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“I agree with what you said yesterday,” says Alessandro, taking my hand. “We can get along with dangerous creatures. If we show them the proper respect.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ava
“Did you see his face?” grins Dominic, punching the seat next to him. “Fuck yeah! Old Butcher looked like he saw a ghost. I’d say he got our message, all right.”
Next to me, driving, Alessandro is more grimly satisfied than jubilantly triumphant. But he allows himself to smile, more real than any expression he showed meeting with Gio the Butcher. “Yeah, that went well. Jesus, though, I see why that guy bothers people. What a creep.”
“What, you didn’t like him?”
“He’s not invited to Christmas dinner, if that’s what you’reasking.”
Dominic chuckles in the backseat. “He’s nicer than that Irish fucker who keeps muscling in on the South Side. I think we might be looking at a problem with him soon. I wonder if he has any weird pets we could feed him to.”
I stare out the window, disturbed that I’m not more disturbed by all of this. I just saw firsthand what the man I’m married to is capable of. But instead of terrified, it makes me feel… protected?
“You okay, babe?” my husband asks, putting his hand on my thigh.
Babe?
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I reply, and I think I actually mean it.
***
When we get back to Bover City, we drop Dominic off at his apartment. And that’s when I realize I don’t really know where I live anymore.
“Where are we going?” I ask Alessandro, suddenly shy.
“To my penthouse. I’ve had your things from your parents’ house moved in.”
“Already? That was fast.”
He shrugs. “You’re my wife. Would you rather live with your mom?”
I shake my head vigorously. “Hell no.”
***
Alessandro’s place is legitimately gorgeous. There’s a big gas fireplace in the living room that I’ll bet is amazingly cozy in the winter, and through sliding glass doors I can see a balcony with a view ofthe city skyline and an attached infinity pool. Clearly, this man did okay for himself before he started working with his grandfather.
“What did you do before joining the life?” I ask as he gives me the tour.
“Killed people,” he grunts. Figures, I suppose.
“And why did you decide to get made after being independent for so long?”
His face is blank. “Next question.”
Okay, then. As we exit the living room, I notice a target set up with a knife stuck into it. Next to it is a hole in the wall, clearly from a miss.
“Working on your aim?” I joke.
He cracks a smile. “No, I was trying to hit the wall.”
“So just for my own understanding. When you got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, that was you and Dominic killing Roberto and stuffing him into the piranha tank?”
Alessandro stops. “Does that upset you?”
