Which meant I had to access his home office.
I mean, he spent more time there than he did anywhere else. Including with me. So, that held the answers to his heart and his passion, right? I really hoped so because as I cleaned myself up, I prepared myself to start rifling through his things. His files. Maybe there was a project he was working on I could help him with. Or, maybe there was a customer he couldn't sweet-talk whom I might be able to swing to our side.
His side. “Someone’s side.”
After cleaning myself up, I threw on a bathrobe over my silken bedroom robe. I tied it off and fluffed out my hair as I slipped into the hallway. I didn’t hear Israel upstairs. I didn’t smell his cologne throughout the penthouse at all. So, that meant he had left a while ago.
Long enough for his scent to follow him.
“Time to take a look around.”
I figured the search would take me a while. I knew he was doing a lot of business in the kitchen, but I didn’t know where he was keeping everything. Was there some secret room back here I didn’t know about? I knew there was a phone in the pantry, but that was it.
Until I spotted a folder underneath the kitchen nook bench.
“What is that?” I asked.
I bent down and picked it up before I started flipping through the contents. It didn’t take me long to figure out what I was looking at. I furrowed my brow as I read through page after page of information on my family that Israel had commissioned from his private investigator. However, these documents were old. In fact, these were the documents Israel had presented to me a while back.
So, why were old documents hiding underneath the breakfast nook bench?
I dipped back down and rummaged underneath until my fingertips landed against something else. I grunted as I pulled the file out, and the glistening front of the folder forecasted some new information. I sat down at the table and flipped it open. My eyes scanned the documents and the redacted statements and the notes taken in the margins of the photocopied paperwork.
And when I knew what I was looking at, I gasped.
“Oh, Israel.”
Embedded within the papers were quotes and other things from local lawyers. And if my eyes weren’t deceiving me, everything lined up to serve one purpose:
Israel was looking into ways to charge Pava with my family’s murder.
“You know, you really shouldn't be snooping through his things.”
I snapped the folder closed as Giovanni’s voice sounded in the kitchen.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked.
He grinned. “I suppose I could ask you the same thing.”
I stood. “Well, I currently live here. What's your excuse?”
“Just dropping by for a visit. Is Israel around?”
She really wished she had on more clothes. “I don’t believe you for a second. What are you really here for?”
He nodded to the folder. “Does he know you’re looking around in his things?”
“Does he know you were coming by?”
He shrugged. “Of course not. It was supposed to be a surprise. I thought you two had a deal that wherever he went, you went?”
Shit. He’s right. “Israel had an emergency.”
He walked towards me. “I hope you’re better in bed than you are as a liar. Because that was rough. Want to try again?”
I backed up. “Don’t come any closer.”
“I just want to have a conversation on why I’ve caught you screwing around with my brother’s things. That’s all.”
“Those folders are about my family. They’re just as much mine as they are his.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I wasn’t certain Israel would see it that way, but…“Yes.”
“Will he see it that way if I happen to give him a call?”
He wouldn’t because then he’d have to admit what he was doing in the apartment when Israel wasn’t around. “Get out. He’s not here. You can come back tonight when he’s home.”
Giovanni kept coming towards me. “You know if you want Israel to trust you? Snooping around isn’t the way to do it.”
I’d realized that about the time I’d heard Giovanni’s voice. My back fell against a wall. “I take it this is where you tell me you’re going to threaten to tell him if I don’t give you something you want?”
He walked up to me with the evilest of grins on his face. “Maybe. This is exactly where I tell you that if you don’t pack up your shit and leave today, I’ll head to where my brother is right now with picture proof of the fact that you’re digging around in his things.”
I narrowed my eyes at him as he turned his phone towards me. And when I saw the pictures he silently took of me digging out that folder and flipping through it, I wondered exactly how long this man had been there without me knowing it. It made me sick to my stomach. It made me understand just how disgusting Israel’s world could sometimes be.
I wouldn't let it phase me. “Why do you want me gone so badly in the first place? You want to marry your brother or something?”
He chuckled. “You’re cute, I’ll give you that.”
I shrugged. “Genuine question. Why do you really want me out so badly?”
He slid his phone into his pocket. “I want to see Israel happy. And right now, all you do is make him miserable.”
“No.” She didn’t buy that for an instant. “You’re much more selfish than that. Come on, Giovanni. What's the real reason? You want me for yourself, don’t you?”
He snickered. “I wouldn't mind taking you for a ride, sure, but I don’t want you at my side. Who would?”
Ouch. That hurt. “So, you want his money. Is that it?”
“I’ve got enough money of my own.”
But did he? Really? “Then, you must be after his seat of power.”
He smiled. “You’ve got a set of balls on you, don’t you?”
“Answering a question with a question is always the answer I need. And I can tell you getting rid of me gets you no closer to any seat Israel might hold. If anything, I’m the only thing that makes him weak. So, kudos to you for trying. But you’re actually working against yourself.”
