Page 96 of Dirty Mafia Sinner

I don’t look at him … how can I when he’s like this?Now,I think, and breathlessly wait for the vibrator to hum to life.

He draws closer, his breath warm on my ear. “As much as I’d love getting you off right now, my greedy girl will have to wait until business is over.”

I gasp, and he withdraws. Then, to my immense disappointment, he graces them once more with his attention.

We finish our meal, and the table’s cleared. Carmine Jr. clears his throat. “You speak with your stepbrother these days?”

“Stepbrother?” The question’s tossed in the air like a grenade.

Alessandro has a brother—he shared this with me in New York. But a stepbrother?

“Dante Lucchese?” Carmine Jr. clarifies.

“You mean the son of Don Lucchese, our capo di tutti capi’s son?”

The man squirms in his chair.

“True, my father treats Dante Lucchese like a son. True that Lucchese runs Atlanta now. As for being my stepbrother…”

The men exchange looks.

“Tell me,” Alessandro snaps.

“Just a rumor.”

“Just like the knife I carry in my pocket’s a rumor.”

“Two months ago, Dante Lucchese met with Conti in Rome.”

Alessandro drums his fingers on the table. “That right?”

“Yes.”

“You said it was a rumor yet you’re stating it like a fact.”

The mafiosi quiet.

“A fact I’m only hearing about now.” Alessandro studies each man with a blank expression.

As the dynamics play out, my admiration grows. He’s pure alpha, no question. And I crave security, something lacking in my life for a long time. A familiar ache presses against my heart. If he’d only believe me. If he’d only trust me.

“Dante represents the Atlanta casinos, but Conti controls everything else,” he casually explains. “We Beneventi would never negotiate with that worm. It makes sense Dante would.”

Stepbrother by proxy or not, he’s protecting his father’s man.

Carmine Jr. lowers his voice. “Rumor has it that Lucchese resents your father’s position. That he’d prefer to be named capo di tutti capi and not share responsibilities.”

It happens so fast, no one’s prepared.

Alessandro jumps to his feet, gun drawn. “Rumors like this bear consequences.” He shoots both younger men in the thigh while the third man scrambles to his feet, hands up in surrender.

I freeze, pulse pounding.

“That’s for not sharing this petty gossip sooner, CarmineMagno.” Alessandro thrusts his fingers into the man’s mouth, snatches his tongue and runs the knife across it, cutting it like he’s fileting a fish. “But this is for insulting me earlier.”Alessandro raises an eyebrow, completely unaffected by their blood and panic. “Any more subtle references about Beneventi weaknesses?”

“Mr. Beneventi,” Carmine Jr. blusters. “Apologies for offending you.”

“The only goddamn rumors I’m interested in revolve around Conti’s location. Capisci?”