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“Not until you admit I was right.” Her retort breaks my eye contact with Vito as I glance at my mug instead.
Is this what feeling embarrassed is like?
Am I embarrassed though? No, not really, but this level of attention on the matter when there’s never been even a hint of a conversation between any of us has my face heating all the same.
“Unfortunately, Valentina, we have more important things to discuss,” Vito interjects, his hand moving from the back of my chair to the top of my thigh as I fail to strangle the gasp that slips from my lips. “Discussions that are business related, so if you want to stick around…” His words fade off, insinuating that if she wants to stay, she needs to quiet down, and surprisingly, she does just that.
“Fine, business first, me saying I told you so second, got it.”
I grin into my coffee at her antics. She definitely does have an impact on the people around her in a far too much fun kind of way.
Placing my mug back on the table, acutely aware of Vito’s fingers against my bare skin beneath the material of my shorts, I clear my throat and focus on what he said moments ago.
“What business do you need to discuss with me?” My gaze wanders from one De Luca brother to the other until I settle on Matteo with a slightly raised brow. I’m very aware that business conversations don’t require my opinion, or he said some shit along those lines previously, so now I’m intrigued.
“All of it.”
My eyes widen and I wait for him to continue. After a few moments though, it’s clear he’s not going to utter another word until I acknowledge what he said.
“All of what?”
He shrugs, leaning back in his seat as he opens his hands in front of him. “We want your help.”
“You wantmyhelp?” I repeat slowly, glancing at Enzo and Vito for confirmation, and I find them nodding eagerly in response.
What the fuck is this alternate universe?
I lean forward in my seat, bracing my elbows on the table as I bite back the smirk on my face. “So, to use the words of a De Luca, business first and my I told you so second?” Valentina bursts into laughter beside me as I let my grin free on my face. Vito rubs his hand over his mouth to hide his, while Enzo openly chuckles with his sister, leaving Matteo to weakly glare at me in annoyance. After basking in the moment, I roll my shoulders back and drop the grin from my lips. “Okay, whatever you need, I’m here.”
The table quiets once more at my words and the glare from Matteo softens as he nods.
“We need a plan. We need to bring these motherfucking Russians down for what they did and they need to pay for the unnecessary lives they took.” Enzo’s jaw tightens as he talks, anger burning beneath the surface as he speaks.
“Plans are for amateurs. Let’s just fuck it all to hell, go in guns blazing and watch them bleed,” I offer as I sit tall in my seat, ready to fucking go, but the look on everyone else’s face tells me that’s not going to happen.
“It was literally you telling usnotto do that yesterday,” Vito states, his gruff voice matching the calloused fingertips grazing over my skin.
“Yeah, but that was before you had me out there drawing blood. Now I’m hungry for it,” I admit with a hint of humor, an understanding that Vito seems familiar with as his eyes gloss over. “But for real, I’m in. When do you want to leave? We can plan on the way.”
Enzo smiles as he stretches his arms over his head. “Excellent. Hopefully we can fly out tonight, have it all done by the end of tomorrow so we will be back in time for Torres’s funeral.”
I try to hide the fact I hadn’t considered his funeral, but it makes my body stiffen. I’ve never been to a funeral before. I’ve never mourned someone’s death, but I nod anyway.
“Let me shower and I’m ready to go,” I reply, rising from my seat with reluctance as Vito squeezes my thigh before removing his touch, and I feel the loss of it. Moving toward the door, I pause, turning on the spot, only to find all four De Lucas watching me leave. “Featherstone… are we using them or going at this alone?”
Matteo assesses me for a hot minute before shrugging. “Alone first. If the time comes that we need more people and you trust them, then we’ll make that call.”
It makes total sense.
Clearing my throat, I lace my fingers as I try to relay the thoughts that have been running through my head since I woke up this morning. I was too worried to actually accept them, but I feel like I need to voice them now, so here goes nothing.
“I just… on a serious note, the respect and appreciation between everyone here is overwhelming yet life changing for me. Despite who my father was, I was a soldier first. My opinion didn’t count, even when I had all of the facts and insights, so you sitting there and accepting my voice for what it is means more than I would really care to admit.” Valentina’s eyes gloss over slightly as she offers a soft smile my way, while the brothers stare at me silently. Thank god, I don’t want a full conversation right now. I just needed to air those words of truth. “But more than anything, back in New York, I’m sorry my deceit cost us so much, and I’m not even sure I achieved redemption.”
27
VITO
My fingers flex on my armrest, every hair on my body standing on end as the plane rumbles beneath me. I can’t focus or concentrate on a single thing other thanher.
