Predictable as always, Gino told me, "Let me have a moment to discuss this opportunity with my boys, if you will."
"Of course." Turning away, I joined Tristan on the other side of the platform.
"Do you think he'll go for it?" he asked me.
"I do," I told him with more assurance than I felt. "He'd be a fool not to. All I'm asking him to do is stand with me when I dethrone my father. There's very little risk for him and a lot of money to gain."
Always the devil's advocate, he said, "But like he said, he's known your father since they were kids. Will that be enough to make him switch loyalties?"
"I guess we'll find out."
"He's ready," Tristan said with a nod over my shoulder.
I walked back as Gino's sons returned to their places around him, and waited to hear his demands. Because, like any good businessman, Gino was fond of negotiating.
"Before I turn on one of my oldest friends," he said with a grave expression. "I have a request."
I gave him a nod, indicating for him to continue.
"I want twenty percent of the profit from the money laundering scam."
This, too, I was expecting. "I can do that, for you, Gino. But please don't let it get around or everyone will start thinking I'm soft." I smiled at him, and he laughed.
Waving his hand in the air, he dismissed the idea. "Of course I would never do any such thing. The business that happens between us is private."
"Thank you," I told him, knowing that he would be good on his word. But as I stepped forward to shake his hand and seal the deal, he held up one finger, stopping me.
"I also want her." His eyes drifted down the boat to Veda.
Taken off guard, my skin crawled with unease. But then I laughed it off, honestly thinking he was joking. "She's not on the table, Gino. Besides, what would your Annie think if you brought another woman home? You'd wake up tomorrow with your balls in a jar on the nightstand." Gino had been with the same woman for over twenty-three years. He'd met her when he first came to Texas, and she was a good southern girl who could cook a brisket like nobody's business and had him tied firmly to her apron strings.
No one knew why he'd never married her.
A look of disgust twisted his features. "Eh, I got rid of that whore. I found her fucking one of the delivery guys on my kitchen counter last week."
"Got rid of her" could mean many things, but in our world, it usually meant only one thing. "My condolences, Gino." Despite my sincere tone, my muscles tensed. This wasn't good. I'd brought Veda along because I thought he was still tied up with Annie. And as she wasn't my wife, that meant she was fair game. However, there was no fucking way in hell I would turn her over to someone like Gino, or anyone else for that matter. "But as I said, that one"-I tilted my head toward the front of the boat without taking my eyes from him-"isn't on the table."
The thing with Gino was, even though he was a good, honorable man who I respected, he wanted what he wanted. And once he set his mind on something, he pursued it like a bulldog after a bone until he had it. So, when I saw him get that look on his face, the one that told me I'd been a fucking stolto not to have her go below while we carried out our business, I could've kicked myself.
"How about you come to one of my clubs instead?" I offered. "As my guest. The girls will treat you really good, and they'll help you forget all about that unfortunate business with Annie. And every single one of them would be honored if they happened to catch more than your passing interest." I wasn't lying. One of the reasons they chose my club to dance in was in the hopes of becoming a permanent companion of my clientele. They didn't give a shit how we made our money, as long as they got to spend it on expensive clothes and fancy dinners.
"No offense, Luca, but I'm not looking for another whore. I'm looking for a girl just like that." Again, he nodded toward the front of the boat. "Why don't you bring her back here and introduce us?"
I barely refrained from launching myself across the water. "You don't want her, Gino." The more I denied him, the more his interest would be piqued, but I wasn't about to hand Veda, my vita, over to this guy. I didn't give a fuck who he was.
Never taking his eyes from her, he finished off his drink and stood, handing the empty bottle to one of his sons before he turned back to me. "Then I think our business here is done. It was good to see you, Luca. Give your father my regards."
"Luca." Tristan stepped up beside me.
I cursed under my breath. "Gino, wait. You don't understand." When he turned back to me, I held up my hand. "Let me get her." I waited until he nodded his agreement. Ignoring the look of triumph he couldn't quite hide, I turned to go get Veda, telling Tristan, "Make sure he doesn't go anywhere," as I passed him.
"Veda." She was where I'd left her, only her feet were on the sunken bench and her ass was on the deck. Her empty wine glass was in the holder on the table. She was leaning back on her arms and had her face turned up to the sun, her breasts thrust up in full view of Gino and his sons. I wanted to rage at her for showing off like that, but I forced myself to get it under control.
At the sound of my voice, she lifted her head. "Hey. Is your meeting over?"
I could tell by the slight slur of her words that she was feeling no pain, which was probably why she was baking in the hot Texas sun without complaint. "I need you to come with me."
She stared at me a moment, then looked back over her shoulder to Gino's boat, still sitting near ours. "Why?" she asked. "Why aren't they leaving?" "Just do as I say. Please," I added quietly.
After a pause, she climbed down from her spot and walked over to me, bracing herself against the slight rocking of the boat with a hand on the table.
When she reached me, I took her arm and leaned down to her speak in her ear. "Do exactly as I tell you and don't say a word. Not one fucking word. Do you comprendere?"
She nodded, her head down and eyes hidden behind her sunglasses, and allowed me to walk her to the back of the boat.
"Gino," I said. "This is Veda." I intentionally left out her last name. I didn't know if he knew of my brother's dead fiancée, but I wasn't about to offer up the information.
He stood from the chair he'd once again claimed and walked as close as he could to the edge. "Veda, what a pretty name. I was just telling Luca how rude he was being by not introducing us."
