Rome, even if I didn’t want to admit it. Because I wanted to be more in the mob than just an untouchable—I wanted to be seen as a part of the family by standing on my own.
Above all else, Rome would never know he had my heart because I knew I could never own the monster that controlled his.
10
Katie
When Mario waltzed back in with his sons by his side, I was sitting up in the bed. Bastian scanned the scene immediately, like a sponge soaking everything in. He’d grown up to be the tall, dark, and handsome Italian the whole city loved. Most everyone knew of him and his charisma, and he’d become the infamous heir to the mafia throne. He’d also kept a bit of his charm with me, was there when I needed him. Cade idled behind, like a feline never really concerned with what anyone else was doing. Maybe that was the benefit of being younger with less responsibility.
“Bastian has news,” said Mario.
Mario’s oldest son stared at me. “You’re too valuable to be doing what you’re doing.”
His words pummeled me, made me feel like something more than I was. More than just someone who did a job for them.
“I’m fine. Nothing happened.” I shrugged and tried to shake off the feeling of belonging. “I wasn’t paying attention when I should have been.”
“Even if you had been, it still could have happened because you’re close to us, to me. We didn’t consider the repercussions. You’re a threat to many, and now you’re extremely exposed.”
I shrugged. “I can handle it. If you need me to call Georgie to—”
Bastian cut me off. “Move in with me.”
Rome whipped his head around. “What?” he bellowed as my stomach bottomed out.
It was something I couldn’t fathom, an invitation to move to the top of the mob family just like that. I hesitated.