Alessio (The Guzzi Legacy Book 2)

by Bethany-Kris

  “Siena?” she asked.

  Corrado nodded. “Supposedly, she would be someone we could trust to talk to, yes?”

  “Yeah, of course. She only ever helped me.”

  “Call her,” Alessio murmured. “I’m sure she’d be willing to chat about your sisters and fill you in on what she can.”

  “Right, yeah.”

  Still, Ginevra hesitated.

  Her hands trembled.

  “Call,” Corrado told her. “It’s safe.”

  Or as safe as it would get.

  Ginevra nodded and pressed the call button before putting the device to her ear. Alessio and Corrado were quick to give her privacy but not much. They drifted just outside of the bathroom, their backs turned to the door.

  Not that it mattered.

  They could still listen.

  “Siena?”

  Her voice ached.

  So close to tears.

  Corrado stared at the floor.

  Alessio leaned against his side.

  “Yeah, it’s me,” Ginevra whispered. “How are my sisters?”

  “Who takes care of her?” Alessio asked.

  Corrado glanced at him. “Hmm?”

  “She takes care of everyone else, but who takes care of her?”

  “I think it’s supposed to be us.”

  “Ah, they let you out of the penthouse again to spend time with the rest of the world, did they?”

  Ginevra grinned at Marcus’s teasing. He ignored Alessio and Corrado behind her, who no doubt, were glowering at Marcus for his comment. Not that it was a lie.

  “I came to dinner last night, too,” she pointed out.

  Marcus nodded. “Right, but does a dinner really count?”

  “They’re working on it.”

  “Well, that’s what counts.” Corrado’s oldest brother laughed, and stepped in close enough to press a quick kiss to each of Ginevra’s cheeks. “Thank you for coming—drinks are on the house, yeah? Have fun, Ginny, I am sure you deserve it with those two.”

  She smiled. “They’re not so bad, actually.”

  “I’m sure.” Marcus kept an arm around Ginevra’s waist as he turned them both, so he could greet Corrado and Alessio behind her. “Behave tonight, huh?”

  Corrado smirked. “When do we not?”

  Marcus arched a brow. “You want a rundown?”

  Alessio tapped his temple with one finger. “No need.”

  “Listen,” Marcus said, his gaze drifting over the people lingering near the bar, “I’d like for this opening to go off well, if you wouldn’t mind. So, if someone opens their mouth about something the two of you don’t like, let me handle it.”

  “I’ll try,” Corrado murmured.

  Marcus looked to Alessio displeased with Corrado’s answer. Alessio only shrugged like he didn’t have an opinion one way or the other, saying, “It’s a sore topic.”

  Right.

  Ginevra understood now.

  Made men.

  The famiglia.

  Corrado joining The League.

  Him and Alessio.

  Yeah.

  “You would think the two of you would try to keep each other out of trouble more often than you do,” Marcus muttered.

  Alessio made a dismissive noise under his breath as he rocked back on his heels. “You would think that, but no.”

  “Marcus!”

  His arm slipped away from Ginevra as he turned to see who was shouting his name behind them. Quickly, he found whoever he was looking for, raised a hand, and then shot a look over his shoulder at the rest.

  “Business calls,” Marcus said. “We’ll be in the VIP section upstairs when you’re ready to join us.”

  Corrado reached for Ginevra as he replied to his brother, “Got it, Marcus.”

  Ginevra found herself tucked into Corrado’s side with Alessio on her other side as Marcus walked away from them.

  “He’s just like your father, you know?” Alessio asked.

  Corrado sighed. “Too much, sometimes.”

  “Just enough, maybe.”

  “Yet to be determined,” Corrado muttered.

  “I’d like to dance,” Ginevra said, peeking up at him.

  Corrado made a face.

  She laughed.

  “What?”

  Alessio chuckled. “Someone doesn’t dance.”

  “Not unless it’s a waltz,” Corrado said under his breath.

