She slipped her hand out of mine and lurched to the door. It slammed, and a dangerous silence fell over the house.
Now she would run off to Leo and tell him. I would never be allowed near Gia Leone again, so why did I feel so rotten about that? Wasn’t that what I wanted in the first place?
It didn’t matter anymore. Being near her or away from her amounted to the same thing in the end. It was hopeless, and now that she knew, she would start hating me even more, if that was even possible.
ROMEO
Istepped out of the limo and inhaled a long, deep breath of the fresh air. The Leone family estate looked even better in daylight than it did at night.
All the memories from last week came rushing back now that I was here again. That evening I spent in Gia’s bedroom kept haunting my mind all week.
I couldn’t say I actually spent the evening there. I was only in her room for a matter of minutes, and then it ended with a bang—literally.
Still, I would carry that night with me as one of the most exhilarating of my life. Now I was back here with the prospect of seeing her again.
She must have listened to me and believed that I wanted to propose. When my father contacted Leo Evangelista about me proposing to Gia, Leo must have been at least partly receptive. I wouldn’t be here otherwise.
No one could expect the Leones to take a proposal from me at face value, not after the way our families had been at odds these last several months. Still, Leo didn’t hang up on my father. That was a step in the right direction.
My father, Marco Necci, stepped out of the limo behind me and surveyed the estate with obvious approval. “Take a good look, son. This will all be yours someday.”
“I have to win Gia over first.”
My next younger brother, Enzo, got out after my father. He nodded at the estate. “This is what I’m talking about. Now I see why the Leones are the richest, biggest, most powerful family on the block. Only they would be able to afford a spread like this right in the heart of Manhattan.”
My youngest brother, “Ricky” Riccardo, got out next, but he didn’t even glance at the grounds. He didn’t appreciate the finer things.
I couldn’t help but smile when I looked up at her balcony overlooking the driveway. The family had repaired the balcony doors after Nicky Greco threw me out of them. That balcony would always make me happy. I would see it every day when I came home and probably every night from the inside.
Whoever married Gia might inherit all of this, but the money, influence, and power didn’t concern me. Whoever married her would claimher, that angel from the other night.
Whoever married her would spend every night with her. Whoever married her would spend every night enjoying the magical delights of her body and her delightful, beautiful, delectable ways.
But first I had to win her over. I also had to win over Leo Evangelista, and I had my work cut out for me there. He strode through the big front doors, and his flinty glare at me, my father, and my brothers left absolutely no doubt how he felt about us.
He walked up to my father and stuck out his hand. “Don Marco—welcome to our humble home.”
They kissed on both cheeks according to custom, but anyone could see how stiff and distant they held each other.
“Thank you for seeing us, Consigliere. It’s an honor to offer my son as a suitor for your Gia’s hand.”
Leo only waved toward the house. “Come inside, and we can discuss this properly.”
My father waved toward my brothers. “You know my other sons, Enzo and Riccardo.”
Leo nodded. “I know them. Come inside.”
He turned back toward the house, and a chill fell over me when I saw the man standing behind Leo.
He looked like he got run over by a truck, but the swelling around his eyes had gone down enough that I recognized him instantly. It was Nicky Greco, the guy Enzo and I beat up outside the estate wall, and then he attacked me in Gia’s bedroom.
He glared right at me and didn’t even pretend to be polite the way Leo did. Nicky held himself stiff and straight.
I wouldn’t have expected any man to be upright even a week after taking a beating like the one we gave him. I would be surprised anyone could survive it, but he obviously did. He even made it back to Gia’s bedroom in time to interrupt what could have been the greatest night of my life.
Leo walked past him into the house. Nicky stood guard by the door so my father, my brothers, and I had to walk past him too just to get into the house.
I didn’t want to turn my back on him. The bruising around his face had started turning nasty colors. Cuts, splits, and stitches made him look something like Frankenstein’s monster.