Page 53 of Sins and Secrets

“He left. And not really. Just an arm around me to force me out the door so we could talk. It was nothing serious.”

I grab my coffee from the table and finish it off. I want to be done with this conversation as soon as possible and back to work.

“I’m going to kill him,” Alessio says, standing up and pacing back and forth. “I’m going to murder him for putting his fucking hands on you.”

“It's fine. He didn’t hurt me and he backed off once I pulled a gun on him.”

“You keep a gun on you?” he asks, stopping his pacing to stare at me.

The way his gaze drags down my body, trying to figure out where with the fitted clothing I could hide a gun, lights all my nerves on fire. Heat pools in my core but I remind myself that I’m angry with him right now. He may not have been part of the bet, but he’s known about it and never put a true end to it.

All it will take to end it is making an example of someone.

He doesn’t want to do that, though. He doesn’t want to cause more trouble in a mafia that is already filled with turmoil.

While a part of me can understand that, the other part is pissed.

“In my car. I don’t go anywhere without one.” I get up and turn to the door. “I have work that I need to get done before the day starts. There’s a few different reports on employee satisfaction that I have to comb through before the management meeting.”

“I’m going to handle this, Billie. He won’t bother you again.”

“Don’t bother, Alessio. If you can’t put an end to a bet, how can you deal with a man who wants to marry me for his own advancement?” I shake my head and open the door to his office. “Don’t worry about dealing with Paolo. He is nothing that I can’t handle on my own.”

“Billie.”

I stride out of the office and open my own door before taking a seat at my desk. Within a few minutes, I’ve successfully buried myself in paperwork.

But I know it won’t be enough to distract me from everything that happened in Alessio’s office. Those thoughts are going to race through my mind all day.

The sooner I get away from the mafia, the better.

18

ALESSIO

Ever since yesterday, I’ve been thinking about what Billie said. I know that I should have put a complete stop to the bet about her sooner. I don’t want the women who look to me for safety to feel like their famiglia isn’t going to protect them. I’ve allowed it to go on for too long.

Which is why I storm into the main house where several of the younger capos and most of the soldiers live. Davide tags along behind me, already dialing the number for the cleaning crew.

“Get me Antonio,” I say to one of the soldiers as he passes. The man nods and takes off racing up the stairs.

A few minutes later, the soldier reappears with one of my capos trailing behind him. Antonio wears an easy smile, as if he thinks that this is just another meeting. Other people start to gather around, watching as Antonio joins me in the center of the main hall.

“Boss, what can I do for you?” Antonio asks, tucking his hands into his pockets.

“You’re the one who started the bet about several of the young women in the famiglia, are you not?” I ask, my tone cold.

Though I already know the answer, I want to see if he is going to admit to it. Antonio stutters and stares at me, the smile dropping from his face. His shoulders slump as he looks at the ground.

“Yes.”

“Great, now that we have that settled, I would like to remind everyone here that women are not objects and I will not allow you to treat them as such if you wish to remain a member of this famiglia.”

I pull out my gun and shoot Antonio between the eyes. His body crumples to the ground as a few people start to whisper. I tuck the gun into my holster before turning and walking out of the main house.

My stomach lurches with the thought of what I’ve just done. Killing someone never gets any easier, but the men in my mafia needed a reminder of who is in charge.

I look down at my shirt, taking in the blood splatters on the pale gray. Yet another shirt that I’m going to have to burn.

---