Page 39 of Did My Heart Love Till Now?

I shook my head. “No, they won’t. Your father would murder them. But they will hurt us both if I don't leave right now.” I sighed. “I expected this. Nick only gave me a certain amount of time to talk to you before he sent people here to get you.” I pressed a kiss on her lips then rested my forehead on hers. Without thinking, I spewed words that had never left my mouth before. “I love you and will repair all of this.” Pulling her palm to my lap, I laid a small piece of paper in it. I closed her fingers around it tightly. “Don't lose this and read it tomorrow. Not a minute sooner.”

Her striking, stormy eyes welled with tears. “I love you too.”

Quickly creeping away, I ducked behind some grass farther away from Sofia. She peeked toward me, and I winked at her before I crouched down and sprinted toward my car down the road. God bless Joey for having it waiting for me.

I sped away just in time to see a third guy from the Barone family pull up near Alistair’s house in a black sedan. As I passed him, we exchanged glaring glances. He tightened mouth and fumbled with his steering wheel. I scowled in my rear-view mirror, noticing he was now following me at lightning speed.

I raced around the curvy roads as fast as I could go. Once I hit the highway, I accelerated to one hundred and ten miles per hour. I weaved back and forth in between the sporadic cars trying to lose him. Finally, I no longer saw him when I peeked in the rear-view mirror yet took no chances slowing down. Just as my family had people everywhere, so did the Barone’s.

When I pulled onto my street, the crowd had not budged. They thrived on whatever footage they could get and truthfully, they were causing my enemy to see every time I left or returned to my home through the front gate. Because I had been in such a hurry, I did not think to enter the back way. The minute I pulled into my driveway, I saw it was full of expensive cars. That only meant one thing.

I groaned loudly and laid my head on the steering wheel. Fuck. Shit. Fuck. The minute I stepped out of the car, Federico marched out of the house, anger smeared on his aging, rigid face. I nodded, knowing what was coming. Sliding my hands in my pockets, I waited for him to approach. Maintaining a poker face for the people outside the property, he smiled as he came to a stop in front of me. His eyes trailed down to my feet.

“Where are your shoes?”

I shrugged. “Left them in the car.”

Stroking his chin, he hummed. “You may want to go shower.” He lifted his eyes to mine. “The leaders are here for a meeting.” He placed his hand on my shoulder as we walked toward the house. “As your adviser, I would ask that you go immediately upstairs and come down in your nicest suit.”

I snorted as I reached for the doorknob. Lifting my gaze to his, I narrowed my eyes. “I know how to play the part. Don’t tell me how to do my fucking job.”

Federico arched a brow, stepping in front of me and opening the door. Without another word, I marched past him and upstairs to my bedroom. Hastily showering, I did my best to focus on the task downstairs and keep Sofia out of my mind.

What had my father gotten me in to? Was this really going to be my life now? It was finally time to accept it and understand that it was my fate until further notice. Like my father said. It was my destiny. Even if he got out of jail tomorrow, I would still have to take over when he died or retired, so this was my future whether I liked it or not. It was ultimately time to stop being immature and be the best damn boss the crime world had ever seen. Fair yet feared.

After dressing in my most expensive, tailored black suit without Maria’s opinion, I carried my black tie to the bed and dropped it on the blanket. I took out a bottle of vodka from my nightstand and gave myself a long look in the full-length mirror as I took two giant swigs from the bottle. Without securing the cap back on, I set it back on the table.

I grabbed my tie and stepped over to the mirror, looping it around and straightening it perfectly. I buttoned the jacket and lifted my chin, narrowing my eyes on my reflection. “These mother fuckers want a boss, I'll give them a fucking boss.”

Federico, Joey, and the captains were scattered throughout the office chatting amongst themselves. As soon as I waltzed in with a newfound confidence, they immediately fell silent, directing their undivided attention towards me. I came to a stop behind my desk. This was no longer my father's office. It was mine and I would make sure I made that clear. If he wanted me to run the family, I was going to control it.

I nodded at Joey who tilted his head with a faint smirk. Federico stepped forward with the binder. Lifting my hand to my chin, I creased my forehead in confusion. He opened it and turned a few pages. Sitting slowly, I propped my elbows on the armrests of the chair and formed a triangle over my mouth with my fingers. He began to read from one of the pages, but it was nonsense to me. Lifting my hand, I signaled for him to hush. He raised his eyes from the book.

I furrowed my brow. “What the fuck is that? What are you reading to me?”

“It's our rules and I wanted to go over them with you bef—”

Immediately, my arm stretched toward him, and he laid the binder in my hand. Pushing back from the desk, I stood and marched toward the fireplace with the book to my side. Opening the binder, I snapped open the three metal rings and slid the papers out. I tossed them onto the metal grate. “Joey, handle that.” I dropped the empty plastic notebook on the floor.

Head cocked, he lifted his brows and opened his mouth to speak, but I gave him a silent glower. Without another word he bowed his head and meandered to the fireplace in no hurry. I took a step to the side of the hearth, crossing my arms high on my chest as I watched intently.

Bending over, he dug a small starter log out of the nearby drawer and lit it with his cigarette lighter. He tossed it under the exposed papers. I turned to face the men who were all staring at me in disbelief.

“Anyone have a PowerPoint presentation or some shit on a flash drive we need to destroy as well? Details about my family with all our goddamn social security numbers?”

Several of them shook their heads but only one spoke a simple no.

“Good.” I rolled my eyes and lumbered back to my desk. Fucking idiots. I huffed under my breath.

“Why did you do that?” Federico was dumbfounded.

“Because, Federico.” I threw myself back down in the executive chair and rolled it forward, leaning my elbows on the surface. “That is evidence against our fucking family. I’d think you guys would have known better than to keep that shit around.” Leaning back, I lifted my eyes toward the ceiling, pausing in thought. After a moment of wondering why they would be so careless, I narrowed my gaze on Federico once again. “What happens if the Feds find it one day if they decide to raid my house?”

“I didn't think about that because we always keep it locked up.”

“Well, it’s out right now and one of them could be outside in that crowd ready to enter at any given moment. My family is being watched. You know better! I’m new at this and even I know they look for weak spots in the foundation of the family.”

“Understood Gav…boss.” He averted his gaze.

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