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“You’ve been staying here for over two weeks, and I haven’t formally introduced you to any of my family,” he says. “That’s going to change.”
I turn around in his arms, my brow furrowing. Roman’s face is so handsome in the dim light, with the lines and contours of his face standing out in the shadows. His features are serious, but there’s no mistaking the way his eyes radiate with warmth.
“Are you sure?” I ask. “I mean, I see them around the grounds, and I don’t want to impose?—”
He silences me with a closed-mouth kiss, draws back, and says, “I want you to meet my brothers. Hell, I even want you to meet Gil.”
“Your second in command?” I ask, remembering Annalisa’s words.
Roman rolls onto his back and laughs, pulling me onto his chest. “Gil is a loyal friend who stood by the family through hell, but this organization has and always will have only one commander.”
My chest lightens. Something has changed, and Roman is starting to open up. Maybe hearing about my past has brought us closer together.
“What about your brothers?” I ask. “Aren’t you joint-leaders?”
“Benito is in charge of the finances. Cesare deals with other shit.”
“What kind?”
“The kind you’d be better off not knowing.” He places a kiss on the top of my head.
Roman is right, of course. I already saw enough of Cesare in action to know he enjoys inflicting pain. Benito seems to be the more reserved one of the trio, but I know very little about Gil.
“What does Gil do?”
“Anything I ask,” Roman says. “While I was inside, he kept an eye on my brothers and made sure they weren’t doing anything stupid.”
“Even Benito?” I ask.
Sighing, Roman threads his fingers through my hair. “You’ve got to understand that my dad had just died under semi-suspicious circumstances. Then the same week, I get arrested for the murder of a woman I’d never met. And before the week is out, our mother moves to New Jersey and shacks up with Tommy Galliano.”
I raise my head off his chest and stare into his dark eyes. “Isn’t he from that crime family in New Jersey?”
“The very same,” he mutters. “That’s a lot of fucking provocation for even the most level-headed of people. Gil had to restrain them both.”
“Where is your mother now?”
“Died during a breast enlargement,” he says.
I lower my head onto the crook of his shoulder and wrap my arms around his waist. Maybe everything I read in the forums was wrong. Based on what I just learned, it looks like Mr. Galliano was having an affair with Roman’s mother and set up Mr. Capello to look like the villain.
“I’m so sorry. Why does Tommy Galliano hate your family so much?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s obvious that he framed you, right? And if your mom remarried so soon after your dad died?—”
“It wasn’t him,” Roman says, his voice tightening.
“Who else could it be?” I ask.
“Someone my dad loved like a brother,” Roman says. “Unlike me, he made the mistake of elevating that man to his underboss and gave him enough power in the organization to stab us all in the backs.”
Roman’s heart accelerates beneath my ear, and his breath grows ragged. Tension radiates off his body like heat waves off asphalt. I want to ask if Mr. Galliano was working with Mr. Capello, but I’m afraid to dig. I know nothing about the underworld, but letting Roman talk about it might help release some of that pressure.
“Who framed you?”
Roman pauses for a moment and then releases a long, shuddering breath. “If I say the name out loud, it’ll sour my mood.”
