Chapter 41

He didn't bother to come our way. Instead, he stayed behind a chair with crossed arms, feet apart, and a blunt sneer pointed at me.

Happy to see you again too, Elio.

Massimo's hand pressed deeper before curling onto my side, pulling me closer in warning. Or was it a plea to behave? A quick glance at his stern eyes answered me. He wasn't one to ask nicely anyway.

"Alessandra, let me introduce you to Davina and Vadim."

I removed my gaze from him and found the girl who had started it all. He didn't need to introduce me; I'd meet them all.

The doe maroon in her irises retained the same hope and love I'd seen the night of the gala as they looked up kindly at me.

I didn't like it.

Her acceptance of this world was baffling for someone like me. The content they offered in a den of sin. I would never understand her choice to live in this world. To give up freedom and ignorance to the true crime that lived among the righteous.

Davina's hair was now a few inches shorter as it fell in black curtains to her shoulders. Her petite features brightened with a smile I had trouble returning. The optimism and buoyancy it displayed by seeing me. The one whose blood matched the same man who'd scarred her neck, hunted her, and wished nothing else but her death.

Could she be so pure to forgive, to see me as someone more than a Zanetti?

If so, her soul hadn't yet been fully taken by the Mafia, but it was only a matter of time before the corruption, lies, and death would unveil the rotten truth of her future.

The longer I looked down at her thin frame and honest smile, the more I believed she'd in fact made peace with the past. Davina grew aware of my silence, and her posture hesitated while her eyes questioned.

Her reactions gave it all away, leaving nothing for me to hunt or search for. It was an easy feat to read her. Too easy, and with these men, it was a crucial tool to learn how to mask emotions.

I could help her with that.

Putting her at ease, I smiled back, and her spirits lifted.

Davina's flowy black dress swiveled and, her hand lifted and met the chest of the blue-eyed and blond-haired man who'd trapped her in this hell. Vadim.

His stance was nothing more than protective as he held her close to him, but his eyes were the softest I'd seen with her so near.

Love. They could have fooled me.

"Davina, Vadim," I said politely.

"And I'm Nate."

My gaze slid away from them to the man who closed the distance from the back of the room to us. When his hand stretched out in broad daylight while standing next to Vadim, I saw their uncanny resemblance.

Out of the four brothers, they shared blood. They shared blue eyes and blond hair, although Nate's was a tone darker, but their Russian features mingled in kin.

I took his hand, shook it, and he smiled respectfully before letting go.

"I'm sure you know Elio." Nate's hand extended outwards to the asshole by the table.

"Alessandra," Massimo warned quietly in my hair.

My smile stretched, a fraud.

"Elio."

"Zanetti."

Everyone stilled.

Massimo's hold stiffened.

Davina's teeth trapped her lips as her chest rose in distress. Vadim's eyes blazed at the sight, and Nate closed his eyes briefly as if he knew what Elio had started.

My wrist no longer felt pain, it only wanted to cause it as my fingertips traced my hidden blade.

He'd said it as a reminder to all who stood before me, and as the air turned foul and stiff, I remained controlled by his disrespect and attempt to belittle me.

"Elio," Massimo threatened.

Elio raised his palms in fake innocence while I thought of the right words to approach him. I had nothing. He'd just stated a fact.

I smirked instead.

"I'm famished." I gazed up at Massimo and his demeanor calmed seeing how I'd ignored his brother, but something in his eyes still held conflict. "We should take our seats and get ready for lunch."

"Maybe instead of wearing lunch you'll get the chance to eat it this time."

Massimo's hand tugged as I let go of his eyes to chase Elio's mockery. I slipped through his finger in one determined step to face Elio.

"Enough," Massimo barked.

Elio and I stood across the table with hatred-filled eyes.

What was his deal?

"It's okay to be intimidated," I uttered.

"Please, you are nothing more than a walking liability," Elio quickly replied.

Huh, he really believed so.

"Elio!"

Massimo lost his cool briefly and ran his hand over his face as if he was dealing with misbehaving children. He shook his head and pulled the chair out for me.

I sat on the right side of the head of the table. Elio took the left, directly in front of me. Nate sat to my left, with Davina taking Elio's right followed by Vadim.

Davina's watchful eyes bounced between Massimo, Elio, and I before breaking the silence to relieve the tension.

"Where's Leonardo?" she asked.

Massimo only shook his head. No further explanation was given.

As lunch continued and courses of food came and went, I only paid attention to Massimo's mood slowly easing. How he had relaxed while keeping fragments of his guard high. A thing I was mesmerized by as it was the first time I'd seen it. He had been in such a state of disarray earlier. Even while he didn't smile or join in the conversation between his brothers and Davina, he seemed comfortable.

Envy crawled, knowing I wasn't the one who made him feel such trust to do so and probably would never be able to. Meanwhile, jealousy stirred as I realized I had never felt that way around my own family.

