Page 9 of Hot-Blooded Killer

Because there is no way in hell Edoardo Rossi is going to allow a Beneventi to run his business—not even if that Beneventi is his own daughter.

As I move toward my car, I wonder if she recognizes the similarities between us. We’re like polar opposites, mirror images, me all bright and laughing on the inside with a cold dark knot at the center of my being, whereas Gia is a brittle shell of strength and darkness over a blazing core of light.

Briefly during the meeting, it crossed my mind to wonder if her shining core is as hot as it is bright. But then I shook the idea away and focused on the negotiations.

Interesting that her father allowed her to lead them. I’ve never heard of a bride who negotiated her own prenup, not in our circle anyway. Not when she still had living parents.

But with Gia’s input, the contract we’ve ended up with is a little more detailed even than the majority of the ones signed as alliances between Mafia families.

And we covered the usual breach of contract elements, although no one I know takes those too seriously. Not for the men, anyway, who are expected to have side pieces whenever they please. It’s the women who are expected to remain faithful.

Neither of us had spoken a word of fidelity during the contract negotiations. Clearly, that isn’t of any real concern to either of us.

At least it hadn’t been a concern of mine when I had first walked into the room. But as soon as Gia Rossi had crossed those long, shapely legs of hers, my cock stood up at attention. Until that moment, I hadn’t even really thought of her as a person. She was just another step on the staircase leading me to my revenge against her father.

At that moment, and several thereafter, though, I’d had to remind myself that this was not a real marriage negotiation.

It won’t be a real marriage, either, I remind myself. It’s the means by which a greedy gangster who took out my family is paying off a poker debt to me. And it’s my wedge into his family.

Still, all during the negotiations, I kept being drawn in by Gia’s light, gentle voice that soothed my nerves even when I knew she was trying to make herself sound tougher than she actually was.

Now, outside the Rossi compound, I slip into my Bentley Continental GT and head toward our clubs just off the Vegas strip.

Although we use the clubs to launder plenty of money, they’re cash cows in their own right—even more so since my sister-in-law Valentina swept in, making broad changes in everything from our hiring practices to the shows the girls put on.

This is all perhaps unsurprising, since Val herself had been a cam girl before she met Max. Since her arrival, the A-B Clubs have been building a reputation as one of the best companies for strippers in Vegas to work for.

And somehow, we’re now bringing in more money than ever.

For a heartbeat, a wave of longing rushes through me, leaving behind it an emotion I finally recognize as a desire for a love match like Max’s.

I shake it off, though.

After all, Max hadn’t been looking for a love match when he found Valentina. He actually thought she was the daughter of a high-ranking Colombian cartel lord—the same one who’d killed our father and brothers—and had kidnapped her to use her against El Toro.

Love matches are overrated, I try to convince myself.

What I need right now more than anything is someone to help me soothe the ache in my cock that had settled in as Gia Rossi spoke. I’d been glad, albeit a little surprised, that I had been able to get my raging hard-on under control before I’d had to stand up and shake hands over the negotiated contract.

But it had taken the whole meeting to get there. The entire time we’d used dry, legalistic language to discuss heirs and pregnancy, an image of Gia, round and pregnant with my child, sent waves of heat through me, settling in my belly and making my cock stand up and twitch.

Because that’s what had been happening—we were negotiating how often I’d be allowed to fuck her.

When I’d started pushing for every day, I had expected her to come back with once a week. But she’d agreed to three times a week.

Surely that will be enough. Once we’re married, this sudden lustful insanity I’d been hit with when I walked in through her door will abate. I’ll be able to slake my lust in her, and then go find other women as necessary

Which is exactly what I plan to do now.

For all Val’s cleanup of the clubs, there are always beautiful women working there who are willing to spend a little extra time with the boss.

They would happily spend time with Max, of course, but he and Val are devoted to one another. Hell, some of them would spend time with Max and Val, or even just Val—but there’s no room in my brother’s and sister-in-law’s relationship for anyone else.

As I pull into the parking lot at the back of the low-slung building with neon lights dancing across the top of it even this early in the evening, well before dusk, I send up a thankful little prayer heavenward, grateful that I will never be on as short a leash as my brother is.

And I will have my chance to fuck Gia Rossi. It’s all written in the contract.

* * *

---