Desiree and I blew his plan out of the water, but now he’s desperate.Seeking revenge on us to show his control and power still exists, while secretly trying to make deals with some of the other families for a suitable marriage for Desiree.This is going to destroy her when she finds out, and while I may not love her or want to marry her at all, I want her to be happy.
Here in the club, unless they’re in our inner circle or have heard from soldiers on the street who know better than to run their mouths about the Roselli business, people still fucking think Desiree is mine.They probably thought I brought Sophia here as a punishment, an open mob fuck you to Amorte.Our world, it’s fucking complex and tangled at best.Damn this night.
How the hell she managed to get out with all the protection her father keeps is beyond me, but as long as my name is in any way associated with hers, the fucker with his hands all over her should walk the fuck away.I stride forward and tap him on the shoulder as she glares at me with those big blue eyes, glassy and hazed.“Take a hike.”I’m more generous to him than I really ought to be but I have no desire to be tonight’s entertainment.The poor sluff is not a usual in the club and probably has no idea who he’s got his hands on, since she’s more than willing to let him keep them around her shoulder.
Desiree pouts.“Don’t be so mean.It’s the first night I’ve been out in almost a year, Massimo.Do you hear me?I’ve been on literal house arrest with nothing to do but go literally insane.Do you know what my father has been like?”she asks.
My jaw tightens.It’s not like I didn’t think this conversation was going to occur, but not in public and not with her like this, barely able to stand upright or able to speak without slurring every syllable she says.
I glare at the glassy-eyed pain in the ass that I’ve been saddled with since childhood.“It’s been nine months to be exact.You’re drunk.”
Her eyes widen.“I am not!”She snort laughs, grabs the neck of this guy and kisses the asswipe right on the lips.His eyes go wide and his hands both go in the air.“Look, I can see this is a personal situation.I’m not looking to get into the middle of something that’s not my affair.”
“Smart man.Get lost.”I glare at Desiree.“Do you know what will happen if your father finds you in our club?He will feel compelled to protect your honor and send in the only few remaining cousins you have, and you know what will happen to them.So why do it, Desiree?Why keep coming around the club?We’ve made the break, and the families are at war.Your father has still not lifted the hit he put on Sophia.And there have been multiple attempts on her life.”
Desiree’s eyes scan the entire club, and her voice lowers and her speech slurs even worse.“Because this is the last place my father will look.I can’t stand another minute in that house, caged up like a princess in an ivory tower with no one to talk to except myself.I need a life, Massimo.Can’t you understand that?It’s the only place I can come that’s safe from everyone after my father and from my father, too.”
Her eyes fill with tears as she looks at me and my chest tightens with emotion for the young woman who’s been almost like part of our family for as long as I can remember.Not because I wanted her to be, but because our families wanted it to be.But even not wanting to date or marry, we developed a close camaraderie with our attempts to remain apart, all while under the watchful eyes of parents who thought we were together while we were, in fact, collaborating to be with others.The whole fucking thing is convoluted at best.
Desiree inhales a deep breath and twists, turning an ankle.I catch her before she hits the ground.She’s clearly unable to stand upright on the slinky little silver heels she wears.I scoop her into my arms and carry the crying, drunk-off-her-ass female through my club and down to the lower-level sex club as she literally passes out cold in my arms.
I walk with purpose past Lyndsey, who gives me a wink as I walk by.“Room’s ready, boss,” she says, as though I’m here every day instead of having been here last with her on a break just over nine months ago and once with my wife.Lyndsey has become far too flirty for her own good.Someone needs to take that young woman under their care with a firm hand.
I take Desiree to a VIP guest suite, remove her shoes, and cover her with a blanket so she can sleep off her drinks, with absolutely no idea what I intend to do with her.
My cell buzzes with a message from Leandro as I walk out of the room moments later.“Old man Amorte just got word that you took Desiree to a VIP in the club.You stupid fuck.He’s already been on the phone to Dad about getting the two of you back together again to save his daughter from the disgrace of being sullied by someone she isn’t engaged to.What the fuck are you thinking, Massimo?I asked you to your face if there was something between you.”
