I saw him preparing to brush me off. I couldn’t let that happen. “What’s the deal with Romeo? Why did he leave?”
Leo took a deep breath, glanced once at Cesare, and launched into the whole sordid tale. “His father and brothers planned to use this marriage to rob Gia of her inheritance. They planned to steal all her assets and ruin her to get revenge on her father. They never intended to honor the union at all.”
I stared at him with my jaw on the floor. “Was that their plan all along? I can’t believe Romeo was planning this last night—not after the way they were acting around each other.”
“This was neverhisplan,” Cesare replied. “His father sprang it on him right before they left him here. He had nothing to with it.”
“Did he say that?” I asked. “How do you know that wasn’t part of the trick?”
Leo shook his head. “He was the one who suggested leaving to keep her safe. He did it to protect Gia from his father and brothers. He didn’t trust himself not to accept if she decided to choose him as her husband.”
“Jesus!” My hand flew to my head, and I strode over to the window.
“Which means you’ll need to bolster security even more,” Leo added. “I don’t see how we can bolster it more than we already have, but we have to find a way. At least we know the Neccis are planning something, and Romeo gave us details on a few of their upcoming hits.”
“He’s the best there is,” Cesare remarked. “He should have been the one to marry her. Now, it’s impossible.”
“Do you need to go home too?” Leo asked him. “Your father probably needs you considering what Romeo told you about the Neccis targeting the Terranovas.”
Cesare winced and ran his fingers through his hair. “I’ve been thinking… I should leave. I should withdraw in your favor. It will be better for her if I leave the way clear for you.”
I looked back and forth between these two men in stunned shock. Leo proposed to Gia? This was the first I heard of it. I knew he was fucking her on the side, but this!
“I can’t accept that,” Leo replied. “You’re younger, and you two have a long history together. She loves you, and I’m so old I might not be able to give the family an heir at all. I should be the one to step aside for you.”
“No, no,” Cesare began. “She loves you a hell of lot more than me, and you’ll be able to keep Don Alonzo’s power in the family.”
Leo chuckled. “I tell you what. We’ll both stick around and let her decide. It’s just down to the two of us. That will make it easier for her.” He extended his hand across the desk. “What do you say?”
“All right.” Cesare stepped forward, and they shook hands. Then they went back to talking about security, the upcoming Necci hits that Romeo tipped them off about, and how to consolidate the Leone and Terranova families after whichever of them ended up marrying Gia.
I wobbled on my heels taking all this in. So Leo proposed to Gia too. Jesus living Christ, this really drove the nail in my coffin.
I stumbled out of the office. I had to deal with all the security measures, and now we knew for certain the Neccis would be hitting our operations in Times Square.
I couldn’t think about any of that right now, though. Cesare Terranova proposing to Gia was bad enough. He was young, good-looking, and Gia already loved him.
Now I found out Leo Evangelista proposed to her too. I swallowed down rising despair. No way could I compete with Leo. I would never want to compete with him.
If I ever cared about Gia at all, I should want her to marry the best man for her. Either of them would be better for her than I ever could be. I was nothing but a passing fling to her. I would never be anything else.
I halted in the driveway and looked around. The estate reminded me of an alien planet with a poisonous atmosphere that I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t belong here.
I should leave right now. I should walk away and take myself out of the picture. Every minute I spent here ripped my heart to pieces, and I just couldn’t stand the pain anymore.
ROMEO
Igazed out the window at traffic rushing by on Fifth Avenue. The view from this office looked so different from the greenery at the Leone estate.
I used to love this view. My father’s high-rise headquarters always gave me a feeling of power, almost like our family controlled all of New York, or that we might control it someday if we could only weaken the Leones enough.
Now, that view sapped my energy and left me depressed and lackluster. I didn’t want to be here. I wanted to be back at the estate with Gia. That would never happen now. I would be lucky ever to see her again and then on opposite sides of a mob war.
How did I start caring about her in just a day or two? Leaving the estate somehow made me care about her even more.
I did this for her. I never thought I could actually walk away from something I cared about so much, but it was the best thing for her. I just didn’t realize it would mean this much until after I did it.
Nothing seemed to matter anymore. Not even running New York seemed worth it in comparison to what I could have had with her.