I couldn’t help but blush. I was finally talking to him alone—or as alone as anyone could in this mob. “Don’t tell anyone. I’m supposed to be in disguise here.” I pulled down my sunglasses and blushed again when I met his gaze over the top rim.
His grinned even more broadly, and my cheeks colored. “You know what they’re saying. Leo Evangelista will be coming after me with a shotgun any second now.”
I couldn’t stop blushing at him, and I forgot all about Papa now that I was talking to Cesare. His flashing, twinkling eyes and the color rising to his cheeks told me loud and clear he liked what he saw in me as much as I liked what I saw in him.
“Are you sure you aren’t about to keel over from standing through the service?” I asked. “I’m surprised more people didn’t collapse from exhaustion.”
“Don’t faint on me, okay? I know you’re delicate with grief.”
“I could arrange to faint into your arms, and you could save me from my devastation.” I shouldn’t be joking about this, but he had a strange effect on me. I suddenly felt happier than I had in months, even before Papa died.
He leaned in close and murmured low. “Go ahead and do it. Do it right here. I’ll catch you… and I promise I won’t let you fall into the grave.”
“That would definitely give them something to talk about.”
He eased a step toward me, and an inexpressible thrill went through me. This was one of the hottest guys I’d ever seen, much less spoken to. Could I really wind up married to a guy like this?
He bent closer to say something else when a ripple of tension went through the crowd. Murmurs and a few curses punctuated what had been friendly conversation.
All the mourners craned their necks to stare in that direction, and Cesare’s cheery expression evaporated into a mask of ice-cold fury. “Who the fuck do those bastards think they are?”
“What?” I asked, and then the crowd parted.
It divided like the Red Sea to let another group of men in black suits come through. The mourners shrank from them to give them plenty of room, and my scalp prickled when I recognized them.
Marco Necci, the don of the Necci family, and his three sons sauntered toward the grave, and in a flash, Nicky materialized at my side. He jammed his body in front of me and backed up to block me from the Neccis.
Marco strolled over to Leo and started talking to him in an undertone that must have been intended to be casual. Marco’s three sons separated, and the oldest one came straight toward me.
I knew this asshole only too well. Romeo Necci was destined to inherit his father’s Evil Empire. No doubt this jackass would carry on making life difficult for the Leones long after his father died.
Romeo stopped in front of Nicky, but Romeo pretended Nicky wasn’t there. Romeo’s shoulder-length black hair, black eyes, neatly trimmed black goatee, and pale complexion really made him look like the Prince of Darkness.
A subtle smile curved his delicate lips. He might have looked handsome if deadly, hateful malice didn’t seep from his every pore.
“I just wanted to offer my condolences on your loss, Miss Leone,” he purred. “If there’s anything my family and I can do…”
“You offered your condolences, asshole,” Nicky snarled. “Now turn around and get the fuck out of here before I tear your fucking head off and stuff it down your neck.”
“I wasn’t talking to you, my good man. I was talking to the lady. Don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt?” Romeo’s eyes flicked back to me. “As I was saying, I’m at your service, Miss Leone. Don Alonzo’s loss is such a severe blow to us all. My family and I…”
“You got some fucking balls showing up here, Romeo!” Cesare interrupted. “You aren’t welcome here. Now, get the fuck out of here before we all teach you a lesson. Take your dogs and go back to Queens where you belong.”
Romeo opened his mouth to say something else, but at that moment, Leo exploded out of the crowd, wrapped both arms around me, and hauled me away without a word to anyone.
Nicky rotated backward so he kept facing Romeo while he walked down the lawn. Leo wouldn’t let go of me all the way back to the limo. He yanked the door open while Nicky stood guard and kept surveying the funeral farther up the hill.
“Get in!” Leo whispered.
I ducked into the limo, and Nicky slammed the door from the outside. He banged the trunk twice, and the chauffeur peeled away.
LEO
Ipaced up and down in front of my office windows, talking on the phone. It wasn’t actually my office. It was Alonzo Leone’s office, but he was dead now, and I was in charge of his whole empire.
Stepping into his shoes wasn’t much different from what I’d been doing before he died last week, but it sure felt that way. I was his consigliere, but that was nothing compared to our friendship.
My father was Alonzo’s father’s consigliere before me, so Alonzo and I grew up together in this very house. We spent every day together, and we both grew up knowing we would run this family together.