by Maia Dylan
Chapter Five
“Gino!” Marissa banged on the door for good measure. “Wake the fuck up. I’ve left the two of you alone to do the nasty all freaking morning, but my patience has run out.”
Gino growled low behind her, and Rosa giggled at the vibration of it against her back. “What the hell, Marissa,” Gino called back. “It’s still fucking dark outside. What the hell are you bothering us for?”
“The room has black-out curtains, you moron,” Marissa snapped, and Rose giggled once more. “It’s almost noon, and if you don’t come out here and return the damn phone calls I have been taking for your hairy ass all morning, I will break this door down and drag you outta that room by your balls. I am not your damn secretary.”
Gino cursed as he unwrapped himself from around Rosa. She turned in her narrow bed to watch as he stormed across the room and threw open the door, completely at ease with his nudity.
“What fucking phone messages?” Gino practically snarled at her friend as he barred the doorway.
Marissa harrumphed as she smacked a small stack of papers against his chest, completely unaffected by the naked perfection that was Gino Esposito. “These fucking messages. I’ve taken three from Tony demanding that he get to talk to you, and two from Gavriil. The last one ended in a rather graphic curse, seriously questioning your parentage, and informed me that he was on his way here to, and I quote, drag your loved-up hairy ass away from your woman long enough to have a fucking conversation.”
Gino took the papers from Marissa’s hands. “Why is it that everyone thinks my ass is hairy?” He looked back over his shoulder at Rosa and gave her one of his half smiles that hit her straight between her legs. “Does my ass look hairy to you, cara?”
Rosa ran her gaze over his back, down across his perfect butt, then back up again. “Not to me, lover. Your ass has always looked perfectly bitable to me.” She heard the blatant invitation in her tone.
Gino’s gaze darkened, and she knew that invitation was received.
“Oh, for the love of all that’s holy, would you point that damn thing in another direction?” Marissa groaned from the door as she made a point of looking at the ceiling.
Rosa snorted as Gino winked at her. “Can’t help it, Marissa. When it comes to my Rosa, there ain’t no stopping that particular reaction.”
“Gino!” Gavriil shouted and everyone in the room froze. The man just had that tone. “If you have quite fucking finished—”
“Or,” Nico called out, amusement clear in his tone “finished fucking.”
“Or that,” Gavriil continued in a dry tone. “We got trouble coming our way. We need to come up with a plan.”
At that, all amusement left Gino’s expression. “I’ll be down in a moment.”
“Bring Rosa with you. This concerns her.”
Rosa inhaled sharply, her heart beating a little faster. She caught Gino’s gaze when he turned to look back at her. The feral look of possession that swept across his face was as beautiful as it was intimidating.
“Get dressed, cara,” Gino said in a quiet voice, at odds with the emotion that swirled in his dark eyes.
The two of them dressed quickly, and Rosa sent a look to the bed with its blankets askew, the pillows that clearly showed where they had laid their heads to sleep, so close that it was hard to imagine any space between them at all.
“Rosa,” Gino said gently, and she drew her gaze from the bed to meet his. “This was not how I wanted to start this day. I wanted you to wake up with my mouth on your pussy, showing you how much last night, and you, mean to me.”
Rosa’s heart stuttered within her, and heat pooled once more between her legs.
“Don’t let whatever Gavriil has to say change what we’ve started between us. Don’t even try because you’re mine and I will fight with every fucking thing I have to keep you.”
Rosa stepped closer to him and rested her hand on his chest. “I’m not going to let that happen, either.”
Gino stared into her eyes for a moment, and Rosa had a feeling he was looking for something particular. She didn’t look away or even allow herself to do anything other than blink. Gino finally nodded, taking a big breath as he did so. Rosa was suddenly very aware of how uncertain Gino was when it came to her. It made her a little less uncertain to realize he felt the same way.
