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That was an unexpected offer.
“God. Please. Yes”
Angelo handed her the cup, which she accepted with both hands like a sacred offering. She sipped it gratefully, setting her bar for happiness right there with the coffee.
“Oh my god, this is so good.”
“Shall we talk about what you did yesterday?”
She looked up at him under her lashes. “You’re going to punish me, I guess.”
“You guess correctly. Because you stole a motorcycle and alcohol, both actions were guaranteed to expose you to law enforcement and the Organization. We can be almost certain they will come looking for you.”
“Give me to them, fuck it. You have your boys back, and you’re free of messy women, or you will be soon. Two down, one to go, right?”
Her voice trailed off to a soft squeak as Angelo leaned down, taking up all the space in the universe as far as she was concerned. Some people sucked all the air out of the room. Angelo sucked all her sanity, her fear, her everything besides her deep animal understanding of the need for obedience out of her.
“You need to know something, Gemma,” he purred in her ear. “I chose you, as surely as I chose my boys. Disposing of you would have barely been an inconvenience. I have gone out of my way to keep you safe while you have responded with temper tantrums….”
“You never chose me. You left me in a grave. I chose you twice.”
She was a pedantic little thing.
“If you think anybody gets as close to us as you have without me choosing them, you are dead wrong. And if you think I will allow the kind of recklessness you demonstrated when you left this house, you are doubly wrong. We are not petty criminals, stealing transportation and ripping off small businesses.”
“What are you going to do?”
“First, you’re going to get up, and have a shower, and have some breakfast. Then, we’re going into town.”
“O… okay?” Gemma had expected whips and chains, and god only knew what else. Cages, probably. This was… weird.
“I’ve brought my girl to apologize.”
The shopkeeper looked as confused as Gemma felt at having been marched into the liquor store she figured she’d been in yesterday, judging by the way the owner was glowering at her. “What are you? Her dad or something? Isn’t she a little old for this? It wasn’t a lollipop she stole. It was a bottle of Jack. I should call the police.”
“You probably should,” Angelo agreed, while Gemma felt the keen desire to sink into the earth. “But I would ask that you do not. This young lady has a sorrowful history. I have come to make reparations.”
He handed the man a wad of cash, easily large enough to pay for the entire store several times over.
“I suppose I can overlook it this time, but she’s banned from the store.”
“Understood. Very kind of you. Now, girl, apologize.”
“I’m sorry,” Gemma said, feeling her face burning so hotly she thought she might faint. This was humiliating - and that was precisely why Angelo was doing it.
“Good girl,” Angelo praised, making her feel about the size of a small puppy. “Let’s go and leave the man to his business.”
He led her out of the store, thoroughly embarrassed. She tried to cover up for it by being a smart-ass.
“Are we going to say sorry to the bike gang as well? Because I think some of them are still in the hospital.”
“You were gone a few hours, and the chaos you caused would make Bobby jealous. I once thought you would teach him to be responsible. Instead, you have proved yourself a bad influence.”
Gemma felt a burst of pride he did probably not intend for her to feel. Angelo Vitali calling her a bad influence was like the pope calling someone spiritual. It meant she’d really come into her own. Or maybe she was taking on the qualities of the people she was around.
“It’s impossible to be a bad influence to Bobby, and he would be deeply offended to hear you say that.”
“Probably,” Angelo laughed. “Now, we are going home for the second part of proceedings.”
Chapter 12
Gemma found herself in the dining room with Angelo, Mark, and Bobby. There was no meal on the table, but the way they were looking at her, she felt as though she might very well be the meal.
Her hangover was fading thanks to a good breakfast. Having made amends to the liquor store owner, her conscience was a little more clear, but there was an intensity to the way the three Vitali men looked at her which made her almost certain this was not over, not by a long shot.
“I shot Willow, and I will never, ever apologize for that.” Angelo started the conversation with a statement designed to inflame.
“And I will never, ever forgive you for it,” Gemma said simply. “You killed a woman in cold blood.”
