Page 50 of The Don

I stand when she enters the dining room and give her a chaste kiss. She clears her throat and tucks some of her wayward hair behind her ear as she glances toward Dante. “Here.” I pull her seat out and wait until she’s seated before I sit.

“Eliza,” Dante acknowledges her with a swift nod.

Maria has an inbuilt radar because she arrives in the dining room with a cup of coffee for Eliza. “Thank you,” Eliza says as she smiles up at Maria.

“You hungry?” Maria smiles eagerly to Eliza.

“I’m hungry,” Dante says.

“You always eat, Signore,” Maria replies with a smirk. “I bring you food, si?” She turns to Eliza and awaits her reply.

“Thank you.”

“I want food,” Dante calls after Maria as he watches her disappear out of the dining room. “I used to be her favorite,” he cheekily says to Eliza.

“Looks like I stole that spot,” Eliza retorts with humor. She smiles but hides away from seeing Dante’s reaction.

Maria returns to the dining room, laying down place settings for Eliza and me before leaving again. Dante’s brows rise as he looks between Eliza and myself. I can’t help but chuckle. When Maria walks back into the dining room, she places a plate and flatware down in front of Dante before putting a massive stack of pancakes over in front of Eliza. “Miss Eliza first.” Maria shoots Dante a glare.

Eliza slides one pancake over to her plate before pushing the remainder over to me. Once I’m done, I give the rest to Dante just as Maria returns with crispy bacon and syrup for the pancakes. “Thank you, Maria.” Eliza warmly smiles.

Dante’s phone vibrates, and he lifts it to look at the screen. He shoves some of the pancake into his mouth and then washes it down with his coffee. Standing, he leaves the dining room and when he returns, he’s flanked by two of our foot soldiers. I look over to them, and they’re both standing rigid behind Dante. “Gentlemen,” I say as I watch them carefully.

“Mr. Sacco,” they say in unison. Their eyes dart to Eliza who turns to see who they are. One of the two slightly smirks and arches a brow, the other one averts his eyes and looks over to me.

“Show them to my office, Dante.”

“Yes, sir.” Dante disappears with them both.

“I have some work to do today.” I lift my cup to my lips.

“Can I ask a question?” Eliza asks in a timid and frightened voice.

“Of course.”

She looks over her shoulder toward where Dante took the boys, then back to me. “Do they have something to do with Adrian?”

“That’s what I’m going to find out.”

She turns toward her plate and lowers her head. “Oh,” she whispers. Eliza looks to me and nibbles on her lower lip while she draws in her brows close together. “You’re going to hurt them, aren’t you?”

Yes. I remain controlled not to scare her any more than she is already. “There are some questions I need answered.” Besides, I certainly don’t like the way one of them looked at her.

She cuts more of her pancake up and pops a piece into her mouth. Eliza chews for a moment before she says, “I can’t be afraid for the rest of my life, so do what you have to.”

Not like I need it, but she’s giving me permission to bring Adrian to his knees. And I will. I finish my coffee and stand. I walk over to Eliza, tilt her face up and lower mine until our mouths meet. I push my tongue into her mouth, claiming her for mine. Silently showing her that I’ll never let anyone hurt her again. I pull back and wipe my thumb across her lower lip. “You’re such a good girl, Amorina.” I don’t deserve her, but there’s no chance I’ll ever let her go.

Darkness passes over her blue eyes as a small smile tugs at her lips. “Please, find him.”

I press another kiss to her lips before leaving the dining room. I head toward the office where Dante is standing by the door, his arms behind his back and his chest out. The two boys are sitting on my sofa nursing a drink that Dante must’ve made for them.

Dante stands taller when I enter the office. “Gentlemen, I don’t think I’ve met either of you.”

They both stand to their feet, look around the office to lay their drinks down, then hold their hands out to shake mine. “I’m Bruno, Don Sacco,” says the one who smirked when he saw Eliza.

“I’m Matthew, sir,” the other says when I take his hand to shake.

“Are you both comfortable? I see Dante offered you a drink.” I pointedly look toward the two scotches they’re consuming.

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