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No One's Ever Refused
Tyler
Holding Mia’s hand tighter than necessary, I filed into the overly ornate boardroom. Everything about this place screamed Mafia and old school. When the FBI enlisted me to go undercover as Jax Rossi’s grandson, I never imagined I’d find myself in the lion’s den this soon after infiltrating the Rossi family. With Jax’s sudden demise, the help of the FBI, and my marriage to Mia, I’d done the impossible. I’d come face-to-face with the Big 5, the century-old Criminal Society.
The thing about undercover work was that no amount of training could have prepared me for the string of unfortunate events that came after I’d agreed to take on the assignment. My first beautiful mistake had been to fall for a crew boss, Mia. Because of her, being Chase Rossi, the long-lost grandson of Jax Rossi, didn’t feel like a job.
The woman I loved more than anything in this world and my unborn baby were here tonight. If it were up to me, they would be at home, heavily guarded. But they were brought in for a very specific reason. That pissed me off, but until we knew what Rex Valentino wanted, there wasn’t much we could do.
This meeting wasn’t about pleasing the FBI. It was about my family’s survival. The problem was, I had no idea what kind of relationship Jax had with the Valentino family and the Big 5.
Everyone trickled into the room and lingered around the long mahogany table of sixteen. They all stayed cleared of the far end, where a chair with the head of a lion carved on the extra-long backrest sat regally empty. In the months I had spent with Jax before he died, I learned how big and dangerous egos could get. This Rex Valentino seemed to be the worst of them all. Looking around me, at the sourpuss faces, I’d had to guess almost everyone hadn’t come here of their own accord.
An old woman with a salt-and-pepper ballerina bun sat at the opposite end of the table. Her lips set in a thin line, she looked ready to murder someone. Her companion showed a friendlier disposition while her gaze scanned the room, as if looking for someone she knew.
“Nice. Get us here in a rush, then make us wait. I hate waiting,” Mia whispered in my ear. “Whatever this asshole is planning the answer is no.”
“Maybe we wait and find out. If he wanted to kill us, he could’ve done that a thousand times over.”
“True.”
Mia was right, of course. Whatever the fuck Rex had planned for tonight couldn’t be good for our health. I had to find a way to get her out of here sooner rather than later.
She pulled me toward the corner of the room where floor-to-ceiling bookcases lined the entire wall. Thick, old volumes filled every shelf. No room for knickknacks or family portraits. She ran her finger along a book spine with gold lettering, her eyes not really focusing on it.
“You know what’s interesting to me?” Her words were barely above a whisper. “We don’t know anyone here. But do you get the feeling they’re not surprised to see us?”
“Yeah, they may hate each other, but they all know who they are. They have to know we don’t belong.” I surveyed the room. No familiar faces here, no known names. We were in the thick of it, running blind and with no backup.
“You think Jax gets his wish tonight?” she asked, then shook her head in disbelief. “No, it can’t be that easy.”
“Technically, it wasn’t that easy.”
She gripped the lapel of my tuxedo with a flick of fear in her eyes. “I don’t like this, Tyler. If I thought getting into bed with the Rossi family was a bad idea, this is a thousand times worse.”
“Agreed. Whatever they want, the answer is no.” I leaned in to kiss her but then thought better of it. Hiding my feelings for Mia kept getting harder and harder.
The doors to the boardroom opened again, and a man who couldn’t be older than thirty strode in and headed straight for the lion chair. He glared at it for a moment before he gripped the backrest. Dark would be a good word to describe him. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark mood—just dark.
I had to assume this guy was Rex Valentino, the one who got us all here, because the minute he walked in, everyone stood at attention. He scanned the faces in front of him as if taking count. When his gaze settled on me, I fought the urge to shift my weight or even glare. I kept a straight face until he turned to the bodyguard who’d come in on his heels.
“Where is he?” His deep voice rumbled in the room.
“He’s on his way up. There was a situation downstairs. But it’s resolved,” his guy answered. They were not concerned at all that the rest of us could hear them.
Rex adjusted his watch, and his features softened for a beat. “Is she with him?”
“Yes, sir. Everything is as you requested.”
He nodded toward the door. The bodyguard tapped his ear and headed out. Next to us, a man with silver rings on his fingers sat on one of the leather club chairs as if he were home. His devil-may-care smirk made him look uninterested, bored. But the intense look in his eyes told me he didn’t trust Rex any more than I did.
The door opened again, and an old man who could barely walk trudged in. A young woman in a red dress patiently ushered him to a seat near the head of the table. Rex smiled at the duo, ogling her in an almost-crude way.
“He’s here. I hope you’re happy.” She shot him a dirty look.
Didn’t they get tired of this hate between the families? We’d been here a total of twenty minutes, and I was about done. They all had this look on their faces, as if they were about to rip each other’s throats out. Even the woman with the angelic face seemed capable of killing. She directed most of her angry glances and pursed lips at Rex, who didn’t seem to mind.
“Yes, Caterina. This makes me happy.” He looked it as he pulled out his chair and sat. When he did, so did everyone else.