"I checked on Wix and Vine when we came in. Thalia mentioned their attachment to you," Vadim said, looking right at me, and everyone quieted waiting for my reply.

I looked down at the dessert I've been playing with for twenty minutes and looked back at him with a slight smile.

"Well, they do sleep inside the room now." I chuckled softly.

Vadim's eyes widened with a smile as did Davina's; then shortly, all their eyes shifted to Massimo, who just watched them back in silence. He hadn't even touched his dessert.

"I'm glad to hear that, really." Vadim kept looking at me, as if he had made up his mind about me.

"Yeah, we all are. They are a trueforce," Nate added as if it was the best word he could describe them with.

Elio's glare did not disappear, nor did the bullseye I had now permanently etched onto his head.

"How is the wedding planning? Have you picked out a date yet?" Davina asked and quickly added, "Congratulations, by the way."

Congratulations.

Was I the only one at this table who remembered the night I was vowed into an arranged marriage? The night I had been traded for power and other people's lives as if mine meant nothing?

Davina bit her lip. I smiled.

"Thank you," slipped through my teeth.

She nodded timidly, and her chest sank in realization of her words.

"Is there a date?" Elio antagonized.

My eyes slid to his. His smirk only served the purpose to provoke and trigger. I glanced at Massimo, who watched me calmly. He wasn't willing to help; he too wanted an answer.

"Soon."

"Summer is right around the corner." Elio didn't stop.

"She said soon, Elio. Plus there's nothing the Lombardi name can't get done in time even if it's right around the corner."

Nate. He challenged Elio, and I was thankful.

Elio dismissed us by taking a large bite of his food, and the conversation resumed without me again.

I peered down and to my left where Nate sat. When my eyes looked up, his deep blue eyes were on mine.

"Thank you," I murmured.

With a slight nod, he smiled. "Don't worry, he can be a pain in the ass at times."

I let a soft chuckle slip through my nose. He wasn't lying on that.

Elio sneered, and Massimo's eyes hadn't left me all night.

Their focus now piqued my interest. Something was still bothering him, and I couldn't wait for the time it would be just us.

"Are you working after this?" I asked low enough that only he and Nate could hear.

Massimo's jaw tensed, but he shook his head.

I bit back my smile and returned to playing with my dessert.

Maybe daylight wouldn't fail me today.

MASSIMO

I didn't know what to feel seeing Alessandra around my brothers.

Vadim easily accepted her. Nate had been polite and friendly, and even while his looks were misleading as they hid his brutality, he wasn't one to make a woman uncomfortable unless it was necessary. Working for the DEA, Nate had become a master of body language and an expert at de-escalating situations. It worked great in my favor as Elio's mouth was as loose as his temper. Which brought me to Elio. The one I would have to keep a close eye on due to his short patience and sadistic ways. Although I trusted him fully enough to know that he wouldn't hurt her, if Alessandra retaliated physically, I did fear his actions and the consequences that would follow.

Alessandra was off limits. I'd made that clear time after time with each soldier I killed from California. But something had to change quickly because there was no stopping their rivalry and hatred for one another, and as lunch rolled by, their patience thinned.

If they were left alone, it would call for a bloodbath.

While the conversation continued, my mind played over and over Leonardo's and Franco's words. The date-less wedding and Franco's doubt of what was already mine.

Alessandra was already in Miami. Her finger was claimed by a diamond meant for my future queen. Her body was still untouched, but it lay in my bed at night. In the eyes of the Mafia, Alessandra would be considered a damaged woman if we didn't marry for the simple fact of her presence in my home. No one would accept a wife who's slept in another bed as openly as I had taken her, unwed, and from her father's home.

He would; Antonio Giuliani.

I shook the thought away. No use of thinking such delusions, Alessandra wasn't going anywhere.

She would be my wife, therefore respected.

My eyes couldn't slip away from her as her delicate fingers played with her spoon and the homemade pastry in slow circles on her plate. Captivated by its mess, Alessandra watched with straight shoulders, her mind far from the banter that spread around the table. She would smile when needed, nod at the right time, and even chuckle softly when necessary. Alessandra knew how to present the perfect lie, but her poise was striking, as if she belonged in this city and at this table in a tight dark green dress that sculpted her body and showcased her neck and shoulders by its hanging sleeves.

So much skin, so much temptation her radiant skin oozed.

Thirst parched my mouth as the sight of her tongue slipping and wetting her bottom lip unconsciously captivated me before her teeth trapped the corner of her bottom lip. Her makeup was light, a natural look that allowed her features to glow with her undeniable beauty, but her lips kept the deep red stain only I'd seen on her.

Alessandra released her lip, and I stared at the remaining wetness left over.

Fuck.

I was losing my mind in the whirlwind game of desire. Finding a way to control the hunger and the chaos erupting all around was a feature I had to master.