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“I only have a Three of a Kind.”
Dante inspected his watch and rose from his chair. “I’m meeting someone for dinner. You’re excused for the night.” Then he leveled me with one of his hardened glares. “I expect you on your knees in front of the elevator on Monday morning at nine o’clock.”
“What?” I gasped. “On my knees?”
He patted the top of my head, a sly grin tugging at his delicious mouth. “Like a good little slave.”
ChapterTwelve
STEFAN
Imet Ava at the back entrance to Lucky’s. She hopped out of the SUV and into my arms. We hadn’t seen each other all week. Dante had been keeping our girl busy running errands and doing stupid shit his assistant could have done for him.
Tony Natale stood by the Range Rover, waiting until I raised my hand for him to follow us inside. He was one of my best men and loyal. There weren’t many people we trusted with our girl and our money.
I held her hand as we walked down the dimly lit hallway. “I told the guys they can’t smoke in my office. But if you don’t feel good, let me know. I’ll get you out of here.”
“I have my inhaler,” she said with a smile. “But let’s hope I don’t need it.”
“You should be okay back here. We’re far enough away from the smoky club.”
After watching her gasping for breath at the engagement dinner, I didn’t want to take any chances with her life.
She glanced up at me with those big brown eyes. “So, who’s here tonight?”
I raised my shoulders a few inches. “Just a few of my guys.”
“I noticed Angelo has men who hang out with him at The Monella Club. Is it the same for you?”
I nodded. “We’re captains. Each of us has a crew working for us.”
“How many people?”
“Twenty or so, give or take. We also have associates.”
“How about Nico?”
Of all my brothers, Nico was the most forthcoming. He answered most of her questions without all the bullshit. It was rare he ever sugarcoated anything for her.
She hadn’t even mentioned his name since the engagement dinner, but I could tell she missed him. He was the one she went to for everything. And now, I noticed she was leaning on me for support. I liked that she felt like she could tell me things because I wanted to know everything about her.
“He’s a captain, too, right?”
I bobbed my head. “It’s different with Nico. Paulie Amato is our father’sconsigliereand doesn’t have a crew. He works directly for my dad, resolving disputes between the families. But since Nico is our dad’s golden boy, he gets to be a captain without a crew. So he does his own thing and helps Paulie with whatever he needs.”
“Is that why Dante hates him so much?”
For whatever reason, she was full of questions tonight. It must have been spending so much time with Dante this week. He rarely spoke, especially when he was working. My brother was so damn serious and uptight all the time.
“There’s a lot of issues between them,” I admitted, even though Dante would have killed me for telling Ava so much about him. “The shit with Nico’s mom. His anger over our mom. It doesn’t help that Nico doesn’t have as many responsibilities as the rest of us. Especially Dante, who carries most of the weight.”
“Is Paulie a lawyer, too?”
I shook my head. “Nah, he worked his way from the ground up. Paulie started as a runner when he was in middle school. His dad was my grandfather’s bodyguard. My dad trusts Paulie like a brother. And Paulie needs Nico to help him with the legal shit.”
We passed a handful of doors, but my office was at the far end. My family had a lot of security at the casino and our clubs. And as we moved down the corridor, cameras followed us. No one could get in or out of here without me knowing.
As we walked into my office, our conversation ended. The room had a large mahogany desk with couches to our right. Two men dressed in suits drank from bottles they raised to acknowledge me. I only let a handful of my guys hang out at the club.