He closed the gap between us. “Is that really what you think?”
I slid away from him before he pinned me to the wall. “You aren’t trying to help your brother, Giovanni. You're only in this to ruin his life. To chisel away at his self-confidence and his happiness and his empire one small sliver at a time.”
“Correction. Our family’s empire. It’s not his, officially. Not yet, anyway.”
He wasn’t wrong. “Not what the streets are saying.”
“Have you been down on the streets long enough to know what they’re saying?”
I slowly circled around the kitchen. “I grew up there, Gee.” I tasted his nickname on my tongue and hated it. “The second your father handed over his seat to Israel, he became the head of your family. He became the big man in town. And you want that all to yourself, don’t you?”
His smile grew tight. “I wouldn't speak about things you know nothing about.”
“Or maybe, you don’t like the fact that I know anything at all.”
“You’d do best to shut that mouth of yours.”
I stood at the doorway into the kitchen. “Israel will never believe the lies you tell, the venom you spew. He’ll catch you in a heartbeat and hold you accountable to the highest letter like he does everyone else who works for him.”
His eyes widened with anger. “I certainly do not work for him, and I am nowhere near beneath him. I wouldn't be so sure about how much Israel may or may not look your way. Because right now? You’re the rat. You're the backstabber. You’re the one he’s looking at while he’s off to the side. You’re the meat on his hook right now, not me. And it will stay that way so long as you keep pulling the bullshit I know you will because you can’t stand the idea of being an actual wife. Can you?”
I quickly reached for a knife
on the countertop. “You come any closer to me ever again and I will slit your throat. Got it?”
He chuckled. “Man, I get the appeal, you know? You’re like a vicious little bunny before it’s eaten by the big, bad wolf.”
I turned and took off down the hallway as Giovanni’s laughter echoed against my ears. I raced up the steps, making my way into Israel’s room before I quickly closed the door. I held the knife out in front of me, ready to bludgeon that man if he followed me up here.
As the knife shook in my hands, I heard the elevator ding downstairs.
“Tell Israel I stopped by to say ‘hello’!” he called out.
And a few seconds later, I heard the elevator whirring. Carrying off that pathetic excuse for a man and leaving me alone again in the penthouse once more.
“Holy shit,” I whispered.
The knife dropped from my hands as my legs grew weak. I stumbled back onto the bed and raked my hands down my face. I felt like I was losing it. I felt like the craziness was finally getting to me. I forced myself to draw in sobering breaths, though. I forced myself to concentrate. I forced myself to stay rooted in the present.
“It’s all closing in,” I murmured.
Which is why you have to stay strong.
My hands fell into my lap, and I held my head back up. I opened my eyes and stared at the closed door before I looked down at the knife. I stood and snatched up the weapon. I made my way back downstairs and crept around every corner, making sure I really was alone in this place.
Then, I dashed into the room I’d occupied the night before and slipped the knife underneath my pillow. “Guess I’m sleeping down here now.”
I knew all of this was simply a display of power and access. I knew Giovanni did nothing other than come over here and check up on me to see what I was up to while Israel was out. But I wouldn't be subdued by it. I wouldn't be overcome by it. More than ever, I was determined to rise above all of this asinine bullshit and power-hunger and become the wife Israel deserved.
Because that’s what I wanted to be.
I wanted to be the wife of the man I loved. “You owe me big time, Israel.”
Down below in the real world, I heard car horns honking and people yelling at one another. I knew there was an entire world out there waiting to be explored and consumed and enjoyed. But first, I had to establish a foundation. I had to establish trust with Israel before I could even think about living that kind of life with him.
So, I rose to my feet and faced the mirror on the back of the door. “I promise that no matter what it takes, Israel will see the woman I know I’m capable of being.”
Then, I resolved to a full day of moving my stuff downstairs into my new bedroom.
Because sometimes?
Looking for that step forward meant taking a few steps back.
13
Israel
Wind whipped through the trees outside as I scribbled notes into a file open on my desk. Only part of my brain was functioning enough to register the work, though.
Out of all the shit that was required in my line of work, I hated paperwork the most. Not because it held me in an office, and not because my handwriting was shit, but because it was mindless work. I felt myself wasting away with every paper that flipped. I felt my muscles atrophying with every line of text I scanned with my tired eyes. I wanted something that stimulated my brain and my mind simultaneously, as much as possible. Because at the end of the day, that’s what made a man. Not what he could write on a sheet of paper, but what he could do with the physical tools given to him if he kept up with himself.
And I didn’t kill myself in the gym for nothing.
Still, the sound of the leaves rustling outside sounded nice. Not that I wasn’t listening beyond them, though. I logged every sound that happened around me while I continued to flip papers and jot shit down. Contracts, they said. It would make my life easier, they said. But, all I found myself doing this time of year was spending an entire week of my life going over contracts in order to adjust them, sign off on them again, and have them stored away for another year before they had to be evaluated again.
