Page 98 of Assassin's Obsession

"Made by criminals, no doubt."

"Yeah, mom, like every other multimillionaire…" I look around the house, consider the staff comment and the size of Angelo's security force. "Or billionaire with squeaky clean ancestors who never took egregious advantage of anyone else. Legally, or not."

Mom sighs, knowing I have a point.

I lean forward and gently take mom's gnarled hands into mine. "I'll say whatever I need to in front of Angelo. And I wantyou to know that there's no danger for you speaking your mind in front of him too."

Maybe I should give mom and Cookie a chance to adjust, not that my sister seems to need one, but things are moving fast with Angelo and Ineedmy mom to see what I see in him.

Because I want to be with him and I don't want to be at odds with her to do it. She's too important to me, but so is he.

Whether that makes sense, or not.

"The three safest people in New York are you, me and Cookie," I promise her.

"Not if he's the top enforcer for the godfather. The godfather comes first."

"First, while I augment security for Severu when I feel it is necessary, his head of security is responsible for the godfather's safety on a daily basis." With a considering look at mom, Angelo turns on the fire before fetching a fluffy throw from inside the square leather ottoman coffee table.

"Stop sneaking up on us," I grumble.

"There was no sneaking." He lays the throw over mom's lap. "Your mother saw me return."

Because the armchair she's sitting in has both a view of the door and the floor-to-ceiling windows, whereas where I'm sitting faces the windows directly.

"You walk really quietly."

"You'll get used to it." His eyes laugh at me as he settles onto the sofa beside me.

Memories of him cutting off my tape covered clothing play a montage in my brain. So, I almost miss my mother's grudging thank you.

But Mira Czabok taught me and Cookie manners and always led by example.

"Do you need anything else?" While Angelo's tone isn't exactly solicitous, the way he waits for my mom to answer shows it's not a perfunctory question either.

"I'm fine, thank you," mom replies politely, but her eyes hold no humor.

She's not swayed that easily.

Angelo nods. "The tea will be here shortly."

I've got zero doubts that there will be green tea for mom and vanilla black tea for me. Not that I get to drink it that often, but it's my favorite and Angelo seems to know all my favorite things.

Does Angelo even drink tea?

"You said first," my mom prompts Angelo.

"Second, there will never come a time that it will be a choice between her safety and Severu's."

Mom frowns. "That's easy to say, but how can you be so sure?"

"Because if the situation arose, I would allow Derian's team to protect Severu, but would personally insure Candi's safety."

"How can I believe you?" Mom asks with a tremulous voice.

Now she's really pulling out the big guns. It's one thing when mom is angry, but when she acts all vulnerable?

I know she's doing her best to get me to agree to whatever she wants me to do. She's not one for showing weakness and allowing herself to do so always gets to me.

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