Page 5 of Under His Control

I was still Romeo’s cousin, but with Tessa celebrating her engagement to him tonight, I wouldn’t be as involved in his life anymore, either.

“Then why would you need a job?” Franco asked. “For fuck’s sake. Don’t I have enough issues to deal with? If you get it in your head to go find a career, that’ll be a whole extra crew that I’ll need to staff to follow you and vet out the security at wherever you go.”

“I’m not saying I need a job.” He was right. I didn’t need money. “But it wouldn’t be so bad to have a…”

He put his water bottle to his mouth, waiting for my reply as he drank.

“A purpose.”

As he lowered the bottle, he pointed at me with a finger not wrapped around the plastic. “Aha. I knew it.”

“Knew what?” Nothing pissed me off more than someone presuming toknowme. Franco did. He’d been in a high position for Dante and Romeo for so long that he was well aware of everything about my life, and that of my uncle and cousin. I’d spent so long and practiced for years to hide myself that I became instantly aggravated when anyone supposed they saw the real me.

“It’s getting to you, too,” He nodded, looking off to the side with less of a smug expression. “Them getting married.”

“No one’s getting marriedyet,” I argued. He made it sound like we were attending back-to-back weddings.

He shrugged. “With them getting engaged. Nina and Dante expecting. Now, Romeo and Tessa.” He shook his head. “They both met their other half and boom, all of a sudden, they’re all in domestic bliss.”

I pressed my lips together and ran my tongue along the inner seam, keeping my words locked in. He’d hit the nail on the head there. Every word was true. While I should’ve felt some consolation in the fact that Franco could commiserate with what I was saying, it didn’t make me feel any better.

“I’ve wondered why you’ve been extra aloof lately.” He leaned his forearms on the bar like I’d stooped to do. The room was empty, but a member of the house’s wait staff who was hired for the engagement party slipped in to get a beer bottle from this private room.

“I’m not extra aloof,” I protested.

“Oh, cut the shit, Eva.” Franco was one of the few men who could talk to me like this and get away with it. Dante and Romeo were the only others.

“It’s just you and me talking in here,” he said. “If it helps, I’ve been feeling the same.”

I furrowed my brow, wishing that weren’t true. If Franco was experiencing the same dejection that I was dealing with, I’d hate for him to suffer. “Like what?”

He shrugged and let out a gusty sigh. “Like feeling sorry for myself that I don’t have anyone.”

I nodded when he glanced at me, confirming what he said. “Yeah. I hate that I am, but I’ve been feeling jealous of Dante and Romeo.” I held up my hand and cleared my throat. “Don’t get me wrong. I like Nina and Tessa.”

He grunted. “Not at first.”

“But once I got to know them, I did.” I wouldn’t apologize for being overprotective of them. When Nina showed up in the house, she seemed to be a gold-digger out to use my uncle Dante as a sugar daddy. Only once I saw how they tried to hide their attraction for each other did I realize they had a true connection.

“But I wish I had someone like that. Someone for myself.”

He set his water down and hung his head lower. “And now you’re thinking, in typical independent, Mafia-princess fashion, that maybe you don’t need someone to spend your life with but something to spend your life on?”

Dammit.He was too damn good at reading me. “Maybe.”

He stood, stretching his back. “That’s like what Dante did before. And you can’t deny that he’s happier now. He was married to work. Then he met Nina, and now look at him.”

Again, he was correct. My uncle had always been busy as the boss of the family. Romeo, too, and he was so damn serious. Both men were infinitely happier now since meeting their partners.

That just makes me feel worse. Thanks.

“You don’t know what it’s like, though. You’ve got your job, your purpose and mission.” I frowned at him. “And I’m not even allowed to have a job because of the security issues it’d create.”

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that shit. I was teasing. Mostly. You and I both know you can and will do whatever the hell you want. You won’t get far in convincing anyone that you’re stuck or confined with the power and money you have in this family.”

“But I am stuck and confined in finding someone because of the power and money I have in this family.” I turned toward him and crossed my arms, defensive like usual. “Try to tell me that’s not true.”

“Fine. It is.” He stepped away from the bar and put his arm around my shoulders, steering me out of the room to join the rest of them waiting to go into the ballroom for the party. “Most of the assholes in our world wouldn’t be good enough for you. And every one of them would want to use you for leverage.”

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