Get dressed. I have to meet with the elders. You are coming with me.
A minute later, my phone buzzes. I look down to see she has sent me a single rolling-eyes emoji.
Despite the blinding fury that has consumed my entire afternoon, I catch myself smiling at the screen. She is so fucking fiery. Damn.
But when I finally pull up the long, winding driveway of the mansion and kill the engine, the amusement vanishes, replaced by a sudden rush of anticipation. I walk through the front doors, and she is already waiting for me in the foyer.
She looks breathtakingly beautiful and elegant, wearing a perfectly tailored dress that commands respect without saying a single word. She doesn't offer me a smile, and I don't offer an apology for this morning.
She glides past me, her perfume hitting my senses as she gets into the passenger seat of the car. I slide back into the driver's seat and pull out of the estate. For the first few minutes of the drive, neither of us speaks a word, the silence between us heavy, charged, and thick with undeniable tension.
I glance over at her profile, her jaw set as she stares straight ahead out the windshield. "Are you not going to ask me what we're heading there for?"
She turns her head toward me, a sarcastic sweetness coating her tone. "Almighty Alessandro, can you please tell me why we’re headed there?"
I cast her a sharp look, my grip tightening on the steering wheel. "I don’t want your attitude right now, Sienna."
She scoffs, looking back out her window, but she doesn't push the sarcasm further.
"Luca is on the run," I explain, my voice dropping as I focus back on the road. "We’ve been turning the city upside down all day and coming up empty. I think the elders know exactly where he is. I think someone is sheltering him."
Sienna frowns, appearing thoughtful as she digests the information. She shifts in her seat to face me. "If the Gallo empire is brought down because of a rogue lieutenant, won’t they also take the fall? Everything they've built is tied to your family."
I nod grimly. "Yes. But they hate me too much to see it that way. Their spite blinds them to the bigger picture."
"Why do they hate you so much?" she asks, genuine curiosity replacing the hostility in her voice for the first time today.
I let out a heavy sigh, the weight of a decade's worth of internal syndicate politics pressing down on my shoulders. "After my brother’s death, they all wanted Luca to lead the family instead of me."
"Why?"
"It’s a story for another day,sweetheart," I tell her, checking my mirrors as I make the final turn onto the secluded, heavily guarded road leading to the estate.
She accepts that with a slow nod, sensing the boundary I've just drawn, and turns her gaze back to the approaching gates.
The vehicle is immediately swarmed by three armed security detail, but the moment the lead guard steps up to the driver's side window and catches one clear look at my face, he freezes. He quickly gestures to the security kiosk.
The heavy gates swing backward without a single question asked, letting me through into the territory.
We park by the grand villa overlooking the perfectly manicured grounds. The elders are laughing and having a great time around a long lunch table filled with high-end food and expensive wine when I arrive.
The boisterous laughter instantly ceases the second their eyes land on me, the sudden silence so heavy you could hear a pin drop. I almost laugh out loud at their reactions; they look like they’ve just seen a ghost, or worse, the executioner.
"Why am I not invited to the party?" I ask, stepping up to the patio with a salty smile cutting across my face.
Enzo, the designated leader of the council, narrows his eyes at me through his cigar smoke. He sets his wine glass down with a tight, resentful snap. "Because the last time you ate with us, Alessandro, you almost made a man bleed."
I let out a dark laugh, entirely unbothered by the memory. "Ialmostmade him bleed because he chose to insult my wife."
My arm winds around Sienna’s waist, tightening to pull her flush against my side, and I look every single one of those old bastards dead in the eyes. "If no one insults my wife, no one will bleed."
Sienna doesn't flinch. Instead, she plays her part beautifully, leaning into my side and offering them a sweet, incredibly poised smile that tells them she is exactly where she belongs.
Without waiting for an invitation, I pull out a chair for Sienna and then seat myself, forcing our way into their private sanctuary. After a long, suffocating second of pure, unadulterated tension where the elders exchange uneasy glances, Sienna decides to break the ice.
She looks elegantly down the table at Enzo, her voice smooth and entirely commanding. "I must say, Don Enzo, it would be a shame to ruin such a beautiful afternoon. The Melvitto Garden has always had the finest vintage in the region, surely we can toast to a successful wedding before we get to business?"
Her flawless diplomacy catches them completely off guard. Enzo blinks, a slow, appreciative gleam replacing the hostility in his eyes. He clears his throat, lifting his glass toward her. "Salute, Mrs. Gallo. You possess far better manners than your husband."