As instructed, she didn't say a word.
"Veda is not on the table," I repeated, holding up my hand when Gino's angry gaze swung my way. My muscles began to ache with the effort it was taking for me to appear relaxed. "Let me explain, and then I'm sure we can work something else out."
Crossing his arms over his barrel chest, he stared at me while he decided whether to give me the chance or not. "Well?" he finally said. "Go on, then. Explain."
Giving him a nod, I turned to Veda. "Take off your cover up."
Her eyes swung to mine behind her sunglasses. "What? No."
"Take it off now," I ordered.
I saw the tension in her jaw and the way her hands trembled-With fear? With rage?-as she pulled out first one arm and then the other before lifting it over her head and letting her arms fall back to her sides, her cover up bunched in one hand. Her chin lifted in a defiant move, and she wouldn't look at me as she focused on Gino. "As I said, the pleasure of Veda's company is not an option. She's Mario's, and I need her." Seething with rage that I was forced to do this, my body nearly vibrated with the need to hide her away from the shocked gazes all trained on the "M" carved into her chest. I hated that I had to cause her such embarrassment, but there was no other way around it.
"Jesus, Mary, and Joseph." Even Gino couldn't believe what he was looking at. "What did she do to deserve that?"
I bristled at how he talked about her like she wasn't standing right there in front of him. "She did nothing to deserve this," I answered truthfully. "But this only goes to prove to you that my brother is an extremely fucked up individual. And therefore, he's not the person we want running this family." Gino's eyes lingered on Veda's chest, then wandered down to her nipples and stomach and lower. I took a step toward him, my hand going into my pocket for my knife so I could cut them from his head. Only Tristan's hand on my shoulder brought me back to myself. Taking a few deep breaths, I managed to lower the heat in my blood to a simmer. "Are we done here?" I asked him.
His eyes wandered back up her body, and he shook his head with regret. "You're right. I don't want a secondhand whore, especially not one who has a reminder scarred into her skin." His eyes wandered over once more. "It's a damn shame." Dismissing her, he turned to me. "Twenty percent. And you can have my boys as guests at your club."
I stepped forward, my hand extended, just wanting to get him the hell out of here before I did something stupid. "I hope you'll join them anyway," I told him as he shook it.
"Maybe. Maybe. We'll see." We both stepped back as our men released our boats and started the motors. With a wave, I watched them pull away as we idled where we were. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath.
Without a word, Veda kicked off her shoes and dropped her cover up. Before I knew what she was about, she launched herself into the water just as the boat began to move.
"Veda!" I yelled as she went under.
She popped up out of the water and started swimming toward the shore, her sunglasses floating behind her.
"God fucking dammit." Shucking off my shoes and shirt, I yelled for Enzo to wait and dove into the lake after her. Swimming with long strokes, I caught up to her easily.
"Let me go!" she screamed when I reached her.
"Stop!" I yelled. "Where the fuck are you going?"
"Fuck off!" The bottom of her foot hit me in the chest as she kicked away from me.
I was on her again before she got very far. Grabbing her ankle, I pulled her toward me. Her face went underwater, and she came up sputtering and coughing. Wrapping one arm around her chest, I began to haul her back to the boat. "What the fuck are you doing?" I raged at her.
"Getting away from you!" she yelled back as she started to fight me again.
But we were already at the boat and Tristan was there to take her from me and haul her onto the platform. For the first time, I noticed what she was wearing as I lifted myself out of the water. Or rather, what little she was wearing. I got to my feet as an animalistic growl began deep in my chest when I saw my friend's hands on her bare skin. "Let her go," I gritted out between my teeth.
Knowing I was hanging onto my temper by a thread, Tristan dropped his hands immediately and she stumbled forward into my chest. I grabbed her arm and hauled her toward the cabin. "Go!" I told Enzo as we passed him. "Straight back to the dock. And keep everyone else the fuck out."
"Got it," he told me as the boat picked up speed.
Veda yanked her arm out of my hand as soon as we got below, and I let her. She spun toward me, her gray eyes dark with fury. "You were going to give me to that man!"
"No, I wasn't."
"You were! I was there! He called me a whore…" Her voice broke.
Closing the distance between us, I grabbed her chin and pulled her face up to mine. "No one touches you but me. You're MINE, Veda."
But she shook her head. "You were bargaining me like a piece of property." But some of the venom had left her voice.
"You're mine," I told her again. "And why the fuck are you wearing something like this in front of my men? Do you want me to have to kill someone?"
Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she pulled away from me. "It's a bathing suit! What the hell did you expect me to wear on the lake?"
I knew she was right, but logic didn't matter to me right now. The only thing I could think of was that every single man on my boat, and Gino's, had seen way too fucking much of her gorgeous body. Every single one of them would probably be jacking off to her tonight.
I bared my teeth. "You're strutting around looking like that in front of my men! In front of Gino and his sons! Were you showing off out there when I couldn't see you? Was that why he was suddenly so interested in you?"
She stared at me in disbelief. "Oh," she huffed. "Fuck you, Luca." She shook her head, her mouth twisted in disgust. "I had no idea this little outing was going to involve so many fucking people, and you know it. Don't you dare try to turn this around on me!"
My blood rushed through my veins and my cock swelled until it was
painfully hard. "I'll do whatever I fucking want to you, Veda."