Page 30 of Satin Empire

Gian built his gambling empire, and now Saul runs it and made it twice as profitable. Renzo’s managing a dozen properties all over the city. Meanwhile, I get the dregs, the shit nobody else wants, and it doesn’t matter how good of a job I’m doing. They only see what they want to see.

“Put together the numbers,” Saul says, shaking his head, and carries Vincenzo back over to the little boy’s toy corner. “Come back when you have them. We’ll talk more about this later.”

“Yeah, bro, alright.” I get to my feet. That’s the best answer he’s going to give me, even if it’s not what I wanted. “I’ll come back again soon.”

“Good. Hey, and Carlo, bring your new wife over here for dinner tomorrow. I know the girls are dying to spend some time with her.”

I smile to myself as I walk to the door. “I don’t know if Alana can handle it. Molly, Allegra, and Maddie all in one room, teaming up against her?”

“Not against her. Those four are going to combine their powers like some kind of female Captain Planet and destroy us all.”

“That’s a horrifying thought, bro.”

“No shit. But I’m serious. Tomorrow night. I’ll get Renzo on board.”

“Yeah, I’ll see what she says. Things with her are a little dicey right now. She’s still getting used to the idea of being my wife.”

“Can’t blame her. Can you imagine? Marrying you?”

Saul laughs at his own joke as I leave his office. I know he’s only kidding, but that stupid comment cut right to the heart of everything I hate about our family and the way they look at me. The fucker knows just what to say to piss me off sometimes, but the worst part is he’s also right, I can’t imagine getting thrown into the deep end with a guy like me.

Which is why I want to make Alana’s transition as painless as possible. Ever since that night at the strip club, I’ve been feeling this intense, primal need for her, but not just to fuck her into submission. I want to help her, to make her feel better, to fucking protect her—which is not an emotion I’m used to feeling. I got all jealous and cave man-y on her that night, but the possessiveness she unleashed in my guts hasn’t gone away.

If anything, it’s gotten worse.

Chapter 15

Carlo

I find Alana rearranging the furniture.

She doesn’t hear me come in and it gives me a few minutes of uninterrupted staring. It’s admittedly a little creepy, but I can’t help myself—when she knows I’m around, she’s on guard and glares at me if I so much as glance at her for too long.

But I love watching her. The way she moves is so strangely graceful like she’s gliding around the room even when she’s dragging a chair into the corner or shoving the couch up against the wall. Her hair’s up and there’s a slight sheen of sweat on her forehead as she works, and even though she’s wearing an old, ratty t-shirt and a pair of jeans, she looks fucking incredible. Yeah, she’s way too young for me, but she’s stunning in a way I never really thought I’d want. Thick hair, full lips, a straight nose, and curvy hips. I love her olive skin, tanned from the sun, and her dark brown eyes. She’s got a pear-shaped body, all hips and ass, with incredible palm-sized tits and nipples that react whenever I get near her.

I want to push the boundaries and see how serious those rules are. Every time I’m anywhere near the girl, I daydream about fisting her hair and shoving my fucking tongue in her mouth like an animal, but I really need to get those urges under control. Things aren’t great between us right now, and if I start getting all sexually aggressive, I’m afraid it’ll only push her away.

Besides, we have a long life together, or at least for the foreseeable future. The Russians have been quiet lately, content with holding onto what’s left of their territory, and I don’t know when the war’s going to officially end. We need to kill Jasha Aslanov, the Russian Bratva’s leader, before there’s any talk of coming to terms with the men that are left. Until then, we’ll remain on a war footing, which means I’m out on patrol during the day and checking on my clubs at night.

Today is the rare exception, and I enjoy my time off creeping on my wife.

Which can’t last forever, unfortunately, when she finally looks in my direction. I like the surprise on her face as she stands up straight as if she just remembered that she doesn’t live alone.

“My stuff got delivered,” she says and it takes me a second to understand that she means the boxes lined up against the wall. “I didn’t know what to do with them.”

“Well, you can start by unpacking, if you want.” I move further into the room, looking around. The place is a mess, at least by my standards. I keep a clean fucking house. “What exactly are you doing in here?”

She wipes her hands on her jeans and gives me a hard look. “I live here now, right? I figured I’d try to make the place my own. At least a little bit.”

I could probably give her shit. Maybe tease her a little bit, piss her off, rile her up, but the way she’s looking at me right now takes all the fun out of it. I have a feeling I’d just hurt her by making some stupid joke, and that’s not what I want.

Instead, I move toward her and gesture at the couch. “Sounds good. Want some help?”

That surprises her. “You don’t mind?”

“It’d be good if you asked me next time before making a big change like this, but it’s not a big deal.”

She looks kind of disappointed as she chews on her lip. “I had this whole big speech prepared about how if we’re going to share our lives then we have to start sharing our space.”

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