  “Why not?”

  “Never cared to bother, but …”

  Ginevra pouted. “But what?”

  “Alessio loves to dance.”

  “Yes.”

  Corrado’s heady laughter drifted all around them, over the music in the club and the loud people, as he stepped aside so Alessio could take his place at her other side.

  “Ah, see, now she’s happy,” Corrado told Alessio. And then to her, “And he likes to make those he loves happy, Ginny.”

  The words were said almost carelessly. Just tossed out like they shouldn’t have meant very much at all, and she shouldn’t take them too seriously. It didn’t matter. Their weight upon impact still took her breath away as the word loves kept ringing around in the back of her mind. Not that she could think about it or dwell for too long. Alessio was already pulling her out to the floor.

  Later, she thought. She would deal with that word, what it meant, and her own feelings later. Surely, they would have enough time for that. Besides, she thought they should be aware.

  They needed to know how she felt, too. That nothing in her life would ever be the same because of these two men, and she didn’t want it to be. There wasn’t a single part of her that wanted to be without Corrado and Alessio. She wasn’t sure how that happened, but she understood why it did.

  Them.

  Simply put—because of them.

  How could someone not love those men?

  Yeah, she suspected things would be tricky when she had to go back home, but shouldn’t they at least try? She winked back at Corrado while Alessio pulled her further away, waving two fingers as her silent goodbye.

  He grinned back.

  Turning her attention on Alessio, she said, “They won’t bother him, right?”

  “Who?”

  “His father’s people.”

  Alessio’s hand at her waist tightened at her words. “Corrado is grown—he knows how to handle that nonsense.”

  “Yeah, but still.”

  Their walk came to a stop on the dance floor after they had weaved in and out of the moving people, so they were closer to the DJ booth on the other side rather than the tables and bar at the opposite end. Alessio spun around on her, a faint smile playing at the edges of his mouth, although she could still see the wariness in his gaze.

  “No, they rarely make it a point to say anything directly,” Alessio explained, shrugging his shoulders under his leather jacket. “Mostly, it’s underhanded comments that people overlook because nobody wants to cause shit for something like that. And never when his father is around to hear it.”

  Ginevra swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “Gian isn’t here tonight, though.”

  “No, he isn’t.”

  “So, a quick dance, we get drinks, and then we go back to Corrado. Right?”

  Alessio’s gaze drifted to somewhere behind her, searching the crowd. Probably for where Corrado had gone after they left him. He didn’t bother to mask the concern flashing in his gaze. Oh, sure, he acted like he wasn’t worried, but he was.

  Because it was Corrado.

  Otherwise, he didn’t give a shit.

  That was his line.

  “Sounds good,” Alessio murmured, his attention coming back to her with a sly smile. “Now, someone wants to dance, huh?”

  Ginevra laughed. “Very much.”

  “Two fingers of whiskey,” Ginevra told the bartender—for Corrado—before adding, “spiced rum on ice, and—”

  “Try the house drink,” Alessio said in her ear, “it’s the same one across all the Guz
zi clubs. Like a signature drink, it’s how you can tell when you’re in one of their spaces.”

  He winked over her shoulder.

  “Fine,” she said. He leaned in and kissed her lips, but backed away so she turned to the bartender and add, “and one of the Gold Dreams.”

  “Coming up.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Turn around,” she heard Alessio murmur along the shell of her ear.

  Ginevra grinned, but didn’t move. “Many people are watching, Les.”

  “And?”

  “And we’re supposed to get drinks, and find Corrado again, remember? You’re a bad influence, and a distraction.”

  Not a single bit of that was a lie, either.

  “We’re waiting for drinks. And I don’t see what the problem is.”

  Of course, he didn’t.

  Under the urging of his strong hands, Ginevra found herself turned around to face him. He had her pinned against the bar, his fingers tightening deliciously around the curve of her waist, so she was unable to move.

