“While I am more progressive and don’t care that you are gay, many in the organization will. Having a man on your arm when you attend functions will go a long way in easing some of the hostility that will come your way. You will still get it because you are a woman and the boss’s daughter, but if they think you have a man by your side, they will assume he is pulling your strings. It will lull them into underestimating you.”
“So you want Sage to be my arm candy?” I ask, not sure if what I’m hearing is right.
“Yes, and then if you are both discrete, you can do whatever you wish in private.”
“So because the Mafia is filled with sexist, misogynistic men, I’m going to have to pretend to be straight to be taken seriously.” I cross my arms, fuming at what he’s saying. How can the world still be like that in this day and age? Women have been successful in businesses everywhere. Hell, the Queen of England has been running a country for over fifty years.
“Yes. There are other options, but this would probably be the best for now.”
“What options? I want to know.” The look Dad gives me tells me to drop it, and I sigh, letting go of my anger. It’s not Dad’s fault, and I really shouldn’t take my annoyance out on him.
“Okay, fine, I can pretend in public.”
They look at Sage, and he shudders.
“Fine, but she’s got to promise to keep her hands off my manhood. I may have to be affectionate with her in public, and my ability to have children one day depends on her behaving.”
I grimace but nod my agreement when they look at me.
“Good, now that that’s settled, let’s get Vicki to the shooting range for a lesson. Gio, we will leave it to you while the two of us go upstairs and make arrangements to move back in.” Gone is the serious mafia boss, and in his place is the dad I know and love. “When you’re done, come up, and you can pick your room.” He claps Mickey on the back. “It’s going to be so good to be back in the house.”
We tell Sage goodbye, and he doesn’t meet my eyes when we leave. I’m not sure if it’s because I manhandled his junk or because he just agreed to be my side piece. I’m pretty sure that was sprung on him as well as me. It’s not like Dad was aware of my sexual orientation before today. He probably came up with the plan on the fly.
Gio throws an arm around my shoulders. “Way to go, sis, you’ve already alienated one of our employees. One of the most important ones too.”
“Did he hit on you also?” I ask, curious if he was telling me the truth.
Gio grimaces. “Yeah, not long after I met him. I came by when Dad was away. I was stressed for some reason, and he offered to suck my cock to release the tension.”
I snort at the look on Gio’s face. “You might have enjoyed it,” I tease, and he shudders.
“I have no problem with homosexual relationships at all. I mean, I’ve been living with Tristan and Xavier for the last week, but I know I am one hundred percent hetero.”
Not wanting to talk about them, I change the subject. “What did Dad mean about safety protocols?” I question, remembering something he said earlier.
“If, for some reason, we are invaded, the whole area down here can go into lockdown. There are reinforced steel doors that drop down over all the normal doors, making it harder for people to get at the product, and there is a safe room to protect any personnel down here, but it’s mostly for Sage. He can activate all the doors once he gets into the safe room. There is another escape tunnel that leads in the opposite direction and actually comes out in the gardener’s shed in the backyard of our old house, behind the pool house. Again, that’s info that only four of us know. Five now including you.”
Oh wow, okay. That’s kind of a relief to know. “What is Sage’s deal? Where did Dad find him?”
“Sage popped up on Dad’s radar when he was caught dealing his own homemade drugs in one of our clubs. Instead of killing him, Dad basically adopted him. Sage was seventeen and living in a crappy foster home who had discovered he had a talent for chemistry. They forced him to make meth for them. He had subpar supplies to work with, and his product caused a couple of overdoses in the club. That’s how Dad knew to look for him. When he had seen his living situation, he took care of the foster parents and moved him in here. He finished his schooling online while honing his skills. Dad and Sage are close now. He is impressed with Sage’s work ethic and dedication. Dad and Uncle Mickey have both asked him to call them by their first names, but in public, he refers to them as Mr. Russo and Mr. Mancini. He didn’t know who you were, so that’s probably why he did it earlier. You’ll see when we move in.”
“You’re not jealous?” I ask, and Gio shakes his head.
“No. Dad told me about the things his foster parents used to do to him. I have no reason whatsoever to be jealous of Sage. I’m only thankful Dad was able to get him out of that situation. We’ve become friends over the past year. I like the guy, and he isn’t a kiss-ass like all the kids from school.”
I’m silent as I contemplate Gio’s words. Maybe Sage and I have more in common than I thought. Maybe he will be the friend I need. Maybe we will bond over mutual horrible stories, though one sexual assault doesn’t compare to years of sexual abuse, but perhaps we can still be of some comfort to one another. It’s something to think about anyway.
“Come on. Let me show you how to kill things.” The light in Gio’s eyes is somewhat psychotic, but it calls to something within me, something that I hadn’t realized I had, and I feel a grin cross my lips.
“Lead the way.”
ChapterFifteen
Opposite of the lab is the gun range, which is somewhat of a surprise. There are two areas. One section has four narrow ranges where you shoot targets from a stationary position. The second one is a walk-through thing that has targets jumping out at you, dropping down from the ceiling, and flinging up from the floor. There are things like boxes and barrels positioned all over to hide behind.
Gio spends the next couple of hours running through guns with me—pistols, rifles, semiautomatic, and automatic. He teaches me how to take one apart and put it back together, how to clean them, and how to load the magazines. Then he hands me a pair of earmuffs and safety glasses, and I spend the next hour shooting targets in our underground shooting range.
Turns out if I pretend the target is Stacey’s face, I can hit the bullseye nine times out of ten.
