“Like Sienna said last week, only insane people sign up for this gig,” Ryan added, and everyone murmured their agreement.
“You know-”
“Excuse me?” We all looked up as our waiter interrupted whatever Elsie had been about to say.
“Yes?” Ryan asked, speaking for all of us.
“I just want to let you know that your meals have been taken care of,” he said, surprising us all.
“What? Why?” Elsie asked.
Chris-his name tag read-kept right on smiling as he tilted his head towards the back of the restaurant. “Mr. Leonardo Benetti has taken care of the check and anything further you may order.”
I smiled.
I couldn’t help it.
However, I noticed how the entire table had frozen and how the air shifted all around us. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but Ryan asked, “Why would Leonardo Benetti pay for our lunches?”
“I’m not privy to that information, sir,” Chris replied. “I’m merely the messenger.” He bowed his head before going off to check on another table.
All heads turned towards the back of the restaurant, and sure enough, Leo was sitting at a table with two other gentlemen. When that green gaze of his caught mine, he inclined his head slightly, acknowledging me.
“Why in the hell would Leonardo Benetti buy our lunches?” Ryan asked again.
“No shit,” Chelsea muttered. “I mean, Jesus Christ, why would he?”
I wasn’t sure what was with their reactions to Leo buying us lunch, but I supposed anyone would wonder at a stranger buying their lunch. I guess it was time to come clean.
“He’s just being a gentleman-”
Ryan’s blue eyes popped. “Gentleman?” he choked out. “Leonardo Benetti’s a lot of things, but a gentleman he is not.”
I scowled. “That’s not true,” I said, defending him. “And how would you know anyway? Do you even know him?”
“Do you?” Ryan fired back.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” I replied. Glancing around the table, I told them to truth. “We’re dating.”
Silence hit the table with a significant thud.
Like the record scratch at a party, my announcement had been just as effective. “What?”
Elsie looked deeply concerned. “Sienna, are you serious?”
I nodded. “We’ve been dating for over a month now.”
Ryan swore underneath his breath, but it was Chelsea who spoke. “You’re…you’re dating Leonardo Benetti?”
I nodded again. “Yes,” I answered, beginning to feel frustrated. “What’s the big deal?”
“Honey, I know you just moved here recently, but…surely, you’ve heard of the Benettis,” Parnell said softly, almost like he didn’t want to be the bearer of bad news.
“No,” I answered honestly. “I mean, I hadn’t heard the last name until I met Leo.”
“Sonofabitch,” Ryan swore again, and now I was getting irritated.
“What’s the big deal?” I asked again. “Who is he?” They all exchanged wary looks and I didn’t like feeling like a foolish outsider. “What is going on?”
Before anyone could answer my question, a hush fell over the table and I felt a warm hand on the back of my shoulder. Lifting my head, I saw Leo standing behind me, his eyes smiling down at me. “Sienna,” he addressed me.
“Leo,” I returned. “Thank you for lunch. That was very thoughtful.”
He glanced around the table, his gaze settling a little longer on Ryan, before looking back at me. “I could hardly allow you to buy your own lunch and it seemed rude not to extend the same courtesy to the entire table.” Tension was still pouring off everyone at the table and Leo wasn’t a stupid man. He knew something was off, but you couldn’t tell it by the smirk on his face.
“Well, it was still kind of you,” I mumbled, uncomfortable and confused.
Leo leaned down and placed a soft kiss to the side of my face. “I’ve another meeting I need to get to,” he said as a way of excusing himself. “Enjoy your lunch and we’ll talk later.”
I nodded. “Okay.” I smiled up at him, trying to calm the unease dancing down my spine. “Uhm, thank you, again-”
“Baby, you don’t have to thank me for lunch,” he said, confirming what I’d told the table earlier. “It’s my job to make sure you’re taken care of.” Before I could comment, he nodded generally at the table, then took his leave.
