Page 12

CHAPTER 11

M atteo

As the server sets down our coffees and a plate of my favorite biscotti, Giulia leans against the back of the booth and sighs dramatically.

“You okay, sweetheart?” I reach across and brush the backs of my fingers down her cheeks. Usually, I’m not into public displays of affection, but I’m among family and nobody else is paying us any attention.

“I’m going to burst,” she complains. She forces herself to sit up so she can glare directly at Lorenzo. “Didn’t you say something about it being a light lunch?”

My cousin barks out a laugh. “That was a light lunch, carina .”

Giulia groans. For a woman used to grabbing a quick sandwich in the middle of the day, the two-hour meal was a lot. The Caprese salad was followed by a rich, flavorful seafood risotto with the most succulent prawns. Then we had a wild boar ragu served over polenta and accompanied by sauteed spinach that Giulia definitely ate more than her fair share of. For dessert, we had a creamy panna cotta. I have to admit to also feeling pretty full.

“And all that wine!” Giulia shakes her head. “If this coffee doesn’t work its magic, I’ll be too sleepy to go out tonight.”

“You have plans?” Damiano asks.

“Yes, at your club, actually.” Giulia looks at Damiano as she talks to him. “La Stanza Rosso.”

“Oh?” He glances at me. “You didn’t mention…”

“I’m not going.”

Damiano’s eyebrows lift. He’s obviously as surprised as I am that I’m letting Giulia go to his club, a well-known hook-up joint, on her own. It’s a testament to my trust in her. Though I’ve only just made Giulia mine, we’ve been friends long enough for me to know her character. Even when she broke off our friendship, I knew she would never betray me. It’s not who she is. The least I can do to reward her loyalty is rein in my tendency toward possessive assholery.

Pursing his lips, my cousin turns to Giulia. “You’re going alone?”

“With Rosalia. It’s her eighteenth birthday.”

“It is?” Damiano sounds surprised. “Then we will roll out the red carpet for her.”

“That’s nice of you,” Giulia says. “Not a lot of employers would do that.”

There’s something about the way Giulia says employers that suggests she’s curious about Rosalia’s situation. I’ve wondered about the girl too. She’s young to be in charge of looking after such a large house and I don’t know many girls her age who would want that kind of job.

Damiano shrugs. “She’s a good girl. Her sister works for Gabriele in Rome. She asked him to give Rosalia the job so she can save money for a place of her own. Their stepfather is what you Americans would call a douchebag.”

“Why?” Giulia’s tone is laced with concern. “Does he abuse her?”

My fists clench at the thought of the vivacious young girl being beaten or worse by some lowlife. I don’t know Rosalia well, but I can’t stand the thought of a man hurting any innocent woman.

“He wouldn’t dare.” Lorenzo bares his teeth in a wicked snarl. “Gabriele made it known the sisters are under our protection.”

“Arturo is merely unpleasant to be around,” Damiano adds. “Rosalia cannot stand him.”

“So why not let her stay at the villa?” Giulia voices the question that was also on my mind.

“Gabriele offered, but her mother forbade it.” Damiano lets out a sardonic laugh. “She worries about her daughter’s reputation.”

“Because of who you are?” Giulia asks.

Lorenzo nods. “She thinks we will corrupt her.”

“Doesn’t she worry about her other daughter?” Giulia frowns thoughtfully as she sips her coffee and sets the cup back down.

“Probably.” Lorenzo picks up his coffee cup. “But Lucia works at Gabriele’s mansion where there are other staff present.”

“And Rome is far enough away that her mother doesn’t have to worry about people from the village watching Lucia’s every move,” Damiano adds.

“Ridiculous!” Livvy mutters petulantly.

Her presence has hung over us like a cloud. While my cousins and Giulia have enjoyed getting to know each other over an incredible meal paired with some exceptional wine, my sister has been quietly brooding. I expected an outburst at some point. It’s how she is when she’s upset over something. She waits for her chance to start a fight.

