Page 34 of Blood Money

But I was either on my own or stuck with Vittorio, because Luciano was working late. Of course.

As I sat on the rock-hard daybed holding the ice pack to my head, I chewed on my lip and my shoulders slouched. Despite how he’d ripped my heart out, I couldn’t be a total asshole. It wasn’t in my nature, no matter how much I should hate him.

Muttering under my breath, I dropped the ice pack to the bedside table, then got up and grabbed one of the extra quilts from the closet. Fortifying my defenses the best I could, I stormed out into the darkened living room.

At the sound of my door opening, Vittorio turned away from the window he’d been staring out. His hands were in his pockets, and I couldn’t help but notice the blood staining the thighs of the expensive fabric.

“Here,” I said as I tossed the blanket on the couch. No way did I trust myself to get close to him. His scent had made me weak in the knees when he’d handed me the ice pack earlier. I didn’t dare risk the temptation.

When one of his dark, sculpted brows winged up, my heart stuttered. I’d always loved it when he’d done that before, and the bastard knew it. My thighs clenched together at that minuscule movement, and I hated myself for my response to him.

“I’m not the enemy, you know,” he softly murmured, as if he could tell what his presence was doing to me. It made me want to throw something at him.

My throat practically seized up when I tried to swallow the lump lodged there. “Yeah? Well, from where I’m standing, that’s exactly what you are.”

I had to have imagined the flicker of pain in his eyes before he coldly erased it.

“Word gets around quick, Kendall. Protection money isn’t just a scam, you know. It tells the other riffraff in the city that someone or a business is ours. And what’s ours doesn’t get fucked with. I understand that your grandmother didn’t pay because she was in the hospital, but when you blatantly refused, it made an announcement,” he explained.

I scoffed in disgust. “He attacked me and then expected me to pay him. Fuck him and fuck you.”

His icy gaze narrowed, and the muscle in his jaw jumped. “He hurt you?”

“He slammed me against the fucking building, Vittorio. He fucking shook me down like a common thug. No different from those assholes who robbed me tonight. What if my nonna had been the one here?”

“He will be dealt with. That wasn’t authorized by anyone in The Family—”

I held up my hand and cut him off. “I’m going to bed. Feel free to let yourself out in the morning. Sweet dreams.”

I spun on my heel and stomped back to my room. Childish? Yes, but still a little satisfying.

“I’ll check on you periodically to make sure you’re okay,” he called out as I reached my doorway, his voice the perfect pitch to drive me crazy.

“Don’t bother. If I’m dead in the morning, then so be it, and neither of us will have to worry about the other.” Without waiting for his reply, I slammed the door.

Too bad I tossed and turned the entire night. With him so close, my body was on fire. Desire licked like flames over the surface of my skin, and molten lava seared through my veins. And right when I couldn’t take it anymore and I reached my hand between my legs, the door slowly opened.

“Ugh, go away,” I groaned as I turned to my side and tossed the covers over my head. My heart was thundering in my chest as I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed he hadn’t seen what I’d been about to do.

He didn’t say a word, and for that, I was grateful.

The next morning when I awoke, he wouldn’t make eye contact, and the minute his thug arrived, he left. I found a note on the kitchen counter telling me to call him if there were any issues.

When I went downstairs, Tillie looked stressed.

“Everything okay?” I asked her.

“Oh! Yeah. Great,” she replied, but I didn’t buy it. Her reply was too forced, the two lines between her brows too pronounced.

“Are you sure? You don’t look like it,” I pressed.

Tillie burst into tears, and I immediately pulled her into my arms. She was in her early thirties, and we’d always been friendly, though not close. The way she clung to the back of my shirt told me how distraught she was.

When her sobs subsided, she stepped back and gave me a watery laugh. “I’m sorry. I’m not usually such a mess.”

“Tillie, please talk to me.”

Her eyes went bleak, and she dropped her head. “Mickey lost his job. I make good money here, but with our bills, it’s not going to be enough to cover the rent and everything else. We have Janie’s school tuition, her piano lessons, her ballet… how do I tell her we can’t pay for that? I don’t want her to have to go to public school. God, Kendall, what are we going to do?”

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