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I took a long breath before knocking. I listened for the footfalls behind the door. He’d had to have known I was coming. I finally heard the footsteps before the chain unlocked. The door swung open.
“Hey, Rio,” I said with a smile.
He cocked his eyebrow at me as he leaned against the door frame, his full lips tight as he kept his eyes narrowed on mine. His hair was sloppy and brushed back. “Why oh why do I have a Silvani on my doorstep again? What kind of trouble are you in?” he asked as he kept his body firmly between me and his home.
I twirled hair around my finger as I stared at his sharp jaw. “Well...people think I killed someone.” I flashed my eyes up at him, giving a hint of a flirt, trying to get him to at least let me inside.
“Did you?” He crossed his arms over his chest.
“Not this time.”
Rosario groaned and stepped aside, allowing me to enter. The place was beautiful. My eyes widened at the big windows. Artistic furniture that probably came with the place littered the big living room. I sat on the angular couch that was a shade of yellow I surprisingly didn’t hate. It somehow fit in the room of grays and blacks.
“So you gonna tell me why the hell you’re here?” Rosario asked. His words were harsh, which was fair. I used the hell out of him before he left the business, and there I was, using him again. “Last I heard, you were abducted.”
My jaw went slack and I rolled my eyes. “I was not abducted.” My lips tightened. “I was with Enzo Viglione.”
Rio made a face like he thought I had to be joking. A soft chuckle ensured that he did. When my expression didn’t change, his laughter stopped. “Wait, really?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’m disgusted I thought you were still so damn sexy.” He curled his lip. “I wouldn’t touch a Viglione if I was in the throes of death and one of them was the only cure.” He shook his head. “Nah.”
I chuckled. Did anyone actuallylikethe Vigliones? I didn’t even like the Vigliones. I just liked Enzo. His shit family was just part of the package deal. Rio disappeared down a hallway and came back into the room, racking his pistol.
I raised my eyebrows. “You don’t need that. We’re done.”
He scoffed. “You clearly don’t know Enzo. He’s never done. If you’re what he wants, he’ll have you.”
“I don’t think—”
He stepped closer, put his tall, dark presence in front of me, and leaned over to raise my chin. “You may be a Silvani, but you’re the most addictive woman I’ve ever slept with.” His jaw set. “Trust me when I say he isn’t going to forget about you.”
His words burned through me. I slept with Rosario to get to his family. He was a notch in my belt I’d never forget. He was also one of only a few men I slept with who were still living and breathing. Probably because he'd gotten out of the game.
I was the reason his father’s empire had fallen. They were bottom feeders now. We thought we were meeting their family the day Silvio was killed. Rosario paved the way for one of his brothers to take over their father’s legacy. Or lack thereof. The family was crumbling enough that Rosario was allowed to slip through the cracks and live a life in a boring upscale apartment in the heart of the city.
Like a ghost from his past, I came and haunted him.
“Don’t get ideas,” I said.
“Nah, I wouldn’t fuck with Enzo’s girl. I’m not about to get myself killed, not even for that pussy of yours.” His cheeks flushed with heat. “Would it be worth it?” His eyes rushed to the ceiling in thought. “Almost.” Rio sat beside me and put the gun on the coffee table in front of us. He dropped his head into his propped-up hand and turned on the TV. “You can stay for a couple nights. And I don’t wanna know nothing about what you did.”
ChapterNine
Enzo
Iwas trying to keep my mind on too many things. Trying to figure out business. Keeping an eye on the bounty for Gia’s father and making sure my brothers were actually standing down regarding Gia. I was the boss now, a position I’d been working toward since I knew what the word meant. Nothing would go on that I didn’t know about. I wouldn’t reign with a blinding fist like Silvio, though. He lost sight of what we needed to do to stay in power. His focus had shifted too much. To what? I wasn’t even sure. The stacks of paperwork in the office made me think he didn’t know, either.
Even when I felt like I had everything I ever wanted, ever dreamed of, I was missing something I considered just as mine as the goddamn business. I shook my head. That couldn’t happen. We had to be done.
I stiffened at a knock on the door and swiveled around in the chair that Silvio’s ghost probably haunted. My fingers grazed the big wooden desk. The door swung open and Marco approached with determined steps, his footfalls echoing in the empty library. His eye was still bruised and swollen.
“Did you know there’s a hit on Gia’s father?” Marco asked as he slammed his fists down on the desk. “Is that why you came back? Because of her goddamn father?”
I sucked my teeth before rising to my feet. I leaned over the desk, drawing closer to Marco’s face. “I knew there was a hit, yes, but it ain’t your business why I’m back.”
“It’s my damn business if she’s the real reason you’re here and not because of the family.”
