Page 39 of Merciless Desires

Cin didn’t move, but when I leaned down and kissed her cheek, she softened her stance.

“I’ll figure all of this out,” I whispered into her ear. “I promise.”

She nodded, lingering by my side for a moment longer before going upstairs with Luciana.

“You and Don Malatesta’s daughter?” Rocco asked. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Why not?” I went to the bar and poured three vodkas.

“Word in Italy is her father is negotiating her future,” Rocco said. “I thought you knew that.”

“He does.” Romero took a glass from me. “He’s either too stupid or too crazy to leave her alone. I haven’t figured out which one yet.”

“It sounds complicated,” Rocco said.

I ignored this conversation because I couldn’t deal with Cin’s pending future right now, and I changed the subject by asking, “Who took a shot at me?”

“It’s one of Santoro’s people,” Romero said.

“Why does he even have people?” Rocco sipped his vodka as he took a seat on the couch. “He’s a nobody.”

“He has made a few friends,” Romero said. “We have to figure out who would go against us for him.”

“Conti said they got a plate.” I sat on the edge of the coffee table, facing my two brothers. “This was a botched job.”

“I don’t think they wanted to kill you,” Rocco said. “If they wanted to, they could have used automatic weapons. This was a warning.”

“A warning for what?” I set my glass down on the table. “What are they trying to tell me?”

“There’s been some tension at the club with you and Paulie Santoro. This seems a little extreme for him to go after you over a woman he just met a few days ago, especially when he knows you have the backing of Malatesta.” Rocco wrapped his fingers around his glass. “Let me do some digging.”

“It feels off,” Romero said. “I don’t like this.”

“We should have capped him when we had the chance.” Why hadn’t I taken care of him already? “He could have killed Cin with a stray bullet. This is personal.”

Rocco and Romero stared at me with concern in their eyes.

“What?” I raised my hand. “How would you feel if someone took a shot at you with Lu standing next to you?”

“I would have shot them in the fucking head,” Romero shouted his frustration over me almost getting killed. “End of story.”

“I tried.” The windows were tinted, and it all happened so fast. “Maybe I did hit one of them.”

“Gio,” Rocco said. “How serious is this thing with you and the Don’s daughter?”

“It started before she got here, but I thought we were just teasing one another. I didn’t think… Well, it’s more serious than I thought.”

Rocco glanced at Romero.

“I’m not going to watch her marry someone she doesn’t want to marry.” I shrugged. “I’m not going to let her walk into that situation.”

“It’s not your choice,” Romero yelled. “You can’t tell Malatesta he can’t have his daughter back.”

“You said you would support me,” I reminded him.

“Well, now we have another problem. We need to protect you from whoever is trying to kill you.” Romero got up and poured himself another glass of vodka. “You’re going to have to go underground.”

“Seriously?” I shook my head. “Since when do we hide?”

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