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Vito stayed standing, looking down at me. I had a feeling he’d been filled in on the plan.
“You’ve taken enough risks, Greta,” he said without preamble.
At least we were getting straight to the point.
“And where do you think I learned to take those risks?” I asked, sitting up straighter. “FromPapà? The man who’s been a construction foreman all my life? Or maybe fromMamma? She worked at the same high school for twenty years; I suppose that did make her one hell of a risk-taker.”
As I spoke, a vein in Vito’s temple started to pulse. It might have worried me if it were anyone else.
“I taught you to be smart, Greta.”
I shook my head—not that I thought Vito was stupid. Far from it. “You taught me what was important. You dropped everything—your whole life—to take care of Raven because she needed your protection. You would have died for her; you would have died for me.”
“You’re damn right, I would have. What you’re doing is—”
“Enough!” I shot to my feet, making the chair scrape loudly across the concrete.
“Greta,” Gabe said, his tone quiet but filled with warning. Raven had the same look of warning in her eyes.
And they were right; this wasn’t me. This was just the result of too much shit going on in my head.
“I’m sorry, Vito.” Time for a new approach. “I love my parents for giving me life and plenty of love. But you taught me this,Zietto.You showed me the person I wanted to be, and I like who I am and what I do. I don’t think there are many people on this earth who can say that.”
He stared back at me, and slowly the pulsing in his temple stopped. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his bald head. “There’ll be no changing that stubborn mind of yours,” he said finally.
He sat down in the chair next to Raven, facing me.
I could see Raven and Gabe trying to hide their smiles. It seemed I was quite the bit of entertainment lately.
“We’re going to go over the plan,” Vito said, sitting up straight. “And we’ll keep going over it until it’s airtight—no matter how long it takes.”
Did I mention thatZiettoVito also happened to be where I’d gotten my stubborn streak?
Chapter Thirty-Four
Greta
“I expect you to be home by curfew, young lady,” Gabe teased as he pulled up in front of the Old Dogs’ clubhouse.
I smiled an overbright smile at him. “When hell freezes over.”
He laughed. “Just be careful,amica.No going anywhere on your own until everything’s in place.” Hence, why Gabe was dropping me off at the clubhouse.
I could have stayed at the Costas and waited for Brute to come groveling back to me—that’s what the bitchy little girl in me thought I should do. But since I wasn’t in middle school anymore, I figured it was pretty okay to act like a grownup.
“Are you sure he’s in there?” Gabe asked, looking around at the long row of bikes parked out front.
I could have been wrong about where Brute would end up after he’d left the Costas so abruptly several hours ago. But I’d had a feeling he’d end up back here, and the sight of his bike in the clubhouse’s lot confirmed it.
“Si,he’s here,” I nodded to the bike, then got out of the car. “Grazie,amico.”
Gabe nodded, then like the overprotective friend he was, he waited in the lot while I headed for the door and disappeared into the clubhouse.
Inside, the stereo was cranking out old rock music, and the smell of leather and cigarette smoke wafted lightly in the air. The clubhouse had a good ventilation system and most of the men seemed to smoke outside, so the scent wasn’t overwhelming, just enough to blend nicely with the leather and conjure a good number of erotic bad boy images.
It didn’t hurt that “erotic” was in full swing at the moment. There were a few couples going at it in the far corner and Dynamite was sitting on the sofa where Brute had been the other day. He had a mostly naked blonde on her knees in front of him, bobbing her head for all she was worth. She had a nice body, but her wolf tats were faded and her skin was dull like she didn’t put a lot of effort into taking care of it. She was putting plenty of effort into the blowjob, though, if the look on Dynamite’s face and his white-knuckled grip on the back of the sofa were any indicator.
When he spotted me, he smiled, then turned his attention back to the blonde. Actually, come to think of it, there were a lot of men in the clubhouse making quick perusals then looking away. I had a feeling that had something to do with the little show Brute and I had put on from his office the other day. These men officially saw me as claimed.Ugh, like property. Awesome.
