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The entire room went silent, tensing. I’d just threatened to kill a man in front of his don. The war between the Familias was creeping closer, all because of me, and I didn’t care. I wasn’t going to let them anywhere near Ivy.

“Tomas is such a good husband, and he has very little patience for threats to his wife,” Aunt Serena said brightly. “Anthony, take this… gentleman to the doctor.”

She said it so firmly that the creep wilted. He glanced at his don, but Don Bianco just nodded, and the man’s shoulders sagged even more. Faced with Aunt Serena and his don’s nod, he didn’t seem to know what to do or how to react.

“I believe you gentleman need to talk. Us ladies can as well. This is your daughter?”

“Lucrezia Battista,” the blonde said, stepping forward with a dazzling smile and an outstretched hand.

“I am Serena.” Aunt Serena took her hand, greeting the blonde as an equal. “Come, we can have some tea while the gentlemen talk.”

Don Bianco looked as though he was about to say something, but his daughter didn’t even look over her shoulder as she agreed with Aunt Serena and looped her arm through the older woman’s. If she was aware that she was being taken as collateral for Don Bianco and his men’s behavior, it didn’t show in her demeanor.

“Come along, girls.”

I glared at the creep as his gaze tracked Ivy, leaving with the others.

My little flower had a lot of explaining to do when I got her alone again.

Ivy

Alone with the women in the sitting room, other than the two guards on the door, I couldn’t help but feel nervy. Even more so than Lucrezia appeared to be. She was sipping her tea as though nothing was wrong in the world. Either she was stupid, which I didn’t believe, or she was far more capable than her flashy exterior portrayed. Which meant she was dangerous.

Then again, so was I under the right circumstances, but I didn’t have anything to help me here. Aunt Serena had made me take my apron off before sitting down to tea.

Now I was completely on my own, seated on a couch between a mob boss’s wife and his daughter-in-law, and across from another mob boss’s daughter. Clara sat in the other chair across from us, but she was watching Lucrezia, not me. There was something about the look in her eye that made me think she was more of our guard than the two men at the door.

After some small talk about the travel from Chicago to New York, Lucrezia set down her teacup and looked at me.

“Now then. Ivy, is it?” Lucrezia’s smile was charming. Warm. It didn’t match her eyes, which were dark and wary. “I must thank you. You made my father’s job so much easier. We got word that Giuseppe was dead and by the time we arrived in Chicago, poof!” She laughed, a sound like tinkling bells, as she spread her hands wide. “It was like magic. Everything had been taken care of for us.”

“I don’t know what that man was talking about.” I was going to stick to my story, which was that I knew nothing, no matter what they said.

“Of course you don’t.” Lucrezia winked at me. “By the way, Mrs. Andrews remembers you fondly. I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear you’re doing well.”

“She’s…” I clamped my mouth shut, but it was too late. I’d been too surprised to hear her name from Lucrezia to hide the fact that I knew Don Bianco’s former housekeeper.

“She’s alive. Perfectly well.” Lucrezia smiled again, and this time the amusement did touch her gaze. “Despite Marius’ anger at her. My father would never let anything happen to her. She was his nanny when he was younger. As soon as she heard who had taken Giuseppe’s place, she came back.”

My mouth dropped open in shock.

“There.” Lucrezia nodded. “You see now? There is nothing to fear by admitting that you helped us. We are very grateful.”

Nothing to fear but the women sitting on either side of me. The ones who now knew for certain that I was a threat, with no possibility of denying it on my end. The ones who had let me have a conservatory and a stillroom. I pressed my lips together, barely breathing. I didn’t know what to say.

Tomas

I stood behind Don DiNardo’s leather chair, Jack on the other side. Gio wasn’t here, he had disappeared with Anthony and the creep, probably to keep an eye on him. Across the desk, Don Bianco sat on one of the chairs. There was another open chair beside him, but none of his men took it. They were all fanned out behind him, just like we were behind our don.

I kept an eye on Don Bianco’s son. He was like a dark cloud next to his father, brooding and simmering. Marius wanted revenge, but he was weak. Unfocused. Angelo Battista was an unknown, but everything about him set my senses on high alert.

“I would like to keep the same agreement you had with Giuseppe,” Don Bianco said. “I believe it is mutually beneficial, and as I am shifting some things about how he did business, I want to ensure the arrangements I have no issue with remain intact.”

Don DiNardo grunted. “You didn’t have to come all this way for that.”

“Truth be told, I also wanted to look for Leonardo.” Don Bianco raised his eyebrow. “As his last known location was this city.”

Not a person moved on our side of the desk, not a single expression changed.