I hoped that I managed to keep a straight face. I was warm because it was a hot spring day, but now my neck felt hot like I was sitting directly next to a roaring fire in my father’s hearth. I felt a clamminess in my palms. Felt a discomfort in my stomach, like my muscles ached from being stiff for so long. I hoped all this tension hadn’t crept into my features.
My father sat up, the cigar hanging between his lips. He grabbed it, took a final puff, and then removed it from his mouth and held it between his relaxed fingers. “You’re looking for work, I understand?”
Wolfe smirked, and that I-don’t-give-a-fuck attitude was so damn sexy. “No, I’m looking for a new family.”
“Family is irreplaceable.”
“So they say.” He gave a slight shrug, his smirk slowly fading away.
“Why did you leave Cosa Nostra?” my father asked bluntly.
Wolfe paused as he looked at my father, not showing fear or reverence like all the other men who’d come before him did. He seemed to be his own man, seemed to walk his own path in the dark. “We disagreed on some things.”
“Such as?”
He was quiet for a while as he stared at my father without needing to blink. Completely calm and confident and unaffected by the men in the room who all carried guns, while he carried nothing. “Business ethics.”
My father’s cigar continued to burn between his fingertips. “Breaking your vow to Cosa Nostra is a lethal offense.”
“It can be,” he said vaguely. “But deep down, they know I’m right.”
“They didn’t try to kill you?”
He smirked. “It’s a fight they knew they wouldn’t win.”
My father paused as he stared at him, analyzing a man who seemed difficult to understand. “So where do you stand with them now?”
“It’s probably best if we don’t cross paths again.”
“You’re aware that we’re enemies?”
He smiled. “Why do you think I’m here, Don Mancini?”
The smile was so arrogant and hostile, but my thighs squeezed together absent-mindedly.
“Because you’re a spy,” my father said curtly. “And you think I’m an idiot.”
He gave a quiet chuckle as his eyes strayed momentarily, meeting mine and staying there for a heartbeat before he looked at my father once again. “Nah, that’s not my game. I already know how your business works, so there’s no valuable information that you could provide me. And if this were an assassination attempt, I’d just come in guns blazing and get it over with.”
My father stared at him.
“Something about me that most people don’t like—I speak my mind. Sometimes it’s a breath of fresh air, and sometimes it’s so pungent you choke. Don’t ever ask me for an answer you don’t want to hear—because I’ll deliver it on a silver fucking platter.”
My father held his confidence despite the fact that we were all outmatched by this gorgeous stranger. “I want to know more about your disagreement with Cosa Nostra.”
“They decided to take the business in a direction that I inherently disagree with. I voiced my disdain for thisventure and made it clear in very unequivocal terms that I would leave Cosa Nostra if they pursued it.” He gave a shrug before he clapped his hands together. “They made their decision—and I walked.”
“What was the venture?”
He gave a slight shake of his head. “We may have separated on bad terms, but I’m not a rat.”
“Or you’re a spy,” my father said as he cocked his head slightly.
He gave a chuckle. “I’m fucked no matter the answer I give. If I betray my former employer, then you have no reason to trust that I won’t do the same to you. But if I don’t tell you, then you think I’m a spy.” He gave a shrug. “But I stand by what I said—I’m not a rat. If that’s not good enough for you, I don’t know what to tell you.” He rubbed his hands together gently. “Any other questions? Or are we done here?”
I looked at the side of my father’s face, hoping he wouldn’t dismiss this hunk of a man. Or maybe I did hope he would dismiss him, because he’d be off-limits if he worked for us. But then again, all men were off-limits when it came to my father. I could bring home a billionaire who wanted to whisk me away on his yacht, and my father would still find something wrong with him.
My father continued his stare. “How long were you with Cosa Nostra?”
