“I’m as sure as I can be that I’m right,” he says and sets his glass down before leaning across the table like he’s about to share a secret.Is this all just an act?To what end?So I’ll like him again.That’s not how men work.Especially not men in my world.
“But even if he is alive, he can’t help you anymore, Gianna,” he says, and I do like the way my name rolls off his tongue.Soft like a caress.“Things have changed a lot.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Your sister’s husband, Angelo Ferro, has taken over running the New York Mob,” he says.“There’s no room for anyone from the old way anymore.He won’t have it.So it’d be best for you to stick close to me and not ruffle any more feathers.And it’s best for your sister to go along too.Do you understand?”
I drink some more wine because all the buzz I’d built up before is gone and my throat has gone dry.He’s just saying all this to make me compliant.To make me stop fighting him.To make me his again.That’s got to be the reason.
“And when I get my own back in LA, your family will all be welcome there with us.”
Whoa.Making a lot of assumptions there.And I don’t believe one word he’s staying.
“I bet Ferro wouldn’t like you telling me all of this,” I say.“What do you do?Just go around betraying all your friends?Is that like your thing?”
The darkness around him deepens even more, and as quiet as it is at our table I can hear those shadows around him hissing.
“I don’t owe anyone anything,” he says.“I’ve paid my dues and then some.”
He waves for the check and has the bill paid before I can think of what to say next.He’s impossible to figure out.Is he lying?Does he love me and that’s why he’s telling me all this?Or is he just playing some sick game, like a cat playing with its food?
“Let’s hit the casino now,” he says as he stands up.“I wanna see if my luck’s changed already.”
I stand too and he picks up my bag, then offers me his arm.I take it on instinct, not because I want to touch him.Or get closer to him.Or figure him out.But I have to pretend he’s getting to me.That’ll make it easier to run.I’ll go as soon as he’s not looking.
There’s only one way to know if he’s telling the truth or messing with my head.I have to learn the truth about what happened to my family firsthand.
Chapter22
MATTEO
We’ve beenat the roulette table for almost two hours, gambling away Nico’s money that I’ll somehow have to pay back.But I’m sure the coffers back in LA are still full.Lots of men died in Dante Moretti’s war… men who had no time to spend their fortunes.And I know where a lot of those fortunes are hidden.But at least I now know that my luck is still absolute shit.
But I don’t need luck when I have my arm around Goldie’s waist, her soft hair brushing my neck as she laughs and cheers and places the bets all wrong every time.But let her.As long as she’s not shying away from my touch, I’ll let her do anything she wants.
I’ve been warned about women who make a man crazy enough to think that way.Especially every time I went with my father or uncles to Vegas, since that’s where it always shows itself best.A woman you can’t say no to can and will bankrupt you.
But what’s life without a little danger?
And what’s life without a woman that makes you feel alive in ways you didn’t know you could be?
Maybe what I said to her over dinner finally made her trust me.I meant it.I won’t go too far out of my way to find her family if they manage to stay hidden and I will protect them if I ever get the chance.But first I need Ferro to get to the place where I can offer her that.So if he finds them on his own, I won’t stand in his way too hard.I told her as much too.There’s what you wish you could do and what you can do.And they usually are not the same thing.
She’s only had one vodka tonic since we got to the casino, but I’ve been throwing down whiskeys like there’s no tomorrow.I figured a little celebration was in order and that I’d been sober long enough.One night can’t hurt.And it can make everything better.
The roulette dealer shouts out a number—24 black, maybe, I didn’t hear too good because she turned to me with a wide smile on her face, her eyes sparkling in the overhead lights, almost as much as her dress.
“Looks like neither of us have any luck.I put it on 11 red.”
“All of it?”
She nods.“All of it.”
Man, how I love watching her lips move when she talks.
“So that’s what, a couple of grand that we’re down?”I ask.
“At least.”
