Page 63 of She Belongs to Me

“I’m sorry about that. He’s not a good guy and neither are his men,” Isabella admitted.

“Who was he?”

She checked her rearview mirror even though no one could get near us, the three cars were so close. “His name is Mattia Russo. Neither he nor his goons are supposed to be in Sicily.”

“A rival family?” I asked. She didn’t need to tell me I was right, but she did.

“Yes, old rivals from generations ago. There has been peace for over a decade, especially since my brother took over. The five families do not want to cross each other.”

“Five families? It sounds like the mobs from days gone past in New York.”

She laughed. “Yes, very similar. From what I understand, the syndicates modeled their regimes after the Italian Cosa Nostra. I don’t know if that’s true.”

“So you are the mob?”

Isabella suddenly realized I’d been told very little about their family. “We were. Perhaps the rest of the world still thinks of us that way even today, but most families have evolved over time. We’re businesspeople. We make the majority of our money by handling legitimate and very profitable businesses. We don’t go around killing people as the norm.”

“But you will if you need to.”

She wasn’t exactly annoyed, but I could tell I’d irritated her. “You don’t understand about syndicates and that’s fine. You shouldn’t need to, other than you are here and you need to understand the dangers that will always be there. Always rearing ugly heads when someone gets a stick up their ass.”

“Nico likes to downplay it.”

“He has good reason to. That man being here is troublesome. He’s either scouting or making deals that he shouldn’t be.”

“So commerce isn’t allowed on each other’s turf?”

Her laugh was at least not nearly as full of tension as it had been. “Of course we can, but not the illegal kind. That will only bring trouble to our various territories. I assure you that on top of worrying about these Greeks in America, my brother will be pissed.”

“He’s always pissed about something.”

“You need to remember my brother is responsible for a billion-dollar enterprise, a family who is a bit impulsive, and a reputation that he’s done a significant job of improving over the years. I consider him a hero, but never call him that. He’ll be very angry.”

“Why?”

“He has his reasons, Alexandra. They’re for him to tell if he wants to, but don’t hold your breath. Just to see him with any emotion at this point is amazing and I thank you for that.”

While there was no way of knowing what she was talking about, thanking me didn’t make me feel any better or strip away any of the guilt.

How would she feel when she learned what had transpired between the two of us? I doubted she’d be eager to be my friend any longer at that point.

Life could indeed turn on a dime.

CHAPTER 19

Nico

“What the fuck?” Domino huffed by way of entrance.

I eyed my brother carefully, taking another sip of my whiskey as Luca and Enzo made room. I’d asked my brother to the estate as well, also bringing his two men with him. While I wouldn’t consider the sighting of Mattia a crisis, being required to pay particular attention to Alexandra left me with concern.

And rage.

Mattia had also been a playboy, a very long time ago running around with my brother. However, rules had been laid down by both families. They could be acquaintances, but not buddy-buddy. That had come from my father. I hadn’t wanted the rules to continue to apply, but maybe it was a requirement.

Mattia was shrewd and calculating, the son of a very violent Don from ages ago. Once he’d taken over, he’d seemed similar in that he’d wanted a fresh start, to create something other than bloodshed in the southern part of Italy. In my mind, they were the most likely to ignore the rules as put into place by our fathers. Including his.

Of course his dad had been forced to enter into the treaty, which hadn’t pleased him, but the man had honored his commitment. If he hadn’t, he would have been exterminated. It was that simple.

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