Acquisition: A Just Business Mafia Romance

by Kiera Silver

  He was quiet for a moment before he nodded. “I have to go now. I have foundation business to take care of, but I’ll be back later. We’re having dinner with my family, so make sure you and Lucas are ready by six. I’ll be back to pick you up.”

  Her stomach knotted with anxiety and she struggled to hide the sudden flood of emotion, though she wasn’t entirely certain why. In the past, it made sense to hide how she felt about Armo’s parents, but now it shouldn’t matter if he knew she didn’t like them. “Um, you mean you’re just taking Lucas, right?”

  He frowned, looking confused. “No, of course not. What if he needs to nurse while we’re out?”

  “I could send a bottle of pumped milk.” Then she sighed, remembering her breast pump was hundreds of miles away, and she hadn’t gotten around to requesting a replacement.

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” He slanted her a glance. “I thought you liked my parents?”

  “I do,” she said briskly. “I just think they’d probably rather meet Lucas without me there.”

  With an impatient sigh, he pushed away from the table. “Just be ready by six. Both of you, and don’t be nervous. My parents like you, and you like them.”

  She forced a feeble nod as he left the room. The truth was, she didn’t know Mario and Avriella Moretti well enough to decide if she liked them or not. They were always perfectly polite and pleasant, but they had never been warm to her. It was obvious they hadn’t wanted her to be part of their son’s life, and now they were sure to be dismayed when she showed up at Armo’s side, with a baby in tow. If they hadn’t wanted her to be part of her their son’s life, they were sure to be appalled that she was the mother of their grandson.

  She shouldn’t care how they felt now that she and Armo were no longer in a relationship, but she couldn’t help dreading the night ahead.

  She spent the day moping around the apartment and feeling sorry for herself. Armo hadn’t told her not to leave, but she was smart enough to know there was no point in doing so. He wouldn’t let her out of his sight, or at least sight of some of his goons. She didn’t feel like going anywhere with a tail, so she and Lucas stayed home.

  They vegged out in front of the television, watching mindless programs. Occasionally, something caught her attention for a moment before she flicked the channel again.

  The other snippet that caught her attention was a clip of Senator Randall Adams at a recent speaking engagement. He was declaring war on organized crime and vowing that he would bring down the dark underbelly of their city, and those who slithered through it. She made a mental note to ask Armo about it later, to find out if Adams was seriously trying to bring down the mafia, and if he was having any luck in a way that would affect the Moretti’s.

  By the end of the day, she had completely forgotten about it as she prepared herself and Lucas for dinner with Armo’s parents. Lucas was adorable in a little suit, complete with bowtie, and she had chosen one of her old outfits that she was surprised to find still hanging in the closet. She would have expected him to dispose of her wardrobe long ago. That he had left her clothes hanging in the closet, as though expecting her to return at any moment, added to her uncertainty about how to proceed.

  She had gained some weight during her pregnancy, and her breasts were certainly larger than they had been. What had once been a demure black dress now fitted more tightly and showed more cleavage than she should probably feel comfortable wearing to a family dinner. Still, the alternative was Armo’s T-shirt and jogging pants, since none of her other old clothes fit her any better.

  When Armo showed up a few minutes before six, she could feel her face heating with a blush as his gaze scorched over her, pausing for a moment at her lush cleavage before moving downward over her curvy waist and wider hips. She actually liked her new shape better than the one she’d had before, but she still felt self-conscious and started tugging at the dress the more he stared at her. “Is it too tight?”

  After a moment’s hesitation, he shook his head. “The dress is fine. I’m just admiring the way you fill it out now. You didn’t look like that before.”

  She frowned at him. “You remember me wearing this dress?”

  He let out a husky laugh as he reached for Lucas, hugging the baby against him for a minute before he started to place him in the car seat. “You don’t remember it? You wore it that time we went to the waterfront restaurant, and you sort of wore it in the cab ride home, and you barely wore it on the stairs, and you weren’t wearing it at all by the time we were in the foyer.”

