Page 36 of Sin City Obsession (De Salvo Empire #1)

Chapter eighteen

Recovery

He was the world’s biggest jackass.

If he had put any effort into remembering Carla’s fucking cousin’s name, Rocco would have figured out he couldn’t let Alessa be the one to dole out their punishment.

At the very least, he could have forewarned her.

He could have given her the opportunity to brace herself.

But no, he’d forgotten the bastard’s name and been too distracted with other shit to bother trying to remedy that.

And as a result, Alessa had broken.

Rocco understood, without her needing to explain, that she wasn’t truly distraught over the Al she’d met in that old film set.

She was distraught over the slap-in-the-face reminder of her own loss.

He wasn’t as sure in what way her brain had twisted the situation, and he wasn’t interested in forcing her to repeat the obviously damaging thought process, so he opted instead to do what he could to provide comfort.

She had stayed with him, sat with him, soothed him, and supported him in every way when his father had been shot down and hospitalized. She’d voluntarily launched an internal investigation to help him sniff out the source.

The least he could do was be with her when her pain overwhelmed her.

He had Ignazio and his father’s surviving security detail standing guard in shifts over his father’s room.

His father was finally coming in and out of conscious with some consistency, enough that the doctors could communicate with him.

The police were expected by that afternoon, and Rocco wouldn’t have been allowed to be present for that, anyway.

So Rocco chose to work from home, where Alessa could curl up and he could do anything he absolutely had to do on his phone or tablet. With the penthouse locked down, they got to be alone. It was quiet, and he hoped, at least mildly soothing.

Alessa had drifted off to sleep, surely exhausted from the crying and whatever chaos was running rampant in her mind, by the time Rocco decided to order dinner.

He had one arm wrapped tight around her, her body curled up against his and her head on his shoulder, so he used his free hand to swipe across the screen of his tablet to put in the order.

He’d let her sleep until security sent the message that the food was delivered.

Except he’d barely sent off the order before almost violent buzzing indicated an incoming phone call—on Alessa’s phone.

Rocco frowned, glanced down at the woman who hadn’t so much as twitched in response, and carefully reached out to scoop the device off the coffee table. He managed to move without jostling her too much and they were resettled before his brain registered the Caller ID. It was her mother.

Even in the grainy photo, he could see the resemblance.

Just in case it was important, Rocco caught the call and lifted the phone to his outer ear, quickly lowering the volume to decrease the odds of disturbing his sleeping queen. “Mrs. Adimari, I presume?” he greeted, voice hushed and calm.

There was a heavy pause before an older, more accented female voice demanded, “Who is this? Why do you have my baby’s phone?”

Rocco smiled. “I don’t mean to alarm you. Alessa’s sleeping, and she’s had a rather hard day, so I would prefer not to disturb her unless there’s an emergency.” He doubted that would pacify Mrs. Adimari, but it was truth.

Again, the woman hesitated. “Sleeping? Is she okay? I thought she was … away for work. And you didn’t tell me who you are. Do I need to call authorities?”

“You do not,” he said. “Her job is completed, successfully of course, because Alessa is very good at what she does.” He couldn’t help but stroke his thumb along Alessa’s arm as he thought back to Alessa telling him of the years of service her family had put in, in their respective ways, to the De Salvos.

So he opted for transparency. Lying as his introduction to his future in-laws left a sour taste in his mouth.

“My name is Rocco Cavallo II. I’m the head of the Cavallo family, in Las Vegas.

We have something of a partnership with the De Salvos. ”

Mrs. Adimari gasped. “Partnership? I’ve never heard of anything like that.” Her voice shuddered. “Has … has she been sold over? Is this … some kind of marital alliance? Please, let me talk to my baby. She’s been in such a bad place lately and I’m worried—”

“Take a breath, Mrs. Adimari,” Rocco interrupted, sharpening his voice on reflex.

“She came here to do a job for Dante. Nothing more or less. I don’t have the understanding that your boss sells his people in that way.

” He glanced down at the woman on his chest as she let out a soft, strained moan.

“I know Alessa’s been hurting. I’m happy to tell her you called.

