by Reilly, Cora
I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you doing this? If you think you can get something out of it, you better be careful.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m not using him. Why would I not like to spend time with him? I get compensated for spending time with him like I do with every client, and he’s nice and considerate, and I enjoy being with him.” Her face turned even redder.
“So you’re only doing this because sex with my brother is pleasant for you and allows you to take on fewer of the unpleasant clients.”
She looked away. “Yeah.”
“All right. I don’t have a problem with that, but don’t cross any lines, C.J., understood?” She gave a small nod. “Adamo might need you now more than ever, so take good care of him.”
I left, satisfied with my findings.
I didn’t care if Adamo only fucked C.J., even if his longer sessions cost a fortune. It’s not like my brothers and me hadn’t used the services of our whores. Of course, we never had to pay that much because we didn’t keep them around for hours.
If Adamo needed the additional time, he could get it. In his current mental state, I was glad for anything that managed to distract him. The few conversations I’d had with him since he’d been freed stirred my worries. His anguish and rage were reminiscent of Remo’s early days. I didn’t think Adamo could deal with it the way my older brother had.
It might destroy Adamo.
Kiara was even more excited about Christmas than in the previous year, practically bouncing with joy as she decorated the entire house and baked for us. Greta and Nevio’s presence, while making her realize how badly she wanted children of her own, also kept her distracted. Those two were a lot of work, and Kiara gladly stepped in helping Serafina while Remo had to heal.
As Christmas rolled around, both Remo and Adamo were doing better, and most of their outward injuries had healed. We were sitting in the gaming room, discussing how to organize future races, having to get back to business despite events. Stefano insisted we keep his territory out of it in the next months while he tried to establish his rule. His men had suffered enough losses and another attack from the Outfit could demoralize them. He needed to appear strong if he wanted to convince his doubters and haters.
“I don’t like it,” Remo growled. “I don’t want Cavallaro to think he’s made an impact on us.”
Savio shrugged. “What do we care what the asshole thinks? He’ll pay soon enough for the shit he pulled.”
“He should pay now,” Adamo said, tracing the burn scars on his forearm.
“Revenge takes time. We need to figure out our next moves carefully and not go into this blindsided by fury.”
Remo glared at me, but knew I was right. He was pissed, more on Adamo’s behalf than his own—not to mention that he wouldn’t forgive the Outfit for treating his children as less because they were his.
“I agree with Nino,” Savio said firmly. “I’d rather hit him hard so he can’t get up ever again than aim for a quick hit.”
Remo leaned back with a sigh. It was ultimately his decision. Despite him being Capo, he often listened to what we had to say.
Serafina walked in with the twins on her arms. “Can you watch them?”
Remo sat up, looking at Serafina as he always did—with a hint of confusion and longing. I wasn’t sure if he was unsure about his own feelings or hers.
Serafina met my gaze. “Will you take Nevio?”
I stood at once and took him from her. Nevio grabbed for my tattoos again, eyes widening and mouth parting as if he was seeing them for the very first time. Serafina walked over to Remo and after my brother spoke softly to his daughter, he took Greta. Nothing about Remo was soft, not ever and I’d never heard him speak in that tone before. Savio and Adamo gave me questioning looks as I sat back down. Remo waved a rattle in front of Greta’s face as he joined us and sank down beside me. The look in his eyes as he gazed down at his daughter gave me a better understanding why Kiara wanted children so badly. It spoke of an altruistic, untainted love that was rare in our world.
“I suppose that’s the end of my whoring days in the house,” Savio grumbled.
Remo looked up from Greta, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t want a fucking whore anywhere near my children.”
Greta cried at the harshness in his voice, and Remo’s lips tightened. He quickly managed to calm her again.
Nevio began to chew on my forefinger. Hr didn’t have any teeth yet so he couldn’t do any real damage. Greta eventually settled peacefully in the crook of Remo’s arm and watched everything with those big eyes.