Gino reached for her hand, entwined their fingers, and they left the room. Rosa’s mind was racing as they made their way to the room on the ground floor. When they stepped into the kitchen, a place that was usually bustling with staff and people looking for a meal, it was surprisingly quiet. Only Gavriil, Nico, and Tony stood in the room.
Tony smiled warmly at her. “How you doing, Rosa? Those two assholes your father sent didn’t scare you too much, did they?”
She shot a quick look up at Gino and cursed the heat she felt rising in her cheeks as she shook her head. “Not at all, I’m doing fine. Thanks, Tony. Gino took very good care of me last night.”
There was a loaded silence and further heat exploded in her cheeks as Nico burst out laughing. “I’ll just be he did. Ow! Christ, Tony, what the hell was that for?” Nico groused as he rubbed the back of his head.
“For being a dick, Nico,” Gavriil explained. “You embarrassed Rosa. You’re just lucky Gino was too far away to do it. He would have knocked you on your ass.”
“Don’t mean I ain’t going to do it later,” Gino said and there was no missing the promise in his tone. “You won’t know where or when, but for embarrassing my woman, I will be putting you on your ass.”
Nico looked like was going to argue for a small moment before he nodded. “Fair enough, Gino. Sorry, Rosa.”
Rosa sent him a small smile. “No worries, Nico. I’ll try not to be the mistress of double entendre from now on.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t bring us down here just to shoot the breeze,” Gino said as he guided her toward a chair at the breakfast bar in the corner. “Tell us what this trouble is.”
The other men in the room came to sit across from her, and she found herself face-to-face with Gavriil. From the way his gaze was locked on her, she figured this had something to do with her, and she wasn’t going to like it.
“Your father contacted me for payment.”
Rosa frowned. “For what?”
Gavriil leaned forward. “For you.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Gino snapped. “Rosa’s not for fucking sale.”
“I know that, brother,” Gavriil said rather dryly, “but her father seems to think that because you’ve claimed her as your own, that some sort of compensation is owed to him.”
Rosa knew exactly what he would want. “He’s demanding access to your distribution channels, isn’t he? The more legitimate and legal, the better.”
Gino growled beside her even as Gavriil shot her a grin. “That’s exactly what he’s asking for. He believes that given the fact that we as a familia have cost him what he had already arranged to pay in order to access a route into Chicago, we owe him. I am intrigued to know who that would have been, but we’ll find that out, eventually. Oh, and he’s promised retribution if we refuse.”
Rosa’s stomach dropped. “He’ll bring war.”
“He’ll try,” Gavriil agreed, “but things have changed quite dramatically for your dear old dad over the last couple of years. He’s lost more than a few territory battles down his way, and the numbers he used to have behind him have more than halved. There are rumors that he has a traitor in his inner circle. He’s killed every man he’s suspected.”
Gino turned in her direction. “He won’t get near you, cara. I won’t allow it.”
“We won’t allow it,” Nico added as he set a cup of coffee in front of her. “We are all family. The Carlisi familia are renowned for their loyalty to family. He comes at us at his own peril.”
While the other two men had been speaking, Rosa hadn’t taken her gaze from Gavriil. Rosa had become very good at reading expressions. She kne
w that Gavriil was holding something back.
“There’s more, isn’t there?”
Gavriil stared at her before nodding slowly. “There is. But I am not sure if telling you would be the smartest thing in the world to do. Recent history tells me that people who react with emotion, and without thought, get themselves and others”—Rosa caught Gino’s quick glance at Gino, and dread settled low in her stomach—“hurt. I don’t want to see anyone else I love hurt.”
“Don’t.” Gino snarled. “If there is something more to this, then just fucking say it, Gavriil. Don’t try to use her feelings for me against her. Rosa’s the strongest person I have ever met. Man or woman. Just tell us what else that prick said so we can deal with all of it.”
Gavriil took a slow breath, then nodded. “Well said. Forgive me, Rosa, sometimes the need to protect those who are dearest to me outweighs logic.”
She could understand that better than most.
“Your father’s message included a not-so-veiled threat against your grandmother.”
