Page 51 of His to Possess

“Lottie,” I say softly, “it’s too dangerous and if you come, we’re all going to be worrying about you and not be able to focus on what we need to do.”

“Blake is going,” she points out.

“Blake can take care of herself,” I say proudly.

“So can I,” she insists.

Blake moves over by Carlotta and lowers her voice, but I can still hear. “If you stay back this time, how about I teach you how to shoot when we return? That way these guys can rest a little easier, knowing you can defend yourself.”

“Yeah, okay.” Carlotta’s eyes light up. “I’d love some private lessons, especially since these guys want me to live under lock and key.”

Blake smiles at her. “Don’t worry. I’ll show you how to take care of yourself.”

I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or if these two are going to get into trouble together. Probably the latter, but I’ll worry about that later. Right now, we need to confront Gallo and hopefully set everything right.

It seems like a longshot, so I’m not really surprised when things don’t go quite as planned. Hell, do they ever?

Me, Blake, my brothers, and Leo Amato, Miceli’s close friend and personal guard, drive over to Carmine Gallo’s enormous home located on the Upper East Side. The place is huge and foreboding. Clearly, Gallo wants everyone to know how important he is and how much money he has. Needless to say, I’m not impressed.

“So, we’re all going in there?” I ask. We’re standing on the sidewalk and I look at my brothers and Leo who may as well be a brother, too.

“We got your back, Ang,” Enzo says.

“Yeah,” Miceli adds, “and this asshole needs to be put in his place.”

Vin nods. “No one puts our brother on some kind of Kill List and gets away with it.”

“Thanks, guys.” I pull in a deep breath, exchange a look with Blake, and we all walk up the stairs to the front door. I step forward, knock, and feel a surge of confidence with my brothersand Leo at my back. Trying to be hopeful, I picture this meeting going smoothly and without any issues.

Little do I know…

The door is opened by a huge bear of a man and he looks like he eats steel screws for breakfast instead of cereal. “We’re here to see Carmine,” I say, keeping my voice steady and no-nonsense.

“He’s expecting you,” the bear replies in a deep voice.

Really?I’m not sure how I feel about that, but we all enter and stand there in the foyer.

“No weapons,” the enforcer states, opening a cabinet and gesturing for us to place them inside.

We pretty much expected this, but I don’t like it. We all stack our guns on the shelves, but I know Blake has a knife in her boot and Leo probably is hiding a dozen different weapons on his body in various places. Even though he’s dating Alessia’s sister Gia, he hasn’t gone soft at all. At least, not when it comes to this type of dangerous stuff. With her, though? Well, that’s another story.

The bear-man shuts the cabinet door and locks it, slipping the key into his pocket. “Follow me,” he grunts and starts walking down a hallway. The six of us trail after him and I pay close attention to the way the house is set up. I look into rooms, search for exits and try to get a feel for the layout. I know Blake is doing the same thing, so if anything bad happens, we have a basic idea of where to possibly go.

What can I say? I learned a lot since meeting her. But, even more important than knowing how to make a quick exit, I learned how it feels to fall in love. I really doubted it would ever happen forme and here we are. It’s truly the greatest feeling in the world…knowing that I’ve found my person. My soulmate.

I glance over at her, right by my side, looking so tough and smart. I want to take her hand, but I refuse to make her look or feel vulnerable in any way when we’re about to face off with Gallo. I know how important it is to her to put on a show of strength and confidence. To let every man in the room know that she can hold her own. And, I respect her so damn much for it.

The big enforcer walks us down to the very end of a long hallway. I’m expecting an office, but he takes us into a large conservatory filled with plants and other greenery. This place is even bigger than it looks from the outside and I can’t imagine what the square footage is.

“Where’s Gallo?” Miceli asks.

“He’ll be with you shortly.”

I roll my eyes. He’s probably making us wait on purpose and thinks his time is more important than ours. Whatever. I just hope this goes well. Turning to Blake, I lock eyes with her, trying to get a read on how she’s doing.

“Okay?” I ask.

“Yeah. You?”

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