Adamo gave her a small wave and she watched quietly while Nevio was trying to crawl off my lap. I let him discover the sofa, holding him by his waistband whenever he got too close to falling off.
“He’s going to be a little PIA, I can tell,” Savio said.
Remo’s mouth twitched as he watched his son try to take another nose-dive from the sofa. “I’ve had practice with PIAs raising you and Adamo.”
Savio grinned, leaning back against the sofa and stretching out his arms. “I’m sure I’ve been a delight.” He nodded toward Adamo who hunched forward beside him. “He’s got PIA written all over his forehead and MIA all over his crotch.”
“Fuck you,” Adamo said but he didn’t look as pissed as he’d done in the past. He hardly seemed to care about the jab. Remo sent me a meaningful look—of course he’d noticed it too. Adamo was growing up faster than expected.
“No reprimand for using fuck you in front of your precious offspring?”
Remo stroked Greta’s arm. “Growing up in this house, my kids will probably say fuck before anything else.”
“Or I could try to teach them a more interesting word ...” Savio mused, exchanging a look with Adamo who shook his head with a small laugh.
“If one of my children says pussy, dick or cock as their first word, I’ll send you to Kansas City to help Stefano get his people under control, got it?”
“They could pick it up from someone else.”
Remo raised his eyebrows and Savio smirked.
“Kansas City, Savio.”
He sighed. “There’s really no fun to be had in this house anymore.”
CHAPTER 16
KIARA
“Have you heard?” I asked excitedly as I headed toward Leona. She was sitting on their terrace with a book on her lap. I loved that I could go over to visit her whenever I wanted now that the fence between the houses had been taken down. “Remo asked Serafina to marry him. Well, it wasn’t really a question, but with Remo that was to be expected.”
Leona looked up and nodded with a tight smile. “Yeah, Fabiano mentioned it. When are they going to marry?”
I sank down in the chair beside her, confused by her mood. “May, after the twins’ first birthday. I can’t wait to organize everything. It’ll be amazing. Will you help me?”
Leona nodded again. “Sure.” I caught the hint of uncertainty on her face and paused.
“Everything all right?”
“It’s nothing ... I mean it’s ridiculous. I—” She shook her head. “I’m being stupid, ignore me.”
“No,” I said, leaning forward. “Is it because you want Fabiano to ask you to marry him?”
“No...I mean perhaps. We’ve been together for two years, which isn’t long considering normal standards but I know how things are in your world, even in the Camorra, which isn’t that conservative. And Fabiano’s been growing up in the Outfit and that is still very traditional, so I’m wondering what’s holding him back.”
“Maybe he’s just waiting for the right moment.”
Leona stared down at the bracelet adorning her wrist. “What if he realized that he wants an Italian woman? Fabiano is traditional in many aspects, so maybe he decided I wasn’t fit to become his wife, a Scuderi.”
“Now you are being ridiculous,” I scolded gently. “Fabiano loves you. It’s obvious from the way he looks at you. And he even got this mansion for you. Just give it time. He’
ll ask you eventually.”
“He got this mansion because he wants to be close to his brothers-by-choice,” Leona said softly.
Brothers-by-choice, that was the perfect term for Fabiano and the Falcones. I gave Leona a reprimanding look. “And because he wants you two to have enough space for each other and a family.”
“You’re probably right, and I really should be focusing on my classes and not worry about getting married.”
I smiled.
Leona stared off into the distance, then smiled. “What about a bridal shower? A hen party where we, for once, get ridiculously drunk and have fun.”
I considered that. “I’ve never partied.”
Leona’s eyes grew wide. “We need to change that.”
“Have you been allowed to go party?”
Leona laughed. “Well, Fabiano was with me every time I went to a club. He’s a great dancer.”
“We could take Serafina to a club, dance, drink, have fun. It would only be us, because Serafina’s friends are in Minneapolis, so...” I stopped. I hadn’t really made friends in Las Vegas, not that I’d tried and I just hadn’t gone out to meet new people. Leona and I loved spending time together, and I had a feeling that soon Serafina would be an important part of our close-knit group.
