Page 63 of Hers to Control

I follow Gianna and Angelo into the dining room. They each have their security detail with them and we remain standing. Angelo turns to me with a friendly smile that almost hides the calculating look in his eyes. Damn, the man is good-looking, but I just give him a nod. He’s got the Forbes magazine kind of look. Sexy with charm and money, but the way his eyes crinkle at the corners puts me off. He looks like he could charm any woman’s panties off, instead of scaring them, which is the emotion women should feel when they look at him. Afraid. The man is as dangerous as Eric, but he hides it, unlike Eric, who shows you exactly what he’s capable of.

Angelo seems amused at my cool greeting, but he doesn’t engage any further. Instead, we wait in a strange tension for the others to arrive.

Finally, Eric shows a man, who I suppose must be Angelo’s second in command, Toni, into the room. Instead of staying, though, Eric immediately excuses himself to get Mikhail. Gianna uses the opportunity to introduce me to her security detail, Romeo. Then Angelo does the same with Toni and his security guy, Mike.

A minute later, Eric and Mikhail return together, and the relatively easy way the four men and Gianna were interacting with each other a moment ago shifts. Angelo’s men watch Mikhail like he just sprung horns.

“Please, let’s all have a seat,” Gianna directs. It’s more of a command than a polite invitation, but Angelo doesn’t react, simply nodding for his men to sit and following suit himself. He, at least, seems reasonably relaxed, another sign that the man shouldn’t be underestimated.

Eric walks up next to me and nods at a seat. “Stay next to me.” For once, I don’t feel like arguing with him. Fucked up as it is, I feel safe with him. My entire life leading up to this taught me that men like Eric are dangerous, but in the past weeks, I’ve learned a new lesson. It’s men who don’t seem dangerous who are the real threat. Men like my father, who everyone thought was a simple bookkeeper, but who threw his own daughter under the bus when it came down to it. Men like Angelo, who don’t let you know where you stand until you have a knife in your gut. Eric, at least, has always been upfront about who he is, and he never lied about protecting me.

So I sit down beside him, with him and Mikhail flanking Gianna. Gianna nods at Romeo to take a seat on my other side, effectively flanking me. Angelo’s men spread out on either side of him. By the time everyone has taken a seat, all chairs are taken, and it looks more like a conference setting than a dining room.

Angelo breaks the silence, his tone measured. “I won’t ask for forgiveness. You know that it was in my interest to take the information your man offered, but perhaps there is still a way to salvage what remains of our alliance.”

“Why tell us now, rather than letting things come to a blow with the Russians? That was your intention, wasn’t it?” Eric challenges him.

Angelo turns in Eric’s direction. My eyes are on him too, but from the corner of my eyes, I see the tightening of Gianna’s expression. It’s unlike Eric to speak first, and he cut off Gianna’s chance to respond to Angelo’s peace offer.

This entire meeting is like a fire keg moments before an explosion.

“You could say my priorities have shifted. It has come to my attention that Tsepov,” his eyes flick to Mikhail, “Tsepov senior, I should say, has been strengthening his ties to certain elementsback in Russia. In fact, it has been brought to my attention that a delegation of the Solntsevskaya Brotherhood has received an invitation to Toronto. Dmitri Solntsev is supposed to arrive within the week.”

“Fucking hell.” Mikhail’s fist lands on the table, making me jump in my chair. He gets up and immediately Angelo’s man, Mike, is standing too. Gianna only raises her brows, but Eric stands up as well, his eyes on Angelo’s guy, who, in turn, is watching Mikhail.

Fire keg indeed.

I look at Mikhail, but his attention isn’t on anyone in the room as he paces.

“This has got to be about Anya,” he mutters, not caring that everyone is watching him. “Shit. She told me this was going to happen.”

Gianna’s voice calls his attention to her. “Mikhail, sit down. You’re making everyone nervous.”

Finally stopping, he looks at Mike, Angelo, and lastly at Eric, a smirk on his face. “Good. I didn’t like how comfortable these assholes were in my company, anyway.”

There is a moment of silence before Angelo chuckles. I try to gauge if it’s genuine amusement, but it’s hard to read the guy.

Mikhail sits down and Gianna gives him a look that’s hard to read, though she’s the one speaking next, so I figure it meant as much as ‘shut up and let me deal with this.’ The woman’s dominance is impressive, and I silently salute my friend for the way she handles not only Mikhail but all the men in the room.

“Whatever the reason for the Russians strengthening their ties to their allies, the arrival of their guests obviously made you rethink your decision to, shall we say, weigh your own interests against a united Italian front.” Angelo meets her pointed look with an inclining of his head, accompanied by what might be described as a semi-apologetic expression. If one were to feelgenerous. “I cannot say that your actions do not weaken the trust between our families, but clearly, we share an interest in protecting our city from foreign elements. So what do you suggest and what information can you share with us?”

Eric

After the meeting with Angelo that took much longer than was reasonable, Gianna filled me and Mia in on what Angelo had shared with her privately. Which means it’s now time to deal with Anton.

Mia stays upstairs while we head into the basement. This is where I found Mikhail earlier, playing with his knife, sitting in front of the man who was a constant presence in my life growing up. I’d almost given Mikhail shit for it.

Now I know better. The man deserves much worse than a bit of light intimidation and tight ropes around his ankles and wrists.

“You’ve crossed a line, Anton.” I take the seat in front of him. “Handing over information to protect Gianna from the Russians? You should know better.” I shake my head at the man who is looking older than I’ve ever seen him. Normally, I don’t waste time trying to understand why someone screwed us over. I might take more or less time with them depending on how badly they fucked us, but that’s about it.

“I did what I thought was best. Eric, you know I’ve always served the Brunos.” Anton looks up at me pleadingly. Never in my life did I expect the stern man who herded us into the diningroom as kids to look at me with fear in his eyes. But he has good reason to now.

Gianna’s voice sounds bitter as she speaks from behind me. “And what about trust, Anton? Loyalty?” She steps up next to me, and I doubt anyone but me can hear the hint of emotion in her voice. Other than perhaps the man bound in the chair before us. Neither one of us minds violence, but this is different. This is a man we both cared for. A man who lived in this house before we were born.

Anton’s response is barely a whisper, filled with remorse. “I only wanted to keep you safe, Gianna. I never meant to betray you.”

She’s Gianna again, not Signora Bruno, but Gianna’s tone remains unforgiving. Her words slice through the tension like a knife. “You’ve lost my trust, Anton. And trust is something I cannot afford to give lightly.”

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