Page 61 of Wicked Rivals

I nodded.

“Check on him but come back and stay with me. I want you in my bed tonight.”

Pressing her lips together, she headed for the door.

“I'll see you in the morning,” she said.

Then, without as much as a glance over her shoulder, she stood still for a second before walking out on me.

“It’s you, Stefano, who will be king of kings one day.”

What she’d said, words signaling that she believed in my strength, caused an overwhelming need for me to claim her.

Fuck. I wanted to grab her arm and pull her back to me, to carry her to my bed, to have her sleeping next to me, so I knew she was real. And safe. Then again, the last time she’d slept beside me, she was gone the next morning.

I needed something to get her in my bed, to make her sleep where I could protect her. Where I could make up for lost time by sinking into her tight little cunt over and over.

Ah, but I would have her in my bed soon, so I let her go back to her own room.

I had work to do.

The day had started with me not wanting children, and the evening ended with me being a father and fucking the barista who had stolen my son.

Worse, the city wasn’t safe for my child. That couldn’t stand. The threat against him had to be rectified swiftly… a brutal message to all the other families to keep my son safe.

I grabbed my phone and called Tony.

He and Bruce were still canvassing the Brooklyn neighborhood, looking for other clues left behind by the shooter.

“Hey, boss. We're not finding much else down here,” Tony said right away.

“No, I don't think you will,” I said. “I want you to redirect your efforts now.”

“Sure. What do you want me to do?”

“I want to know where Benedetta was tonight. And I want her inner circle included in the search. Don’t forget her security team. Anyone she had contact with in the last forty-eight hours.

“Check them all. And I want a convincing answer about how her father already knew about our close call tonight before I found him waiting in my office.”

“Actually…”

I pictured him standing there as he stared at his polished shoes and rubbed the back of his neck. He was about to apologize for screwing up something.

“Yeah, that was a coincidence, Stef,” he said. “Don Capaldo showed up to talk about something else, but then he overheard the maid taking my orders to make up the rooms. She came clean when we got there. She panicked, thinking she would get in trouble. I’m sorry.”

I rolled my eyes.

“She's not, but you will be if you keep that shit up. Stop giving her so much info. And fuck off with that… loyal maids are too hard to find… she doesn’t want to be your old lady.”

Bella had turned him down countless times.

“Yes, boss. So do you think the Capaldos are involved?”

“No, not Benedetta anyway, but we must investigate her father. Maybe he’s on some power trip, some last hurrah before the devil comes to collect him. We’ll see about that. Go on, Tony. Investigate all possibilities, including Benedetta, just to be sure, and report back in the morning.”

I ended the call and hit the bar for another drink.

Val was right… the day had been too long. I had a feeling the entire week would feel the same. I was supposed to get married in two days, and now I had a son, a woman in my house that still made me crazy, and a faceless enemy to hunt down.

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