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“To be honest, it was Diego who heard about the arranged marriage and freaked out at the thought of me being married off to a creep twice my age. Diego might seem totally unhinged at times, but he keeps his ear to the ground and will find a way to help if he can. I believe the three brothers concocted the plan together and Nicco ended up taking the lead because he’s so much more social than his brothers.”
“So, Nicco was the one capable of convincing everyone the engagement was real.” Storm looked intrigued.
“Yeah, you could say that,” Aprilia acknowledged. “Nicco wanted me out of harm’s way, obviously me acting as a secure conduit for information between your club and the Russo brothers was genuine—but the engagement had to appear real so that Don Diavonte wouldn’t doubt my loyalty. He thought I was trying to persuade Sophia to leave Blade and come back to her family—when Nicco originally approached him to ask for permission for me to come here that’s what he told him.”
Storm frowned, but before he could shoot his mouth off again, she clarified.
“Of course I wasn’t. But there had to be a believable reason why I wanted to go to the clubhouse. Your club did the impossible by getting three daughters out of mafia control. They’re happy as can be with their new lives. You’re currently a victim of your own success.”
Lightening hit my brain. “Nicco knew you’d be safe in our keeping because Eleanora, Sophia, and her younger sister are, right?”
A hint of a smile cured her lips up. “That’s exactly right. The problem was getting me here without arousing our don’s suspicions. I was engaged to Nicco and like a good loyal mafia woman I was going to try and get his sister to leave her new life and come back to the family. The Russo brothers came up with the plan of dropping hints to Don Diavonte that if I was allowed to visit Sophia then I would make a good spy. So essentially Nicco got me to a safe place by having our don think it was his own idea. He was not about to let any opportunity slip by to dig up intel on his enemies. I don’t know what it is about this small town in the middle of nowhere, but Don Diavonte is laser focused on controlling it.”
“It’s because we’re strategically located and our local police force is weak,” I explained.
“And you’re not spying on us?” Storm was studying her closely.
Aprilia shook her head, “No, you know my cell phone is bugged right? So when I talk to Nicco you have access to everything, Don Diavonte obviously does too, so any information given about the MC is the misinformation you and the Russos agreed on. They are your allies, they wouldn’t do anything that could get their sister hurt.”
“How can we know for sure where your loyalties lie?” Storm asked.
“I heard Mason say that even if it costs him his cut, he wasn’t giving me up. I’m here to tell you that I feel the same way. No matter how this all goes down, I’m sticking right by Mason’s side. I’ll do whatever you want, as long as you don’t ask me to double-cross Sophia’s brothers or try to keep me from being with Mason. Everything else is negotiable to me. I never dared to dream of finding a way out of the mafia, much less find a man I really care about. This is my chance to kill two birds with one stone and I’m taking it regardless of what you think.”
Aprilia’s bold words made my chest ache with pride, gratitude, and love. She was standing up to Storm who was intimidating at the best of times, just for an opportunity to be with me. No one had ever done that before. After years of looking, I had found my one. It was almost mind blowing that she felt the same way about me.
Storm’s nostrils flared. “So, what you’re saying is this thing between you and Mason is true love, right?”
Aprilia shrugged her shoulders. “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s not a giraffe. I’ve spent my whole life hanging back, having minimal contact with the men in my social circle because they were all destined to be members of the mafia. I’ve hooked up with guys, but it never lasted long because I could never see myself as a mafia wife, looking the other way while her husband shook down people for money or pushed drugs into the community or whatever crime was trending at the moment.”
Storm asked the question that had been burning in my mind as well. “Did you ever sleep with Nicco?”
Aprilia frowned at him and responded curtly, “I’ve never even played doctor with any of Sophia’s brothers growing up, or had crushes on them as teens, much less slept with them as adults. As I said before, they were like brothers to me. When I agreed to come here, Nicco even suggested I might find a hot biker to fall in love with, like his sister did. Trust me, there has never been anything romantic going on between any of us.”
I spoke up before my brain approved of the decision. “Yet, Nicco said he’d love for the engagement to be real. He wanted you for his wife, so there must have been something going on.”
Aprilia didn’t hesitate to respond to my question because, unlike Storm, I had a right to ask about her personal life. “I think Nicco is just struggling to find his one and is worried that Don Diavonte or his father might try to slap him upside the head with an arranged marriage one day soon. His old man already tried that with Diego because he’s the oldest. He jumped into bed with some older lady and fawned all over her in public. It pissed his potential bride off to the point that she refused him.”
Storm actually smiled. “It sounds like Diego likes imploding situations in order to get his way.”
Aprilia nodded, her expression becoming more relaxed. “He’s always been that way. My father used to say he was a drama queen. Diego hated that, but everyone knew it was true. Don’t get me wrong, Diego is a very dangerous man. He’ll kill someone who crosses him without hesitation if he thinks there is no other way, but he definitely gets a kick out of seeing everyone’s head explode over his antics.”
“What does Mr. Russo senior think about all this? I thought these old mafia types were all over their family, keeping things under control. Storm asked.
“Their old man is a stone-cold killer, a sociopath of the first order. I don’t think he even likes his kids, much less loves them. The only person I ever thought he had an emotional investment in was his wife. He pampers her, caters to her every whim, and will do anything she wants, no matter how absurd—and you already know about Sophia’s little sister Ashley. He even forgave his wife for her affair, though he could never forgive Ashley for being the product of it. I’ve seen younger women try to get his attention, having no idea what they’re dealing with. He’d not only turn them down flat, but he’d be absolutely brutal about it.”
Storm leaned back in his seat and relaxed. “I’ve heard from more than one person that he’s completely unhinged and a real piece of shit.”
“They aren’t wrong about that. Sophia’s brothers joke that their old man is outliving his usefulness. It’s funny because that’s just the attitude Mr. Russo has about other people. Still, somewhere in the back of my mind, I think those brothers are harboring some hardcore resentment against their dad for how he’s treated Sophia and Ashley. I worry that one day they’re going to make him pay. The one thing holding them back is that their mother lives and breathes for that man. If she passes first, his life wouldn’t be worth spit.”
“Jesus, you are used to associating with some depraved people, cher.” I reached out and took her hand in mine.
“I never spent a lot of time around Mr. and Mrs. Russo, but I did pay attention to my surroundings. Over the years, I just subconsciously picked up on a lot of behaviors that might not have been obvious to others.”
“Alright, I’m willing to take you at your word that you’re batting for team Slayer. However, from now on, I want all your conversations and text messages with Nicco to be made in my presence,” Storm instructed.
Aprilia shot back, “I’d be happy to make sure you’re present for all communication, but just to be clear I’m not batting for team Slayer. I’m batting for team Aprilia and team Mason. Right now, my goals and your club’s goals are in alignment. If anything happens to change that, I’ll give you a heads-up because I’m not the kind of person to double-cross a friend. Once the Russo brothers replace Don Diovante and I’m free to live my life as I see fit, I plan to reevaluate my loyalties. I might end up batting for team Slayer in the end. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Storm frowned, looking none too pleased by her loyalty clarification. “I suppose at this stage in the game I should be grateful for your honesty. I would say that as long as you’re an ally we’ll look out for you, but I think you already know we’ll look out for you regardless of whether or not you end up being an ally in the end.”
