My mother went from living on the street and starving herself to feed her five-year-old son to million-dollar contracts and a mansion in L.A. She proudly displays her first tip from that tiny diner.
Framed in a dime-store picture frame, it sits alongside her Oscar on the mantle, and every Christmas the owner of that diner who took her off the street, and the director who allowed her to reach the stars, sit down for dinner at our table.
The tip was a measly fifty-three cents. Not a real tip. It was someone’s discarded change, but it meant the world to her, and it changed our lives.
A year can mean a lot to people like us.
All that’s to say, I know how to put on an epic performance and how to stay in character. Method acting always was my preferred style. I’m not worried about meeting Marco Rossi or standing toe to toe with him. It’s all in the delivery, and I’ve got that down pat.
“Should we mess with them?” I can’t help wanting to make Gerald and Stefan’s life more difficult than it already is.
Obviously, Gerald called in our little conversation. Despite explaining how Maria is now under my protection, they remain dutiful dogs following their master’s commands.
The only question I have is who gives them their marching orders?
Is it Marco Rossi or Maria’s mother?
“Who’s following us?” Maria twists in her seat.
“Your buddies.” I never expected them to leave us alone, but the performance was required.
“Gerald and Stefan?”
“Yup.” I pop the ‘p’ at the end, having fun. “Wolfe’s been leading them in circles.”
“And here I was wondering why I was getting car sick.” Mitzy shakes her head and jabs Forest in the ribs. “You’re looking kind of sick yourself.”
“Just tired.” Forest runs his hands through the thick mop of his ice-white hair. He gives me a grin, sitting straighter in his seat, but his shoulders slump a few seconds later.
As for Gerald and Stefan, I need to send a message to Marco Rossi there is a new alpha in town. As far as Maria’s mother goes, if she doesn’t know already, she’ll know soon enough that there’s a man out there ready and able to thwart the plans she has for her daughter.
I’m really looking forward to meeting Maria’s mother as well.
It’s going to be epic.
As for the mother-uncle union, the information Mitzy dug up on them is nothing short of shocking. Their marriage makes more sense with that bit of information.
Knowing human behavior as I do, both studying to be an actor, then later as part of my hostage interrogation training in the Navy, my mind is quick to form connections.
Mitzy abhors assumptions, but her life begins and ends with the technical world of zeros and ones. I’m a people person. My intuition never fails, and it’s saying a shit-ton about Marco and Maria’s mother.
I don’t know whether to cheer what Milo did to his brother or condemn him. He did the unthinkable when he stole his younger brother’s girlfriend. That takes balls, and as if that display of dominance wasn’t enough, the bastard married Marco’s girl.
Talk about putting your brother in his place. Milo did that and more. He moved his brother down to New Orleans, physically separating his wife and brother. No need for jumping to conclusions there; a thing like that never goes over well.
Did Milo do that to teach his brother a lesson?
Probably.
It sounds like a dick thing to do.
Was it a power move?
No doubt about that.
Maria mentioned things felt off between her father and uncle. We now know why that was, and why Marco is uncharacteristically cold toward his niece. The daughter of the woman he loves and the brother he hates, Maria is the living embodiment of Marco’s impotence.
That kind of hatred grows roots that dive deep.
If Marco had the balls to kidnap Maria’s best friend, there’s little keeping him from taking the next, obvious step. Jealousy and animosity aside, Maria is no longer safe within the walls of the Belvedere. Yet that’s exactly where we’re headed.
33
LIAM
Taking Maria back to the Belvedere screams all kinds of wrong. What we should be doing is keeping her far away from those who wish her harm. There’s no doubt in my mind there will be a power move. What form that will take is anyone’s guess.
At least, I won’t be going in alone. I’m more than happy to have backup on this mission. I need another pair of eyes.
Two pair.
Brady is definitely a bonus on this mission. The guy is solid.
Maria shifts in her seat. Her brow furrows. Her deep sighs have me squeezing her hand, lending whatever support I can. She’s not taking the news about her mother and uncle well. I have to think somewhere, buried deep in her subconsciousness, there have always been questions—a sense of wrongness. Or if not that, some idea there was more beneath the surface when it came to her father, uncle, and mother.
Now, she’s inundated with answers that only complicate things further. Everything she knows about her life lays in ruin at her feet.
That kind of despair can be crippling.
“How are you doing?” I softly nudge her and squeeze her hand.
“I’m good. Tired? Overwhelmed? Processing?”
“I’m here, princess. I’ve got you.” I cover her hand with mine and lean in close, lowering my voice, and whisper for her ears only.
Her fingers twitch. It’s something. Not much, but some reaction is better than none. We can’t afford for her to be shell-shocked when we engage with her family. All the work I did last night, getting her to feel comfortable around me, will be shot to shit if she can’t snap out of the depressive fog Mitzy’s words created.
I don’t think Maria can take another shock to her system without shutting down completely.
“Thank you.” She turns toward me, lying her head on my shoulder. One deep breath in and she relaxes. “Thanks for just being here.”
I feel Maria’s pain. She wants to believe in the good of her father, but we know the Rossi’s are involved in criminal activities; human trafficking is merely the worst of them.
Honest men don’t engage in questionable activities. Milo Rossi may have loved his only child, a daughter instead of a son, but he was as dirty as they come.
And it looks like his younger brother may have had the last laugh.
I bet millions Marco arranged for his older brother to meet an untimely end. The question in the back of my mind is how involved was the mother?
In many crime families, women and children are sheltered from the family’s activities, leading lives oblivious to what contributes to their wealth.
Maria is a victim of that.
It shows in her face as each new blow lands.
In the space of twenty-four hours, everything she thought she knew about her family is gone.
Corrupted forever.
Mitzy adds more fuel to the destructive blaze sweeping through Maria’s life when she suggests the death of Maria’s father, more likely than not, was not the result of natural causes. I would have preferred to shelter Maria from that, but Mitzy doesn’t hold back.
I pray her mother wasn’t involved. I don’t think Maria will come back from something like that.