  Her cheeks grew hotter, and her heart rate increased as she abruptly remembered that night. It had been shortly after she had unofficially moved in with him, and that night, they’d felt particularly hungry for each other. They had spent the evening teasing each other with the possibilities of what would come, and by the time they’d left the restaurant, they’d been desperate.

  She remembered how he had jumped on her in the taxi, half-pulling her onto his lap as his hands roamed everywhere. She had been just as eager and completely unabashed by the presence of the cab driver, who had probably watched their shenanigans with interest.

  Clearing her throat, she glanced at the clock. “Shouldn’t we be going? It’s a little past six now.” She found that she was desperate to change the conversation to any other topic.

  His lips twitched into a grin, suggesting that he knew what she was up to, but he allowed it without a fuss as he secured the last buckle across Lucas’ small body. “There. This thing sure is complicated, considering it’s for such a tiny baby.”

  She nodded her agreement. “Car seats can be a pain, but they’re protecting the most important thing in the world, so it’s worth the inconvenience.”

  As he lifted the car seat in one hand and took her hand gently in his other, he glanced at her wrists. “Nice bracelets,” he commented with a hint of remorse.

  She had chosen leather cuffs that didn’t quite match the dress, but would save the awkwardness of having anyone notice or comment on the bruises marring her wrist. She didn’t reply as she walked beside him, not even tempted to make a run for it. There was no point, and he had Lucas, but it was more than that.

  She was still angry and embarrassed about the previous night, but memories of their previous time together had left her in a more mellow state, and she realized she didn’t really want to run away. She might feel like she had to at some point, but she wasn’t there yet. Nor was she firmly back with Armo. She was just floating in limbo, and it was an uncomfortable place to be. It was still better than the last eleven months she had endured on her own, aching for Armo in the middle of the night when loneliness had overwhelmed her.

  She had missed him, and she couldn’t pretend otherwise. She knew what he was and what he did, but she still cared about him, even if she didn’t want to admit it to anyone but herself.

  The elder Moretti’s had moved sometime in the past eleven months. They had once lived in an almost palatial home on the outskirts of the city, but now had an opulent penthouse in one of the most coveted buildings downtown. She tried to focus on the new surroundings to quell some of her nerves while she rode up in the elevator beside Armo, her hands buried deep in the pockets of her black coat.

  She was no longer able to distract herself when they stepped out of the lift and walked across the marble foyer to the entrance of the Moretti’s apartment. Armo didn’t bother to knock, and she shouldn’t have been surprised. It was the same way at their old home where they had raised their four children. Curiosity prompted her to ask, “When did your parents move?” They stepped inside, and she removed her coat to hand to Armo, who was hanging it in the closet himself. That was different too, because they used to have an honest-to-goodness butler at their old place.

  “When Sophia moved out to a place of her own, they decided to downsize. Mom said the house was too much to keep up with, and she wanted to be closer to her friends and shopping, and since Papa is mostly retired, he’s content to live wherever s
he wants.”

  She nodded, smoothing down her dress as she followed behind him, the car seat brushing gently against her leg with each step. She looked down at her son, smiling when she saw his eyes pop open, and he gave her a toothless grin. She figured he’d soon be ready to nurse, which would be a welcome escape, of that she had no doubt.

  The sound of voices drew them inward and she admired the sitting area with its tasteful elegance before letting her eyes dart around the room. She saw Larenz first, having no doubt it was him as he scowled in her direction. He’d never been warm or friendly to her, but his dislike was unmasked now.

  She looked away quickly, her gaze settling on Dante, who gave her a polite incline of his head, before looking at his partner. She gasped softly when she saw Lily’s rounded stomach. “You didn’t tell me that Lily was expecting.” She made the admonishment in a whisper.

  Armo arched a brow. “Honestly, catching you up on my family’s endeavors wasn’t really on my mind.”

  She nodded, trying to hide a pang of discomfort at his words. She wasn’t entirely certain why they hurt, but they did.

