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“But how am I going to get back?” Her voice trembles.
“Work it out,” he rumbles. “And you’re no longer welcome in my apartment.”
I tune out the rest of the conversation, focusing only on Roman. Loving him could never be a mistake.
FORTY-SIX
ROMAN
Things are quiet on the business front for the next two days, so I spend each morning proving to Emberly that I meant every word. She’s my woman and I love her.
I. Love. Emberly. Kay.
There. I said it.
Despite this, my loyalty will always remain with my family, which means I’m still buying her paintings via Lubelli. We’ve clawed back the loan company and the real estate portfolio, which only leaves the stocks and vaults.
Emberly doesn’t know she’s safe from the cops. Someone reported finding Callahan’s colleagues dead at the wheel, but the police haven’t yet broken into the brothel.
I don’t give a shit how long it takes for them to track down that asshole’s corpse. By the time they do, it will look like he overdosed with a trafficked prostitute, leaving Tommy Galliano no choice but to close down the operation.
The biggest threats facing us now are the Galliano brothers and the Moirai Group. Since those slimy bastards have now gone undercover, we’ll have to deal directly with the assassins.
That’s why Cesare and I are standing in a parking lot on the outskirts of Beaumont City, dressed in bullet-proof armor. We’re waiting for representatives of the Moirai to arrive to retrieve their hostages.
Sunlight peeks in through the gaps in the warehouses, casting long shadows across an empty courtyard. Cesare and I are outside, facing the road with our backs against a van containing four individuals.
“Dinner the other night was good,” he says.
I grunt.
“It was almost like old times.”
The corner of my mouth lifts into a smile. “But without Dad telling us to shut the fuck up and appreciate the good food.”
“That’s you, now.”
I exhale a long breath. “You think?”
Cesare nudges me in the arm. “You were just like him when you kicked that bitch out for insulting your woman. Remember how Dad used to react when you and Benito talked back to Mom?”
“Yeah.” My jaw clenches.
I was never close to our mother. She left our Aunt Clarissa to tend to us kids. Then our uncle died, and our aunt left with our cousins, Leroi, and his little sister, Jennifer. Mother was only close to Cesare. Maybe because he was so much younger or the only son who resembled her, while Benito and I look more like younger versions of Dad.
Now isn’t the time to dwell on how she abandoned us, leaving Sofia to hold the family together. Cesare took it the worst and dropped out of medical school in a depression.
When Cesare had that drug problem, she and Gil took care of him while he went cold turkey. According to Gil, it was Sofia who dragged Cesare out of bed, and made sure he was recovering, making me the meals I ate in prison at the same time. Benito set back his ambitions to become a lawyer to take care of the businesses Capello didn’t steal. While the entire family went to shit, our mother commiserated in the arms of Tommy Galliano.
“Roman?” Cesare’s voice slices through my resentment.
“I remember,” I mutter.
“What’s the deal with the crazy balcony woman?” he asks with a chuckle. “Are you making her fall for you just to break her heart?”
My breath catches. I turn to look at him through his visor. “Is it that obvious she’s in love?”
“After you stood up for her, she leaned against you the entire evening like you were some kind of knight.”