It wasn’t until he’d gotten into a black car parked in front of the restaurant’s front windows that Chelsea broke the silence. “Holy fucking shit, you really are dating him.”
“Of course, I am,” I almost snapped. “Why would I lie about something like that?”
“What in the hell are you doing, dating a man like that, Sienna?” Ryan hissed. “Why would you get involved with someone like Leonardo Benetti?”
My eyes flew all around the table, trying to make sense of all their grim expressions. “What do you mean, ‘someone like Leo Benetti’?”
“Jesus Christ, Sienna,” Parnell jumped in, his voice a low whisper. “Leonardo Benetti is the youngest Benetti brother.”
“So?”
“So?” Elsie asked, her brows high on her forehead. “Sienna, the Benettis are the deadliest, most brutal Mob family in Morgan City, if not the entire state.”
I could feel the color drain from my face and my brain was trying to push back the information, forcing Elsie’s words to be lies. There was no way Leo was in the Mafia. Did the Mafia even exist outside of movies and museums anymore?
“The…the Mob?” I asked incredulously. “You can’t be serious, Elsie.”
“It’s true,” Parnell added. “Have you ever watched a Mob movie?” I nodded. “Well, to simplify it, Luca Benetti is the Boss, Salvatore Benetti is the Underboss, and Leonardo Benetti is the family’s manager.” Parnell shrugged a shoulder. “Or so, those are the rumors.”
“Exactly,” I pounced. “Rumors, Parnell.”
“Sienna, it might just be rumors but they’re rumors for a reason,” Chelsea said. “Just because we live on the nice side of town that doesn’t mean their power and status hasn’t reached our ears.”
I glance around the table. “So, just because a family is rich and powerful, they have to be in the Mob?”
“What, exactly, did Leo tell you he did for a living?” Ryan asked.
“He didn’t,” I admitted. “I just assumed he was a businessman of sorts and never asked.”
“Oh, he’s a businessman, alright,” Chelsea muttered under her breath.
“Sienna, Leonardo Benetti is one of the most powerful men in this city and state,” Ryan said. “Have you ever heard of The Holy Trinity?”
“Like…The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost?” I shook my head. “Like that?”
Parnell let out a deep breath and I sat there as he told me the most incredible story I have ever heard. Unreal, unimaginable, incomprehensible, Parnell related the rumors of The Father, The Son, and The Holy Ghost, and how all three were connected to Leo.
When he was finished, I was still holding fast to my denial. “No,” I argued. “You guys are mistaken. Falling prey to rumors and their fascination.”
“Then ask him for yourself,” Ryan challenged. “Call your boyfriend tonight and ask him for the truth.”
“I will,” I told him. “I will, and you’ll see.” I said it with such conviction, I believed myself.
I never suspected I’d be so wrong.
Chapter 9
Leonardo~
There was no way Sienna didn’t know the truth by now. I hadn’t planned on her finding out this way but watching that sonofabitch escort her into the restaurant, and then watching him find subtle ways to touch her or fawn over her had me close to seeing red.
So, I had made my presence known.
I had no illusions that she wasn’t going to be pissed. Quite frankly, I couldn’t fault her on that, either. Being blindsided sucked for any reason. If it didn’t break the bon
ds of trust completely, it certainly stretched them far enough.
I knew from the beginning that Sienna wasn’t the type of woman who could be pulled into my world easily. Though her parents were shit, she’d been raised well with a wonderful support system and both sisters had gone into fields where you helped people. Sienna’s job was to save lives, not take them, and we did that.
A lot.
When I had first asked her out, I hadn’t planned on caring for her so much. The hope had been to make a good enough impression to get the woman in my bed because that had been instant. My attraction to her had been swift and real, and I had wanted her in my bed. But after dinner, and after that first night together, it’d turn to more. Enough so that I had staked my claim and now considered her mine. Something I was going to have to make clear to that co-worker of hers.