Rosa gasped. “What did he say?”
“That if we didn’t allow them access through the city, or return you to your father’s care, then he would send you Sofia’s head. We have two hours to agree.”
Rosa sat in shock. Not only would he do it, he’d probably find enjoyment out of it, too. Not the least of which would be derived from the pain he knew it would cause her. He’d also know that Rosa would do anything to protect her.
“Don’t even think it, Rosa,” Gino snapped as he wrapped a hard hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her closer to him. “I will tie you to my goddamn bed and throw away the key. You will not play the fucking martyr and walk off into the sunset and sacrifice yourself. That is not. Happening.”
Gino gave her a little shake on that last word.
“Gino—”
“Hell no, not happening,” Gino practically snarled.
“Gino, I—”
“Rosa.” This time it was Tony who wouldn’t let her finish. “If Leona was here, she would say the exact same thing.” Tony grimaced. “Well, at least I hope she would.”
“She probably would, but—”
“Rosa—”
“Stop!” Rosa practically shouted, shocking herself and everyone else in the room, too, if their sudden silence was anything to go by. “Would you please let me finish? I don’t think that’s too much to ask now, is it?” Rosa took a calming breath and was a little surprised that no one interrupted her. “Although, yes, my initial reaction was to jump up and run off to save my abuela, I know that all that is going to get me is pain.” She turned to look at Gino. “I trust you to get her back for me. You tell me what you need me to do, and I’ll do it.”
Chapter Six
I trust you.
Those three words almost dropped Gino to his knees and made him feel ten feet tall at the same damn time. He’d hauled her into his arms and kissed her, unable to hold back from showing her how much her words had affected him.
“Thank you,” he’d whispered when he’d let her breathe once more.
He had no idea how he’d managed to get so damn lucky, but he wasn’t going to do anything to lose her. The next hour passed quickly as he, Gavriil, Tony, and Nico hammered out a plan. It was no surprise that Hernandez was holding Rosa’s abuela in a property owned by the Battaglias. It was obvious that the cartel was firmly in their pockets. The matriarch of the family, Victoria Battaglia, wanted vengeance on the entire Carlisi familia after the deaths of both her youngest sons, and she wasn’t above working with the likes of Hernandez to do it.
When they left Marissa’s place, Rosa was under strict instructions not to leave the property. Gino had promised her he would bring her grandmother back, and he would remember forever the look of hope, adoration, and love that shone on her beautiful face at his words.
“Gino,” Tony said as he strode toward him. “Sofia’s in the house, Gavriil has her, but Eduardo’s nowhere to be seen.”
Gino frowned as he stared up at the large house they believed Hernandez to be in. “What the hell? He set up this time and place to meet with Gavriil, and the fucker’s not here?”
Tony shook his head, turning to watch as Gavriil strode through the front door of the house, a short elderly Latina woman striding through the door beside him, her face so much like his Rosa’s that he knew he was seeing how she would look in fifty years’ time. Sofia didn’t look frail or unwell as they’d been led to believe. No, she looked pissed.
“Where is my granddaughter?” Despite her strong accent, there was no missing the demand in her tone.
Gino stepped forward. “We left her somewhere safe while we came for you, ma’am. We’ll take you to her now.”
“Idiota!” Sofia snarled, pointing a finger up at him. “All of you are idiots. This was never about me, or Eduardo getting my Rosa back. This is about money, and the greed the man I unfortunately gave birth to has for it. Three years ago, he took out an insurance policy on Rosa. If she dies, he inherits a small fortune. One he can use to rebuild his drug empire, and I will not allow either of those to happen. I have not spent the last two years cutting that man off at the knees, ruining his deals, and biding my time to end him, all of which I had to do knowing that my Rosa was being held against her will by a fucking criminal here in Chicago. Now that I am in a position to make a final strike, you put my baby right in the path of that prick.”
