Part of his hair had been shaved off, and a vicious line of stitches dotted a terrible gash on the side of his skull, but that hateful fury in his hard, black eyes left nothing at all to the imagination.
None of the other New York Italian mob families would let a guy as injured as this go back on duty to guard their highest royalty, but this guy was in a class by himself. I wouldn’t like to tangle with him even in this state. He looked perfectly capable of tearing someone apart with his bare hands.
I had to turn my back on him to get into the house. He followed too closely on our way to Leo’s office. I had to fight the urge to turn around and face Nicky in case he attacked me again.
His whole presence radiated murderous rage like he might explode on me at any second, but he didn’t. He just stood there throbbing with hatred while the four of us lined up in front of Leo’s desk.
I perked up once I got inside and discovered Gia already there. She stood to one side. As soon as we went in, Nicky moved over and stationed himself at her side exactly the way he did at her father’s funeral. A man would be taking his life in his hands trying to get near her.
This was going to be harder than I thought, especially now that Cesare Terranova was staying right here at the estate where he could spend every day with her.
She glowed with her usual radiance. She wore an immaculate dark blue business suit. Her hair cascaded down her face and shoulders in a shimmering waterfall of bliss.
I had a flashback of her slumped in front of her mirror touching herself and then gasping in my mouth while I fingered her.
I couldn’t stop staring at her. She actually took my attention away from Nicky. Her skin, eyes, and hair glowed with… was it sexual energy, or did my own memory of that night cloud my judgment?
She was supposed to be a virgin when she got married, but that might be breaking down now that she was surrounded by suitors.
Was Cesare making strides to get into her panties… or could it be Leo? He might be old, but no one could call the guy over the hill. He was at least as powerfully built as Cesare, and probably more so.
His eyes flashed as much as ever, and he obviously had the Leone empire under control. He was almost as influential as Don Alonzo had been. That made sense since they ran the empire together while Don Alonzo was alive.
Gia was definitely thriving and getting her rocks off somewhere. I highly doubted she was doing it all by herself in her upstairs bedroom.
My father either didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary or else he pretended not to. My father completely ignored Nicky and Gia and concentrated everything on Leo.
“Well, Consigliere. Here we are. Now we can discuss my son’s proposal. We would like to offer him as a suitor for Miss Gia’s hand in marriage. I’m sure you’ll find Romeo’s inheritance substantial enough to tempt even a bride as influential as Miss Leone.”
“Your proposal is noted, and we will take it under consideration,” Leo returned in a flat, emotionless tone. “I must tell you, Don Marco, that we will not accept any proposal from a family so hostile to the Leones’ interests—as the Neccis have proven themselves to be countless times.”
“I have no idea what you mean. We have never acted against the Leone family’s interests. We have always conducted ourselves according to tradition and respected the Leones’ territorial claims. You know this yourself, Consigliere.”
Leo narrowed his eyes even more and compressed his lips. “What about the Tribeca warehouse attack? What about the Uptown market attack earlier last month? What about all the other attacks your people have perpetrated against our assets all over New York? How can you even dare to stand there and deny it?”
My father waved that away. “I assure you the Neccis had nothing to do with any of that. You must have mistaken us for someone else. Perhaps someone is attacking the Leones and making it appear that we are doing it. Perhaps one of the other families is deliberately trying to undermine this very marriage.”
I resisted the urge to glance over at my father. How could he bald-faced lie to Leo Evangelista like this?
Of course, the Neccis perpetrated all those attacks and many more. My father had been at war against the Leones for years.
He just did it in a way that gave him a way to deny it so he didn’t have to bring it right out in the open.
He couldn’t bring it right out in the open. The Neccis couldn’t win against a family as powerful as the Leones—not in open warfare.
We had to weaken them first by chipping away at their territory and their powerhouse businesses.
Leo didn’t buy the ruse, either. “There is no marriage, and there never will be until we satisfy ourselves that this union will be in our family’s interest. Until then, Romeo and Gia are both free to pursue other options.”
“Perhaps Miss Gia should be the one to decide whether Romeo’s proposal has any merit.” My father turned to Gia for the first time. “What do you think, Miss Leone?”
“I am Gia’s guardian, and she won’t marry anyone without my approval,” Leo snarled. “For a man who speaks so highly of tradition and respect, you aren’t getting off to a very impressive start.”
My father opened his mouth to say something else, but I had heard enough. This was going to disintegrate into an argument, and that would derail my chances.
“Cesare Terranova is staying here for an indefinite visit,” I interrupted. “He’s staying here to get acquainted with Gia so they can both decide if they want to get married. I should have the same opportunity. I should come to stay here to spend time with Gia one-on-one.”
“That’s out of the question,” Leo fired back. “Cesare Terranova is Gia’s childhood friend and the son of an allied family. You…”