  Not that she wanted to.

  Not when he was looking at her like that.

  Alessio tipped his head down, and caught her mouth with a slow, searing kiss. He was soft at first, his tongue teasing the seam of her lips until she parted them to allow him entrance. Then, at the taste of her, that kiss turned a hell of a lot hotter. All the while, he kept her steady against the edge of the bar, unbothered by the people around them or the noise.

  His focus was on her.

  That’s all that mattered.

  All too soon for Ginevra’s liking, Alessio pulled away. Sure, he didn’t go far, only enough that his lips grazed hers as he spoke, but it was enough for her to sense his loss, and wish he was kissing her again.

  “I have to tell you something,” he said.

  Ginevra tensed, knowing nothing good ever came from those words. “Oh?”

  “Relax.”

  “What do you have to tell me?” she asked.

  Alessio sighed, his tongue snaking out to drift along his lower lip before he muttered, “I have to leave soon—The League business, and whatnot. A job that has been in the works for quite a while now, and they have the okay for it. I was the contractor put up for it, and we’re not able to change those details.”

  Ginevra blinked, taking in those words. “How soon?”

  “Likely within two or three days, we’ll see how long I can stretch it. I got the call yesterday when you were ordering at the café; that gave me seven days to get my shit in order before I have to head out.”

  “Oh.”

  Alessio made a dark noise. “Don’t do that.”

  She peered up at him. “Do what?”

  “Sound so fucking sad, it kills me.”

  “Should I be happy?”

  “Well … no.”

  Ginevra gave him a teasing glower. “I can’t feel nothing, either, so you get one or the other. And sad was the one you got.”

  Alessio chuckled, his hands flexing against her waist again. “I get it, sweetheart. I need to go to Vegas first and grab things I need there. And if I play my cards right—or rather, work the flights right—I’ll have a daylong layover in Toronto before I head out on the assignment, but still, it’ll be soon.”

  “Soon,” she echoed. “What kind of job?”

  “Better not say for that.”

  Ginevra shivered.

  “But that wasn’t why I wanted to tell you,” Alessio said.

  She met his gaze again. “No?”

  “No, more like … if where you want me to return to is wherever you are, and him, too, that’s where I will be. Is that where you want me, Ginevra?”

  Didn’t he already know?

  “Yes, this is where I want you.”

  A bouncer for the club led Alessio and Ginevra upstairs to the VIP section. He suspected that’s where they would find Corrado, considering he no longer lingered on the lower floor of the club.

  “Aren’t you hot in that?” Ginevra asked, fingering the neckline of his leather jacket.

  “Yes.”

  “Why not take it off, then?”

  “Discomfort doesn’t bother me that much.”

  He thanked The League for that.

  And training.

  Ginevra looked like she would say more, but he pointed across the room to distract her instead. Her gaze followed Alessio’s movements, and a playful smile curved her cheeks at the sight of Corrado sitting beside Marcus in a booth.

  “Better take the principe his drink, yeah?”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Principe,” she said as they crossed the floor.

  “Oh, don’t call him that, it makes him pissy.”

  Ginevra arched a brow at Alessio.

  He shrugged.

  “They like to call sons and daughters of mafia Dons principes or principessas,” Alessio said, shrugging one shoulder. “And I only say it when I want to get a reaction out of Corrado.”

  “Because he doesn’t like it.”

  “Exactly.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  Alessio made a noise. “Well, it’s not terrible when it ends with him fucking you.”

  Ginevra shivered.

  He laughed.

  “Now you get it,” Alessio told her.

  “What are you two grinning about?”

  Corrado’s question had Alessio turning to wink at his lover, forgetting for a moment about the people around them, and who. Although, as soon as that thought drifted through Alessio’s mind, it left with one look at Corrado.

  He was unbothered.

  He grinned back, in fact.

