“Fuck if I know, bro but I can’t pinpoint the exact moment this woman captured my interest and wouldn’t let go. She’s become a challenge I can’t help chasing.” I sounded like a goddamn lunatic just saying those words out loud and probably the reason I hadn’t gone back since dropping her off in front of the hospital.
He chuckled and the sound filled me with instant annoyance, for myself. “One step at a time,Fratello. Don’t rush it, just understand it.”
“Understand what?” I snorted, turning away to look out the floor to ceiling window.
Lorenzo came up beside me. “Falling in love with Rayden was like someone took a ten-pound hammer to my stomach. It came out of nowhere, knocked me over and almost three years later, I’m still trying to pick myself off the ground. I have yet to understand it, Remo.”
I looked at him, my smirk a dead giveaway that love shit didn’t feature in my life. “I like fucking, brother. That’s all there is to it.” Before he could say anything further, I turned and headed for the door, his soft laugh following my footsteps. “Love!” I grunted, shaking my head. Time to stay away from that woman before she too became a bumbling idiot about this love crap.
My phone rang, pausing my steps at the door. I turned, walking back to Lorenzo’s table. “Arturo.”
“Let’s hear what the fucker wants now.” Lorenzo rose, poured two glasses of whiskey at the bar and returned.
Taking the glass he offered, I let the phone ring twice more before answering. “Yeah?” I put the call on speaker and set the phone on table.
“I heard the Rossi brothers were in town,” he drawled. “You’ve been avoiding me, Remo.”
“More ignoring,” I replied, sitting my ass on the table edge. “Avoidance is for men who have something to fear, Arturo.”
A pause. I could almost hear him smile, always thinking he was better than us. “Then I’ll be generous. I’m giving you one last chance to reconsider before things get unpleasant. That port is mine.”
“You want the port my family bled for, in exchange for what exactly? Empty promises or something of actual value?” I swirled the glass, watching it catch the light.
His chuckle grated on my nerves. “Let’s just say I have information that concerns one of your shipments next week, the one coming from Marseille?”
My hand stilled, my eyes meeting my brother’s shocked ones. Our shipments from Marseille were under wraps. Only a handful of people knew the manufacturers of our superior product was based in Marseille. If he knew, that meant we had a leak.
My glance shifted to a photo frame of our grandfather standing at that same port Arturo wanted. The cranes behind grandfather were still in the construction phase then. Completed, it became a bustling port that made our family powerful. Arturo wanting it wasn’t just business, it was a declaration of war masked as a negotiation.
“You’ve been busy,” Lorenzo responded, his calm would fool a ghost.
“I do my homework,” Arturo said. “And I’m offering you a way to keep what’s yours, at least most of it. Undeniable value.”
“Value is a matter of perspective, fucker. Try another angle.” I snapped. “We’re not in the habit of handing over our assets like party favors.”
“Get a rein on your brother, Lorenzo or I will.” His laugh scraped the edges of mockery.
“Is that a threat?” I kept my tone even, unaffected.
Silence hummed between us, the kind that crawled under your skin before it exploded. I sensed the foreboding a second too late.
“It’s a warning,” Arturo said, softly. “Because I’d hate to see that pretty little angel get caught in something meant for you.”
My glass froze halfway to my lips, my wide eyes meeting my brother’s again. Her name wasn’t mentioned but the way Arturolingered onpretty little angeltold me he knew exactly who she was. Slowly, Lorenzo shook his head, cautioning me not lose it, not to let the fucker get to me.
I forced a laugh, low and lethal. “Watching my private life now, Arturo? Didn’t think you had the time.” My knuckles whitened around the glass, threatening to shatter it.
“I’m observant,” he said, his tone smug. “You’ve been distracted, Remo. Slower. Softer. Dangerous for a man like you.”
This time my laugh was filled with amusement, the menacing kind. “You don’t know me,” I replied, each word clipped, clean. “If you’re threatening her, you’re crossing a line you won’t crawl back from.”
He ignored the warning. “You want to protect her, don’t you? Then give me what I want. The port, Remo and she stays untouched.”
“You mistake me for a man who negotiates out of fear.”
“No,” he scoffed. “I take you for a man who finally has something to lose. Eight p.m. tonight. The old Riva del Garda pier. No reinforcements.” He hung up.
For a long moment, the office stayed silent except for the faint ticking of a clock. Then I lifted my phone and dialed Gian. “Get me eyes on Ishika, now!” I barked when he answered. “I want to know her every move, who’s tailing her, from where and they don’t fucking leave breathing,” I gritted the last part, my tone that signature menace when I killed.
