“Enough unpleasantness, let the negotiations begin,” says Papa Giordano, but I barely hear him.
I spent a lot of fucking time thinking about her since that night—Jesus, more than a year ago now—but she never came back. It happens. Some girls slut for a night and we never see them again, but fuck, she was something special. We rode her the whole fucking night and she gave as good as she got. So goddamn perfect.
Now she's here.
And fucking Mafia.
4
ALESSA
Holy crap.
Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap.
It's them. All four of them, right here in the tower. Commanding Viking, tender Bear, clever-tongued Snark and quiet Hawk. And they're looking at me like they want to have a repeat performance right here on the table. I have to play it cool, but my cheeks are on fire.
I swear I'm going to have a panic attack. My hands are shivering so hard the plates clatter when I set them down. I never told the guys who I was, but it’s obvious they recognize me. If they say something, we’re all completely screwed, and not how they’re thinking.
Do they think I was a spy? I would’ve been a really bad one, considering it wasn't information I drained them for, that's for sure.
I have to think about something else before someone notices I’m nearly as red as the tomatoes.
Now they know they banged a girl from the Mafia, but they have no idea what happened afterwards, despite all of our precautions. How they changed my life irreversibly. How they've gotten me thrown out of the Family if anyone finds out, and that's if I'm lucky.
Apparently, when four bikers take turns on you all night, even condoms and the pill together aren’t enough to stop all the swimmers from getting through and doing their thing.
I’ve hidden my secret for over a year now, but now it feels like everyone can tell what I did just by the way I’m walking. I try not to act too suspicious, but I might as well be strolling around whistling innocently. Getting out of here before anyone notices how they’re looking at me is my best bet.
So I ignore Viking's burning stare, Bear’s sexy grin, and the wink Snark sends my way as I set the pastries and wine carafes on the table. I push my cart out of there at record speed. Looking straight ahead, I pretend not to recognize any of them. Hawk is watching me as closely as the bird he’s named for, but as long as everyone else is fooled, that's the most important.
I've already had to isolate myself from the Family, other than occasionally showing my face to keep up appearances when my father demands it, like tonight. I can't afford for the guys to make it even worse.
The door shuts behind me with a soft click, freeing me to release all my held breath with a shudder. I have to go home. Now. Bea makes a great auntie, but she’s not me. I won’t feel safe again until my baby is in my arms. Staying here means trouble.
My heart has almost slowed back down to normal when the door opens and shuts behind me. “I should fucking shoot those pigs where they sit. Scoop out their fucking eyeballs with a dessert spoon for daring to lay their fucking eyes on you.”
And there my heart's racing again, but this time it’s from ice cold fear, not sexy bikers. I wet my lips and try twice before I get words out. “No, Dario. The truce talks are important.”
“Cazzo,” he spits out and moves right up behind me.
The hand he runs down my arm raises goosebumps, the kind you get when you're walking down a dark alley after midnight and suddenly hear footsteps behind you. He has to feel how hard I'm shivering.
I shouldn't have come today. I get the cart rolling towards the kitchen, mostly to get out of his hands.
“Don't you walk away from me,” he snaps and I can picture the sneer on his face without turning my head. “Those pieces of shit fucked you with their eyes the whole time you were out there. They don't deserve a quick death. I'm going to skin them alive, throw them in a pit with their stupid ass bikes, and burn them while they fucking scream. And I'm going to enjoy every damn second.” The hard heels on his dress shoes echo like gunfire on the marble floor as he follows me.
Don't look at him. I can't look at him.
If he ever finds out that the guys laid a hell of a lot more on me than just their hot gazes, never mind what they put in me, he'll start his own freaking war. Dario and I have never been together, and never will if I have anything to say about it, but he's never seen it that way. I do not need him near me right now.