Page 20 of Romeo
I halted then blinked at him. “Your advisor? Oh, no...”
“Why not?” he asked. “You just proved what I thought the day I met you.” He then shook his head and corrected that, “No, it was that day I saw you in front of that Grand Jury. So damned smart, confident and you kicked ass!” He chuckled again. “Then look at what you did today. Stepped right in and gave us a plan.”
I shook my head. “That was just an idea. I mean what if it goes south? I…” Wow, I never thought Stephano Descalia wouldthink of me as their wiseman or wisewoman. I also felt a twinge of remorse. I thought up that plan, yes. But for my own reasons I also didn’t want them to release Deacon Walker.
“I have a confession to make, Ms. Regatta,” Stephano said.
“Uh-oh,” Dante muttered.
“Let me guess,” Romeo spoke up. “You invited her here, knowing she would be in on this meeting?” He stared at his father.
“Si, that was what I hoped for,” Stephano admitted with no seeming shame. “I wanted to see if you were as smart as we all thought. Luca is my second, he is my Captain. Make no mistake…my sons are all intelligent and capable. However, they never pitch ideas or solve problems.” He looked over at Legend. “And some aren’t interested in the business at all. Romeo runs my legal contracts as he knows corporate law and such. Dante is my chief accountant. Amadeo runs the offices, but he even says he doesn’t want an important spot.”
I stared at him and tried to get out of this. “I’m not sure…”
“Of course you aren’t, but please think about it?” Stephano asked.
The man really was serious? I looked from him to Romeo.
He slowly shook his head at me.
I wondered at his reaction. He didn’t look happy but he did look surprised.
“È ora di cena!”It is dinnertime.
Everyone in the room looked over at the doorway to the person that had made this announcement.
An older woman stood there. Placing her hands onto her hips, she gazed around. “Buonasera. I will make this easy. I am Maria. Stevie’s sister.” She beamed at Stephano.
He scoffed and corrected her, “My name is not Stevie.”
She ignored him and went on, “You can call me Zia, or Zia Maria.” She gave us a nod. “I came to get you all for dinner.” She looked over at Romeo and asked, “Is this meeting done?”
He paused and glanced at his father.
“Si,” Stephano said. “For now, it is.”
“Bene, bene,” Zia said. “Come and sit at a true Italian table,” She motioned toward the doorway.
Max, the British butler stood there now as if he had suddenly just appeared. He wore the entire butler outfit like before, white gloves and all. “If you will all follow me?” He bowed then straightened up.
Me, Talon, Liv and Redemption, simply stared at him.
I chuckled and looked over at Romeo. “He is for real, isn’t he?”
Romeo leaned in to whisper, “Yes, and he has been since before I was born. This is not an act. He is really what he appears to be.
“Romeo,” Zia interrupted him. “Is this your girl?”
Romeo looked over at her and chuckled as he answered her, “She is a fellow counselor who's working with us.”
Zia narrowed her eyes at us and asked, “She is an avvocata, a lawyer?”
I stared at her and her suspicious expression. This woman seemed to see everything and sense something about me. I bit at my lip.
Romeo laughed. “Now Zia, don’t look at me like that.”
She scoffed. “I could have sworn by the way you and her…” Her voice faded off. “Oh… I see.”
