Page 7 of The Leader

“Girls, leave us.”

He felt Gina stiffen next to him while Mary turned a chalky white. However, they left the room without a protest.

Gio made a mental note about that. They were perfect on the outside. Willing, obedient, pretty. Still… His thoughts trailed back to the mouthy PA in the library. Mary’s cheeks had turned pink when she’d called her Antonio’s PA, and Gio had a feeling she knew exactly what kind of personal assistant the hellcat was to her grandfather. Apparently, Antonio’s much younger mistress was living right under their noses. Damn, he envied the sly fox. Which brought him back to the case at hand, and more particularly, to the reason why he wasn’t enthused by the thought of marrying either of the present Rossi girls. He didn’t want to fuck them. Which made him reconsider looking at what was behind door number three: Jocelyn. He never made a choice in business without having considered all his options, and he wouldn’t start now.

“She ran,” Gio spat. “Your granddaughter ran and broke our deal.”

“Did she now?” Antonio said, a smile curling his lips. “Oh, youth. See, she knew who was coming and why, but apparently didn’t consider you a catch. She even managed to lose her bodyguard. Jocelyn can be really inventive when she has set her mind on something. The way I see it, you didn’t manage to keep her here. Forget about her. I have two other granddaughters who are more...docile.”

Gio barely contained a snarl. The old man had to know he was throwing down a gauntlet, making this Jocelyn a challenge to him. He could, of course, ignore it. No one outside the family knew about what happened, so there was no face to be saved. Still, the predator in him couldn’t just let go. He was going to give the girl a chance. No one could renege out of a deal with him without paying a price.

“Call her, and give me your phone.” Antonio did as he requested and stepped out of the room, a faint smile on his face.

The phone’s screen lit up, showing that “Jazzy” was being called. The old man had registered her number under her nickname. Yet another clue that she was probably his favorite.

“Nonno, I know what you’re going to say,” a sweet voice in his ear sounded. A voice he fucking recognized. “But the guy’s a dominant asshole. I could tell by just one look at his face. Gina eats that shit up, not having a backbone and all. Also, Gio and Gina sounds adorable, don’t you think? He wouldn’t have chosen me anyway, so why bother parading in front of him and waste my time? I’ll send you a postcard from Rome or Paris, whichever place the plane leaves to first.” He could hear flights being announced in the background. “Nonno, are you still there? Are you mad at me?”

She actually sounded sad at the thought. He’d been right: shewasthe closest to the old man. “I don’t get mad. I get even, in spades.”

A silence fell, before she regrouped. “If you’ve hurt a single hair on his—”

“He’s not the one I’m going to hurt. Listen to me carefully, because I don’t repeat myself. Ever. Get your ass back here before midnight, or I’m coming for you.”

What followed was a string of curses that would have had a sailor blushing. The woman had a foul mouth on her. Which wasn’t the best use for her mouth.

“Fuck you. You’re not the boss of me.”

“Don’t ever tell a man to fuck him. He might take you up on your offer,” he bit out.

“Yeah well, to do that, you’d have to find me first. If you can find me, you can fuck me,” she taunted him.

Click.

She hung up on him. He couldn’t remember anybody ever hanging up on him. A deep rumble started from his chest, and he saw Vince looking at him, concern shining in his eyes.

“Ah shit.” His brother shook his head. “You laughing is never a good sign.”

He was right, of course. Gauntlet thrown, challenge accepted. Jocelyn Rossi had just sealed her fate.

CHAPTER 5

JAZZY

Jazzy showed the flight attendant her ticket as she boarded the plane to Paris.

So, okay, she ran like a thief in the night. Big deal. Didn’t mean she was afraid of Giovanni Detta. Except, after their unfortunate encounter in the library, she’d somehow known she couldn’t be around him again. Giovanni Detta was hot. The combination of those baby blues and his rock-hard body; even the scar on his upper left eyebrow was panty-melting hot. She’d wanted to run her fingers through his jet-black hair, pictured herself pulling it while kissing him. Most of all, she wanted to banish the coldness from his voice, the chill from his eyes. However, falling for a tortured soul in the disillusioned hope of healing him could only end in disappointment. Life was not a romance novel, with the big, bad, dominant asshole turning into a decent human being in the end. He was going to marry one of her poor cousins. It would not do to lust over him during their annual Christmas dinner.

So, fleeing it was. She wasn’t as pretty as Gina or as sweet and angelic as Mary, but she was smart; enough to be able to disappear without leaving a trace. She had also been smart enough to call in a favor with her friend Tess, just in case.

The flight attendant showed her to her seat in first class. It would be the last time for a while she could indulge in the luxury of a first-class anything since; come tomorrow, she wouldn’t be using her credit cards anymore. She couldn’t take the risk—small as it may be—that Detta would actually follow through on his threat to come after her. It was far too easy to track her down if she left a paper trail. So, no more fancy hotel suites during her Euro trip. According to the arrangement between her grandfather and Detta, he had to marry a Rossi girl within a month. All she had to do was disappear from the face of the earth during that time, or until she discovered he had married one of her cousins.

Once again, her thoughts trailed back to Detta. The heat she’d felt when going toe-to-toe with him had been crazy, utter madness. This was what had been missing between her and Mike: the only man she had ever been comfortable enough with to let her guard down around. The only one she had ever told about...

Don’t go there. Not. Going. There.

Mike had been more than just her childhood friend. He had been her first crush, first kiss, and first and only lover. Their friendship had evolved in something more, until they had gradually discovered they were better off as friends than lovers.

But still, it had never been like the raw need, that magnetic pull, she had felt when she’d been pinned down by Giovanni Detta. It had both excited and terrified her at the same time. She somehow knew that Detta was the kind of man to be rough and dominate her in bed. The only place where she liked to submit.

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