A couple of hours earlier
I never should have said yes. This dinner is a mistake. Sleeping with Maria was an even bigger one. I should have never touched her. But I did. And now, I can’t stop thinking about it.
I left her alone in the bed this morning, and all I have been able to think about is the fact that I was balls deep in her last night.
I’ve had my share of women. I’ve done everything there is to do in bed. So why did last night feel like my first time?
I lean my head against the cool glass of the elevator. This day has been an absolute clusterfuck. From dealing with the aftermath of my son going rogue and then me and Maria… it’s a little much for me.
“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you’re depressed with all that sighing.” Valerio quips beside me. He keeps his eyes trained on his phone as he reads through a file. “Do you want to talk about it? Shall we sit around a fire and express our feelings?”
“Fuck you.” I open my eyes to look at him. He fires a wink my way. “Have I ever told you how annoying you are?”
“Three times this morning, once at lunch, and five times in the car ride back to the office.”
“Smartass.”
“Handsome smartass,” he bounces right back at me. “Don’t leave that part out, it’s crucial.”
Instead of indulging his childishness, I sigh and glance at my watch. 5:56 p.m. That dinner is fast approaching and I am going to have to face my wife sooner or later.
As much as I don’t want to admit it, the sex with Maria scared me.
“You keep looking at your watch,” Valerio utters from beside me. “Do you have somewhere you need to be?”
I turn my head and look to my second. “How about mind your business?”
“Damn, someone’s on edge. You need to get laid, boss. Your chakra is all fucked up.”
“And what the hell do you know about chakra?”
“Edith, she’s this sexy little yoga instructor who came by the club the other day. She’s teaching me all about finding my inner peace and shit.”
I blink. The things that come out of his mouth surprise me every single time.
“Shut up.” The elevator opens just before I have the chance to punch my second in his face. “Don’t you have other things to keep you busy? I don’t know, maybe you can go make me some damn money?”
“I already do that. In fact, I just made a few million this morning. The new shipment of arms came in from Moscow. The deal with the Turks is on the table now.” He sounds like a gleeful schoolchild. “Meeting is set up for tomorrow.”
“Good, you are useful for something after all.”
Valerio places a hand over his heart and feigns hurt. “Um, hello? Did I or did I not get employee of the month ten months running?”
“No, that was Ingrid in accounting.” I give him a flat look. The smile drops from his face, and he shoves me. “Work as hard as Ingrid and you may get it next month.”
He pulls his finger at me and walks off to his office. As much as Valerio and I get on each other’s nerves, I trust the man with my life. I would die for him and he would do the same for me.
At 6:30, the majority of the office is gone. I walk into my office and close the door so I can get to work. In the back of my mind, I have this dinner I need to attend.
I should have told her no.
I am only in my chair for five minutes when I hear my door open. I turn my head, thinking it is Valerio, but my body seizes when I take in his burly structure.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Giacomo spreads his arms out wide. “Not happy to see me, Matty? You wound me. The last time we came face to face, you were a little rude.”
My nostrils flare. “Get out before I—”
He plops himself onto the chair on the other side of the desk. He makes himself comfortable and leans into the expensive leather. The smile on his face makes me want to punch out all of his teeth.
“How did you get in here?”
He shakes his head. “Let’s not focus on the how but the why. Why do you think I’m here?”
Silence blankets the room, thickening the air between us.
“I must say, you and your wife did look like quite the pair. You did well.”
“Don’t speak on my wife.” I bite the words and make sure to douse them in poison.
“Your wife, such a tasty little thing. I find it hard to believe that you were just going to hand her over to your son.” Giacomo kicks his legs onto my desk, and my eye twitches. “She’s quite the looker—dare I say, even more beautiful than Beatrice.”
“Don’t say her name.” I launch out of my chair, sending it backward. “Go before I put a bullet in the middle of your head.”
He waves me off, his body language completely relaxed. “Same old threats, Matteo. ‘I’ll put a bullet in your head, Gia.’ ‘I’ll make you regret being born.’ Blah, blah, blah. It’s getting boring. Maybe try something new?”
I storm around my desk, and as I do, he rises to his full height. A slow smile spreads across his lips, like he’s daring me to strike. I pause, as soon as I am in front of him.
He’s baiting me. He wants to throw me off my cool and get me distracted.
