Page 42 of The Last Vendetta

14

RENZO

Renzo

Iwasn’t surprised that Giulia left after I fucked her. She hadn’t exactly been expecting it. Neither was I.

I got caught in the heat of the moment and it just… happened. But I didn’t regret it. I lay in bed all night wishing she could have stayed, but I understood that she’d had to bolt. To hide. To get over the shock that we’d given in to each other in the most physical sense possible.

The morning after, I met with Gio in his office. Nursing another coffee, waiting for the caffeine to kick in and wake me up all the way, I watched as he tried to finish up with a phone call. Just as I was coming to learn, we were always in high demand. I didn’t think that I had to be on call constantly, but I would figure out a balance. It was early days yet.

I had to get a better grip on my time. Because I would be damned if I'd have another beautiful, sensual woman in my bed and have to be interrupted by a phone call about something that I didn’t really care about.

Luka had wanted to be in control of everything. I wasn’t like that. Delegation was key, and if someone proved themselves untrustworthy without my hovering over them, then they would be dead. Simple as that.

Gio disconnected the call and faced me. Since Luka died, Gio seemed to consider me in a new light. Half the time, he seemed bothered, like he couldn’t believe that his esteemed firstborn was gone. And the other half of the time, he seemed almost amused, as though he doubted I could ever step into my brother’s role or stay on top of as much as I had so far.

“Why did you take off from the club last night?” he asked as a greeting.

After Giulia left, I stayed home and tried to think through what I could do with her now.

She was the reason I’d left the club like I did, then had to deal with damage control for killing those guards. I wouldn’t mention her. I couldn’t. I didn’t return to the club because I hadn’t wanted to.

“We talked about the drug trade,” I replied. And that was expected.

What wasn’t expected was how different Giulia would be now. She was no longer the same. I stole her virginity and I wouldn’t apologize for it, but I had to contend with this deep, burning jealousy and possessiveness that I couldn’t shake.

I’d had her once. And I was now addicted to her, wanting her again.

I was stupid enough to wish I could have her forever.

But I couldn’t tell Gio that, either. It was bad that he somehow knew I’d taken off so abruptly from the club, but there was no way I’d share the whole truth with him.

“Before the conversation came to a close, I got a call about something I had to deal with.”

He nodded. “That’s how this business works. Never a moment of peace.”

That was bullshit. What was the point of having power and wealth if we couldn’t ever stop to enjoy it for a single moment? I felt a unique and deep peace when I came inside Giulia, and I knew that would never happen again.

“Did everything go well with your discussion with Nickolas?” he asked.

“Yeah. It did. It seemed like Luka and Nickolas had smoothed out all the details already.”

“Good.” He folded his hands together on his desk. “I also had a productive conversation with Marcus.”

That had been the plan. I went there to speak with Nickolas while he met with Marcus in another private room.

“About what?”

He stared at me for a long moment. “We discussed Cecilia.”

“Does he know where she is?”

He pursed his lips. “I think he might not. I didn’t come out and ask him that, specifically. We more or less spoke about what should happen to her now.”

I didn’t give a shit about what happened to my sister-in-law. It wasn’t as though I knew her. I’d be damned if they expected me to get involved.

“I proposed a potential situation to him, that she should just marry you now.”

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