Page 20 of Unsettled
Marcus’s jaw drops as he stares at me. “Seriously? Who the fuck says that?”
“Oh. Well, I do. That’s good enough for me,” I respond cheerfully.
There are several minutes of silence before Marcus waves a hand in the air, trying to ignore my wealth of wisdom. “Whatever. Let’s get some rumors ready and then we can put them in place. I want it done over the next couple days, and we can see if there are any bites. The sooner we either confirm or rule this out, the better.”
I can’t disagree with him, so I bend over the list again and start passing ideas back and forth. It may have been a stressfuland awkward as fuck family meal, but this? This I know. It’s second nature for us to work together, and while my heart pines for Il Padrone to be here, at least I can say his lessons did stick. We will always be stronger together. The Martellis won’t break, no matter what others think.
The door to Ten’s office—which I’ve pretty much made my own now—swings open, and I look up from the paperwork I’ve been going over.
Though Leandro and Hollis have cleared people, Tennant and Joel are doing their own assessments, and are then sending through the lists of everyone they don’t eliminate themselves. So far, nothing has panned out, butsomethingis there, we just need to know where to look.
Killian opens the door wide and steps back, allowing Antonio to slip in. “Open or closed?” Killian asks in his halting ASL.
“Closed is fine,” I reply, already reaching for my hearing aids. “Sorry,” I tell Antonio. “Give me a moment.”
He waits patiently as I fiddle with the settings, and I can’t help sneaking glances at him, noting the way his clothes cling tohim in all the right places. He notices my attention and preens a little, making me bite back a smile at the flirtation in his gaze.
“Sorry, it’s a force of habit to remove them whenever I get a moment of peace. Haven’t quite broken it yet.”
“No one can blame you. It’s very…busy here. Especially now, with all of us under one roof.”
Placing my arms on the desk, I lean toward him, a bit further than I need to, but I don’t think anyone can blame me for wanting to be close to the pretty man. “What can I do for you, Bello?”
The endearment slips out, but I don’t apologize. It fits him, after all. Even with the scars—they enhance his beauty, if I’m being honest.
He takes a step forward and pulls out some sheets of paper, handing them over, our fingers brushing unnecessarily as he does so.
The spark that ignites between us at the simple brush of skin has me swallowing around a gasp. Antonio can’t quite hide his reaction as his lips part, though if he makes a noise, I can’t hear it.
Sliding my hand forward a little, I get more skin on skin before pulling away. I enjoy how his chocolate eyes seem to beg for more, though he doesn’t say a word.
“What’s this?”
“I’ve been doing what I do best,” he replies with a sly grin. “In between making sure my girls, and guys, are okay, I’ve been doing a bit of spy work where I can. Just keeping tabs on our clientele, and if anything seems out of place. Since we’re all on the same side, I thought I’d snoop around the Amato operations as well.
“Most of your guys—and frequent customers—are legit, but I did notice some…shady business in one area. It seems someone is trying to take advantage of the Boss being gone.”
I tsk as I look at the statements. “Idiots. They have to know Tennant will catch them; he’s making his rounds for a reason.”
“Yes, well, his methods, while effective, are too slow.”
I look up from the papers, with evidence of botched numbers, and raise a brow. “Smug doesn’t look good on you, Bello.”
“Everything looks good on me.”
NowthatI believe… Though part of me wants to see what he looks like with nothing on.
“Thank you for this, I’ll pass it along to Roman and Ten.”
“Of course. I couldn’t get much, since I had an actual job to do, and needed to get back to Nicolo and Nario.”
“It’s enough to get us started. I’ll get Leandro to dig into their financials further, and Ten will enjoy having someone to play with. We appreciate it, and everything you’ve done so far.”
He straightens up, the praise making him appear to glow, and I file it underThings To Think About Later.
“If that’s all, I need to get back.”
“How is Nicolo doing?”
