I detect no trace of a lie on her face, which is interesting. I press on. “What about Serena and her husband? Are you close with them?”
A thunderous look washes over her face, and I stiffen. If Gifoli has done anything to Sierra, I will gut him without blinking.
“I’m close to Serena,” she says, smothering her furious expression. “Rowan is only a year older than her son, Romeo, and they are the best of friends. She also has an eight-year-old daughter, Elisa.”
“Why the murderous look?” I ask, draining the last of my coffee.
“It’s nothing.” Getting up, she grabs my mug to refill it. “I’m not close to Alfred. He’s one of my father’s best friends, and to this day, I have no clue why Serena married him. She’s miserable as sin, and he’s a lousy husband. He—” She cuts herself off, handing a full mug of coffee to me.
“He what?” I lift a brow as I blow on the steam rising from my cup.
“He’s away a lot on business too.” She averts her eyes as she plops back in her chair. That wasn’t what she was going to say before she stopped herself. “And before you ask, he’s into importing and exporting.”
I almost spit my coffee out. Is that what we’re calling it these days?
Narrowing her eyes suspiciously, she tilts her head to the side. “Why are you so interested in my sisters’ husbands anyway?”
She seems clueless, and I want to keep it like that, so I reply in a way I know will set her off. I pin her with another smirk. “I’d think it was obvious why I was inquiring about Saskia’s husband.”
21
SIERRA
My blood boils, and I know I shouldn’t say it, but it’s like my mouth is no longer connected to my brain. “Did you fuck her already, or are you waiting for the next time her husband goes out of town?”
I want to wipe the smug smile off his face as he stares at me while drumming his fingers on the table. I shouldn’t care whether he fucks my sister or not. Ben is nothing to me but a sperm donor, and if I have any say, that’s the way it will stay. I haven’t changed my mind. I don’t want him near Rowan.
Maybe Saskia lusting after him could work to my advantage. Maybe he’ll get distracted by her and forget he has a son. “As a kid, I couldn’t understand how you two were together, but I see it now. You two are a match made in heaven. Both narcissistic and cruel. You should get with her before she finds another fuck buddy.”
There was a rumor floating around town last year that Saskia was cheating on Felix, and I didn’t doubt it for a second. The only person Saskia is loyal to is our father. The rest of us are like chump change.
Folding my arms, I glare at him as he sits silently and arrogantly across the table. He’s not reacting to my statement, so I don’t know if I hit my mark. The longer he stares nonchalantly at me, the madder I get. If I had a gun, I wouldn’t hesitate to plant a bullet between his smug brows in this moment.
After what seems like an eternity, he clears his throat and straightens up in his chair. The arrogance slides behind a neutral mask. “I came here to talk about my son, not your sister.”
Spoken like a true politician. But I’m done with talk of my sister too. I just want to get this over and done with so I can get him out of my house. “What do you want, Ben? Because us relocating to New York is off the table.”
“I agree it would be unsettling to move Rowan, so I’ll let you stay here for now—on a few conditions.”
“You’ll let me?” I hiss. “How big of you.” I barely resist the urge to flip him the bird.
Ignoring me, he continues as if I haven’t spoken, and I grip the edge of my seat, grinding my teeth down to the molars. “One, Alessandro and Frank go with you everywhere, and I mean everywhere.”
“Who is Frank?”
“Rowan’s bodyguard. He’s on duty outside Serena’s house now.”
I’m not surprised, and I don’t disagree. I’m not naïve. I know if word got out that Ben had a son all kinds of degenerate scum would target me and Rowan. I won’t jeopardize his safety, so if Ben wants to put protections in place, I won’t argue. “Okay. What else?”
“I’m sending a guy over later to install a new alarm system with exterior cameras and lights. It took me ten seconds to disable your alarm last night.” He drills me with a disapproving look, like it’s my fault the salesman sold me a dud system.
“It’s the standard system most families in the area have in their homes. How stupid of me to not realize it wasn’t mafia proof.” He looks surprised that I know. “You might have removed every trace of your mob connections from the internet, but I know you’re part of the mafia. Why do you think I want to keep you from Rowan?”
He slams his fist down on the table. “For the last fucking time, Sierra, I am not a danger to my son!”
I jump up, knocking my chair over. “What you do for a living is a threat to my son! The people you associate with are a threat to my son! Your enemies are a threat to my son!” My tirade is interrupted by the vibration of my cell on the counter. With my chest heaving, I pick it up, swiping my finger across the screen. It’s Dion, but I can’t speak to him now, so I dismiss the call, tapping out a quick text telling him I’ll call him later.
“I will keep Rowan safe,” Ben says in a clipped tone, glowering at my cell like it’s done him a personal injustice. “I will keep you safe. We cannot change the fact he is my son. Whether I’m in his life or not, he is at risk, so get the fuck over yourself, Sierra, and sit the hell back down. I am trying to compromise, and you are making this harder than it needs to be.”
A red layer spreads over my retinas, and I’m so enraged I feel like throwing something. “Go fuck yourself, Ben.” I jab my finger in his direction. “You don’t get to dictate to me in my own home, and you sure as fuck don’t get to disrespect me. Your whores might be happy to be treated like shit, but I’m not.”
“Goddamn it.” He scrubs his hands down his face. “Why is everything so difficult with you?!” he shouts.
I like seeing him rattled. I like knowing I get to him in the way he gets to me. I’ll take his anger over cold disdain any day, once he gets the point—I’m not like all his other women, and I’m no pushover. Straightening up my chair, I sit back down, calmly placing my hands in my lap. “I won’t apologize for pushing you when it comes to the welfare of my son. Rowan is my priority. Not you and your hurt male pride.”
His nostrils flare and his fingers twitch, like they long to curl around my neck again. Hell will freeze over before he puts his hands on me without invitation again. He bristles with anger as he glares at me, and I hit him with the same smug arrogance he showed me a few minutes ago.
I watch as he physically restrains himself from losing his shit, watching the anger retreat on his face, replaced with an emotionless look I’m getting used to seeing. His shoulders relax, and his voice is level when he speaks.
“My men will be living in one of the houses across the street. Frank and Alessandro will guard you during the day and whenever you step out of your house. Ian will watch over the house at night from their living room. My security expert will install panic buttons in each room here which will link to my men’s house, and they will have access to the camera feeds as well. If you need them, you press one of those buttons, and they will be here in less than a minute.”