There was also the fact that it didn’t matter how pissed Sienna might be. She was mine and that was pretty much the end of the story. While I might be the least barbaric out of the family, that didn’t mean I still didn’t have my moments. I had a kill count just like everyone else in the family, save the girls. But even then, I had no doubt that Frankie would put a bullet in someone’s head if she had to. They all would, only it might give Robbie nightmares afterwards where Frankie and Remy would probably still sleep like babies.
Now that wasn’t to say I was in love with Sienna just yet. I wasn’t sure that I was. I just knew that I’d never felt this way about another woman in all my life before and I’ve fucked plenty. Like the rest of them, I’ve had pussy thrown at me for years. A lot of women were drawn to money, power, status, and even violence. A lot of them craved what being a Benetti could do for them. Too bad for them pussy was a dime a dozen.
Until it wasn’t.
But with Luca, Phoenix, and Ciro off the market, women have acted downright desperate around me and Sal this past year. Granted, Phoenix has always been off the market. Even during the six years that Frankie had been gone, Phoenix had never looked at another woman. He had fallen in love with Frankie when he was seven-years-old, and that was the end of it for him.
Now, while Luca didn’t stick his nose in marital issues, apart from any physical violence, it was no secret that a lot of the men in the organization kept mistresses. There was a lot of infidelity that happened, but most of the men were discrete enough that catfights weren’t an issue.
As for Luca, Phoenix, and Ciro, they were the epitome of faithfulness. Those men loved their wives, and everyone knew it. I was never under the impression that Sal would ever fall in love and be faithful to his wife, but I wanted that for myself. And right now, I had my eye on Sienna Conti for that. I just had to answer my phone that’s been blowing up since seven this evening to make that known to her.
Sienna worked a six-to-six shift, with three days on and three days off, and for her to text me on her Monday, knowing her Mondays were rough, meant that she really wanted to talk. However, this wasn’t anything that could be solved in an hour or two. If I showed up at her place now, we’d be up all night, fighting, and she had to work tomorrow. Granted, so did I, but I was used to odd hours and lack of sleep. That was our world.
Glancing down at my phone, I reread her texts.
SC: Not sure if ur busy, but can u please call me when u get a chance?
SC: I’ll be up for a while.
SC: It’s important.
SC: Just call whenever u can
It occurred to me that, with or without me there, she wasn’t probably going to get any sleep anyway. I could only imagine what her co-workers had told her, but I imagined it was enough to keep her from getting any sleep whether I was there or not to fight with her.
So, I finally replied to her texts.
Me: U still up?
I got an immediate response.
SC: Yes
Me: I’ll be by n 20, if that’s ok with u
SC: I’ll be waiting
This time, there was no point in telling Romeo to stay back. The truth was going to come out, so there was no reason for him not to drive me. And though a little premature, that got me to thinking about who we had to put on Sienna. When the guys had gotten married, the girls had inherited their guards because their guards were the best. Thinking on it, I had no problem putting Romeo on Sienna once we were married, but-
I laughed.
Maybe I was further along with this thing that I had originally thought.
So, that meant Sienna would get Romeo and that left me looking for who was second best to Romeo. There were several soldiers that came to mind but choosing one would have to be a group decision. Not just anyone could guard me, Sal, or Luca, something we learned the hard way when Luca’s guard had betrayed him. Of course, the example that had been set. After Luca had gotten finished with Sensio it had been enough to make even are most hardened Capos vomit, so there was that.
Giving Romeo directions to Sienna’s house, I fired off a group text to Luca and Sal. Since Remy was on top of her game and our security top-notch, our phones were always monitored and protected. Our phones were a priority, and Remy and Sal were constantly surveying them.