  A quick glance at Dante and Lily’s fingers confirmed matching wedding bands, along with the same tastefully sparkling diamond on Lily’s left hand that had been there the last time she saw her. The scar in the center of her hand had faded, but it was still a painful reminder of the grim event that had sparked their engagement.

  Finally, she could put it off no more and glanced first at Mario, and then Avriella Moretti. Mario was as hard to read as ever, though he did step forward and shake her hand before his attention turned to his grandson. In seconds, Lucas was out of the car seat and in his grandfather’s arms.

  She braced herself to face Avriella, who had always been the least welcoming and hadn’t been good about hiding her disapproval of their relationship. She pasted on a smile as she faced the older woman, noting that there were a few more lines on her face, and a few more gray hairs peeking through the glossy black, but otherwise, Avriella remained unchanged. “Thank you for having me, Mrs. Moretti.”

  Avriella surprised her by stepping closer, taking her hand, and leaning down to press a kiss first on one cheek and then the other in a very European fashion. It was one of the warmest greetings she’d ever been given by the other woman. “Thank you for joining us, Katie. And please call me Avriella.”

  She tried to hide her shock as she nodded before moving aside so the other woman could meet Lucas too. She watched with some amusement as Armo was shoved to the side while the grandparents fussed over Lucas. At the moment, the baby was content to be the center of attention, though she was certain he would soon grow fussy and ready to eat.

  Perhaps she wouldn’t need it as an escape method after all, if the warmth continued to flow her direction. Meeting Larenz’s gaze, she wasn’t terribly optimistic about that as a woman in a simple black dress came to the doorway to announce dinner was ready.

  She followed them in, unsurprised when Armo swooped in and took Lucas from his father’s arms before sitting at the long table, patting the cushion on the chair beside him. As she started to drop into it, she was startled when someone grasped the back of her chair to steady it and assist her.

  She looked over her shoulder and up at Dante, a quick glance at his left ring finger confirming it was him, since she sometimes confused Dante and Larenz, though she had never mistaken either of the brothers for her own lover. “Thank you,” she said with a hint of bewilderment. Why were they all, aside from Larenz, being so nice to her?

  He winked at her. “You’re welcome. At least one of us knows how to act like a gentleman.”

  An old, familiar urge to smile filled her as she remembered the banter the brothers used to share.

  “Hey, I’m holding the baby,” said Armo. “I can’t really pull out the chair and do the gentlemanly thing right now.”

  Lily, who had waited for her husband to assist her into her seat, which happened to be next to Katie, gave Armo a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. He’ll figure that out soon enough for himself.”

  “How long?” asked Katie as she darted a glance at Lily’s stomach.

  “Ten weeks, or perhaps eleven.”

  She frowned, speaking without thinking. “Shouldn’t you have an exact date? They had that for me at my first ultrasound with Lucas.”

  There was a moment of tension, and then Lily blinked. “Yes, the official due date is ten weeks, but I just have a feeling that she’s going to be about a week overdue.”

  Dante sat down on Lily’s other side, rolling his eyes. “I don’t hold any faith in that feeling, love. Just because you and Shawn,” he grimaced as he said the name, “Were both a week overdue doesn’t mean anything. After all, Armo, Larenz, and I were all born several weeks early.”

  “But that doesn’t count because you’re triplets, and you were going to be born early anyway.”

  Katie could tell it was a familiar conversation, and she observed their interaction with amusement and a touch of envy. Had she and Armo once been that happy and carefree? She wanted to think they had, but she couldn’t honestly believe it. There had been too many secrets between them, even if she hadn’t known he was keeping secrets, and she hadn’t felt free enough to admit how strongly she felt for him, so how could they have been so relaxed and so obviously in love with each other as Armo’s brother and his wife?

  “When did you have the ultrasound?” asked Larenz.

  She was startled by the sound of his voice, and even more startled to find herself seated across from him, his gaze pinning her as though she were an insect on the wall. Katie cleared her throat before trying to answer. “I was twelve weeks along with the first ultrasound, and there was another one at twenty weeks.”