“What’s ridiculous, Olivia?” Damiano takes the bait. “A mother worrying for her daughter’s reputation?”

“Yes. It’s the twenty-first century in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Damiano lifts an eyebrow. “Does reputation no longer matter?”

“People need to stop worrying about what everyone else is doing.”

“Ah. Perhaps they should simply ignore it when their children take pornographic images and share them with some lowlife.”

Livvy’s jaw clenches. Damiano’s comment was unkind, but I don’t interfere. He may be family, but here in Italy he’s the boss. Besides, my sister started this, so she needs to deal with it herself. I’ll only step in if things get too heated.

“That’s not what I did,” Livvy mutters like a petulant teenager. There are times when she seems sophisticated for her age and others when she reveals a lack of maturity. Eyes glistening as if she’s about to cry, she pulls her napkin off her lap and smacks it down on the table. She nudges Lorenzo with her elbow. “Let me out!”

Lorenzo looks at me for guidance. If any other woman spoke to him that way in public, he would punish her for it.

“Let her go.” I know my sister. She needs to cool off on her own. If she stays here, she’ll start crying and creating a scene. Damiano will be forced to take action and nobody wants that.

Lorenzo slides off the bench and stands aside to let Livvy slip out. She glares at me for a solid ten seconds, probably mad that our cousin moved on my say-so and not hers. Then she storms off toward the restrooms.

Giulia sighs and shuffles closer to me. “I’ll go speak to her.”

“You sure you want to do that, sweetheart?” It’s not as if she and Livvy are close.

Giulia shrugs. “She’ll probably try to take my head off, but I can handle her.” She gives me an imploring look when I don’t move. “It’ll be fine, Matteo. If she doesn’t want to talk, I’ll leave her alone.”

“Okay.” I move aside to let Giulia out of the booth. She smiles as she brushes past me, deliberately pushing her gorgeous tits against me. My cock stirs, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now. I’ll pay her back for teasing me later. I watch Giulia as she walks away. Every inch of her is perfection. I love the way her flouncy skirt swishes about her knees, the curve of her calf accentuated by the three-inch heel of her shoe. When she disappears from view, I retake my seat.

“I’m sorry about Livvy’s behavior.”

Lorenzo waves a dismissive hand. “Even if an apology was necessary, it wouldn’t be yours to make.”

That surprises me. Livvy acted disrespectfully in a public place. My older brothers would punish her for that, but my cousins seem unbothered by her outburst. “You’re not angry with her?”

Damiano shakes his head. “She’s a good kid, really. She’s just on edge with this Reznov thing.”

I can understand that. I’m not sure how I feel about Piotr Reznov pursuing my sister. While she’s an affectionate young woman, he’s a cold fish. But Livvy lacks direction, a purpose in life. Perhaps Reznov can help her find the right path.

“Has he seen her again?”

“No. He sent flowers.”

I snort in disbelief. “That doesn’t seem like his style.”

“There was a message,” Damiano adds. “She got pissed when she read it.”

“Do you know what it said?”

Damiano shakes his head. “She ripped the card into a thousand pieces, then locked herself in her bedroom for almost an hour.”

“Do we need to have a word with Reznov?” Lorenzo asks. “We can persuade him to back off.”

I consider that for a moment before dismissing the idea. If Antonio, in his wisdom, has decided it’s okay for the Russian to pursue our sister, who am I to interfere? Unless Livvy asks for help with Reznov, I trust her to handle him herself. She may get emotional at times, but she’s a Volante to the core.

“I’ll speak to Livvy. If she needs me to deal with Reznov, I will. It’s not your problem.”

While we do business with the Russians and my mother is engaged to marry their Pakhan, our Italian cousins have historical ties to them through some pan-European organization they’re involved in. It’s all very hush-hush, and even Antonio doesn’t know the details of what they do. Whatever they’re into, I don’t want Livvy’s love life to cause issues for them.

