The pretty flight attendant greets Fiero warmly as we board his private jet that is taking us to New York. Me, less so. I don’t miss the derisory way she stares at me. I know I look a mess, but it’s not very polite to acknowledge that. She takes our luggage, scoffing silently as she takes in my battered, old Louis Vuitton case, disappearing to stow it somewhere.
“After we’re airborne, you can take a shower and change,” Fiero says, gently pushing me down into a plush gray leather seat. He buckles me in before heading into the cockpit where I hear him greeting the pilot like he’s a friend. Perhaps he is. I know very little about the Maltese boss.
Fiero returns and claims the seat across from me, putting his seat belt on.
Miss Hostile materializes, eyeballing Fiero like he’s her next meal. My eyes narrow of their own accord when she touches his arm and bats her eyelashes at him. “What can I get you, Fiero?”
“Just two waters for now. Thanks, Mimi.”
“Everything is on the menu tonight, sir,” she purrs in a contrived seductive voice, lowering her eyes to his crotch. “Nothing is off-limits.”
Wow.Could she be more blatant or more desperate?
“In case your eyesight is failing, I have a companion, and you’re being rude and presumptuous.” Fiero levels her with a dark look that warns her to behave as he pointedly removes her hand from his arm. “That will be all, Mimi.” He dismisses her and returns his attention to me. I don’t miss the poisonous look she sends my way before she stalks off.
“Do you have a thing for young women, Don Maltese?” I ask as the door closes. “Or is it a flight attendant thing?”
His teasing grin comes out to play. “Jealous, Valentina?”
I snort out a laugh. “Hardly.”
“Liar.”
“Asshole.”
The grin slips off his mouth as the plane begins moving. “What did Cesco do to you at the table?”
All the blood leaches from my face and I avert my eyes, staring out the window as my heart pummels my rib cage. When I’m composed enough to speak, I don’t look at him when I say, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t do that.” He leans forward, gripping my chin firmly but gently, turning my face so I’m forced to look at him. “Neither of us are stupid.”
I swallow thickly over the lump wedged in my throat. “It doesn’t matter. Drop it.”
“It matters to me,” he says in a growly tone.
I drop my eyes to my lap.
“Valentina.” He lowers his voice. “Did he touch you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I whisper, horrified when tears well in my eyes.
He releases my face and stares at me as we taxi down the runway. “I’ll kill him.” He says it so calmly and casually, like how one would make small talk. “I’ll kill both of them.”
“That’s a bit extreme,” I say even though I’d have no issue if he killed them. It would sure make my life easier.
“Is it?”
Not really.Air whooshes out of my mouth, and my stomach dips as the plane takes off into the sky. “I know how to handle Dom and his son,” I quietly say. “I don’t need anyone to fight battles for me.”
“Don’t you?” He unbuckles his belt and stands.
I stare straight into his eyes as I say, “I can fight my own battles.”
“You shouldn’t have to.” Sadness lingers behind his words as he extends his hand. “Come on. I’ll show you where the shower is.”
9
FIERO