Who the fuck said I had to do this every year again?
Oh, right. That was me.
Idiot.
I sat my pen down and sighed. I leaned back into my soft leather chair and slowly spun around. I knew it was reckless to have windows behind me my own damn office, which is why I insisted they be bulletproof. And every time I swiveled around to look out the window, it relaxed me. Jogging through the woods was my favorite kind of exercise. It got me away from the concrete towers of the jungle of my hometown and made me feel one with the earth that had given me life in the first place. I enjoyed getting to know it. I enjoyed feeling my feet jog through the dirt and mud and broken twigs as they cracked beneath my feet. I enjoyed inhaling gallons of fresh air deep into my lungs while the sun beat against my back. It reminded me that I was human. That I was just as frail as any of the necks I’d had within my grasp over the years. And as I stared out at the edge of the forest that surrounded my business warehouse, I sighed.
I wonder if Bonnie likes the great outdoors.
I’d been thinking about her more and more lately. Not that I didn’t think about her at all. But, I found her popping into my mind more when she shouldn’t. Like, now. When I was at work. I suddenly found myself considering her and wondering about her, and that had never happened to me before. Well, one other time before.
I don’t bother talking about that woman, though.
“Knock, knock.”
I swiveled back to my desk as his voice landed hard against my ears. “Come in, Giovanni.”
He opened my office door with a smirk against his cheeks. “Went by your house first, but all I got was her.”
I blinked. “She’s got a name.”
“I’m sure she does.”
I picked up my pen. “What do you need?”
He walked inside with a smile I was starting to dislike. “Is that any way to talk to a brother that just wants to pay his older brother a visit?”
I pointed. “You can sit.”
He closed my office door. “At least you have manners.”
I ignored his sarcastic statement as I finally gave him my full attention. “You said you found Bonnie at home. I assume there’s a point.”
He narrowed his eyes and tipped his head. “Isn’t she supposed to be with you?”
I leaned back and stared at him. I was getting really tired of this game.
He finally sighed. “You really are no fun, you know.”
“I’m waiting for you to tell me what you’re doing here.”
He crossed his leg over his knee. “Two words: anniversary party.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fucking hell, get out of my office.”
“We have to talk about it, Iz. Our parents’ wedding anniversary is coming up, and you know they’re going to want us to show up. We’re their sons, for crying out loud.”
“I’ve already got my tux pressed and my shoes shined. Is there anything else we need to discuss? Because we finalized those plans—”
“Are you going to be bringing her?”
Would this ever end? “You mean, Bonnie?”
“Whatever her name is for now.”
“It’s Bonnie.”
“We’ll see in a couple of weeks, though, right?”
My eyes grew hard. “Why don’t you tell me why you're really here to talk?”
He rested his arms against the chair. “You know Dad’s going to be pissed if you bring her along to that party. Right?”
“And why would he be pissed?”
He shrugged. “Because she’s not your wife and, for all he knows, she’s an implant from a family hellbent on destroying all of us. Why would they want that kind of reminder at their fiftieth anniversary?”
“Well, you let Dad know that if he can’t handle her being there, he can handle me not being there.”
Giovanni’s expression fli
ckered with surprise as his lips turned up. “You’re kidding, right?”
I returned my attention to my papers. “When do I kid, Gio?”
He leaned forward. “Dad is going to see red, and Mom’s going to have a heart attack if you bring that woman to their wedding party, Iz. Do you really want to do that to them?”
I didn’t bother looking at him. “It’s either both of us or neither of us.”
He sighed and leaned away. “We have to provide a unified front at this party. You know damn good and well the kind of people who are going to be there. We need to show them that, despite what the streets are saying—”
“I don’t live by what the streets are saying!” My voice bellowed over my brother’s head as I snapped my eyes to his. “I don’t listen to the gossip of others. I don’t take into account anything anyone says unless I trust them, or I’m paying them for recon. Understood?”
Gio licked his lips. “She’s got you by the balls, doesn’t she?”
“I’m not entertaining this line of talk any longer.”
“Why? Because you can’t lie to me about it? Or, because you take pride in it, and you don’t want people to know that?”
I slammed my pen down. “Out.”
“Why don’t you just own up to what’s happening, Iz? You’re slipping. You’re growing soft towards that woman. Especially if you’ve already fucked her.”
I shot up. “Out. Now. Before I throw you out myself.”
He chuckled. “Holy shit, you have fucked her.”
I came around my desk. “You’re done. This conversation is over.”
My brother held out his hands. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! New threads, brother mine. Don’t muck them up with your dirt.”
My vision dripped red. “I don’t have time for public displays of anything. I have an empire to run and a mystery to suss out, and I need to concentrate.”
Mob Princess: An Arranged Dark Mafia Romance (Cruel King Book 2) Page 8