Page 21 of Merciless Attraction

I sit on the bed beside Gemma and pull her into my arms, stroking her hair as she rests her head on my shoulder. “Why do you think I’m just going to walk away from you? We may be pretending to be engaged, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make our relationship real.”

Gemma opens her mouth to speak but I see her eyes widen with horror as she lets out a scream and points to the window beside her dresser. Someone’s out there.

Gemma pulls the blanket up to cover herself as I jump from her bed and rush toward the window. The person watching us is running through the back alley behind the connected brownstone homes along the street. I pull my pants on and open the window to chase the asshole peeping into her bedroom.

It takes me a minute to shimmy through the opening, landing on my bare feet, and I take off in a full sprint. I get to the cross street where pedestrians walk by and ogle me like a crazy person. Every face looks harmless, nothing like the shadowy voyeur, but my eyes dart around in a desperate search

Shirtless, shoeless, and sweating makes me look savage, I’m sure. My pulse races and it triggers my body into thinking I’m in the gym. Rage and adrenaline tend to fuel my workouts and so will chasing down some asshole who thinks they can watch Gemma and I through her window. I have to calm down and go back to Gemma.

I walk around to the front of the house where Gemma lets me in and is clearly shaken up.

“You need a security system for that back yard area. Motion detectors on the windows and doors, and a system inside here to get the cops over here in case of an emergency. Until we get that done, I want you to stay with me. Tell Natalie it’s not safe to stay here.”

Gemma sighs, shaking her head. “This is all my fault. We should never have gone to Trips. Who knows how many people are looking for Frankie?”

“I don’t know, Gem.” I shake my head. “A random guy who makes it obvious they want you to see them isn’t very mob-like. Something else has to be going on. Have you noticed anyone following you? That guy from the security footage at Trips doesn’t work with Verducci. He and Frankie would have said something to each other.”

“I’m shitty at paying attention to my surroundings. I’ll be honest, Antonio, being in New York was different. I didn’t have to pay attention because I was protected. It’s taking such a long time to get used to this new city, I don’t have places I can hide out or people I can call at the drop of a hat.”

“You can always call me, Gemma.”

“I didn’t know you were out here. I thought you showed up when my brothers did.”

“I’ve been out here since that night you graduated. Don Armande wanted a doctor while he and Vito were negotiating some sort of truce. I owed your brother favor for keeping me mostly safe.”

“My brother kept you safe? When? What happened?”

It’s clear she doesn’t understand, and I won’t hide the kind of man I’ve had to be.

I nod. “I went to prison for that fire me and Bash barely escaped from.”

“Wait. You guys were what? Sixteen?” she asks.

“Yeah, the guard on duty at that construction site was hurt and ended up dying. Someone had to take the fall. Unfortunately, I’m the orphan, you know? No family, no one to fight for me. Bash tried and even your father tried to use his connections to help me. I had to serve the time, but your family made sure I was protected inside.”

“Is that where you got this?” Gemma runs her finger across the top of my scar. The skin is no longer horribly discolored, but the scar is noticeable. The slightly raised area buckles in some places and lies flat in others as it travels from the top of my shoulder and stretches across my back like a stream carving its way through a valley.

My anxiety spikes when she touches it, and I take a step back. I’m not ready for her to see and feel that much of me. I reach for my shirt and pull it back on, telling her, “Yeah, Bash has a similar one. We got it when a piece of the scaffolding fell while we dragged the security guard out of the fire.”

“And they sent you to prison for that?”

“Well, yeah, we set the fire. Arson is a felony. The guard died from his injuries weeks later, but it looked good that we tried to save him and we were fucking kids. We were only supposed to set the blaze, and the owner of the property would be forced to file an insurance claim. The money would go toLa Familia.We didn’t know anyone was at the site.”

“But now you’re a doctor.” She smiles with her eyes bright and cheerful for what I’ve accomplished. “That’s amazing, Antonio. Most people don’t get the chance to do something so life changing after what you went through.”

“Yeah. It was strongly recommended that I spend every free moment taking the college courses offered to me after I earned my high school diploma behind bars. I think your cousin, Julian, and his father pulled some strings out here for me too. He was a judge back then and helped get my record sealed since I was a minor when I got convicted. Rest in hell, Charleston.”

“Did anyone like him?” she asks. “All I heard were horrible stories about Julian’s father.”

“He was a necessary evil establishing the Marzano crime family on this coast, but we can talk more later. Grab some stuff and come stay with me.”

“What about my job, Antonio? I can’t just uproot myself all over again. This place was just starting to feel like home.”

“You’re coming back, Gem. Let me get a security system in place before you do. And talk to Natalie. Tell her to find somewhere else to stay as well.”

Gemma huffs out a breath as she gets up to search for her phone. “She’s not going to like this one bit.”

Chapter 9: Gemma

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