Page 13 of Twisted Throne

“Gia, get in the car, now,” I said, more sharply than I intended.

She started then followed Carlos to get into the car. I watched Emilio until he turned the corner before joining them.

“Who was that?” Gia asked from the back seat as we pulled away.

“Not your concern,” I replied, already texting Angelo to let him know about the situation. “It will be taken care of.”

The fact that Gia even existed shouldn’t be common knowledge at this point, even to all of our own people. This solidified the fact that we had a leak—not that we needed that confirmation. But most importantly, now we knew that our leak had to be someone very close to Angelo. I was going to take my suspicions about Alec to him tonight. I was becoming more and more convinced that Alec had something to do with getting the information to Sabitino. And now that Gia was involved, the stakes had been raised even higher. Angelo’s family line had been snuffed out with the death of his wife and infant son so many years ago, and Gia’s sudden appearance… changed things. A lot of things, whether she meant to change them or not.

“But who was it and why has he been watching me?” she piped up again. Damn it, couldn’t she let a man think?

“What the hell do you mean, he’s been watching you? For how long?” I snapped.

“Um, since last week. I saw him a few times across from my building. He followed me once, but never said anything to me. There’s been a black car with tinted windows parked on the street lately too. I never saw anyone getting in or out of it though,” she said defensively.

“And you didn’t let anyone know, why?” I said through clenched teeth. “You didn’t think that it might be beneficial to inform Angelo that someone was stalking you?”

My tone was harsh, and she flinched back. Good. She should be afraid. It would have been far better for her to have burned that letter when she found it and tried to forget about it. She wasn’t equipped to deal with this shit, whatever she might think.

“I didn’t think, I mean there’s always weirdos in the neighborhood… I just…” her voice trailed off.

“Well next time, think,” I said, turning back around.

Stupid girl! She had no idea of the danger she was blundering into. She was going to get herself killed if she didn’t either wise up or get away from the family altogether, but I’m afraid it’s already too late for that. Gia is on Antonio and Emilio’s radar now. My hands clenched into fists as I thought of that sick fuck watching her all this time.

We didn’t talk the rest of the way toLa Villetta. We pulled up to the valet, Gia exited the car and took my proffered arm, silently. She still looked pale and worried. The worry in her eyes—and her attempt to hide it—reminded me of Mammina when she’d be up late waiting on my shithead father to stumble back home from the bar. Something softened in me and before I thought about it I leaned into her and whispered, “Smile, all will be well.”

She shivered as my breath brushed across her neck. She looked up at me, emerald eyes wide and her lips slightly parted. For a moment, all I could think about was how it would feel to have her fragile body pinned under mine, her legs wrapped around my waist and my teeth at her neck. As if she could see inside my thoughts, she leaned in even closer to me, and her pink tongue darted out to moisten her lips as if preparing for a kiss.

What the fuck was I doing?

“Carlos, take Gia inside and get her situated, maybe hand her over to Elena or someone. Then meet me and Marcus in the owners' suite,” I said, walking away.

As I turned, I saw a flash of hurt, then anger in her eyes.

Chapter Eight

Gia

I couldn’t tell if my hands were shaking from being scared, turned on, or pissed off.

Every time that I thought there might be some sort of a crack in Pauls's wall of assholery, he proved me wrong almost immediately. Most of the time all he did was look down his nose at me and treat me like some idiot child, but then every so often he looked at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off.

And I kind of wanted to return the favor. Despite it all, when he leaned down toward me tonight, all I could think about was feeling his lips against mine. I wanted him to taste me, touch me. The mere thought of him running his rough hands up and down my body made my heart race.

Before it got too much more awkward, I felt Carlos’s hand on my elbow.

“Shall we go in? You will enjoy this evening, the food here at La Villetta is rated the highest in the city,” he said with a friendly smile.

I smiled back at him nervously, straightened my shoulders, and let him guide me to the entrance. My palms started to sweat as we got closer. Between the landlord, the stalker, and freaking Paul, I hadn’t had time to be nervous about the actual dinner until now. But now the butterflies in my stomach were here with a vengeance, and I wasn’t sure I could calm them with pasta.

The restaurant was large and lush, with a fully stocked bar at either end. There were small tables scattered about the room, and waiters in tuxedos circulated between the clusters of people as they circulated with heavy silver trays of small canapes. The waiters moved so smoothly, I was tempted to think of them as dancers for a big Broadway crowd number. The decor was sleek and modern, but softened by a number of beautiful paintings throughout the room.

I sucked in a quick breath when I saw the number of people milling about. There must have been at least fifty people here and I didn’t know any of them. Even with my designer dress and shoes, I felt like everyone was staring at me, and that they could tell that I didn’t belong here. Cinderella with one shoe missing. Eponine in her raggedy coat.

Oh god, this was a mistake.

I began to breathe faster, trying to pull more oxygen into my lungs. The room was so hot. I started to sway and Carlos steadied me.

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