“Let us know if you need us.” Damiano gives me a pointed look. “Business is important, but family comes first.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Speaking of family.” A sly grin crosses Lorenzo’s lips. “Will the lovely Giulia be joining ours soon?”

Despite my gut telling me to lock Giulia down as soon as possible, I know she’s not ready for that yet. “It’s too soon.”

“She’s good for you, Matteo,” Damiano says. “You’re different around her, content.”

“We’ve known each other a long time. I’ve loved her for years.”

“Doesn’t that complicate things? Having a woman as a friend and then a lover?” Lorenzo actually looks pained as he thinks about it.

“Nah.” My dismissive tone masks the anxiety I’m working hard to suppress. I’ve never had so much to lose with a woman before. I’ve only just got Giulia back in my life. The thought of fucking this up worries me. Not willing to confront that right now, I change the subject and turn to Damiano. “Did you track down that kid who was in the woods?”

“What’s this?” Lorenzo clearly didn’t know about this yet.

“Matteo saw someone close to the house. My men identified him as Adamo Gianotti. He lives in Cetona.”

“Does he have something to do with the Montalbano girl?” Lorenzo asks.

“He was in school with Sofia, but a couple of years ahead. There’s nothing to suggest they were friends.”

“Did your men find him?” I bring Damiano back around to the original question.

“No. His father claims the boy is missing. My men are searching, but he’s gone to ground.”

That doesn’t reassure me that his presence near Gabriele’s villa was innocent. If the boy wasn’t there to cause harm, why would he go into hiding?

“I’ll need protection for Giulia while she’s at the club.”

Damiano strokes his chin thoughtfully. “I’ll assign Roberto to drive her and I will personally watch over her at the club.” He looks up as Giulia approaches the table. “Discreetly, of course.”

“I appreciate it.” I stand to allow Giulia to get back to her seat. She smiles at me as she squeezes past. Her eyes are glazed from the wine she’s drunk this afternoon, but she doesn’t look stressed or unhappy, so I guess her talk with Livvy didn’t turn nasty.

“Is Livvy okay?” I ask.

“She’s upset about the mess she made back home.” Giulia bites her bottom lip. “She’s convinced Antonio hates her because he sent her away and she thinks you’ve turned on her too.”

“Why?” It takes only a second for me to realize the answer to my own question. “Because I sent her away after the shooting.”

Giulia nods. “Deep down she understands you wanted to keep her safe, but now you’re letting me stay at the villa…”

She lets the thought hang so I can work it out for myself. Livvy believes Giulia’s presence is confirmation I actually sent her away because I didn’t want her around anymore. It’s far from true. I push to my feet. “I’ll go speak to her.”

Lorenzo drains the last of the coffee from his cup. “We’ll head down to the warehouse. I want to show Giulia what we do here.”

A flash of panic zips across Giulia’s face. I suspect she knows as well as me that the tour will involve my cousins bombarding her with questions about herself and our relationship that they didn’t want to ask her in front of me. For a moment, I consider staying put to spare her the interrogation, but Giulia straightens her spine and twists her lips into a challenging smile. “Sounds good.”

“Okay, sweetheart.” I bend and kiss her forehead before glaring at each of my cousins. “Take care of my girl.”

As I walk away Damiano makes a remark about me in Italian that roughly translates to ‘he’s drunk on pussy.’ Thankfully, Giulia doesn’t speak the language, a shortcoming she’s lamented, but done nothing to change. I’d hate for her to be embarrassed.

Shaking my head at my cousin’s crudeness, I make my way out of the restaurant and along the corridor. Livvy is just coming out of the ladies’ room. Her eyes are red-rimmed. She stops dead when she sees me. She looks over her shoulder at the door to the restroom as if considering fleeing. I stride toward her quickly and pull her into a hug.

“Nobody hates you, Livvy.” I pull back so I can see her face. “You know I only sent you to Damiano to keep you safe.”

