Page 79
Pulling into a spot in front of the club, Cassius sighed and dropped his head against the headrest, thinking of all the changes he still needed to make. The entire staff at Sinsation needed to be replaced, and whoever he chose to bring on needed to be trained thoroughly to return the club to its former glory. It was an insurmountable task that he didn’t want, but would step up to the plate to handle anyway.
Forcing himself out of the car, he stalked toward the club’s doors and stepped inside, heading straight to the back for the meeting. He’d had Mars ensure the room was swept for bugs again to ensure privacy, and planned to keep things as short as possible so he could get home to the woman who helped put his mind at ease.
Entering the private room and thankful that everyone was already present, Cassius closed the door and got straight to business.
“Good evening. I’m sure this doesn’t need to be said, but the concern regarding my initiation back into my family should be put to rest, given the night’s events.”
“What events are you speaking of?” Elio questioned smugly, sitting back in his chair.
Cassius had plans to handle Elio’s disrespect toward Aella later, since the engagement party ended on a high note. But since his question felt like a challenge, Cassius changed his mind, deciding to handle it then and there.
Rolling up his sleeves, he moved around the table. “Funny that you’re the first to speak, when I owe you an ass-whooping for disrespecting my wife,” he said before slamming his fist into Elio’s face.
Elio jumped to his feet, but his father raised a hand. “Peace, Elio. You know the rules.”
“Pop, I—”
“You made a comment to my wife about her being for sale,” Cassius said coolly, unfazed by Elio’s huffing and puffing. “Anyone else would have a bullet in the skull. My suggestion would be to take the black eye and keep it pushing.” He squared his shoulders, hoping Elio would be stupid enough to take the subject further.
“As entertaining as this is,” Isabella Martinelli drawled, “I’m more interested in whether this takes care of this task force problem. My family’s hands are clean now, but that hasn’t always been the case. I’d like to know if I need to be prepared for any unwanted attention.”
Moving back to the head of the room, Cassius folded his hands. “I say this with every ounce of due respect, Isabella,” Cassius said, and meant it. Though allegedly retired, Isabella carried a reputation that gave even him pause. “I don’t think this task force will roll over lightly. If you’re worried about ensuring your family’s legacy, you’d do better appointing someone at the head to entrust with protecting that legacy. My father told me you wanted to step away, and I respect it, but this isn’t the time to leave yourself vulnerable.” He took a beat before turning to address Lorenzo Sabini. “As should you.”
Though he kept a blank stare, Lorenzo’s tone was almost taunting as he addressed Cassius. “And who would you have me appoint?”
“Whoever you see fit,” Cassius shrugged. “I can’t control what happens in any other organization. I can only do what’s best for my own and make suggestions where necessary.”
“The suggestion is appreciated,” Lorenzo replied coolly. “As is your initiative to take the first step in handling what could have become a problem for all of us. But I have things under control.”
Deciding that whatever happened was no longer his problem as long as it didn’t affect him, Cassius shrugged before glancing down at his watch. He had one more meetup to wrap up before he could finally get home to Aella and allow his mind a minute to rest.
“Is there anything else we need to address?” he asked, his eyes landing on each person in the room.
No one responded, but Elio delivered a hateful glare while wiping his hand against the back of his mouth. Cassius had forgotten about punching him just that quickly.
“Cool. Everyone knows where to reach me if they need me.”
With that, he left the room and the club to go home.
Sunlight filtered through the blinds as dust motes drifted lazily in the warm morning glow. Aella slowly trailed her fingers down Cassius’ bare chest as her mind replayed the previous night’s events on a loop.
“What could you possibly be up so early in the morning, obsessing about instead of sleeping?” he murmured sleepily, making her smile.
Propping herself up on an elbow, Aella sighed. “I don’t know. I guess my mind is still all over the place from last night.”
“What about last night?”
“You know what,” she lowered her chin so it rested on his chest.
“There are a few different things you could be concerned about, Elle. So I need you to use your words and tell me what’s wrong so I can put your mind at ease.”
“Have you done that often?”
“Fucked a woman in the bathroom?” he asked, his mouth curving into a smirk.
Aella kissed her teeth and smacked his chest with her free hand. “That is not what I’m talking about, and you know it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about because you still haven’t told me,” he chuckled. “But just so you know, no. I’ve never slept with anyone in a public place until last night. You’re my first.”
