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“Your father,” he said simply.
Anger roared inside me. “So you don’t think I can take care of myself?”
Rocco just stared at me for a long moment, his jaw clenched, as if deciding. “No, I don’t think you can,” he said finally, his voice raising. “Last I saw you, you were hitting on Ricardo Gallo, like he’d somehow let you escape his bedroom once you were in. You were putting yourself in the line of fire and your bodyguard wasn’t even watching.”
“Alberto watches me plenty,” I said stubbornly.
Something twitched in Rocco’s jaw. “If that was true, you wouldn’t be here, would you?”
I shut my mouth, not wanting to give in and give him the last word, but feeling so angry I couldn’t make words come out of my mouth. I stormed over to the bed, getting under the covers and staring at the sitcom I’d left playing on television. This was going to be alongtrip.
10
ROCCO
I began to hope that Ricardo would call me soon, because Allegra Rossi was driving mecrazy.I’d barely slept a wink the night before, and I knew I had to watch her like a hawk. There was nowhere for her to go, but I didn’t trust her not to brain me with something in the middle of the night and try to escape.
She knew I’d find her eventually, I guessed, because I heard her light snoring after a few hours of her watching endless amounts of television. I sighed down at my hand of solitaire and threw my cards on the table, annoyed. She’d had a point when she told me I was an idiot for leaving, for taking the fall, but I knew the real story. We never could have run away together. She would never have left her father, never left the life. Allegra and I couldn’t be any more different. She’d grown up with all the good things in life, all the protection she ever needed. It wasn’t like that for me. If I’d abandoned Enzo and run away with Allegra, we would have nothing. I would have had to get some bullshit job and she would’ve had to waitress, and would’ve resented me.
The best thing to do was to leave, to let her move on with her life. I’d loved her enough to let her go, but I didn’t know how to tell her that. I didn’t know how to tell her I knew that she’d be happier without me. And from all I could tell, she was. I still didn’t know if she was dating, and I tried hard not to think about it, but she seemed happy, content with her life. She did keep seeking out trouble, but that wasn’t unusual. Allegra had always been that way, always focused on what she needed to do for her father. She was just as loyal as I was, in her way. It was one thing we had in common.
I stood over her bed and watched her sleep for a long moment, watched the way she tossed and turned, before heading into the shower myself. I felt like I smelled of liquor and the hookah everyone had been smoking back at that club. I planned to make the shower quick, not wanting Allegra to wake up, but all I could think about was her in my lap, the way she’d put her fingers in my hair. God, it’d been so familiar and yet so different. Her hips had been wider than when we were kids, her stomach a little more rounded. She was curvier now than ever, and it made her even more attractive to me.
I hardened instantly, thinking about her, about that moment, and looked down at myself and sighed. I clearly should have taken a cold shower, but it was too late now. I wrapped my hand around myself, thrusting forward, leaning up against the shower wall, putting my forehead to the tile. I let out harsh breaths, thinking of the way she’d looked in that wet underwear, the peaks of her nipples, the dark shadow of her sex. Pumping my fist, I thought about the way her hips had felt under my hands. I thought about the fingerprint bruises I’d leave there if we’d gone further, if I’d given in to her half-hearted attempt to seduce me. I remembered the way she tasted, like vermouth and green olives from when she’d been drinking, and the way her tongue slid across mine, and I was suddenly coming all over my hand, grunting and panting like an animal. God, Allegra Rossi was going to be the death of me.
Once I got myself together and got out of the shower, drying off and putting on a pair of boxer briefs, I called Ricardo. “Yeah?” he answered, sounding distracted.
I closed my eyes briefly, annoyed. “What’s the plan? I’ve got Allegra at the safehouse.”
“The one upstate?” Ricardo asked, finally sounding vaguely interested.
“Yeah,” I barked. “When do I get to come back? She’s already scratched me all to hell.”
Ricardo chuckled. “Did you put her in her place?”
I took in a sharp breath. He sounded way too interested in the details. “I’ve got it handled. What’s the plan?”
“Don’t you worry about the plan,” he said. “I’ll have it done by end of the week.”
End of the week? That was another five days with Allegra, holed up in this house with her staring daggers at me. I didn’t know if I’d make it five more days. “Well, hurry up,” I told him.
Ricardo hummed. “Have your fun with her,” he suggested, and I wanted to retch. He reallywasan asshole, and now with Enzo sick, I was worried about what would happen to the Gallofamigliawhen he took over. I just hung up, unwilling to hear him ask for details or talk more shit about Allegra. I could only take so much of Ricardo Gallo, and I’d been babysitting him all week already.
Allegra was awake when I walked back into the bedroom, sitting up and flipping through the channels. She glanced at me and quickly looked away, the hint of a blush on her cheeks. I smirked, liking that the way I looked could still affect her somewhat. It clearly wasn’t as bad as she affected me, but it was something. She was still attracted to me, despite her better judgment. That much was clear by how hot her skin had been under my hands.
“I have to get back home,” she said calmly and quietly, apparently changing her strategy from before.
“I’ll take you home as soon as I can,” I promised.
“I have things to do there,” she explained. “Responsibilities.”
“Like what? Flirting with Ricardo?” I scoffed.
“None of your business,” she muttered, her face getting red all over again.
I waited for her to scream at me, but she didn’t. “Why are you stuck on Ricardo, anyway? What do you want from him?” I demanded.
Allegra looked up at me. “You’ll just rat me out. Run back and tell Enzo.”
