Page 5 of Titan

“Theia, my name is Theia.”

“Is that your real name or your stage name?”

For some reason, it made her smile.

“My real one, but if you want to know, I go by Pisces in the club.”

I didn’t ask her why, since I knew Zayn gave all of his sex workers star constellations as their stage names. To be honest, I didn’t even know why I was still here talking to her. There was so much for me to do and think about, but my feet remained in place and my mouth didn’t tell her goodbye.

“And you’re Gilberto, right? That’s what Mr Villetti called you, so I assumed…”

“Yes, however, Gil is my preference.”

“Well, thank you again, Gil. I appreciated your intervention more than you know.”

She gave me a small shrug and a bright smile. I didn’t know what else to say to her. It wasn’t often I made small talk with anyone, nor did I get random women thanking me for things. I suppose Theia wasn’t exactly random. Still, I mostly kept to myself. It was easier that way. Getting to know people was a struggle for me.

Theia was looking at me as if she expected an answer. I could admit she was an attractive girl with a pretty face. I didn’t find myself attracted to her, but it wasn’t anything new for me. It was rare I found anyone interesting. It didn’t stop me from being intrigued by her. This close, I noticed her eyes were more of a blue-grey. It was unusual. She was… I didn’t know. There was something about her. And I didn’t like that.

“I need to go.”

“Oh, of course,” she said, her face falling slightly. “I’m sorry if I took up your time.”

“It’s fine. I hope you don’t get harassed by anyone else.”

Turning, I started towards the back door to leave the club. I didn’t look back, relatively sure I would see disappointment or some other negative emotion on her face. I didn’t have time to deal with it from someone I didn’t know.

Are you running away from a woman you find intriguing right now, Gil?

Yes… yes, I fucking well was. And I didn’t care what it meant. Not when my life was about to get a whole lot more difficult now my brother had decided I was the next mafia boss rather than himself.

Three

Gilberto

My fingers tapped against my thigh as I sat behind my father’s desk in the office where he conducted much of his mafia business. The building was an old printing factory that had been converted intoPapá’sbase of operations not long after he took over. It was my place now. At least, it would be officially when Zayn had dealt with our father’s estate.

I didn’t feel much like a mafia boss, despite being flanked by the only person I trusted outside of my own family. Well, I trusted Zayn. Enzo was a different matter. Right now, he was completely off the rails and neither I nor Zayn knew what to do about his antics. I’d ignored it. He was an adult, and I wasn’t his fucking keeper any longer. Besides, I had more important shit to worry about, like being in charge of thefamiglia.

“You going to tell me what this is about?” Edric asked when I didn’t say a word.

My eyes were fixed on the door, waiting for the two men who would make or fucking break this situation, Gennaro’s longest-serving members, Matteo and Salvatore.

“This is about Zayn giving me the keys to Gennaro’s empire,” I said after a minute, turning my attention toward my best friend.

Edric raised his chestnut eyebrows, his hazel eyes widening slightly behind his wide-framed glasses.

“Your brother wants you to be in charge?”

I inclined my head.

“Well, fuck.”

I’d known Edric Russell since I was a teenager. His father was a minor member of the mafia, but as we were the same age, he was often in my company. He was the loud one out of the two of us. Always getting up in people’s faces, rarely backing down from a fight, and regularly getting in trouble. That was my chestnut-haired friend. I was constantly shaking my head at his antics, but he was loyal to a fault. Probably why I let him stick around me for so long. Now, I would need his loyalty more than ever.

“I’m promoting you to my second-in-command effective immediately,” I told him as the door opened to admit the older men.

I caught Edric’s startled expression before my eyes were drawn to Matteo and Salvatore, who were both looking around the room with suspicion in their eyes. If I knew anything about my friend, it was his adaptability. However, I’m not sure he was ready for me to place him above everyone else in the chain of command. It would ruffle feathers, considering Edric was relatively low down in the pecking order. By all accounts, I should have given it to Matteo or Salvatore, but I didn’t trust them as far as I could throw them.

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