  “And you knew he was a boy ahead of time?” Despite his mild tone that suggested nothing more than basic curiosity, there was something in the way the eldest Moretti brother held himself that revealed it was a loaded question.

  She nodded, unsure how to answer. Larenz seemed to want something, but she didn’t want to give it—especially if it was an excuse to verbally attack her, as she suspected.

  “Do you have pictures?” asked Armo.

  She started to nod again, but then changed her mind. “I did, but I don’t anymore. They’re in my old apartment.” Knowing that neighborhood, and the sleazy apartment manager who’d run the place, her things had likely been rummaged through, ripped off, and thrown away by now. There would be nothing left.

  “It’s okay,” said Armo. “I’ll have them retrieved.”

  “Of course, if you’d been there, you wouldn’t need pictures to know what your son looked like before he was born,” said Larenz in a deceptively neutral tone.

  Katie stiffened and wrapped her fingers tightly around the fork and knife, though no one else had lifted their silverware yet. She wasn’t certain if she was using it as a way to control a surge of anger, or if she was just keeping weapons handy just in case Larenz continued to push her. “I had my reasons.” She shot a glance at Lily and Avriella. “I doubt you want me to go into them.”

  “I’d be fascinated to know why you think it was okay to run away from my brother and steal his child, while planning to keep Lucas away from him forever. I’d love for you to enlighten me as to why we should all just forget about that and move on as though nothing has changed?”

  Katie continued gripping the knife, but her fingers loosened on the fork as she almost unconsciously decided to embrace one as a weapon. She was surprised when Armo put his hand over hers, squeezing lightly until she released the knife and let it fall to the table with a small clatter.

  It was even more surprising when Avriella spoke up, and on her behalf. “Larenz, you promised to be on your best behavior. You’ve never been in Katie’s position, so you can’t understand how she must have felt when she discovered the truth. If you can’t be civil to your brother’s… Lucas’ mother, then perhaps you’d like to call it an early night?”

  L
arenz looked surly for a moment, and then glanced down at his plate. “No way am I missing Lucia’s lasagna.”

  Avriella gave her son a slightly acerbic smile. “Then I suggest you cram however much is required to keep your mouth closed during dinner.”

  Katie struggled to keep her own mouth from falling open at Avriella’s words, startled both by the other woman seeming to be defending her actions, and by the way she had spoken to her oldest son. She hadn’t spent a great deal of time with Armo’s family, but from what she had, she remembered Avriella as a doting mother, one who seemed to think her sons could do no wrong. This was such a change from the woman she remembered that she shook her head with confusion for a moment as everyone began to eat.

  Under the clink of silverware and dinner conversation, she leaned closer to Armo, pitching her voice to a low whisper. “Did your mom have some kind of near-death experience or something?”

  He looked surprised by the question even as he was shaking his head. “No, of course not. Why do you ask?”

  She shrugged. “The new house, the new attitude, and the fact that she actually doesn’t seem to mind that I’m here are what prompted me to wonder what made her change. I thought perhaps she’d undergone some kind of life-changing crisis.”

  He dabbed at his mouth with a linen napkin. “Nothing life-changing. I think she just has some stuff in common with you that she didn’t realize before. Just give her a chance.”

  She nodded, the response hovering on the tip of her tongue that she had always been willing to give Avriella a chance, but the other woman hadn’t seemed interested in reciprocity. Instead, she turned her attention to the excellent lasagna, followed by even more excellent tiramisu, though she’d only gotten two bites when Armo started to fuss.

  She slid back from the table and held out her arms for the baby, asking Armo, “Where can I feed him?”

  Armo got up and showed her the way to a guestroom, which was still larger than the apartment she had shared with the baby until Armo had kidnapped them out of that life and back into this one. She settled on the bed, adjusted her clothing to allow the baby to latch on, and tried not to think about the conversation that was probably flowing now that she was no longer in the room.