“You’ve been avoiding me though.”
Is she playing it coy to snare me further, or does she genuinely not know what’s been going on? I want to believe the latter, but the rational part of my brain is telling me not to forget who I am. There’s a fucking great empire with the Murray name blazoned across the top to lose if I let testosterone do the talking.
“Not true.” No matter what her agenda is, I’m not going to be an asshole and hurt her here in the foyer of my brother’s casino. I can already hear the disappointment in my mom’s tone if she ever found out that her son had treated a woman badly. “Avoiding you is the last thing I wanted to do, Remy.”
Her eyes flicker. She glances around the foyer at the other guests, bringing them back into focus. “What did you want then?” she asks finally.
Good question.
I didn’t think beyond the overwhelming desire to touch her. If I’m honest, I didn’t expect to want her as much as I did, as much as I still do. But I do know that hurting her was never part of the plan, if I even had one to begin with.
“You.”
She sucks her top lip, and her shoulders drop. “Please don’t do this. It isn’t fair.”
“I know.” I reach out and touch her hair, and she doesn’t pull away. “I’m sorry. I don’t want you to think that?—”
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and we both glance away, bursting the bubble prematurely. I slide it out and check the Caller ID. It’s Bash.
“I should get this.”
She nods, and I turn away to answer the call.
“Where are you?” Bash asks.
“I’m in the foyer.” I glance back around as the doorman closes the door behind Remy. She doesn’t look back. “I’m coming.”
My brothers are all waiting in the boardroom when I arrive.
There’s an ache in my chest that I want to massage away, but it’s on the inside, it isn’t something that can be cured with aromatherapy oils and a gentle touch. Unless that gentle touch belongs to Remy Jones.
I park the thought for now. Her address will be on file. I’ll find her when this is resolved, I’ll give her the attention she deserves, I’ll show her exactly how special she is.
“The Leone family,” Caleb begins. “Strong connections back in Sicily, but they’ve been content to stick to the island. Until now. Isabella Leone has other ideas though, and she’ll push them through her alliance with the Quinns.”
“What do we know about her?” I ask.
I’m still questioning Remy’s connection to Isabella’s fiancé after seeing them together on the casino floor. I don’t want to. I can’tbear the thought of Remy being anyone other than the person I thought she was. But practicality reigns. For now.
Caleb leads the conversation. “Her engagement suggests that she’s planning a strategic attack against the Murrays. With an Irish contingency on her side, she’s already acting as if the city is hers for the taking.”
“Is she aware of our alliance with the Byrnes since Emily’s marriage?” Bash asks.
“It’ll work in our favor if she isn’t.” Caleb shrugs.
“Feels like deja-vu,” Kyle says. “Olivia Dragonetti point 2. What is it with this family and Sicilian heiresses?”
Olivia Dragonetti wanted to marry Caleb. They dated briefly a long while ago, but her obsession with my brother led to her kidnapping the woman he loves and Kyle’s wife Sienna, and then, a year later, our baby sister Emily. Her father, Don Dragonetti, lost the heir to his empire because of her recklessness, but despite his daughter’s behavior, or perhaps because of it, he won’t stand back and watch another family try to take us down. Isabella Leone is a fool if she thinks that an alliance with the Quinns will buy her the kind of bargaining power that can touch our empire.
“What about the fiancé?” I ask, trying to ignore my racing pulse and the queasiness sitting in my gut. “What’s his story?”
“Grifter.” Kyle’s tablet is open on the table in front of him. “He’s in it for the money and power. She gets the connection; he gets the trappings.”
It happens all the time in the mafia world. For generations, daughters have grown up knowing that they’ll be married offwhen they come of age, to a family with the kind of connections that will expand their father’s empire. It’s one of the reasons why Terry wanted to keep our legacy a secret from Emily.
But I need more information about George Quinn. I need to know that Remy isn’t involved in their bid to take over the world, starting with New York City.
“What’s his history? Family. Previous relationships. Career prospects outside of marrying Isabella Leone.”
