Page 61 of Under His Protection

Stefan shrugged. “I heard about it at the gambling rooms. You know how word spreads and all.”

“She’s not going anywhere,” I told him.

“Oh, but that’s just what I promised my new friends.” Stefan pushed his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels. It was a stupid maneuver, and I knew why he was doing it. To look casual and non-threatening. Too bad. I would never, ever lower my guard around my former friend from so long ago. He wouldn’t dupe me. Not after he spread word that he could always count on me to back him and align with him when it wasn’t true. Nor after his daughter’s pushiness to claim me as her husband. And especially not after he sided with the Domino idiots.

“Friends?” I mocked, emphasizing the aim of my gun at the biker. “What, you couldn’t beat them with the help of the Dominos, so you’re going to join them?”

“I like to stand with power, Dante.”

It was a dig, an implication that because I wanted nothing to do with him, I lacked power. What a joke. “And they represent power?” I mocked.

“Yeah. Once I heard about how you’d taken Reaper’s new lady, I figured I could help them get a little closer so he could claim what he’d been promised.”

“Oh.” I grunted. “And in exchange, they’d let you in on a deal or two with the regional gun routes? Milk the pot and set up a supposedly mutually beneficial partnership?”

“Don’t tell me that you’re jealous of me for diversifying.” He smiled, smug. “After all, I reached out to you first. I tried to get your support with those gun routes.”

“You didn’t reach out to ask for my flexibility or willingness to side with you on anything. You assumed it—incorrectly. Just like you are now in thinking you can invite these stupid fucking bikers in here and do a favor for them.”

“That bitch isn’t not yours,” the bald biker said. “She belongs to Reaper now.”

“The hell she does.” I firmed my grip on her hand. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”

“It’s time to give her to whom she belongs,” Stefan said. “The Devil’s Brothers are merely collecting.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“You’ve had your fun,” Stefan repeated. “But she’s not who you’re going to partner with or marry.”

Hearing that argument from him, of all people, irked me to no end. He intended to have me choose his daughter and further secure a connection between the Giovanni and Constella names.

“Not happening.” I gritted my teeth and shook my head again. “It’s not happening. Nothing will ever happen between me and Vanessa. I will never want your spineless, selfish daughter.”

“Watch what you say,” he warned. His threat didn’t hold much punch, though. As I stepped down, bracing to lunge at him and beat the shit out of him, he staggered back, almost bumping into the bikers.

“No. You watch what I say. Listen to me. For the last fucking time, I do not want anything to do with Vanessa.” Leveling my glare on him, I raised my voice to be heard over the fighting happening further in the room. “Or you.”

Stefan shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You’re trying to fucking gaslight him?” Romeo scoffed. “Get the fuck out of here. Take your new friends with you, and get the fuck out.”

Stefan didn’t move, but the bikers reacted. The bald one started talking shit with him, spewing stupid nonsense that left little impact on my son. The greasy guy didn’t move his attention away from me. At least he had the common sense to wise up with a gun aimed his way.

“You’re not welcome here,” I told my former friend. Romeo and I were a unified front here. Father and son. Boss and second-in-command. Together, we represented the mightiest power of the criminal world, and whoever had paused long enough to witness this standoff would see it. They’d recognize the significance of what was happening here.

I’d already refuted Stefan’s claims that the Constellas would always back and stand with the Giovannis. Here, in live action, I was showing the world that we never would.

“Don’t dare to concern yourself with what I do. Ever again.” Reaching back, I took Nina’s hand. I felt the tremble in her grip, but she maintained a tight hold. She wasn’t weak. Scared, but not so vulnerable that she was reduced to a crying, hysterical mess.

I watched as Stefan turned slightly, addressing the older biker. He spoke too quietly for me to hear what he said, but the thunderous expression on his aging face conveyed enough.

He was livid. Cornered. And pissed that I’d pushed him to admit defeat. He was a moron to risk bringing the Devil’s Brothers bikers in here just to try to get Nina out of my protection. He was even stupider yet to align with the MC and count on them for getting ahead.

Holding Nina’s hand, I waited for the fucker to turn tail and retreat. He did, and I was content to let the rest of the guests here deal with his invasion. I wasn’t the only leader who was bothered with his bringing those assholes to this place, where we were all gathered. And as he tried to exit with his biker friends, multiple soldiers and capos targeted them on their way out, demanding an explanation and warning the MC men to never cross their paths again.

“Dante?”

I hated the fear in Nina’s voice as she pulled slightly on my hand, ripping my concentration from watching Stefan leave.

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