“You have ten seconds to leave.” I don’t want to let him go but there is strength in exercising caution in this instant. “You forget that you’re on my turf, my rules.”
“Of course,” he chuckles lowly, “how can I forget, the great Davacalli kingdom. But tell me, Matteo, where is your heir? I heard you two got into a little bit of a tiff at the gala. Trouble in the family unit?”
I shove him—hard. He stumbles a few steps but catches himself and takes a swing at me, but I easily dodge it. I grab his collar and throw him onto the desk. I hold him there, tempted to choke him out. I am moving on pure rage and vengeance.
“Oh, frisky, is this how you get it on with the missus?”
“Enough!” I growl. “Don’t speak of her.”
“Someone is a little touchy,” he says in a singsong voice. “Fine, if you don’t want to talk about your marriage, then maybe we can discuss how your warehouse burned to a crisp—sorry about that, by the way. My arson guy got a little carried away.”
My nostrils flare. “You!”
He smiles up at me, his eyes gleaming with victory, “You were taking too long to figure it out, and I was getting bored. I wanted to speed things up a little bit.”
“Bastard.” I lift him up slightly and then slam him back onto the desk. “You killed my men!”
“They were just in the way.” He cackles, the sound unhinged and grating.
Without warning, he shoves me hard, so I stumble a few steps backward, but I catch myself before I fall. “I only told you because I want you to know that I am coming for you, Davacalli. I am coming back for everything you took from me. Starting with that little darling wife of yours. Tell me, does she fuck as well as Beatrice?”
I want to grab my gun and shoot him where he stands. I want to put him down like the mutt he is but I hold myself. In moments like this, it is best to be silent.
“Leave, Giacomo,” I bite out. “Before I get my security to throw you in a ditch somewhere.”
“Promises, promises, Matteo. But fine, I will leave you.” He makes a dramatic bow. “Until next time, old friend.”
And with those parting words, he leaves me standing in the middle of my office, vibrating with the kind of anger that draws a man to kill.
I walk over to my desk and plunge my fist onto the hardwood. How the fuck did he even get up here? Someone is getting fired for this, maybe even in solitary confinement. I don’t give two shits.
I close my eyes and try to quell the rage that moves through my body. “I’m teetering on the edge.”
Whenever there is the mention of Beatrice, something inside of me snaps. All I can feel is rage.
I am still reeling with anger. My fist twitches against the hardwood of the desk. I have a thirst for blood—his blood.
Maria.
Her face flickers in my mind—soft, innocent, untouched by this world of monsters.
“He will never touch her.” The words hang in the empty room, a promise etched in steel. As long as there’s breath in my lungs, Maria is mine to protect. And he will never get near her.
My heart finally calms, and the anger subsides. I stand up straight and look at my watch: 6:58. I am late for dinner, but I can still make it in time.
I go to grab my keys when my door bursts open again, and this time, Valerio runs in, looking like a man who’s just been hit in the balls.
My blood runs cold. “What is it?”
“Vortex, the club—it’s been hit.”
“What do you mean hit?” I am already walking to the door.
“Someone came in and shot up the place. We have the police on site and Sergeant Morrison already called in,” he explains as we make our way to the elevator. “We think it’s the same people who did the warehouse. We are working on finding out who—”
“Don’t bother, it’s Giacomo.” My blood boils. “He confessed when he came into my office.”
“Your office? When the hell was he in your office and why didn’t you call me?”
“I had it handled. I should have put a bullet in his head.” The decisions we regret are the ones that pain us the most. “How many are dead?”
“A bartender and three of the bottle girls. The rest sustained minimal injuries. But Morrison wants to speak with us. We need him to cover a few details; the news will catch word of those, and we don’t want people snooping around like last time.”
The elevator doors slide open, and we step inside. My mind is moving a million miles a minute thinking of how I can murder Giacomo without turning everything into a complete bloodbath.
“The club is one of several of our hotspots for the molly and jungle gums.” Those are our best-selling products. If the cops find our underground, we’re screwed. “How many boots do we have on the ground?”
“Ten. I’ve already sent them to do some moving around. Don’t worry.”
This is why I chose Valerio as my second. He is thorough and does things before I even need to think of them.
The doors close on us and we head down to the parking lot. If Giacomo wants war, then I will bring the battle ground right to his doorstep.
Dinner would have to wait. Maria will have to understand.
Giacomo just signed his death warrant. And I’ll be the one to collect.
