ROM
“Mom wants to see you.” Cosimo stood in my doorway, a bruise darkening his left cheek.
I’d barely been home an hour. Just long enough to shower, put on a mindless action flick, and collapse onto the sofa, where I’d been mulling over my next steps. I would have stayed there longer if Cos hadn’t showed up.
I stepped aside, letting him in. “What does she want?” My mother was the last thing I needed on my plate today.
“An update. She said you haven’t responded to her messages for the last few days. Where have you been?”
“Busy. Working.” Having my fingers inside the most forbidden pussy in the city.
I could still feel it. Warm, wet, inviting. It was as fucking perfect as the rest of her—including her lips that did in fact taste like fucking berries—and it made me irate knowing those five stunning minutes were all I’d ever get.
The second she said she’d lied to her friends for me, it was game over. Shock hit first—she’d kept her word when I’d done nothing to deserve it. And then came something else.
A weird warmth inside my chest. A tightening in my throat. And a heavy sense of certainty sinking into the pit of my belly.
I’d known exactly what I had to do.
It was something I’d never done before. Something I’d never even considered doing.
I’d given away the only leverage I had.
Mia Morales had infected my black heart with a virus that compelled me to do right by her.
Fuck knows if I’d ever recover.
“I stopped by your club last night,” Cosimo said. “You weren’t there.”
“Since when do I have to report my movements to you?” I moved toward the living room, the hardwood shifting to carpet beneath my feet. “Have a seat. Want coffee?”
“Already had three cups,” Cosimo said, following after me.
“Who’d you go to the club with?”
“It was Nate’s birthday.”
I sank onto the sofa and nodded at his bruise. “That looks fresh. What happened?”
He sat across from me. “Nothing.”
I just looked at him.
He swiped a hand over his jaw. “I said it was nothing.”
“Since when do you get into fights at my fucking club?”
He frowned. “You know?”
I cocked my head. “You didn’t think Alexis would message me the second my own fucking brother decked some finance bro on the dance floor?” I leaned forward. “What’s going on with you, Cos? Have you forgotten you’re the eldest? The don-in-waiting? You’ve spent a decade building a reputation as someone reasonable. Steady. Someone the family could count on. And now you’re losing your mind over a piece of ass?”
His nostrils flared. “Watch how you speak about my future wife.”
I laughed. He really thought I was clueless. Had he forgotten who I was? What I did for this family?
“You son of a bitch, I’m not talking about that poor girl. I saw Fabi last night. She was in the Hamptons with her friends, medicating the depression you’re inducing in her by getting sloshed.” I sank back into the sofa. “I’m talking about Rosa.”
Irritation flashed across his face. “How about you stay out of my business?”
“Trust me, I’ve been staying out of it, but this has gone on for too long. She’s got you wrapped around her little finger. It’s fucking ridiculous, Cos.”
His voice dropped. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I know she likes power and money. You happen to have both. If you think there’s another reason why she’s sleeping with you, you’re deluding yourself.”
He flicked his eyes to the window. “You have no idea what she wants or what she’s like.”
Oh, but I fucking did. Like recognizes like, and Rosa? She was just like me. A natural at destruction.
There weren’t many people I gave a damn about, but my brothers were on that short list. If Cos didn’t cut Rosa loose before the wedding, it would be doomed from the start. She wasn’t the kind of mistress who’d be happy staying in the shadows.
But Cos was stubborn. He had to come to that conclusion himself.
“What did the finance bro do?” I asked, rubbing my hand over my jaw.
“Overstepped.” His vague response probably meant the guy had asked Rosa for a dance in front of Cosimo, not knowing any better.
His jaw tightened. “Fabiana was at the Hamptons? Messero is supposed to keep me updated of her movements.”
“Don’t you follow her on Instagram?”
His frown deepened. “She’s on Instagram?”
“Yeah. Along with everyone else under fifty. You’d know if you weren’t such a fucking Luddite.”
“That shit rots your brain,” he muttered, even as he pulled out his phone and started tapping.
I refilled my coffee in the kitchen. By the time I returned, he’d downloaded the app and was scrolling through Fabi’s profile.
I huffed a laugh. “Isn’t it interesting you thought I was talking about her? Fabi been on your mind a lot lately?”
Immediately, he locked his screen and slid the phone into his pocket. “I don’t have time for this. Are you coming or not? Mom’s not in a patient mood.”
Yeah, I figured. She’d expected me to get something useful from Mia, but all I had to show for my efforts was a stolen tube of lip gloss and a newly rediscovered conscience.
I couldn’t fucking stomach the thought of hurting that girl anymore.
She’d done something to me. I didn’t like these feelings. I didn’t like feeling. Period.
What I wanted was to get back to normal, to having no moral qualms about doing my fucking job. I wanted to rid myself of this disturbing urge to protect someone whose last name wasn’t Ferraro.
If I told Mother any of this, she’d crucify me. Tell me I lost my damn mind.
And she’d be right.
But I was done. After my next meeting with Mia, I wasn’t planning on seeing her again.
She’d won.
I set my half-finished mug on the coffee table. “Let’s go.”
My parents’ penthouse was only a few blocks from mine. But when Cos and I stepped out onto the street, he turned in the opposite direction.
“You’re not coming?” I called after him.
“You can handle it,” he said, tossing the words over his shoulder. “Good luck.”
I scoffed. He was annoyed with me. He’d get over it.
Five minutes later, I stepped out of the elevator into my parents’ foyer.