Gino felt like he’d been struck in the face by a two by four. “No, we are keeping her safe, she—”
The crack of Sofia’s hand meeting his cheek was loud, and Gino held up a hand to stop Tony and Gavriil from advancing on her further than the step they had each taken. He looked closer at Sofia and he realized that the rage she was showing masked another emotion, one that was just as strong and one that had his stomach turning.
Fear.
“Tell me.”
Sofia visibly swallowed. “He left here an hour ago. He’s had a couple of his men watching some house not far from here. Jorge, one of Eduardo’s enforcers who has always had a crush on my Rosa, told him he knew where she was, and how to get to her. If you’ve left her somewhere, then Eduardo already has his filthy hands on her.”
A shrill noise came from behind her, and Gavriil cursed. “Blyat! That’s the panic alarm at Marissa’s.”
Gino turned to sprint for his car, allowing the ice he was known for to flow through his veins. He needed to be cool and calm so he could get to Rosa quickly, and when he did, he was going to bathe in the blood of her father, and any other dumb bastard who dared get in his way.
****
Rosa held completely still as she watched her father stare at her from across the room. The age-old fear that would fill her as a child rose as she faced him. She still wasn’t entirely sure how he came to be there. One minute, she was in the kitchen with Marissa, trying to distract herself from what Gino had gone to do, and in the next, five of her father’s men stormed the kitchen. She’d frozen as soon as Eduardo entered the room. She could hear screams and gunshots from elsewhere in the house, so she knew there were more of his men on the property.
“Rosa, come here to your papa.” There was no missing the smug satisfaction that practically dripped from his tone.
Rosa hated the fact that she actually took a step toward the man, trained as she was to obey his every command, but cheered silently when she held her ground.
Eduardo quirked a brow. “You have not seen me in three years. Surely you’ve missed me.”
Rosa felt a welcoming wave of anger building within her. “Not so much, no.” She was proud of the fact that her voice remained level. “I was being held captive by a family of criminal assholes who used me as a slave, had me cooking and cleaning for their entire fucking crew, and being raped by the son on the odd occasion when he could be bothered and actually managed to get it up. Missing you was simply not something I had time for.”
Eduardo’s eyes widened. “My, my. Has my daughter finally g
rown a backbone? I should have traded you sooner.”
Rosa shot him a withering look. “Perhaps so.”
More gunfire sounded near the front of the house, more screams, and oddly, a sharp, shrill whistle seemed to come from that same direction. Rosa heard Marissa inhale sharply.
“You three.” Eduardo signaled to the men closest to the kitchen door. “Go and see what the fuck is going on. The others should have had everything out there under control by now.”
The men filed out, and only her father, Jorge, and one other man remained. Rosa felt her skin crawl at the way Jorge was looking at her, and he was much too close for her liking.
“I was going to have Jorge kill you,” Eduardo said calmly, “but I think I’m going to do it myself. You are nothing to me. A bargaining chip I could use to make money and your death is going to do that for me once more.” He leveled his weapon at her. “I guess you could say you are finally doing your duty as my daughter. I—”
The sound of the gun going off just behind her made her scream. The second shot had her crouching to make herself a smaller target and pressing her hands to her ringing ears for a moment. When she was finally sure she wasn’t hit, and no more shots were being fired, she looked around wildly. Marissa was standing a few feet in front of her, her face pale, gaze locked on something behind Rosa and on her left.
“That felt good.” Jorge growled from behind her, and Rosa turned to see him smiling broadly, gun still in his hand. “I have wanted to put a bullet in that bastard for fucking years!” He leveled his gaze on her. “I saved you, Rosa. He was going to kill you. He had an insurance policy out on you and everything. I wasn’t going to let that happen. You are mine.”
Rosa took a step back from him. “Jorge—”
“Don’t you fucking step away from me!” Jorge moved closer to her, lifting his weapon to level it her chest. “You’ve always been mine, Rosa. You know that. I am going to have to punish you, though, for what you have done here.”
“What exactly have I done, Jorge?” Rosa asked quietly, wanting to keep him talking and not pulling that damn trigger.