I exhale a breath of exasperation.This fucking night just gets better and better.“Take care of her,” I growl to Lyndsey, who walks past me with her perfect tits and a tight-lipped smile.
Leandro doesn’t wait for an answer.He just hangs up on my ass.The minute I walk out of the club, Jimmy pulls up and our soldiers surround me as I reach the car.“Get in,” Jimmy growls.
My eyes widen at my right-hand man.“I’m used to giving the orders,” I drawl, giving him a smile because only he can get away with something like that and he knows it.
He shakes his head, squealing away from the curb.“No time for niceties when I’m trying to save your fucking ass.How can you live to be the ripe old age of twenty-eight and still have not figured out how to stay out of trouble?Your father is furious, old man Amorte’s on a rampage about you sullying his daughter.I don’t know what the fuck Leandro’s problem is but he’s a fucking asshole tonight, growling at everyone, and Sophia apparently went down for a cup of tea tonight, heard that you were caught in bed with Desiree, and Elsie said she went upstairs in tears.What the fuck is wrong with you?”
My jaw locks tight.If one more person asks me that question, I’m going to punch them in the face.It had to be a setup.How could Desiree have gotten out of her house with all the guards?I mean, sure, when she was with me, she had me as an excuse.Someone from my team would pick her up, or she would make it look that way if her friends were taking her somewhere, but her old man always thought she was going to be with me.That’s the only way he let her out.
Now, old man Amorte just lets her slip out without a care in the world and doesn’t know exactly where she’s at.Bullshit.No fucking way.He’s up to something and I probably just walked right into his well laid little plan.He stirs up a bunch of shit and has already talked to my old man.
That’s not going to fix his problem though.No matter what he wants, I’m not marrying his daughter.I can see his game playing out before my eyes now.Fucking chaos and drama in my life, when all I want is quiet, solace, and the light in my kitten’s eyes, but now I’m going to find her with tears in her eyes.And while the thought of her hurt by what she believes happened between me and Desiree troubles me, there’s a part of me that wants her to realize what she feels is more than a game, that what we have is more than a deal, exchange, or power play.It’s real.I know she fucking feels the same but there’s a part of her that holds back, doesn’t quite trust that I’m not just going to finish with her in three months and bow to the pressure of my father and the Amortes because it’s expected in the world that we live in.I am going to fix this thing with the Amortes so we can be together.Fuck this damn night to hell.
There’s one way to fix this and one way only.“Take me to Amorte’s.”
Jimmy’s eyes go wide as he glances at me in the rearview.“What the fuck, boss?”
“Do it!I’m done with his bullshit.If my father can’t stand up to him after all he’s done, I will and I’ll put the fucker in the ground if I need to but his control over me and our family, his threats on my life, on Sophia’s life and that of her family?Everything fucking ends now.Do you hear me?”I growl.
Jimmy nods, turning off to head out of the city.“I think everyone in fucking Jersey heard you, boss.But we need some backup.I’ll send a message to the guys.”
My jaw tightens.“No, this is between me and her old man, and it ends tonight.No calls, no one but him and me.It ends tonight.”
24
Sophia
Massimo’s father is all over the place, first yelling at Leandro because Massimo is married to me, a fucking Cassone, and then pissed as hell that he’s at Carnal Sins sleeping with the Amorte woman who’s caused his son and this entire family one fucking heartache after another.“Massimo professes his devotion to the enemy upstairs in his bed, yet he’s at the club doing god knows what with Desiree, who according to her father was snuck out of his estate.He’s fucking accusing us of dragging his daughter through the mud, sullying her in public, and putting all of our dirty laundry on display!”
A glass crashes into what I can only imagine is Massimo’s immaculately clean slate fireplace.Well, clean until old man Roselli’s whiskey glass hit it.The storms and fate are often cruel in this life we lead.Who would have ever thought the worst enemies of modern times and old times alike would fall in love?True, head over heels love.The kind that makes my heart ache for him, even while my blood pumps with jealousy, the feral green-eyed type that causes me to want to head to the club and rip that woman’s fucking heart out of her chest with my bare hands.In my heart though, did I ever really think it was going to end any other way?
