Thank fucking God!
Now if only my father would follow, the day would be looking up.
“Well,” my father said from the seat behind me, “if this is how you conduct business, Son, I don’t know how we’re still in business.”
I gritted my teeth. He barely hustled with his ancient and outdated ideas. The Italian Syndicate thrived under business dealings that Dante, Priest, Emory, and I made. Though at this very moment, business was the least of my concerns.
“It’s not good business to piss off suppliers, Basilio,” Father continued, leaning back in his chair, his eyes on me. “Or does this have something to do with the blonde hussy Emilia told me about?”
I decided I’d kill her. Skin her alive. I should have killed her when she sold off Thalia to settle her debt.
“It worked out just fine,” I said, glancing down the table to where my father sat with Angelo, his right hand man. “I wouldn’t let him screw us over.”
“And the hussy?” He just couldn’t let go, although something about the smugness in his eyes rubbed me the wrong way.
“Like I said, she’s nobody.” A dark edge crept into my voice.
I refused to talk to him about Wynter. My father had a tendency to destroy good things. I’d be damned if I’d let him even attempt to taint the golden-haired woman who smiled innocently and happily.
Wynter and her friends might have some suspicious activities going on, but fuck if I’d judge them. Maybe they were short on money and this was the only way they could get it. I’d ensure Wynter never lacked. I had plenty of money to support anything she had going on.
Though Dante’s revelation still made no sense to me. A rigged poker game and some property damage at his casino, Royally Lucky, in Chicago. That’s where Wynter and her girlfriends went, why she canceled on me, costing Dante a couple of hundred thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Dante recognized the woman he’d seen with Liam and the rest of the girls that danced on the bar at The Eastside.
Apparently, there was a girl squadMission Impossiblegoing on with the four women. Though I had to admit, I was impressed by Wynter’s gaming skills. It was clear she counted cards and I never would have guessed she’d be capable of it. Luckily, Dante was my cousin, but if they’d walked into one of the businesses my father owned or someone like him, they’d be dead.
I already started looking into buying clubs that she could rob with her girlfriends. Either that or I’d put a stop to it. For Wynter’s own good.
I’d come to the realization that I’d been pining after Wynter since she first landed in my arms three months ago. I thought about her way too often since that night, but I came to terms she’d forever stay a mystery. It was better that way - for her and for me.
But then we crossed paths and I’d made her mine, whether she liked it or not. And she did, just as I did. She had a body I wanted to bury myself in. Her smiles were my own personal version of heaven. It didn’t take a genius to realize my control was slipping around her and we had barely gotten started.
I was hung up on her, falling fast, furious, and deep. I knew I’d better marry her fast.
Seeing he’d get nowhere with me, my father stood up and gave both Dante and me a nod before leaving the room. He earned his ten percent just by sitting here and annoying me.Fucker!
Once the door clicked, Dante finally broke the silence.
“You have to hide it better, Basilio,” he warned. “I swear, I see smoke steaming off your body. It’s about to start a wildfire and consume everything.”
I flipped him the bird. He had no idea how good it felt to feel Wynter’s small body pressed against me. The moment her lips connected with mine was the most vanilla thing I had experienced in over a decade. Yet it unsettled me more than any other sexual act I’d ever done. It replayed on a loop in my mind.
The way she moaned into my mouth. The smell of her arousal. I needed her and I hadn’t needed anything in such a long time.
Fuck me.
Dante was right. I should hide it better.
“What’s your plan with Brennan's woman?” I asked him. I had Angelo send me information on Davina Hayes. Just like Wynter, she had no connection to the underworld. Well, except for Liam Brennan. It made you wonder how in the hell those two got together, considering their stark age difference.
He shrugged. “I’ll collect the poker losses and damages from him.”
I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the footage of Wynter playing poker. Even more, how good she was at it. If I had known she’d be in Chicago in Dante’s casino, I would have ensured I was there. Then I’d have scooped her up and spent days buried inside her. She looked like a million bucks striding through the casino like she owned the joint. And the way she kept her cool while playing her hand was a fucking turn-on.
The woman was surprising me.
“Let’s call the Irish bastard,” Dante announced. “It’s the only reason I flew back to New York.”
So I dialed Liam up from the conference room speakerphone. It took no time for him to answer.