I arch a brow as I stare at her. “That’s a bit rich coming from you.” Sofia never dates guys her own age; they’re always older.
She smirks. “FYI, my current fling is a good bityoungerthan me.”
Now it’s my turn to look surprised. “Are you sick or something?” She flips me the bird, and laughter rumbles from my chest. “And I thought you were a lady.”
She flips me off again, and I roll my eyes. “I wasn’t criticizing your choice, Ro, merely stating a fact.”
“She’s twenty-four.” I wet my lips. “Do you think that’s too young for me?”
“You know what I think. Age doesn’t matter. It’s all to do with the person. With the connection you feel. Whether there’s a spark in the bedroom. If they make you laugh. Make you happy. Those are the things that matter.”
“She makes me feel things I’ve never felt before. When I’m away from her, I can’t stop thinking about her, and when I’m with her, I can’t stop touching her,” I blurt, instantly feeling like a pussy. I’m close to both my sisters, but Sof and I don’t do this. We discuss business and family. I’m more likely to have an emotional conversation with my younger sister Tullia. She wears her heart on her sleeve and regularly comes to me for advice.
Sofia’s face lights up in a way I rarely see. “That’s good, right?”
“I think so.” I scrub my hands down my face. “It’s making me crazy and more than a little irrational at times.”
“It’s definitely love then.” My sister is grinning, but it quickly fades. “Who is she married to?”
“A prick who doesn’t deserve her.” I dig my nails into my thighs. Any time I think of that bastard Ferraro, I instantly turn feral. I’ve been considering options—ways to extract Valentina from her marriage and fast—all day. I could offer to pay him to divorce her, but Valentina would hate that, and it wouldn’t be the best start to our new life together. She’s already pissed at the deals I made, and I don’t think offering another one is the right course of action.
Plus, if he’s up to no good with the cartel, I can’t hand him a large chunk of money to aid his goal.
Which really only leaves one option. Personally, I think it’s a two-birds-one-stone scenario, but the board might not see it like that. On this occasion, I’m thinking it’ll be easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
Sofia’s mouth hangs open. “Please tell me you didn’t kidnap her from another made man?”
“I didn’t. He knows she’s with me. We have his permission.”
Her nose scrunches in disgust. “I don’t have words.” She’d have a few choice words for me if she knew I signed a contract and paid 6.5 mil for that permission. “What husband would do that? Is he gay or in love with his mistress?” she asks.
“Possibly,” I lie. “Anyway, enough about me and Valentina, what favor do you need this time?”
Removing a folder from her briefcase, she slides it across the table to me. “This guy has cropped up in a case I’m working on. I had my usual PI dig around, but he didn’t find anything. I’m not buying it. This guy has shady written all over him. Can you take a look?”
I often help my sister out on the downlow. Though my undergraduate degree is in business, specializing in financial investment, I attended courses online in my thirties to add an IT post-grad to my list of accomplishments. I had to step up when Massimo became president because he no longer had the time to manage that part of our business. “I’m busy this week, but I’ll ask Allante to cover it.”
Allante is a PI friend of ours, and we’ve worked with him for years. Massimo and I own a stake in his burgeoning business, and he’s as trustworthy as they come. If I’m not available, and it’s not something we want to do formally through Ben’s IT services, we pass the work to Allante.
I stand, wanting to go to Valentina. I’ve missed her today. “When do you need the intel by?”
“End of the week if possible.” She gets up. “The case goes to trial soon, and I’m trying to wrap up the loose ends.”
“It was good to see you,” I say, bundling my sister into a hug.
“Good to see you too.” She holds me tight. “We must arrange a night out with our siblings. It’s been too long.”
“It has. I’ll ask Zumo to arrange something in the next few weeks.”
She grabs her things and walks to the door.
“Sof,” I call after her. She stalls with her finger on the lock. “Don’t tell anyone about Valentina. Especially not Tullia.” I don’t like hiding it from my little sister, but she’ll be too excited to keep it a secret. I’ll tell her when it’s safe to do so.
“That’s a given.”
“Just for now until I sort things.”
“Be careful, Ro.” She flips back the lock as she drills a look at me. “Don’t do anything reckless. You’ve worked too hard to jeopardize everything now.”
