Outside, I flexed my good arm, cracked the tendons tightening my neck muscles and opened the trunk of Lorenzo’s vehicle. After changing my blood-splattered shirt for a clean one, I slid into the back of his car.
He emerged a few minutes later and climbed in next to me, his concern unmistakable. “Go back in and get that arm checked.”
I turned away from the window to look at him. “What’s a little blood loss, brother? Considering I shed way more of those fuckers than they did mine, I’d say a small price to pay.”
“Not worth that doctor’s time, then?” He rubbed a hand along his afternoon stubble.
“No,” I snorted.
“Let’s go, Dario,” he instructed when I said nothing.
I knew he was challenging me. This was something he did on occasion. I’d learned to give him this leeway, only because I knew he cared for me. “Hang on.” I stopped Dario as the engine purred to life. “On second thoughts, I think my dick could do with a good sucking today.” I climbed out before Lorenzo could respond, relished the thought of sinking my cock into that feisty mouth and with my good hand, fished out my phone to make a call while I headed for the side entrance we used often. “Carlo,” I greeted as he picked up.
“Remo,” Carlo Bianchi greeted me at his door with a quick handshake five minutes later, his grip firm despite his age. “Heard you caused quite a stir downstairs.” He gestured to a couch before taking a seat opposite me. You could’ve just called.”
The Rossi’s and Bianchi’s had history long before I was born and while Carlo was a few years older than Lorenzo, he treated me with the same respect he did the rest of my family.
I shrugged. “Left the logistics to my men. They fucked up.”
“Want me to take a look?”
“All good.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “But I want something else, Carlo.”
“Anything.”
“Someone piqued my interest today.”
Carlo sighed heavily. “Let me guess. The doctor that taught your men a lesson in etiquette?”
My smile answered for me.
He studied me for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then he rubbed his temples like I was giving him a migraine. “When you’ve got time, I’d like to share a story with you.”
“A story?”
“It’s a long one.” His voice dopped, protective and warning all at once. “She’s family, Remo, and I’m aware you’re a man who can’t spell the wordno, so go easy on her.”
“I’ll try.”
What could I say? The man wasn’t wrong.
But as I waited for him to call her to his office, I couldn’t shake the feeling that Carlo’s warning wasn’t just about safeguarding a colleague, it was about protecting her fromme.
And that only made me want her more, whether she liked it or not, wanted it or not, I didn’t care.
twenty-six
. . .
Ishika– 31 years old
Stunned by the crude words, I watched the man walk out. Everything, from his dark mussed hair, ruggedly handsome features and intelligent eyes, a shade that was a beautiful confusion of blue and grey I’d never encountered, to the tattoos staining his neck before disappearing inside his blood-splattered white shirt, reeked of an arrogance very few men could pull off with such indifference.
The man was lethal. I could see it in the way he held himself, the way he stared at me with those cold hard depths. His easy smirk hinted my reproach would be wasted on him. Flustered, I gaped at the asshole’s back, wishing I could shoot arrows with my eyes. Granted, he looked like a man you didn’t challenge unless you knew him, his nonchalance irked me, especially those parting words.
“Oh, my God, what an asshole.” Fisting the lapels of my white coat, I shook my head, squeezing the soft material with a deathly grip. “Who the hell does he think he is?” I growled, something I’d never done. Usually, I was calm, collected and respectable. What just happened? How did a man I didn’t know, bring out a side tome that never existed before? I flicked my gaze to the other man who’d made the men apologize.
He smiled. Admittedly, his eyes were kinder than the asshole who walked out yet no less intense. “I’d say the devil in disguise but even the lord of hell has nothing on Remo’s fucked up reign on earth,” he offered. “Don’t run if you don’t like to be chased,tesoro. My brother’s very creative in the way he gets what he wants.”