Me: I need a meeting with u 2 tmrw
LB: One
SB: C u then
Me: C u guys then
I didn’t need to ask where. The only place safe enough to meet was Luca’s penthouse at Kratos. Kratos was the name of the building Luca, Phoenix, and Ciro all lived in. If people thought The White House was difficult to get into, it had nothing on this building. And with Luca being the Boss and Sal the Underboss, they made it a point not to be in the same place often. Someone picking them off at the same time would put me at the helm of the ship and that was something no one wanted. Even with Ciro and Phoenix at my side, it wasn’t a secret that I didn’t inspire the kind of confidence Luca did. But then I suppose that no one did. Not even Sal.
I got comfortable in the back seat of my black armored Mercedes S550. We all had them, and they were all top of the line. There were several other armored vehicles in the Kratos garage, but those were rarely used. There was never a need for us to run. We were the hunters, not the prey.
When Romeo pulled up to Sienna’s apartment building, I got out without a word. He knew the drill. He’d circle the building, study it, and search for any security weaknesses.
Making my way to Sienna’s apartment, I knew it was all bad when I’d barely been done knocking but the door was already swinging open.
And she looked pretty upset.
Chapter 10
Sienna~
Why did he have to be so damn gorgeous? His looks were enough to sidetrack me into forgetting why he was here, and his touch was definitely enough to make me forget myself.
I needed to keep a straight head.
I stepped back, so Leo could come in, and all the signs were there for anyone to see. The way he walked, the way he moved, the way he carried himself, even the way he spoke. It was all done with such eloquence and deliberation, with purposefulness. The only time he wasn’t in complete control was when he was inside me. But then with the way he did everything in bed, that was probably untrue.
Shutting the door behind him, making sure to lock it, he strolled into the living room like he didn’t have a care in the world.
His hands in his pockets, always dressed immaculately in expensive suits, he cocked his head, regarding me. “You said it was important,” he simply remarked.
Well, since there was no sense dicking around…
“Is it true?”
“I’ll need specifics, Sienna,” he replied.
“What a coincidence, because so will I,” I retorted smartly, my arms crossing over my chest.
The striking jerk smirked.
“I take it you had an interesting conversation with your colleagues after I left Rousseau’s,” he remarked casually.
“Is. It. True?” I asked again, not in the mood to play games.
“Why don’t you tell me what was discussed, Sienna,” he suggested
calmly, and his insouciance was beginning to annoy me.
He wasn’t going to give up anything. If all this was true, he’s probably been conditioned since birth not to talk. Leo wasn’t going to say a word until he knew what he was dealing with. We might have been seeing each other for over a month but that didn’t mean he trusted me.
It also meant I had no idea who this man, standing in my living room, was.
“Apparently, you’re Leonardo Benetti,” I told him. “Third in line to the Benetti Mafia Empire.”
“I suppose that’s one way to look at it,” he remarked casually, and my arms curled around my body, the impact of his confirmation crushing.
“It’s…it’s true?”
His green eyes held mine as he finally answered my question clearly, no mistaking the words. “Yes, Sienna. It’s true.”
“Oh, God…” I choked out as my hip leaned against the couch for support. “Oh, God…”
“Sienna-”
“Why would you…how could you…” I couldn’t get the words out. Though mainly because I had no idea what I was trying to ask. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what I was feeling right now and that was turning me into a muttering mess. How was I supposed to even wrap my mind around the reality of Leo being in the goddamn Mob? Up until several hours ago, I hadn’t even believed they existed. It was incredible to think that modern-day Mafias existed. But I supposed at the end of it all, they were just criminals in nice suits, right? And I was very aware that criminals existed.
Like the one standing in my living room.
With my arms still wrapped around my waist, I took a deep breath. “I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head. “I get not telling me when this had the potential of being just a one-night stand, but…my God, Leo, how could you not tell me after…it’s been over a month?”
He cocked his head again. “And when do you suppose would have been a good time to broach the subject?” he asked. “We don’t talk much when we do find time for each other, Sienna.”
The Bishop (The Holy Trinity Duet Book 1) Page 5