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LORENZO
My cell phone alerts me to an incoming text. I have to drop my legs down from where I crossed them on top of the desk Dom took over as his own this morning in Salvatore’s former office, if you can even call it that. It’s a room with a desk and a computer, even has a couch in the far corner, but it’s a far cry from my father’s office back home. Dad’s is more of a library, so I could have a skewed view from most setups, but then again, I’ve seen Sasha’s father’s office too and it’s even more elaborate than Dad’s.
Sitting up, I pull my cell from my pocket, seeing it’s a message from my sister. In all honesty, I’m surprised she texted me this soon. Typically, she holds a grudge longer and I’m the one that forces her to break it, and usually a knife and blood splatter are involved.
Sienna:Where is Dom? He won’t answer my calls.
Her text pisses me off more than it should, because I know she’s only resorting to contacting me in order to get in touch with Domenico. She also probably only waited a minute or two from messaging him just so she could pull this shit, knowing it would get under my skin. Then again, I’m sitting in front of his ass but never heard his phone go off, so either she didn’t text him at all or his is on silent.
Me:Sipping a drink, watching tits.
I tap the send button, smirking at the lie and knowing her nose is wrinkling right now since the delivered notification immediately turned to read.
Sienna: Ew. Why would you tell me that?
Sienna: Never mind. Tell him to answer me!!
She’s sadly mistaken if she thinks I’m her goddamn secretary—or his. Dad may have tossed me into this mess with Dom by making me his underboss well before my time, but that doesn’t mean I’m his bitch.
Me: Answer you about what?
My curiosity always gets the best of me when I know I shouldn’t let her know I care what she and Dom have to talk about. I’m still bitter I didn’t get a lick in two nights ago when we found that fucker that kidnapped my sister outside the hotel casino or that we let Kennedy walk without any consequences.
Sienna:That’s between him and me.
I clench my teeth, seething at her response as I fire back a text.
Me: Fuck you too then.
I slam the device on the desk and shove it in Dom’s direction before kicking back and throwing my booted feet back onto the desk, crossing my ankles as I stew over that bullshit.
“Can’t be the wife, so it must be your other half that’s under your skin from 1300 miles away,” Dom comments without looking away from the screen. He had a new iMac and several laptops delivered two hours ago. This is where he’s been since they arrived, and he started adding all the programs he uses for security and surveillance. Sienna is supposed to be setting up all the financial accounts, but I don’t see the point when we have no idea what Sal’s crew does legally versus illegally where their money is concerned.
“Said you aren’t answering her.” I jut my chin in the direction I discarded my phone that’s closer to his left hand than where I’m slouching. “Why is she so hell-bent on talking to you anyway?”
“Probably wants to know if I offed Matteo’s baby momma.”
“What the fuck?” I whisper-yell as I sit back up. Dom finally glances away from the screen to look at me. “Why would you say that in here?”
“Relax. I’ve handled security in the compound. What we say or do inside these walls remains in here. I’ll take care of the club tonight.” He pauses, staring me in the eye for a beat before snapping his dark gaze to where Sasha is having a hushed conversation with Krishna on the couch. Her cell phone is clutched in her hand. She isn’t paying the device any mind, nor is her brother with one of the new laptops perched on his thighs as they whisper. “Speaking of the club, you’re going to be running it. If the girls he had here last night are any indication of his stage talent, then plan on firing and hiring new staff. She going to be a problem?”
“She’s always a problem. What specifically are you asking, Dom?”
“Yesterday she found out you own a strip club. Specifically, the one she had been working at the past couple of years. She didn’t sit next to you on the plane, opting to sit next to me instead. No one opts to sit next to me, Ren, and then she slept in a bed that you did not sleep in last night. Now you’re about to be running another strip club that she is not allowed to dance at, so I’ll ask again. Is she going to be a problem?”
The only reason I didn’t kick the door in to the room she locked herself inside of at two this morning is because I was tired and didn’t want to deal with her bullshit. I figured I’d get more rest leaving her the hell alone, but did I? Fuck no. I haven’t been asleep since I woke up yesterday morning with her beautiful ass decorating my bedsheets.
Something is bothering her and has been since we arrived fifteen hours ago. You’d think after being married for two years and together on and off since we were teenagers that I’d be able to read her like a book by now, but that’s far from the reality of us. She’s more secretive than I am, and I hate it. If there’s one person I want to know inside and out, it’s her, and definitely not just in a physical way. I want in her head. I want to know her every want, her desires, and then I want to make them come true.
“I’ve got mine,” I bite out an answer. “You sure you’ve got yours? Why is he even here, Dom? You know when it comes down to life and death, I’ve got your back like no one else.”
The only goddamn person that can give me a run for my money with that statement is Sienna. Family comes first. Dad bred that into us, but not in the way some might think. We would kill for the other and we would die for each other if it came to that. No one has Dom’s back like Si and I do.
“Yes, Ren, I know you have my back, but I also don’t know what shit we’ve walked into down here. I’m not thrilled that Dad is making Sienna come either, but then part of me is because she’s one more person I can trust and not question. Sasha can throw down and hold her own. We may need Krishna’s heat, but he’s not just down here for us. Mischa sent him to check out their shit, so he’s not a guarantee as back up if shit hits the fan.”
Another text message comes through my phone before I reply to everything that spilled from Dom’s lips, making me remember what he said minutes ago.
“Did you do it?” I ask. “Take Kennedy’s life?”
“Of course I did.” He picks up my phone, eyeing the screen before placing it back down. “Do you think I’m taking another chance with that bitch’s record? I should have pumped more heroin into her veins the first time, but it was a lesson learned for both of us. I have to live with the fact that my sister’s life almost came to an end, and she goes six feet underground.”
“What is the reason I didn’t get to partake?” I bite out as my eyes narrow on him.
“I was pissed at you. I’m still pissed off. You don’t get to keep life-altering information from me, but make your shit right with Si. Do that, and we’ll be fine.” His eyes that seem to match our Dad’s more and more everyday bore into mine, and a part of me wants to cower but I don’t, nor will I ever. “But make no mistake, Ren, if you ever withhold something that big from me again, or lie to me, I will take every blade you own and shove them in all the places on your body that will hurt like hell but won’t kill you. You feel me, little brother?”
“Yeah, I feel ya, boss,” I say, enunciating the last word more forceful and on purpose.
“Good. Now go gather all the dumb captains on Sal’s payroll. It’s time to clean house in this motherfucker.”
