Page 18 of Sin City Obsession (De Salvo Empire #1)

Chapter nine

Even. If.

Alessa needed to get her shit together in the worst way.

One night of wild, uninhibited sex was bad enough. Worse, considering that her partner of choice was the underboss for another family. Allied or not, if she didn’t draw lines and stick to her job, it would be damn easy to slap a label and a target on her head.

Going on anything resembling a date and feeling swoony, heart-eyed emotions when she could and should have been beating the pavement made it clear that her head was not screwed on right. Because she was no traitor. And, really, those were the only two options that explained her behavior.

She was enjoying spending time with Rocco.

She was enjoying it too much. What she needed to be doing was locking Erik Gwathney in an unpleasant room until he either called off his rabid dog or forced her to put him down.

Not that she wouldn’t be doing the latter, anyway.

But it would work out better for a lot of people if he formally rescinded his interest in that particular debt first.

Alessa patted her face one more time with the paper towel before wading it up and tossing it into the bathroom garbage.

She needed to get her head on straight, but there was a part of her that felt a lot more composed than she had in a while.

It scared her a little to think of the implications in that.

Just focus on work. She repeated the words like a mantra in her head as she navigated her way out of the restroom, and out of the diner.

Rocco’s head swiveled her way as soon as she stepped outside and his lips lifted in a soft smile. He straightened from where he’d been leaning against the SUV, but otherwise waited for her to reach them. “Ready?”

Alessa bobbed her head. The motion was a little more fluid than it should have been, as if she were eager. What is he doing to me?

Rocco pulled open the back door for her expectantly.

Alessa arched a brow. “That’s supposed to be my job.”

He scowled. “You don’t work for me. I don’t expect you to act like you do.

” He laid a hand over the small of her back, tugging her closer to him and closer to the open door of the vehicle with minimal effort.

“I won’t get in your way for the job you are here for, but in everything else, you travel as my woman . Not as just another hired gun.”

She opened her mouth to argue on reflex, but no words followed. She wasn’t sure what argument she even had.

Rocco lowered his lips to her ear. “Get that sweet ass in the car, Alessa.”

Frustrated, mostly with herself, Alessa ducked her head to climb in and found herself choking on the yes, sir that nearly tumbled from her lips as she moved. That was not a game she wanted to play.

Rocco shut the door once she was seated, walked around, and climbed in on the other side. Only after they were both secured did Emanuele drop into the driver’s seat.

“Did Gwathney show up for work today?” Alessa asked, opting to try for a working conversation in an attempt to focus her mind.

“Our guy on site says he meandered in a few minutes before opening and hasn’t left since,” Rocco replied. “I checked with him while you were washing up.”

Alessa was mid-nod when she felt the insistent buzzing of an incoming call in her pocket. She shifted her weight and dug the device free, an automatic frown bending her lips at the unexpected name on the display. It couldn’t mean anything good if Ryōma was calling.

Rocco cut his eyes across the space between them as Alessa raised the vibrating phone, and something dark twisted inside him at the read-out on the screen. Who the fuck is Ryōma? That was sure as hell no Italian name.

He didn’t even register his own movement as he shot out an arm and snatched the device from her grip before she could answer, not until he heard her hiss his name in displeasure. But it was too late. He’d connected the call. “Alessa’s phone,” he said in the best hard neutral he could muster.

“ Rocco !” she whispered on his opposite side, her fingers curled into his sleeve and tugging. “You can’t do that!”

With her urgent half-hissing in one ear, he almost missed the weighted silence that lingered in the other before the caller finally spoke.

The caller, presumably Ryōma, spoke in measured words with a light Asian accent that verified Rocco’s initial assumption.

“Who the hell are you? Where is Alessa?”

They were rational questions Rocco had no patience for. “You first.”

“Fuck that,” Ryōma snapped. “No one else should be answering Alessa’s phone. What the hell have you done to her?”

A smirk teased Rocco’s lips. “That’s private.”

Alessa’s voice shot up until it filled the entire cab of the SUV. “ Dammit , Rocco! Give me the phone, or at least put it on fucking speaker. ”

Rocco met her glare and the thing that had risen in him settled just a little. “In a second, beautiful.” To the suddenly silent caller, he said, “Ryōma, is it? Why are you calling her? What business do you think you have with my woman?”

