She is fucking brave.
I know she will be coming for our little rendezvous. I just know it. As I drop my phone on the leather beside me after I send the text, I realize she just makes wanting her even more difficult to escape. Makes leaving her harder. There's always a new reason to obsess; to adore.
She is fucking beautiful.
I want to bare her in front of me and study her piece by piece, because she is nothing short of fascinating. Once she gets her mouth in check, that is. I grin to myself, remembering her words. My angry, little siren.
I face the driver's side of the car and give an order. Marco is driving. I have just had a meeting with one of the managers of our hotel businesses in the city and I went with him. Marco is easily my right hand these days. I like that he is efficient. Very so. He has had men keep an eye on my siren when she's not home or at work; trailing her. Watching her house when I was not chanced to do so. He did all of this with brutal effectiveness. I am aware that The Sacra has been keeping an eye on Nicole as well. To protect her, or to capture her, I can't tell for now.
"I need five men tonight," I tell Marco.
"Just five?"
"We're just getting a girl.”
“Men from the Sacra have her on their radar, sir.” He pauses. “You told us this yourself.”
I tap my fingers on my knee. “And that is why we have the five men coming. The men are not for the girl. I'll handle her.”
He doesn't ask any more questions.
We reach the house and I head inside and Marco drives the car past the porch to get it parked. Javi is just arriving as well. His clothes are ruffled and he has a sour expression on his face as he makes his way inside the main lobby.
I know why, but I ignore it just to annoy him. “Did you deliver the parcel to our soon-to-be partners?”
I couldn't trust anyone else but family to deliver something as sensitive as that. The parcel contained business documents signed on our end and requiring the signatures of our promising business partner. The idea behind it is to invest our money every once in a while in legitimate businesses as a justification for all the money the family makes. Else, suspicion will arise and we'll have nosy cops butting their heads in things that are absolutely none of their fucking business.
Another advantage to legitimate businesses is that they can serve as a front for our real trade: storage, delivery, smokescreen, you name it.
“You could have told me that members of the Guerra would be there.” Javi walks with me and we stop by the bar to the far end of the lounge.
“You should have known that scum like them would be running around there,” I respond. “You were in Verona and they're natural troublemakers.”
Javi still looks dissatisfied. “I was caught unawares and we were in a restaurant. I couldn't pull out my gun. Bastard nearly fucking got a piece of me as memento.”
“Occupational hazard,” I say. “We blew up two of their meth labs last year. Console yourself with that. They're bitter.”
“They will fucking be in depression once I get at them again,” Javi says. “I had almost forgotten about them.”
“Let them go. Dad doesn't want them in our city.” I slip my hands in my pockets as we reach the bar. “If you provoke them now, a gang clash will result. And our problem is not even the clash. It's nosy cops and terrified citizens.”
I grab a bottle of Pinot Noir and head in the direction of the passageway leading to the other wings of the house. Javi's voice stops me.
“You seem in a good mood,” he notes.
And how did he come to that conclusion? The look I give him asks him that clearly. A raised brow is enough to have him speaking again.
He shrugs. “I don't know. You just seem happier.”
“Bullcrap.” I realize then that I hadn't taken a glass and I make the journey back to the bar to get the glass. “I can only have a semblance of happiness when we have José Salvatore. And we will. Because I will be damned if Jose Salvatore evades me one more time.”
My lips are a grim line as I say this.
I'm leaving Javi again as I tell him. “Get ready, we'll be having him in our midst soon. I'm giving him a day from now. We will get our fucking pound of flesh from the scum.”
Javi grins. “You say it like you have a crystal ball you consult every so often. Are you really sure that snitch will show up? He might decide to stay in hiding.”
I scoff. “He fucking dares not.” Javi helps himself to a whiskey bottle as I continue. “The next twenty-four hours will prove that.”
“You’ll use his sister against him,” Javi states.
“Of course.”
“You've seen her.” His brows are furrowed. “Fuck. I should have known. That's why you're in such a good mood. You like her.”
“She's fucking mine.”
Javi raises his hands in mock-surrender. “I mean, she's smoking hot and all, but I wouldn't dare.” He pauses. “But what you're doing is dangerous. Roman, this is not us sneaking out to pubs when your old man is not home. Outsiders are dangerous. That is why it's a rule. You can't be with an outsider.”
“There will be problems if I don't have Nicole Salvatore,” I state grimly. “I cannot emphasize this enough. All hell can and will break loose.”