But unless there’s something urgent she can help you with now, I would rather let her rest.” For the thirty or so more minutes it took their dinner to be delivered, at least.

“I was just…” She trailed off for a second, drew a breath, and finally said, “Please let her know I called, Mr. Cavallo.”

Alessa stirred almost as soon as the call ended.

She shifted against him, her soft, groggy moan preceding a long stretch that thoroughly refocused his attention.

It was hard to think of just about anything reasonable when she pressed her tits into him, clothes or no clothes.

He slid his arm down to her waist, hand flexing over her hip, and waited for her to blink her eyes up at him.

She’d been passed out for over an hour, but with the way she’d cried before, he was sure she would have slept longer if not for that phone call.

Her mouth opened, closed, and she licked her lips as something like shame dulled her eyes before she finally spoke. “Sorry…”

Rocco frowned and hauled her wholly onto his lap.

He swept the fingers of one hand through her hair while he kept his other arm anchored around her.

“You have nothing to apologize for, beautiful. If anything, I should apologize to you.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead.

“And I am sorry, Alessa. I should have known—should have remembered, should have fucking warned you.”

Alessa sat up, meeting his stare without crawling from his embrace.

“Considering everything that happened this weekend, I can understand you forgetting the name of one man.” She swallowed and her fingers tightened in his shirt, her gaze dropping away.

“I’ve never been so embarrassed. That was so …

unacceptable. What I did…. I just proved everyone right. ”

Rocco tightened his hold on her. “You’re allowed to have feelings, Alessa.

And you need to let yourself feel them. If anyone—and I mean anyone —gives you shit for what happened out there this morning, I will personally shut him the fuck up.

” He pulled her close enough to press another kiss to her cheek.

“Your heart’s never going to heal if you don’t let it hurt first, beautiful.

I know that isn’t fun. But I also know it’s the truth. ”

Her breath hitched and she tipped her head sideways, against his. “That’s not how I want to spend my two weeks,” she whispered .

He let himself smile. “It’s only the first two weeks, my queen. You don’t really think I’ll let you go after, do you?”

“Rocco….” Alessa eased back, creating a modicum of breathing space between them. Her hands slid to rest on his chest.

He cut off whatever overly rational nonsense she was about to say.

“I know you can feel this. I know you want this. There’s absolutely nothing you have to be afraid of.

” He lifted one hand to cup her cheek. “You’re not the kind of woman who sits quietly at home, preparing dinner and waiting to tend to her husband’s needs.

You’re not the kind of woman who works herself to the bone for scraps.

And you deserve a whole fucking lot more than the fleeting glory of field work or being some non-committal bastard’s piece of ass. ”

He watched her eyes widen, watched them fill with shock and a thin layer of fresh tears, and he swallowed down the question that wanted so badly to follow that speech. She had enough on her mind currently. And this wasn’t the way he wanted to do that.

Alessa, of course, did not know those things. She released a haggard breath and said, “That was both incredibly sexist and weirdly sweet. I think.”

Rocco kicked his lips up in a grin. “Pure truth.” He brought her closer again, slower, and brushed a kiss against her lips. “This isn’t the right time for that, though. Don’t stress yourself about it.”

Her brow pinched. “And when will be? I have to somehow pull myself together and get back out to that old set, because both my targets are still alive and functioning. If you weren’t infatuated with me, you would be able to admit that was a pretty big fuck-up.”

He made a point of slackening his expression into an imitation of innocence.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.

Your job is done. All wrapped up with a bow.

” He waited for her confusion to morph into surprise, then promptly threw her off again as he scooped up her phone.

“Also, dinner’s on its way, and your mom called.

She wouldn’t tell me what about, so I’m assuming it wasn’t anything critical. ”

Her gaze dropped to the phone but it took her several seconds to physically reclaim the device. “My mom called.”

“Probably what woke you up.”

She took a deep breath, held it, and blew it out with a frustrated groan. “Shit, I’m so sorry. You really didn’t have to ans—”

Rocco cut her off with a heavy, lingering kiss. “No more of that. I don’t want or need your apologies. None of what I’ve done for you today was a hardship, okay?”