“You think you can talk Nino and Remo into letting you go party?”
“I don’t think they’d mind, if you disregard the security aspect. That’ll be a problem. They’ll insist we have guards, and they don’t really trust many people around us.”
“It’s not a hen night if one of our men is there.”
“Yeah, maybe Savio and his friend Diego could guard us.”
“That could work. I’ll try to convince Fabiano, and you work your magic on Nino and Remo. Serafina can’t know beforehand!”
I sighed. Convincing both Remo and Nino wouldn’t be easy.
Leona and I talked about the latest series we watched until I finally left so Leona could get a bit more reading in and because I wanted to work on a new piano piece. I went to the bathroom because I had a slight headache. Opening the drawer for pills, I froze when I saw my stash of pregnancy tests. I quickly grabbed something for my headache. We had a bridal shower and a wedding to organize, there wasn’t time to obsess over my troubles. Nino was right, I needed to relax.
After I’d taken a pill, I settled at my piano and began to play, losing myself in the music like always.
A knock sounded, making me jump, and the melody died in a low moan. Adamo stood in front of the French window, a cigarette in his hand. I smiled and motioned for him to come in. After he took a last pull from his cigarette and stomped it out on the ground, he slid open the door and stepped inside.
“Don’t forget to pick up the stub later or Nino will have your butt,” I said with a smile.
Adamo nodded, no smile, nothing. Shadows spread out under his eyes as he walked over to the piano and sank down beside me on the bench. When he didn’t say anything I started playing again, trying to suppress my flood of questions wanting to burst out of me. Months had passed since his capture, and his body had healed and scarred. But he had become more closed off.
After the melody ended, silence descended on us until I couldn’t take it anymore. “You’re gone a lot.”
“I’m with C.J.”
I bit my lip. “At the Sugar Trap?”
“There and at her apartment.”
Adamo was fifteen. C.J. at least twenty-eight. “Are you together?” I asked, trying to keep the judgment from my voice so Adamo wouldn’t shut down again.
His eyes rose to mine, and an ironic smile tipped his lips up. I still remembered his honest, kind smiles from before. “We’re friends with benefits.”
I blinked, then nodded, unsure what to say to that. My protective side made me wonder what she got out of it. C.J. seemed nice but why would she hang out with a teenage boy for no reason?
Serafina came in with Greta and Nevio, then paused when she saw me with Adamo. He got up. “Hi, I need to leave anyway.” Without another word, he walked out, not taking the cigarette butt with him.
Frowning, I got up and picked it up and threw it in the bin beside my piano that was reserved for papers with my scribbles.
“He’s still suffering because of what happened?” Serafina asked.
I nodded. I’d noticed that Adamo often avoided Serafina’s presence. When he was around her. Adamo was nice but he made sure he was gone most of the time. “Do you want me to take Nevio?”
Serafina handed him to me and I smiled down at his grinning face. “I wanted to ask, if you want to come along when I go wedding dress shopping?” She was still unsure if we were friends. Maybe she thought I was only being nice because I felt obligated, and while that might have been true in the beginning I honestly liked Serafina, not just because she was a great mother, but also because she was nice and tough, and loved Remo.
“Yes, of course,” I said. “Would you mind if Leona came along?”
“I’d love for her to be there. I wasn’t sure if she’d want to though, because I don’t know her that well.”
“Not yet, but we’re all family so you will sooner or later. And I can’t wait to look for a dress for you. I’m so excited to plan this for you.”
Serafina laughed. “My last wedding took two years to plan and it never happened, and this time we have only months.”
“Are you worried it won’t be a big enough affair?”
Serafina shook her head, gently rocking Greta who was getting squirmy. “No, Remo and I don’t want anything big. Only a family wedding, nothing fancy.”