“Yeah, I know, but Antonio…”

“He loves you, too, Livvy. He just…”

I have no excuse for the way Antonio is with Livvy. Being busy, having the weight of the world on his shoulders is no excuse for him washing his hands of her the way he has. In the past few weeks as he’s bombarded me with messages asking, then ordering me to come home, he’s barely asked about our sister.

“It’s okay, Matteo. You don’t have to make excuses for him. But it’s not just Antonio, it’s Leo, Alessandro, and Mamma too. When they found out about the photos, they didn’t even want to hear me out. It just confirmed what they already thought about me.”

“Mamma loves you.” There’s no point trying to sell her the idea that Leo cares for her because she won’t believe it. “And Alessandro.”

“Mamma’s disappointed in me.” Livvy swipes at the tears forming in her eyes. “She doesn’t want me embarrassing her in front of Boris Reznov.”

Sensing we’re heading toward an emotional conversation I’m not equipped to deal with, I seize upon the chance to change the subject. “Speaking of Reznovs, do you need me to deal with Piotr?”

Livvy barks out a laugh. She knows damned fine I’m steering us away from a discussion about her feelings. “No.”

“You really think you can deal with him?”

Her cheeks redden. “I can deal with him just fine.”

“He’s ruthless, Liv. When he wants something, he gets it.”

Livvy’s blush deepens. “I know.”

“Really?” I fix a suspicious eye on her. “Has something happened between you two?”

Livvy shakes her head. “Not yet.”

“What do you mean, not yet?”

Shaking her head, my sister clears her throat and does what I did a moment ago. She veers away from a tricky conversation. “So, you’re with Giulia Lombardi?”

I was going to tell her not to dodge my question, but her use of Giulia’s married name makes me grit my teeth. “Costanza.”

Livvy rolls her eyes. “She was married to him. You can’t ignore the fact.”

“They were married for all of five fucking minutes and nothing happened.”

“Ooh, the black widow was a virgin until you came along.”

I purse my lips. “Behave, Olivia. What happened between Giulia and Johnny is her business and nobody else’s.”

“Oh, it’s Olivia now. I am in trouble.” She threads her arm through mine and steers me back toward the restaurant. “Don’t worry, Matteo. I won’t say a word. I like you and Giulia together.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, you’re obviously happier with her in your life. I mean, you look ten years younger since she arrived.”

I raise an eyebrow at that. “I look fifteen?”

“No, dumbass, you look forty. Before she arrived, you’d have passed for a fifty-year-old.”

I growl my displeasure, but really I’m pleased that Livvy’s teasing me again. We don’t do heartfelt discussions and apologies, but we do mess with each other as a way of showing our affection.

“Where is everyone?” Livvy asks as we approach our now vacant table.

“Lorenzo wanted to show Giulia the winery.” I take a seat and raise a hand to summon the server. “Let’s have a coffee and join them later.”

“You’re not worried Giulia will fall for Lorenzo’s charm?”

Besides trusting Giulia, I know my cousin doesn’t view her as a potential conquest. Lorenzo’s been friendly to Giulia, paying her compliments and joking with her. It’s not how he behaves around a woman he wants. He gets territorial fast. If he had any interest in her, he’d throw her over his shoulder, carry her off, and chain her to his bed.

“Not at all. I’m the only man she wants.”

My sister grins. “Oh, Matteo, you’ve got it bad.”

There’s no point denying it so I make a so-what gesture with my hands.

“Does Mamma know you’re with Giulia? She’ll have the wedding planned before you can blink.”

I’m surprisingly untroubled by the thought. In fact, I can’t wait to make it happen. I just have to hope Giulia catches up with my way of thinking soon. If she doesn’t, there are other options. My brothers’ marriages all started in unconventional ways. Antonio more or less ordered Isabella’s father to give him his daughter. Alessandro married Emilia a day after meeting her to fulfill a promise between our families. Leo took Vinnie as his bride after she came to us looking for a husband. He locked her down fast. Perhaps I should take a leaf out of their playbook and just march Giulia down the aisle, consequences be damned.