Page 88 of Fight Me Little Pearl

“If anything happens to my wife, I swear to God I will?—”

“I’ll protect her with my life,” Vance says and I believe him.

“Okay. She’s probably sleeping,” I say, and remember how little sleep she got last night. “Let me know when she comes downstairs.”

“Yes, Boss.”

“Never let her out of your sight. You know…” Now, it’s my turn to hesitate. “You know how much she means to me.”

“I know,” he says gravely. “I’ll protect her with my life.”

“Good.” I hang up.

I reach the large wooden doors of Nona Isadora’s quarters and the manservant standing outside opens it for me. Only Zio Marco and Nonna Isadora are in the room when I walk in. In the perfumed air, I immediately detect the tension they’re trying so hard to mask.

“Where’s Matteo?” I ask impatiently.

“The doctor gave him some medications because he was in so much pain. He will be asleep for the next eight or nine hours,” Zio Marco explains.

A dull ache spreads in my head. “Nine hours?” I grumble. “And no one thought to tell me this?”

“Does it change anything?” Zio Marco asks.

“It changes everything,” I growl. “I have a business to run in New York. I could have rescheduled the flight for when he’s awake.”

Giuseppe walks in and Zio Marco’s gaze slides away from me.

“Oh, I see what this is.” I nod, looking at Nonna Isadora. “Matteo doesn’t want to see me, does he? It’s the two of you who want to talk to me.”

“No. Of course not.” Zio Marco shakes his head. “Matteo has been asking for you, but since he’s asleep, we decided to take the opportunity to talk to you.”

“Okay.” I fold my arms. “I’m listening.”

“I’m worried about the life you’re leading,” Zio Marco says, shaking his head. I know where he’s going, but I act dumb.

“How so?”

“You lack love for your family,” he answers. “I know that as the head of your organization, you have to stay strong and not show weakness or emotions, but your family should be special to you.” He shakes his head and regards me like an alien species. “What happened to you?”

“Having emotions is not a weakness,” I answer. “Although that’s how my father raised me, I know better now.”

Nonna Isadora narrows her eyes. She hasn’t spoken to me since I walked in, and I haven’t said a word to her either.

“Then why does it seem like your family gets the least of you?” Zio Marco asks. “You treat Dutch and Vance better than your own blood cousins. You even raised a gun to Matteo.”

My blood starts boiling all over again. “Matteo sat in my fucking house and suggested that I use my wife as sexual bait. He looked me in the face and dared to say that to me. You were also there, Marco. Now that I think about it, I should have put a bullet straight through his fucking head. Maybe now we’ll be planning his funeral and not this fucking meeting.”

Nonna Isadora sucks in a shocked breath and I know I have gone too far. I inhale deeply and calm myself down.

“You know this has nothing to do with what Matteo said,'' Giuseppe argues, coming to stand beside his father. Suddenly, it feels like a face-off. One family against me, but I’m not deterred. I’ve learned to stand on my own for years.

I turn to face him.

“You have had a vendetta against us for years!” Giuseppe roars. “Aside from almost shooting Matteo, you’ve never really shown us any type of love.”

“Love?” I laugh and shake my head. Nonna Isadora’s gaze focuses on me like a hawk. “You’re right, Giuseppe. Let’s talk about it.”

“That’s what we’re trying to do!”

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