Page 149 of Romeo

She reminded him, “Time’s ticking…”

He sure was leaning heavily on that crutch. Did he purposely remain standing so she’d drum up some sympathy for him?

“You were right when you said that asshole had connections. Just ain’t the connections you thought.”

Maddie shook her head in confusion. “What do you mean?” This was not the conversation she was expecting.

“Ol’ Roger’s connected to La Cosa Nostra.”

Her head twitched. “La what?”

“The goddamn Pittsburgh Mafia.”

That unexpected answer had her eyes bugging out. “There’s Mafia in Pittsburgh?” How did she not know this? Was this common knowledge and she missed it somehow?

“Yeah, Maddie, there’s fuckin’ Mafia in Pittsburgh. Here’s the proof.” Searching where he pointed to his face, she realized it was darker than normal in some spots, like around his eyes. How had she missed that they were bruises and not a play of light and shadows. Was his nose also swollen and slightly more crooked?

She shook herself mentally to fight back the flood of sympathy. She needed to get back to the subject at hand… “How’s he connected?”

“Beats the fuck outta me…” He blew out a breath, then winced. “Actually, they did beat the fuck outta me and he seems to be a Russo in disguise.”

“A Russo?”

“Yeah, the Sicilians runnin’ the Burgh.”

“Roger is Sicilian?” None of this was adding up.

He sighed with impatience. “Woman, that part ain’timportant. The important shit is his ties to that organization. They got a lotta power and a lotta soldiers doin’ their dirty work. Way more than our MC alliance.”

“So, why is his last name…” She bounced the heel of her palm off her forehead. “Holy shit. Of course! Smith is a fake name, isn’t it?”

“Gotta be.”

“But why would he need to use a fake name?”

Romeo jerked up one shoulder. “Most likely so the place where you worked wouldn’t be tied to that crime family. Could be they use that place for money launderin’. Who fuckin’ knows. Fact is, he’s got connections. Ones you don’t wanna fuck with.”

“Were his connections for the professional sports team a lie?” If she suffered working for that dickhead for a whole year and a half when it was never going to get her anywhere…

“Can’t say. But if so, it could also be why he’s usin’ Smith as a last name. Sure those teams don’t wanna be tied to anyone in the goddamn Mafia.”

She couldn’t imagine they would.Hell, she wouldn’t have worked for him if she knew that.

If all of this was true, Roger hid it well.

Or… was Romeo lying to her?

Did he really crash his sled and made up this story simply to get back in her good graces?

Would he stoop to that?

She studied the man before her. Most motorcycle crashes resulted in road rash. Romeo wouldn’t escape getting some if the crash was bad enough to cause broken bones and other bruises.

“Take your shirt off.”

His head jerked back. Most likely from not expecting that demand. “Normally, I’d be good with that. Not today.”

Interesting.“I’ve seen you naked before.” Many times.

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