Chapter 68

My thumb slid over the engraved cuts of my empty glass cup. "Giuliani wasn't smart enough to bring Leandro into the meeting. He left him here, and while I had no proof, I raised the suspicion and all the pieces moved in the right direction." Leonardo settled as he listened carefully. "Even Alfonzo Silva asked if there was a deal made between the Zanetti name and the Giuliani."

An act I wouldn't forget and will repay when needed.

"How did Franco handle the accusation?"

It wasn't an accusation, it was the truth. Thankfully, Franco never made it public. It was a private arrangement, just like the one I'd made with his son. And while every boss knew it by the whispers of their own informants, it had never been from the lips of New York.

Hell, even I understood Giuliani's outrage because of a broken vow. I, too, wouldn't have given up or backed away from what was promised to me. It was the way we lived and coexisted. But Giuliani's mistake was not taking it to the council. His mistake had been chasing after Alessandra instead of the man whose words now meant nothing. Giuliani's flaws worked in my favor, and after taking Alessandra from New York, I made it public who she belonged to.

"With indignation, he didn't deny his vow. But he also didn't recognize it. Which only leaves me knowing his word is as good as a dead man. Useless."

It took a minute for Leonardo to think through the play in which I had been a pawn, and I showed him how the board was full of threats.

"We knew this," Leonardo muttered mostly to himself as he thought of Franco.

"While the Giulianis breathe, we will always be watching our backs. And until the marriage is fulfilled, Vadim and Davina will remain in danger."

"Or until Aldo takes his seat," he chimed with a nod. "Have you found Leandro?"

"We have a strong lead," Elio answered. "Even if he hid better than the rats underground for so long."

"Which is how I'm planning on flushing Giuliani out of Los Angeles and into our streets," I added.

"His son's death." Realization shimmered in his eyes. "The closing of Miami's border."

I nodded.

"This is too risky, Massimo."

"It must be done before the wedding. Our streets are starting to suffer with Giuliani too far to reach. I've run Los Angeles into shambles with time, but they still have manpower and loose cannons thirsty for Miami. If I take them both out, the city will be too weak to rebuild with no one to guide it."

"You are taking out a whole syndicate, Massimo!" His Mafia blood thickened.

I was. Not only for her, but because I won't risk Miami falling.

Leonardo's gaze snapped at Vadim, the one who in his eyes had started a domino effect. "You best be keeping your promises, boy."

"I'm still made, and Davina is safe," Vadim shot back.

Leonardo's lips curled, and he acknowledged me next. "Where will you be after you kill the son of a boss, huh?"

I didn't reply, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nate's smile.

"I said he should take Alessandra away for a few days." Nate's head lifted. "A honeymoon before the wedding, per se."

"I'm not hiding." I cut Nate a look.

"But you are not," Elio argued. It was the same conversation they tried to make me listen to earlier, but this time, there were four against one. "And unless you would like to explain to the bride-to-be that you are killing a boss's son to draw out Giuliani just days away from her wedding, and leaving her here, like a fucking sitting duck" He trailed off.

"Or you can just send her away." Nate lifted his shoulder, offering an option we all knew would never happen. Its sole purpose was to win their argument.

"She's not going anywhere without me."

The room heated by my claim and silence stretched, seizing any debate. I dared anyone to say it again. To argue how her safety would be in better hands than mine.

It didn't fucking matter if she was taking the next flight to a remote third world country, Alessandra wasn't leaving my sight.

"Then it's settled." Leonardo stood with a grunt and dipped his fedora. He was done with this meeting even before offering any council.

"I'm not leaving," I stated.

He turned and walked back to the chessboard. His slender fingers slid the knight by the queen, making a move, and as always Leonardo's words struck deep.

"You always protect the queen."

When he left, his words hung on and bounced inside the room like a recording.

"Get out," I ordered.

Nate and Vadim walked out quietly, but Elio stood by the door. Waiting until we were alone to speak his mind.

"You can't be here after Leandro's death, not for a few days at least. If she dies, so will Vadim and Davina."

I was fucking aware.

"It's not hiding, Massimo. On the contrary, it would be placing Miami first."

I didn't want to talk, I wanted silence. I wanted peace to brew from the chaos I envisioned. Instead, I thought of her and her safety.

My eyes slid from his and to the open door that filtered high heels walking straight toward our direction. The menace of my thoughts and Miami had arrived.

Elio's demeanor lifted with a wicked smile by seeing her.

"Well, it seems you have healed. Ready for another round?"

He jabbed, insinuating another match between them as her footsteps approached. Once they stopped, her voice was clear and strong as she bit back.

"How's the shoulder?"

Any other time I would've smiled at her quick reply.

"Oh, the graze?" Elio scoffed. "That bitch was hardly a scratch."