Voices floated in from the living room. Mother was entertaining. If she’d summoned me in the middle of it, she must’ve really had it.
I walked through the archway, flashing a grin at the five women seated around the dining table. My aunts and cousins greeted me with high-pitched exclamations and air-kisses as I made my way around the room.
Aunt Lisa was nowhere in sight. Guess she was still on Mother’s bad side.
At the head of the table, Mother smiled serenely. Not a trace of the irritation I knew was brewing beneath her mask showed.
“Romolo, darling. How are you?” she asked.
“Just fine. Almost recovered from last night.”
Aunt Marina clucked her tongue. “You look pale, Romolino. You’re not getting enough sunshine cooped up in that club all the time.”
I raked my fingers through my hair. “You know how it is, Zia. Someone’s got to keep the order in that place.”
Aunt Paolina beamed. “Look at you. So grown-up. Vita, you’ve raised three good boys.”
Good boys. I swiped my hand over my lips to smother a chuckle. Only in a mob family would my brothers and I qualify for that title.
Mother rose from her seat. “I need to talk to Romolo for a moment.” She signaled to one of the household staff. “More tea for everyone, please.”
As soon as we entered Father’s office, her demeanor changed. I was used to it, but it still amazed me how she could go from warm and pleasant to dictator mode in the blink of an eye.
She moved behind my father’s desk and took his chair. “Where were you last night?”
“The Hamptons.” I dropped onto the sofa instead of sitting across from her like a schoolboy in the principal’s office.
She laced her fingers together on the desk. “What happened with Morales’s daughter? You haven’t given me an update.”
I slid a hand into my trouser pocket and wrapped my fingers around the stolen lip gloss tube.
I should’ve thrown it away earlier. Tried to. Couldn’t do it.
“I don’t think she knows anything.”
Her gaze sharpened. “That’s not what I want to hear, Romolo.”
She let the words hang, as if she was waiting for me to correct myself. When I didn’t, she pressed on. “Did Cosimo give you an update on what’s happening with the Colombians?”
I popped my ankle over my knee. “He forgot to mention it. Enlighten me.”
She folded her arms in front of her on the desk. “They’re threatening to pull out of the deal because they’re afraid Morales will have the police force cracking down on our distribution network as soon as he’s elected. Your father flew out first thing this morning to meet with them in person.”
I shrugged. “They’re bluffing. If they want the New York market, they have to work with us. There’s no other option.”
“It seems that there is.”
“Who?”
Her lips pursed. “We don’t know for certain. One theory is that they’re negotiating with a biker gang—the Crimson Defenders—who’ve been trying to expand into the state.”
“We’d crush them.” We had the manpower to fight off just about any threat.
“We can’t risk a fight in the city if Morales is elected. It would only give him more ammunition in his fight against us. We don’t want to be sitting here with our hands tied while the gang sets up shop.”
Fuck. She had a point.
I rubbed my chin. If the Colombians walked, we’d have a lot more problems on our hands. It would signal weakness. Spook our other partners.
Mother leaned forward. “I want a full report on Morales’s daughter. What have you learned? No detail is too small.”
Dread pressed down on my shoulders. She was about to grill me, and if I didn’t give her something, she’d get suspicious. I had to play this carefully.
“She knows who I am. She’s cautious. I’ve applied some pressure, but I can’t risk applying more yet. I have to wait to see how she’ll react.”
Mother frowned. “You’re telling me you’re just sitting around, waiting?”
“It’s a delicate situation.”
Her gaze narrowed.
I made sure my face gave nothing away.
If Morales had a secret backer, Mia had no idea about any of it. I was sure of it. She was too principled. Her father would know better than to involve her.
To get information, I would need to compel her to spy on Morales. And I’d already decided I wasn’t going to do that.
Not after last night.
“We don’t have time to wait around,” Mother said, her tone leaving no room for argument. “When are you seeing her next?”
“Two days from now for a fitting. I’ve convinced her to dress me for an event next week at The Golden Circle.”
She picked up a pen. “How?”
“Her business is in trouble. Told her I’d get her more clients.”
Mother looked thoughtful as she tapped the pen against her lips. “How much damage would an intimate photo of you two cause?”
My blood ran cold. She was dipping into her favorite bag of tricks. “Could be significant. She wouldn’t want something like that getting out. But would it be enough to get her to betray her father? I doubt it.”
“Unless you have better ideas, I think we should give it a try.”
“She’s been standoffish. Aloof.”
“I’m not going to tell you how to seduce her, Romolo. Surely, you can figure that out?”
A foul sensation knotted inside my gut. “Rhetorical question, right?” I said, my voice low.
Her lips thinned as she stared at me. The pen clicked closed. “Tell me when you think you’ll be able to stage it. I can help arrange the tech.”
Help. I didn’t need her fucking help. What I needed was for her to forget that Mia existed.
But how? She was like dog with a bone. After I said goodbye to Mia tomorrow, I’d have to keep the ruse going for a while longer. Pretend like I was still pursuing her so that Mother wouldn’t suspect I’d given up.
How long could I keep it up until Mother decided to intervene?
Only time would tell.
My hand clenched around the tube in my pocket. “I’ve got it.”
She got to her feet and anchored her palms against the desk. “A week ago you waltzed in here and promised to solve our most important problem. I want results. Have I made myself clear?”
I rolled my lips over my teeth and stood up. “Crystal.”
“Good. You’re dismissed.”