  Ginevra had changed more than she realized for the two. Things that had once been a source of discontent for Alessio between him and Corrado now became a background thought because it didn’t factor into what they shared, not when everything they had together proved it unimportant.

  He probably should tell Corrado that.

  There was never a good time.

  “Well?” Corrado asked.

  Alessio ignored the other people milling about—the ones at the booth with Corrado and his brother, and the others around surrounding booths. “I told her there will be a lot of principes in this club tonight, yeah?”

  Corrado’s features flashed with darkness.

  A warning.

  Alessio smirked. “All the Guzzi principes, in fact.”

  Ginevra smacked Alessio with the back of her hand, but he didn’t even flinch. “That’s enough of that.”

  Corrado chuckled and waved two fingers at her. “Come here, you.”

  He didn’t mind that Ginevra left his side to slip in the booth beside Corrado because Alessio quickly slid in after her. There, she was between them. He had his hand on her bare thigh, just under the skirt of that short dress of hers, while Corrado slung an arm behind her on the booth.

  Conversation turned on the club, and Marcus. An easy, safe topic. It allowed Corrado to join in without having to bring himself into it, which Alessio figured the man appreciated. With Guzzi mafioso, it could go either way.

  For now, Corrado relaxed, but Alessio kept an eye on him because that could change in a blink. An offhanded comment from one of the many men who just wanted to point out again that Corrado didn’t wear the Guzzi legacy the same way his brother did, or his other brothers who hadn’t arrived yet. Or perhaps someone who wanted to share their opinion about what they believed about Corrado and Alessio’s relationship.

  Although, now, it was different.

  A woman stood between them.

  Alessio highly suspected a comment would come because of that if nothing else. And if he could shut it down before it turned into something that might cause a problem, then that would be far better for all of them.

  He’d become used to this game with these people. They were careful when their boss happened to be around, but other than that … Corrado became fair game. Like he had been for most of his life.<
br />
  Alessio wouldn’t stand for it.

  For the most part, Corrado ignored the shit they threw at him from people who, as far as it concerned Alessio, didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as either of them. He didn’t want to cause issues for his brothers, or father. God knew Alessio could understand that, but it left Corrado as the proverbial punching bag.

  Which he was not.

  Anyone else, and he’d cut their throats.

  Just not these people.

  It irritated Les to no end.

  “He’s not wrong, though,” Ginevra said.

  It didn’t take Alessio and Corrado long to figure out what she was referring to. Across the VIP section, the rest of the other Guzzi brothers had arrived in a trio. Chris, and the other twins didn’t waste time greeting the people closer to the stairs before crossing the floor, and joining the rest of their family.

  Bene and Beni busied themselves with Marcus, congratulating him on the club before turning their attention on Ginevra just long enough to greet her the same way their older brother had earlier. Chris laughed as he leaned over the booth to give his twin a one-armed hug.

  “Got them both out tonight, huh?” Chris asked.

  Corrado flashed his teeth in a grin. “Careful.”

  “I’m just saying you’re in a far better mood when one of them happens to be around. That’s good for all of us, Corrado.”

  Alessio glanced at Corrado from behind Ginevra, nodding as he did so. “He’s right, though.”

  “Fuck off, all of you.”

  Someone had to tease Corrado, but they did it in such a way that didn’t make him the lesser man in the room because his choices didn’t match their own. All in good fun, and Corrado knew, too.

  There was no malice here.

  Only respect.

  And of course, love.

  They were simply careful about how they showed it. Alessio doubted they would change that about their relationship. He didn’t want people to see the depth of this thing between them. Oh, he believed Ginevra understood, but that was different.

  She should.

  She was in it, too.

  Everyone else?

  Fuck them.

  Corrado caught Alessio’s stare again, but he didn’t find playfulness reflecting back. Instead, he found the same silent intensity that had accompanied their relationship from the beginning. A conversation that wasn’t had with words because they never needed to say things to make sure the other heard what they wanted said.