Page 180 of Kissing the Villain

Sonny chucked the hat at me and laughed. “Fuck off, Cello.”

“He’s Dean Martin.” Alex laughed. She took the hat from my hand, slipped it over her thick curls, and winked at me. “I guess that makes you Frank Sinatra.”

I pulled her onto my lap, and she squealed. “That would make you Marilyn Monroe.”

Alex tilted her head back on my shoulder and smiled.

Sonny sulked for forty minutes, blowing out deep breaths and texting his dad until Sea Tow arrived. They hooked our boat to their tow hook and drove us back to the marina. Alex clung to my side, occasionally shooting curious glances in Sonny’s direction. He was too busy staring down at the deck in defeat.

When we arrived at the marina, the dockmaster waited at our boat slip, working with the towing company to tie up the boat. The boat rocked against the dock, and Alex gripped my thigh for support. The color drained from her face.

“You okay, beautiful?”

She looked up at me. “Just a little dizzy.”

Sonny thanked the men, stuffing money into each of their hands. I grabbed my bag and helped Alex off the boat.

A loud engine rumbled from a distance.

Alex gasped when she turned her head. “What the fuck?”

Luca sat on the hood of my Maserati, his jaw flexed in anger. He dressed in his usual three-piece tailored suit and black wingtips. Tapping his fingers on the hood, he held my gaze. Like he was counting down the seconds until he exploded. If he wanted a fight, I would give him one.

I had trained under my father’s men since high school. He’d left me in charge of Alpha Command because of my skills. Luca didn’t want to learn the mercenary side of the business. He preferred to sit in a comfy office in New York City and give orders.

“Motherfucker,” Sonny growled, his hands balled into fists as he stormed toward my brother. “You piece of shit. It was you, wasn’t it? You fucking punctured the fuel tank.”

“Please, like I’d waste my time with such trivial things.” Luca pushed off the car and slowly approached us. “If I wanted to fuck with your boat, I would have sunk it in the Atlantic. I’m here because neither of you assholes answered your phones. Alex’s life is in fucking danger.”

“What now?” I fished my phone from my shorts pocket and scrolled through the messages. “Oh, fuck.”

“Yeah,” Luca growled. “Oh, fuck is right. You picked one hell of a day to go sailing.”

“What’s going on?” Alex asked, her eyes darting between us.

“Get in the car,” Luca ordered.

63

ALEX

Sonny stayedat the marina to deal with his boat while I got into the car with Luca. My stomach twisted into a mess of nerves until I spotted Marcello behind us in his Maserati, keeping a steady pace. As we raced through Devil’s Creek, Luca drove like a psycho, whipping around turns like we were on the highway.

I gripped the door handle, fear shaking through me. “What the hell is going on, Luca? You have to stop keeping secrets from me.”

Luca kept his eyes on the road and ignored me, gripping the steering wheel with his jaw clenched. Lately, he was losing his edge. It seemed as if Luca were unraveling. Did he care more about me than he let on? He was so closed off, a mystery even after all these years. And I was sick of being kept in the dark.

“Tell me why you ambushed our trip and are driving like a lunatic.”

He glanced at me, his knuckles white from wrapping them tightly around the steering wheel. “Okay, fine. You want the truth?”

I leaned closer to him and muttered, “Yes.”

“This shit with the Albanians started close to two months ago. I went to Berat to meet with the Kurti crime family.” Heshook his head, lips pursed as he stared at the road. “My father sent me to make a new alliance for our European counterparts. Everything was going according to plan. We had drinks, made deals, and then I woke up the next morning in my hotel room without my cell phone.”

I rested my elbow on the armrest and looked over at him. “What did they take?”

“They tried to steal encrypted files. Thankfully, Drake’s software was on my phone, and they didn’t gain access to the Salvatore Global files. But they got something else. Naked pictures and videos of you. Of us.”

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