Alessa made a sound not unlike a suddenly deflated balloon and sank back into her seat.

Ryōma choked, or snorted, and made a poor attempt at coughing to cover it up. “Your what? Fuck.” He drew a breath. “Rocco? As in Rocco Cavallo?”

Rocco’s eyes narrowed. “The second,” he clarified, voice hard.

“Right. Fuck,” Ryōma said again. Then he chuckled, like he thought something was funny.

“Well, guess that means I have to apologize for speaking rudely. Name’s Ryōma Satō.

I’m with the De Salvo family. Alessa and I work a lot of similar jobs, so sometimes we share information.

I just wanted to give her some new intel. ”

Rocco hummed. “Is that all?”

The bastard chuckled again. “Yep. I’d say you could ask her yourself, but she sounded pretty pissed. Best of luck with that. I’ll just text over the update.” He disconnected before Rocco could say more.

Rocco ground his teeth and glared down at the phone. He had the fleeting, juvenile urge to delete the man’s contact information and block the number altogether. But that would cause problems for her that he had no desire to put her through.

“You ass,” Alessa snapped. “What the hell was that?”

His lips lifted briefly and Rocco adjusted in his seat to face her, simultaneously handing over her phone.

He felt it buzz with the promised incoming text, but resisted the urge to pull it back and read the words himself.

Instead, he held her stare captive and said, “What am I supposed to do when I see another man is calling you?”

“You have got to be kidding.” Alessa swept her phone from his hand and folded her arms across her chest. “Do you want me to count the number of men in my life? Even just the ones who outrank me?” Her voice began to rise again.

“Just because someone has a dick doesn’t mean I have any desire to sit on it. ”

“I’m not accusing you of that,” Rocco said, keeping his voice cool. “I’m saying you’re a beautiful woman and any man would be stupid not to want you. It needs to be made clear that you are un-fucking-available .”

Her nostrils flared and her shoulders rose with a sharp intake of breath.

Her cheeks pinkened. “Well, congratulations. You just announced to Cristiano De Salvo’s eyes and ears that we’re sleeping together.

Even with the layers of drama going on back home, it won’t take long for that news to spread.

” Her words seemed to hit her as they tumbled from her lips, because Alessa barely got them out before letting her head drop backward with a haggard sigh. “I’m so fucked.”

Rocco reached out and slid a hand over her nearest thigh, spreading his fingers wide and squeezing gently. He could see the tension building in her body, but he didn’t fully understand it. So he made a conscious effort to soften his tone. “They were going to find out eventually. ”

Alessa lifted her head again and narrowed her eyes at him.

“If you found out one of your soldiers was sleeping with the soon-to-be boss of another family, and that person hadn’t even been hinting at moving, let alone put in for retirement or quit or anything, wouldn’t you feel betrayed?

Wouldn’t you at least be worried about that biting you in the ass? ”

Rocco tightened his grip of her leg. “We’ve always honored our allegiance to the De Salvos,” he said firmly.

“More importantly, I do not give a fuck who or why, if anyone comes for your head, I will fucking end them.” Even if they didn’t want her head on a pike.

Even if all they wanted was to rip her from his arms. He wouldn’t let it happen.

And he supposed that was why he’d answered Ryōma’s call.

Alessa stared at him for a moment, her lips slightly parted and her arms sliding down to her lap. At length, she asked, “Anyone? Even if his name ends in De Salvo?”

Rocco released her thigh and reached up, gripping her chin, determined to make her see the fire in his eyes. “Even. If.”

A soft gasp fell from her lips and her hands curled into lightly trembling fists. She didn’t seem angry. She didn’t look frightened. There was a new, responding heat blooming in her eyes that matched his own.

Finally, she drew a quiet breath and said, “I love my family, blood and not. I’d rather avoid that.”

He held steady, though he hated the words falling from his lips. “If they’re coming for your head, they’re not your family anymore.”

Her eyes widened .

Em cleared his throat from the front seat. “So, uh, are we … going in?”

Rocco released her and eased back, twisting to face forward again.

Alessa pulled in a deep, audible breath. “What?”

Em didn’t even try to hide the smirk on his face as he jerked a thumb over his shoulder, toward the windshield. “We’re here. Parked somewhere around ‘honoring our allegiance’, but Rocco was waxing more poetic than I ever knew he could. Didn’t wanna interrupt.”