“That would mean war between the Outfit and New York.”
He said it matter-of-factly, like it had absolutely nothing to do with him. I hadn’t thought of that but of course that would be the first thing that crossed Romero’s mind. The Famiglia always came first.
I’d been stupid. Mother had always warned me that men promised you the world if they wanted something from you. Romero had been kind and loving, and I’d given him everything in turn. My body, my heart, every little thing I could give. I’d given it gladly and I didn’t want to feel regret over a single thing, but it was hard.
I bit my lip, suddenly on the verge of crying. I could feel the floodgates open. It wouldn’t be long now. “You’re right,” I croaked. “I—” I choked and quickly hung up. Then I hid the phone in my travel bag again and curled up on my bed, letting sobs wrack my body until my muscles hurt, until my throat hurt, until everything hurt, but nothing as much as my heart. Was this it? The end of every dream I had?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Romero
I stared at my phone. What the fuck was Scuderi thinking? I’d wanted to kill him so often in the past, now I wished I’d done it.
Nino came out of the meeting room and put a cigarette into his mouth. That guy grated on my fucking nerves. “Why the long face? Get yourself a nice long blowjob from one of the girls. That always puts a smile on my face.”
I stormed toward him, gripped him by the collar and flung him against the wall. His head smashed against it and he dropped his stupid cigarette. “What the fuck, you asshole! Let me go!” he screamed like a fucking pussy.
I punched him in the stomach twice and he dropped to his knees. God, I wanted to fucking kill someone. I didn’t even care whom. I hit him over and over again.
“Hey! What’s going on here?” Luca growled. He gripped my arms and pulled them behind my back. “Romero, what the hell are you doing? Calm the fuck down.”
I relaxed in his hold and took a deep breath.
Matteo knelt beside Nino who was bleeding from a wound on his head and from his nose. I hadn’t even realized I’d hit him in the face too. Aria joined us after a moment. Since she’d started working the books of the clubs, she was here quite often. She gave me a questioning look, then worry twisted her face.
“I’m going to kill you, you bastard,” Nino snarled. I’d love to see him try.
Matteo helped him to his feet. “You won’t do anything. Go inside and have someone stitch up your head.”
Nino staggered off, but not without sending me a death glare. As if I gave a fuck. Let him try to kill me. I’d wipe the fucking floor with his weak ass.
“Did something happen with Lily?” Aria asked fearfully, walking up to me.
“You can let me go now,” I told Luca. He did and stepped back, his narrowed eyes flitting between his wife and me.
“Why would Romero know if something was wrong with Lily?” he asked carefully.
Aria didn’t say anything, only looked at me, her eyes reflecting the fear that had settled in the pit of my stomach. Maybe I should have been worried that Luca might find out, but I didn’t give a shit about that either.
“Your father has arranged a marriage with Benito Brasci for her,” I said in a low voice.
Aria gasped. “What? He never mentioned that he was looking for a husband for her!” She glanced at Luca. “Or did he mention anything to you?”
Luca’s expression was stone. “No, he hasn’t. But right now I’m more concerned about the fact that Romero knows about this before anyone else does and that he almost killed one of my men because of it.”
I leaned against the wall. I might as well tell him the truth. “Lily and I have been seeing each other during the summer.”
Matteo let out a low whistle. For some reason it annoyed the crap out of me. I glared at him and almost lost my shit again when I saw his grin. What the fuck was so funny?
Luca got into my face. “Didn’t you tell me not too long ago that you weren’t interested in her? That there wouldn’t be a fucking problem when she was around? I remember that conversation pretty damn well, and now you’re fucking telling me that you were seeing Liliana behind my fucking back all summer?”
Aria touched Luca’s arm and positioned herself halfway between us. “Luca, please don’t get mad at Romero. He and Lily didn’t mean any harm. They fell in love. It just happened.”
“And you knew all along?” Luca muttered. “You knew and didn’t tell me? Didn’t we have a discussion about loyalty and trust when you helped Gianna run away?”
Aria blanched. “They are my sisters.”
“And I’m your fucking husband.”
“Luca, she didn’t mean—” I began.
Luca jabbed his fingers against my chest. “You stay the fuck out of this. You’re lucky I don’t put a bullet into your head right this second for going against my orders.”
“Hey, calm down, Luca. Maybe it’s not as bad as it sounds,” Matteo said, trying to be the voice of reason, which was a joke in itself.
“Oh, I suspect it’s exactly as bad as I think it is,” Luca murmured. His eyes fixed on me. “Just tell me this, will we be in trouble on Liliana’s wedding night?”
I knew what he was asking.
“Lily won’t marry that guy. Isn’t he over fifty? It’s ridiculous,” Aria butted in.
“Over fifty and a nasty piece of shit,” Matteo added.
Luca ignored them. His eyes bore into mine. “Will there be a fucking problem on her wedding night?”
“I slept with Lily,” I said calmly.
Matteo let out another of his annoying whistles.
Luca cursed. He looked like he wanted to smash my head in with a sledgehammer. “Why couldn’t you leave your dick in your pants? Couldn’t you at least have drawn the line at actually fucking her?”
“I don’t regret it,” I said. “Now less than ever.”
Luca took a step back from me as if he didn’t trust himself this close to me. “This is a fucking mess. Do you realize what happens if Benito Brasci finds out his wife isn’t a virgin? Scuderi will figure out it happened in New York and we’ll be screwed.”
“I don’t think there will be a problem. I stood beside Brasci at the urinal once. That guy’s cock is tiny. He can’t possibly expect there to be any blood on the sheets with that small sausage. Liliana probably won’t even notice his cock in her,” Matteo joked.
I saw red. I lunged at him, my fist colliding with his jaw. But Matteo wasn’t Nino. After my first hit, he blocked my second and pulled his knife. Mine was out too. We faced off, knives pointed at each other.
“Enough!” Luca roared, stepping between us and shoving us away from each other. “I’m going to put you down like rabid dogs if you don’t get a grip on yourselves right this second.”
“He started it,” Matteo said, never taking his eyes off me. We’d never fought against each other, and I wasn’t sure I could beat him in a knife fight, but I wouldn’t mind to find out.
“You provoked him,” Aria said. “What you said was horrible.”