“I don’t think so. You can’t go looking like that, Leo. You don’t know my mother.”
I chuckle. That’s cute. The way she thinks she has any fucking control over the situation.
“I like your fire, Toni. I like that you think you’re in charge here,” I say stepping into her space. Her head tips back as she looks up at me. “I like that you hold your own but you ain’t gonna win this one, darlin’. Suck it the fuck up because I’m going to meet your mother.”
“No, you’re not.” Her lips call to me like a drug. I want them on me, wrapped around my cock, begging me for more. Instead, I reach up and run my fingers along her jaw and down to her throat. Gently, I squeeze while she watches me intently.
“This isn’t open for debate, baby. Get your fucking purse and let’s go before you make me angry.”
Chapter Thirteen
Antonia
I can’t stop screaming ‘oh fuck’ over and over again in my head as I’m on the back of Leo’s bike, on our way to the restaurant. I still can’t believe I gave into what he wanted, but I know I can’t stand my mother up. She’s the only other person on the face of this planet who understands what it’s like to deal with my father. Hell, and here I thought I’d have this opportunity to destress, when in all actuality I’m still in work mode doing my father’s bidding.
Leo makes a sharp left, running straight through a red light and pulls into the restaurant’s parking lot. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” I scream at him, beating on his back like an outraged chimpanzee. “What in the world is wrong with you?! You could’ve killed us!”
Leo takes off his helmet and sets it on his handlebars, turns his head back and glances at me. “Toni, there was nobody comin’, now will you calm your ass down. We’re at a nice place and I’m about to meet your mother. The last thing we need is you causing a scene.”
Oh, I know this man has damn well lost his mind. I whip off the helmet he let me use and manage to get off the bike in heels, shimmy my dress down since it’s impossible to ride a bike without hiking it up, and then toss the helmet at this guy’s big ole head.
“Hey! What the hell was that for!?”
I shrug my shoulders while glaring at him. “I dunno. Being an asshole maybe.”
“I told you no one was coming! Jesus. Don’t you believe a damn thing I say?!”
“If she’s my daughter, she believes no words coming out of a man’s mouth. Most of them are lies.” My mother sounds as regal as ever, standing in the doorway to the restaurant with her arms crossed in a sea green dress. Antonetta DiMarco has never looked more stunning.
“Mother, a pleasure to see you as always.” I say, straightening out my dress.
Even though I’m speaking to her, she’s staring directly at Leo. “I thought we were having a private dinner, Antonia. I don’t recall stating you could bring a . . .” she waves her hand around, “boytoy.”
Fuck. I don’t want her to think I’m doing something for my father, but I sure don’t want Leo to think I wouldn’t speak up for someone I like. “Leo isn’t a boytoy, Mother. He’s a friend, someone who was so determined to spend more time with me that he agreed to meet my callous, overbearing, royal of a mother.”
She scoffs, “Please, I’ve never witnessed you bring a man to meet me. What’s so different about him?”
I look Leo up and down, knowing all I can say is the God’s honest truth. “Everything. He’s the type of man who doesn’t back down from anything, even if it means defending my honor and handling someone who disrespected me.”
She lifts up her chin, peering at Leo from where she stands. “Is that how you got your black eye?”
“It is.” Leo confirms.
“Hmmf. I suppose I can deal with your presence considering the circumstances. Come along, both of you. I have a private table in the back reserved.” My mother heads in a good bit in front of us, while Leo slides his hand around my back, he dips his lips next to my ear.
“What the hell is your mother?” Man, what a question.
I look directly into his baby blues and before I even realize what I’ve done, the truth comes flying out. “My mother runs things in Roma.”
“Hold up. You mean like . . .”
“Leo, don’t play coy. It doesn’t suit you. Whatever is crossing your mind right now I’m sure is accurate.” I walk ahead of him, going through the double doors and following the path through the restaurant. Two of my mother’s most trusted guards stand outside a set of French doors, so I continue in that direction with Leo. Once we’re both through they shut the doors behind us.
“So, how did you two meet? For a man in a suit you seem rather . . . ah, I can’t find the word in English.” My mother immediately starts interrogating Leo, but that’s just her personality.
“Leo and I met at a party. One his club was having.”
My mother pushes her glasses back and stares at Leo intently. She smirks lightly, “Now I see what seems so familiar about you. The motorcycle club lifestyle. Tell me, Leo, are you a vile snake like my ex?”
Leo laughs at first before his expression grows stoic. “No, ma’am. I’m a bastard through and through, but one thing I don’t do is slither around in the shadows. When I want something, I’m the one walking straight up to the door, demanding it. It wouldn’t be a man’s way without facing things head on.”
Mother’s eyes shift over to me as she presses her lips together and shrugs, “You know, he’s not a bad one. He’s ballsy and I like this for you, Antonia.”
“Antonia, huh?” Leo snickers.
“My friends call me Toni,” I grumble with an eye roll.
“And her father’s minions call her Ant, like a bug that can be squished.”
Leo blinks a couple times, his eyes widening as he stares at me, and I know something is seriously wrong. “Ant.” He repeats my name once, and it’s enough for me to realize he knows exactly who I am now. He’s heard about my father, and there’s nothing I can do to salvage this mission.
Then again, what am I actually working for? He’ll never give me what I’m owed. Just like he’ll never give me the title I want. At the end of the day I’m a woman in power and that’s the thing he loathes the most.
He’s been using me as a mole to transport information, and it’s never been more clear.
I’m only a means to an end for him.
Chapter Fourteen
Leo
My mind has been running a million miles a minute. Ant. Fucking Ant. I know that name. A shiver runs down my spine as I let it all sink in.
Toni’s mom talks and talks but it’s mainly about nothing I care to hear. I zone out, losing myself in my drink that seems to keep being refilled in front of me. I roll my shoulders, feeling on edge now that I’ve heard her name, or her street name that is. Something rolls in my stomach as I grab my glass and down what’s left of it.