“That’s perfect. What’s the use of having hundreds of guests you hardly know?”
Serafina’s face lit up. “Right?”
I could hardly hold back asking her about what she wanted to do for her bridal shower. I stifled the impulse. This had to be a surprise.
Nino, Fabiano and Remo did eventually agree on us going dancing—of course, under certain conditions. The three of them would stay home and watch the twins while we had to take Savio, Adamo and Diego with us. And of course stay in contact through Savio in case anyone needed to intervene, which wouldn’t happen. It was already April and there was only one month until the wedding, so it was high time we finally got around to our hen party.
Serafina, Leona and I got ready together in Leona’s vanity while the men were over in the Falcone mansion. I had bought a tight mini-dress for the occasion that made my blood pound faster with nerves when I wore it, and matching red high heels.
Leona shook her head. “Men are going to trip over themselves for a dance with you.”
My eyes trailed over Leona in hot pants, a tight shirt and high heels, and Serafina in a glittery mini dress. “I think they’ll have a hard time choosing.”
We giggled and clinked glasses. We’d finished off a bottle of sparkling wine while getting ready and were already feeling a nice buzz.
Serafina downed the remaining wine and set the glass down with an audible clang. “Let’s head over and show our men why they’d better appreciate us.”
Leona grinned and I shook my head with a giggle.
“They’re going to decide that we’re not allowed to go out after all,” Leona said. “Fabiano is super-jealous. He won’t like this.”
“He’ll get over it,” Serafina said.
“Is Remo jealous?” I asked curiously.
Serafina shrugged. “He said he’d kill anyone who touched me, so I suppose he is.”
Leona rolled her eyes. “Mafia men are so possessive.”
“They are,” I agreed. Nino had never really showed jealousy, but he’d never had reason to.
We found our men with Savio and Adamo in the gaming room, having drinks.
“Fuck,” Savio exclaimed when he spotted us, setting down his glass. He was already dressed for the occasion. Form-fitting dark blue slacks and an even tighter white dress shirt that showed off his muscled body. He’d have more trouble fending off admirer
s than we would. “We’re screwed, Adamo. We can only lose this gig.”
The other men turned, and their reactions were a mix of slack-jawed surprise and disapproving scowl, Adamo and Savio the former, Remo, Nino and Fabiano the latter.
“What the hell it that thing you’re wearing?” Savio asked me.
“It’s a dress,” I said, flushing.
“I know what dresses look like and that’s not it. That’s the lovechild of a tanktop and a bandana,” Savio said.
Ignoring him, I gave Nino a hopeful smile and he came over and touched my waist before whispering in my ear. “Don’t get too drunk. I want to shove up that dress and bury my face between your legs tonight. I want you to think of my tongue in your pussy when you dance later—to imagine how hard you come when I lick you, and you will again, tonight, if you stay lucid enough.”
My cheeks heated and I had to suppress an embarrassed laugh. Nino pulled back, looking cool as a cucumber.
Savio let out a low whistle. “Your face goes well with the color of your dress.”
I considered throttling him with the strap of my purse.
“How the fuck are we supposed to stop men from slobbering all over them? That’s going to be a hell of a job.”
“If someone touches Kiara, you’ll give me a call, Savio.”
“Nino,” I said with a small giggle. “You won’t ruin Serafina’s hen party by killing anyone.”
Nino regarded me with that stoic calm that told me nothing I said would change his mind. “I’ll only capture them today. I’ll kill them tomorrow.”
“That sounds reasonable,” deadpanned Serafina with a roll of her eyes.
Leona was busy talking Fabiano out of whatever overprotective mode he was in. Only Remo looked surprisingly calm. He gave me a twisted grin and kissed Serafina fiercely. The look she gave him after would have made me blush further if I wasn’t already red-faced.
“You keep a close eye on them, got it?” Remo told his brothers after he’d pulled away from the kiss.
Savio sighed. “Let me guess, you’re going to send me to Kansas if I don’t, right?”