Page 16

Chapter 16

Vito

Massimo has me in his office for two hours. First, he lectures me and tries to get me to talk. Then, he makes assumptions. Pretty much all of which are correct.

I admit nothing. I say nothing.

But everything he says, I know, is true.

Anyone here could've noticed my behavior. Hell, Lexa could've heard me whisper Eden's name as I orgasmed—I only hope she was moaning loud enough that it drowned it out. Anyone could be making their own deductions. Even rumors could be deadly. To Eden. To me. It could even mean risk to Massimo.

I crossed the line and didn't even get the sexual gratification as a result.

I can tell myself that's why I'm pissed off.

But that doesn't explain why I feel sick—and it's not just because of the alcohol.

Massimo leans against his desk while I sit on the ivory-colored sofa. "After Aiken's funeral, when you and I sat in Gilly's before the successor announcement, I could tell you were interested in her." Massimo pauses, giving me an opportunity to defend myself. "You're trying to tell me that just went away when you discovered she was Ed?"

I finally break my silence.

"Have I ever given you any indication I was acting inappropriately toward Gilly's owner-operator?" If I call her Eden now, that won't go over well. "Have you ever witnessed anything?" He frowns, keeping his eyes on me, and I hang my head in my hands. "I was drunk, brother."

Two truths and a lie. Hopefully, he doesn't read into the fact that I hang my head to avoid his eyes while I lie.

It isn't a lie that I was drunk; however, implying my drunkenness is the reason I acted the way I did around Eden is a lie.

"I need to know, Vito. Have you fucked her?"

I lift my head, ready to pour all my honesty into my answer, thankful he didn't ask a different question. Like ' do you want to fuck her ?' or ' do you think you can keep your dick out of her in the future?' .

"No, I haven't, brother. I swear on Babbo ."

He sucks in a sharp breath, then nods. "The Chamber heads and their people all left as soon as the debrief with Ed was over."

Reading between the lines: ' you're fucking lucky no outsiders were here to witness that shitshow '.

"Watch yourself in the future," he growls, then stalks out.

I sit forward, elbows on my knees, head in my hands, staring at the floor.

I try in vain to block out the image of what Eden would've seen when she walked into the library.

Massimo's office door opens, then closes. I don't look up, but I know it's Raf. He sits on the other sofa across from me.

"Shit, man…" He sounds distraught. "I knew you were seeing Lexa less for the booty blowjobs..."

Try: not since I heard Eden's voice on the phone .

"But I thought she was exaggerating the 'never'. I would never have gone and picked her up if I knew you and—"

"Eden and I are not a thing," I say without looking up. "Nothing has happened."

"Vito. Come on. It's me."

Raf and I grew up together since birth. Silvio, his father, is our Capo who oversees Los Angeles and is one of Babbo's closest friends. My father is even Raf's godfather. Raf is my right-hand man. We always have each other's backs.

I lift my head. "It's true."

He studies my face, then sits back. "Okay, nothing has happened between you and Eden, but there's…" He waves his hand at me, seemingly at a loss for words. "It's complicated."

I scoff, leaning back. "You fucking think?"

"You never get complicated. You never have."

He isn't wrong. I never do relationships. Never cared about a woman longer than it took to fuck her once, and even then, I didn't care about her.

Shit, do I care about Eden?

My reaction to her walking in on Lexa blowing me tells me… I'm making this complicated.

Raf scrubs his face, sighing. "I'm fucking sorry. I never would've gotten Lexa if I had known."

"It's not your fault I came down her throat. That I was drunk and didn't even know what was happening until it was too late."

"It kinda was." He arches a brow. "I went and got Lexa, told her to go find you and make you feel better."

"Fuck." I rub my face. I am not entirely sober yet, but I need to get more sober so I can face Eden.

"Fuck is right." He lays his head back, staring up at the ceiling. "If you were going to get complicated for the first time ever in your life, why the hell did you have to pick the person who would be the biggest complication?"

I grunt as the door opens, and Creed comes in. Raf stands, nods at him, then leaves.

Watching Creed, I stay silent.

His hands are in his suit pants as he walks around the perimeter of the room with his back to me. His suit jacket is off and his sleeves are rolled up, showing the ink on his forearms.

His neck and throat are covered in ink, along with his entire torso, back, and legs. My baby brother has a thing for the tattoo gun. It suits him, though.

Even though he's the youngest, he's the one out of us who deserves the most respect. He's quiet and methodical and a peacekeeper at heart. However, he's as ruthless and deadly as Massimo or me when protecting who he loves.

He's a visionary who saw a refined yet expanded future for the Santoro family—one more in the legitimate foothold of the world. We'd never completely go that route, but he's leading that part of our empire and expanding our reach, reputation, and wealth in a way that none of us had expected.

"I imagine Mass chewed your ass out," he says without turning.

I stay silent because I have nothing to say right now except curse my stupidity.

"It took me years to understand who I was, Vito, and what I truly wanted for myself. If there's any wisdom I can share, it's that there comes a time when you examine the path you stand on and decide for you if it's the right one. You decide for you… and only you; not for the Don, not for the family." He turns to me. "The rest will fall into place."

