Page 60 of Merciless Attraction

Two Months Later

“Will you stop fingering the holes?” Natalie slaps my hand as we walk through the newly renovated nightclub turned restaurant. Trips is nowTre Fratelli. The bullet holes are still in the wall even though Bash has turned the place into a fine dining restaurant. There’s a wall of famous mobsters that make the bullet holes integral to the decor.

We walk into the bathroom where I look at my friend suspiciously. “What are you cooking up?”

“I’m not the chef, and you know I can barely boil water. We were supposed to be trading, remember? I teach you how to play the piano and you teach me how to prepare a feast for a king.”

That piques my interest, “Oh, is there a specific king we’re cooking for?” The way Natalie blushes tells me all I need to know. “Do you want me to teach you everything or just Damian’s favorite dishes?”

She throws a paper towel at me, laughing, “Shut up, and yes, teach me all of his favorite dishes first. It sucks that he has to stay in Vegas.”

“When are you going back?” I ask her.

“As soon as I sell the house for my folks,” she says.

“How’s that going?”

She lets out a breath and leans against the sink vanity. We’re both in elegant floor length gowns for a private preview of the restaurant’s menu. There are a few influencers, press, and critics waiting to be let into the restaurant with a reservation list longer than Natalie’s list of excuses to avoid learning how to cook.

“Madelyn and Joel are always themselves, no matter where they are. They don’t think that I’m out of danger and want me to go home.”

“Where is home for you?” I ask her.

“Wherever Damian is,” she says quietly.

I throw my arms around her. “I’m happy for you. I know what I said before, but I know how fiercely my brothers fight to protect the people they love. Now that you’re in that group, I hope it helps with your parents. You can tell them the guy chasing me around is no longer a problem.”

“God, they would have kidnapped me if they knew I helped you get rid of Steve’s body and all of that came back to bite us because he didn’t quite die.”

“Shh!” I hiss at her and drop to see if there are feet in the stalls. Thankfully we’re alone, but you can never be too careful.

“No one’s here but us. All the servers are prepping for service. So, no, they don’t know anything about that. I told them there was a pervert creeping around the neighborhood and we both decided to move. As a temporary truce for makingthe smart choicethey’re giving me room to sell the house and see what I can make of my career in Vegas.”

“That’s nice and unlike them.”

We both laugh and Natalie shakes her head. “It’s very unlike them, which means I’ll probably have one of their investigators on my tail in Vegas as soon as I touch back down. Speaking of investigators, did you get a subpoena to testify in this Verducci and Vito court case?”

I scoff. “Yes, the city’s prosecutor is relentless, which I understand. But how many times do I have to say the same story? Two cops who weren’t actually cops, flashed their badges at me and said something happened to my fiancé. When I tried to make a call, they grabbed me. I never saw who came out of the shadows to fire guns at them and let me get away.”

“That’s the story?”

I shrug with a slight roll of my eyes. “I mean, what are those disgraced officers going to say? I didn’t shoot them. Vito could have paid anyone to go after them since their organization is in shambles. Bash said a truce would never stand and predicted they’d turn on each other. He was right, but why would they call you to testify?”

“I don’t know. Probably about how Frankie attacked you here that first night. I heard Frankie was stealing from Verducci, and Verducci was stealing from Vito, so they all got what they deserved. Enough about them. How are you, Antonio, and my little niece doing?”

She squishes her face together as she makes cooing noises to my stomach. I’m barely showing at 17 weeks, but thankfully, this pregnancy is treating me well.

“We don’t know what we’re having yet, but it’s been interesting. I’m almost moved in and I expect you at my housewarming.”

“I still don’t understand why you moved into a condo in the same building.”

It makes me laugh, “Because I’m learning to concede when I’m wrong and he is right. He still moves furniture in the middle of the night and pregnancy, hormones, and overall sleep deprivation were driving me crazy. He’s working on it though. Once the baby comes, we’re going to see about building our own place near Bash, outside of the city. He can have an entire shed dedicated to moving furniture around without disturbing me and the baby.”

“Where is Antonio anyway?” she asks.

“He’s home because he made a promise to my brother not to frequent mob fronts.”

“Are you okay being here?”

---