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“Nonsense, call me Pappi. Follow me, let’s talk,” says my grandfather. He leads us to the living room where my grandmother and my uncle Vincent wait. My grandmother’s eyes water when her gaze lands on me, but she smiles and hugs me. Vincent stands with his arms crossed. His dark eyes give nothing away as he moves closer. He simply shakes my hand in greeting.
“This is my girlfriend, Brittney,” I explain even as I’m sure they know exactly who she is.
Vincent glances at her before focusing back on me. “So, she’s the reason we’re about to unearth the past and finally put the Leones where they belong.”
“Vincent,” my grandmother hisses.
“It’s true, Mamma. There’s no point in sugarcoating it,” he says flatly.
My grandfather speaks up. “It is true, but we protect each other in this family. She’s your nephew’s girlfriend and she’ll get the same protection as any member of this family would. Besides, she may become family one day. Hawk is home.”
Brittney stiffens but doesn’t turn her gaze my way.
Vincent guffaws. “The news headlines say she’s engaged to a Leone.”
Brittney speaks now. “I didn’t know I was signing a marriage contract. I thought I was signing a record deal.”
I interject, “She didn’t know about the Leones or our family. It doesn’t matter, what’s done is done and now we have to fix this.”
Vincent smiles humorlessly. “It sounds like if you truly loved her, you should’ve given her the scoop on everything.”
Marco puts his hands up. “This isn’t up for debate, Vincent. How this came to be isn’t important. Hawk is right. All that matters is ensuring this mess is handled once and for all.”
Vincent shakes his head but doesn’t argue.
Marco focuses back on me. “Now, tell me what your plan is.”
“When she’s due to show up later this evening, I’m going with her. I’ll offer to take her place,” I deadpan.
Marco smiles and shakes his head while Gianna gasps and Vincent shouts profanity.
“Enough!” Marco shouts.
His dark eyes focus on mine. “You’ll offer no such thing. No Rossi will ever be tied to a Leone in any way.”
“What would you have me do, Marco?” I ask.
His eyes narrow. “That’s Pappi to you. You’ll meet with them. They’ll be expecting you. But they won’t be expecting Vincent to be with you, nor will they be expecting me. We’ll attend this first showdown with you and let them know what an error they’ve made and see if three generations of Rossis united will make them change their minds enough to let her out of the contract. If they won’t, we’ll reconvene once we know what it is they want. Everyone has a price.”
Brittney is pale as she watches the exchange between us. My grandmother surprisingly stands beside her and puts her arm around her to comfort her.
Marco notices. “Gianna, darling, why don’t you take Brittney to the guest room prepared for her and Hawk.”
Gianna nods and tries to lead Brittney away as her wide gaze falls on me. I nod and wink at her before my grandmother leads her away from the heated voices in this room.
When I’m sure they’re out of earshot, I face my grandfather and my uncle once more. “The price for her freedom is me. I know it and you know it.”
“You and your uncle will be head of this family one day, Hawk. We’ve never fought dirty the way they do, but the Leones have crossed this family for the last time. They walked away with your father and broke your mother’s heart already after ensuring the death of Victor. They almost succeeded in taking you from us before. If they won’t let her out of this simply from the sheer weight of our presence with you, we’ll get our hands dirty this time.” He glances at Vincent who nods.
“As much as it pains me to say this, I saw you fight. You’re quick on your feet and built like Kieran. If your father didn’t give you anything else, he gave you his ability to fight. Vincent can help you train. He’s been training for some time preparing for this after you left five years ago. He knew you might need help. Question is, are you willing to fight again after what happened last time? We all know they want blood,” my grandfather says in a quiet but deadly tone of voice.
My mind flashes back to that fight, the one I almost didn’t make it out of. I didn’t kill anyone, but my opponent was eating through a straw for almost six months, and rumor has it, he still walks with a cane and is damn lucky to be alive. I close my eyes and think of Brittney and keeping her away from this life as I realize there’s nothing off-limits to make sure it happens.
“I’m willing and ready.”
We left my SUV behind at the Rossi mansion. We’re being driven to Fantasia in a blacked-out SUV that’s much more expensive and larger than mine. The driver is armed and another guard beside him is too.
Hawk and I sit in the second row while Marco and Vincent sit in the third row. They’re both armed with concealed weapons as well. Gianna’s personal assistant had someone do my hair and makeup although I don’t feel like being dressed up right now. I’d rather be at home curled up on my couch watching reruns ofBonesand eating mint chip ice cream.