Rising to my feet, I go to him. "Protecting this family is who I am, Creed. It's what I am."

He studies me, then nods. "You're not ready to see it… but you will."

He's talking cryptically, and my head is pounding with the onset of a hangover.

For the millionth time, I wished Eden and I had met before Aiken named her his successor. We could've gotten each other out of our systems, then moved on.

I've never wanted anyone so badly. Because she's untouchable, it makes me want her that much more, and it makes me crazy. It makes me do stupid shit. Out in public. Without caring who is around to witness it.

Creed walks to the door, turning back to me and smirking. "You should eat something. You look like shit."

I flip him off as he leaves, then I stalk over to Massimo's desk. I pull out the pain medication from the drawer and swallow three. I sink into the chair behind the desk and rest my head back.

After a while, the door opens again, and Mamma enters. If Triple S comes in next, then I'll have the full intervention. She's carrying a tray of food, and her black skirt billows behind her as she walks to me.

She places the tray on the desk and points. " Mangia ." Eat.

Not much happens with her family that Gina Santoro doesn't know about. I inwardly cringe, thinking she might know what happened in the library.

She comes around the desk, pats my cheek, and then bends to kiss it before she leaves. This surprises me as I thought I'd get the biggest lecture from her.

Rubbing my temples and then my face, I follow her order, needing to eat slowly because my stomach still rolls. I continue eating until all the food is gone, hopefully soaking up the alcohol in my guts.

Once I'm finished, I take another painkiller and pull out my phone to call Gus. After the sixth ring, he picks up. The noise in the background is of a packed bar.

"Vito," he says. "Just give me a second... Meg, work the bar for me with Andre." It sounds like he's moving, and the noise dims slightly. "Sorry, Vito. I had to move to the kitchen to hear. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, fine." Just fucking dandy; funeral for my father, and I came down the throat of the wrong woman. I palm my face again. "Is Eden… Is she okay? I mean, was she okay when she got back?"

"Ed?" Gus asks, confused. "Yeah, she was fine. Normal."

The fact that on the outside she appeared unaffected…

Her detached and indifferent look when she had turned to me outside…

Maybe this is all one-sided. Maybe she doesn't want me like I want her.

My gut clenches, nearly making me vomit what I've just eaten.

"Did something happen, Vito?"

Only a huge fuck-up on my end.

"I just wanted to make sure she got back to the bar okay," I say instead.

"Is this because of those FBI agents?"

"Yeah," I lie. I need to get back on the 'lie-train' and keep my desires hidden like before.

"She was good. They didn't spook her; she has a spine of steel."

That she does.

"But…"

"But what?" He doesn't answer immediately, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise. "What, Gus?"

He sighs. "An old boyfriend came in."

"What?" I stop myself from punching Massimo's desk when I realize Gus said 'old'; however, that only tempers my anger somewhat. Then I realize what it means if Gus even brought this up. "Did he hurt her? Say something to upset her?"

"She told him to fuck off and get out."

"Wait… He came into Gilly's? She dated someone from our world before taking over Gilly's?"

"She just told me a bit because we were slammed, but it was back when she was younger and had left home. She dated the guy briefly; he was looking to prospect with the Havoc Guardians back when she ditched the dick. I've never seen the guy before so I'm pretty sure he never made it to prospecting with them."

"What happened?"

"The guy came in with that asshole Cutt. They both were high on coke and tried to stir up shit with her. She kicked them out." He sighs. "She hid it well, but I could tell it rattled her. So when we slowed down slightly, I convinced her to go home and take a breather."

I know Cutt's type well, and my gut rolls with worry.

Eden had dealt with him in the bar previously—and rightfully so—but he'd be humiliated and out for blood if he could get it. Normally, he'd not be so stupid to hit at Gilly's owner-operator, but Cutt has a reputation for being a psychopath when snorting his brains out. Add in an old, disgruntled boyfriend who fancies himself as a biker but never could make the cut… I suspect he'd have something to prove himself, especially if Eden told him to fuck off in public.

I stride toward the office door and yank it open. "Is that guy and Cutt still there?"

"What?" Gus asks, then understands what I'm asking. "You don't think…?"

"When did she leave?"

"Twenty minutes or so. Just a second." I hear Gus go back into the barroom, asking people if Cutt and his friend are there.

Raf is in the front of the house in the sitting room with Mamma and our family who's still here. He sees the tension on my face and immediately moves to me.

"You need to drive me to Eden's. Now ." Thankfully, he doesn't question me; he just nods and grabs his jacket. I kiss Mamma 's cheek when she follows Raf into the foyer and gives me a questioning look.

Over the phone, Gus swears and sounds increasingly frantic. "They're not here, Vito. You don't think… Cutt… He wouldn't. Fuck, what did I do? I was the one to tell her to go home!"

"Call her, Gus." She won't answer a call from me. "Tell her to watch her back, just in case. I'm headed over there now."

I run out the door. Maybe I'm feeling guilty and desperate to see Eden and am making up the sick feeling in my gut, but I'm not going to risk it.