"Elio," I warned.

Alessandra walked past him with a smirk, and I stared at the elegance and wit she carried with her. "Really? I could've sworn your shirt was drenched by that scratch."

Mio dio, these two. When will they stop?

"You need something?" I asked, breaking the dangerous tension and banter, and motioning Elio to leave us.

Alessandra watched as the door shut before facing me. Her long legs were bare as her dress was a few inches shorter than most, hugging her body in sophisticated seduction. Her fingers slipped away from the tablet she carried to tuck her hair behind her ear. She then looked down and unlocked the screen.

"No, I don't need anything." She bit her lip, and my dick reacted.

"Then what is it?" I couldn't hide the short and curt tone of my words.

She leaned over my desk placing the device on it, but my eyes zeroed in on her tits peeking through its heart-shaped bodice.

So much skin, glowing and in plain sight for my taking.

"Are you busy?" she asked in an innocent tone.

Games, she was playing them now, while all I wanted to do was let my shaft play inside of her. I knew Alessandra felt the dark pull of the meeting I'd just finished. Yet, she decided to enter and toy with my mind. Why she had to make things so difficult was beyond me. But the small smile in the corner of her mouth, and the light in her eyes, wasn't foul. She washappy?

My palm caught the curve of her leaning neck, bringing her closer to me.

She'd gotten into the cherries already, and her stunning eyes darkened into forest green at my touch.

"Why are you really here?"

Rose pink spread across her chest and rose up to her cheeks. The striking color heightened her golden skin and my eyes roamed around its flush.

Alessandra slithered away from my touch as she stood straight. My eyes followed her teasing hips as they swayed around the desk.

Lost in her curves and drawn to her wicked game, I sat waiting for her move.

Next to my sitting position, I rolled my head back to see her towering body next to mine. The mischief on her lips hadn't disappeared. If anything, it'd turned giddy.

"I've been working on something, and I thought you might want to look at it."

Fine, I'll play along.

"Okay."

Her ass perched, and her back curved as she reached over the desk to retrieve the tablet she'd laid out. My Adam's apple bobbed as she took longer than necessary in that position, grabbing something that could've been taken easily with an outstretched hand.

I pressed my lips together, hiding my smile from the needy mood she was placing me to. My dick hardened and my bulge stung against the constriction of my pants.

Alessandra slowly tortured me, turning her ass in my direction before facing me.

Her smirk was clear as her eyes hunted her prey.

But I was no prey.

I devoured.

ALESSANDRA

My mood was at its highest. High on sex, high on feelings, high on him.

He sank into his chair with the same cold, unbothered attitude as usual. His scent lingered strongly between us, a mixture of clean with a rough touch of leather and whiskey. The empty glass spoke of his first drink. It wasn't even noon yet, but the stress in his muscles expressed the morning he had. Even then, his scent danced in attraction, luring me deeper into the trap. His dress shirt stretched over his shoulders, and his tie hung perfectly in place.

I wanted to mess it up and pull it free. To feel his inked skin beneath my fingertips and ruffle his silky hair. But first, I needed a buffer.

The icebreaker that could help my forwardness.

With my back to him and my ass high in the air, his eyes burned into my body. He too wanted this.

His pent-up body wanted to sink his dick and release his mind. And I God I wanted it to happen.

As slowly as I could, I picked up my tablet from his desk and watched him in hunger.

"I drew and fixed a flaw within your home. You might want to look at it." I baited.

Massimo's brow quipped, and a husky chuckle erupted, followed by his running hand scratching the short and trimmed beard I enjoyed when it did the same but between my legs.

"Did you, now?"

"Mm-hmm."

Our eyes locked.

"I must warn you, I'm a bit unstable at the moment, Alessandra."

I felt it, saw it in his hooded eyes that stared back at mine. But there was no stopping my greed, and blindly, I saw his warning as a promise.

I'd tried to slow his sinful rhythm of need. Through gentle touches, I tried to make him see me as more than just another fuck. Meanwhile, I'd learned I too enjoyed fucking him violently. Because as I thrashed below him, it didn't matter if his fingers marked my skin, or if his thrusts punished. It only proved that desire and want could be delivered in many forms.

I scooted between his legs, and his hands automatically clasped my thighs. Massimo didn't acknowledge the tablet in front of him. His dark eyes and even darker aura kept my eyes tranced by their veil of brutal hunger.

It was all in his eyes. The way they spoke without words to reveal his sadistic thoughts. The way his gaze made my body react, and the room to quiet with the heavy and suffocating fog of danger I'd twistedly craved.

"It'll take just a second," I murmured, but we both heard the lie.

"If you wanted to fuck, that's all you needed to say."

I tucked my bottom lip in an attempt to hide my smile and hovered over him.