I peeked up at him with one eye. “You’re worrying me, what’s going on?”
He bent forward and kissed my forehead. “The doctor has you set up on an I.V. and some breathing tubes. And some heavy pain medication.”
I paused. “Your bedroom.”
His eyes met mine. “You did nothing wrong. The doctor thinks that our little… punishment session… kicked up a concussion you have that isn’t quite healed yet.”
Lorenzo. “I thought it was all better.”
His face fell. “You knew you had a concussion?”
I shrugged. “I assumed I did, with some of the things that happened. But, after a few days the pain went away and I didn’t have any other issues with it.”
Something akin to relief washed over Teo’s face, and I wondered why. However, I was too tired and in too much pain to ask.
“I have to go out this evening and meet with someone for dinner, but I’ll be back as soon as possible,” he said.
I sighed. “Are you sure you have to go?”
He ran his thumb across my lower lip. “I’ll make it quick, I promise. In the meantime, my head of security is going to be taking care of you. My chef has soup and fresh bread waiting if you get hungry, and there will be an endless supply of nice, cold ice water for you to drink.”
I giggled softly. “My hero.”
He grinned wildly. “I’ll be home soon. I promise.”
I was so washed away with relief and ecstasy that it didn’t even occur to me to warn him about Lorenzo’s plans. He had plans to backstab everyone. He had plans to bury everyone in sight as deeply as he could. And by the time it occurred to me that this was something Teo needed to know, he was already out the door.
Shit.
I fell in and out of sleep for the majority of the night. I wasn’t sure when Teo got home, or if he had even come home at all. I heard a deep man’s voice every once in a while, asking if I wanted some water. But, all I did was wave him away and fall back asleep.
Until I woke up one time in the middle of the night and found a gun shoved in my face.
“What the--?”
Rosana’s voice hissed at me. “Shut up and listen.”
My eyes focused quickly as I stared up at her darkened outline. “Where is--?”
“Your little security guard? Taking a nap. Muscles don’t do very well with sedatives.”
I frowned deeply. “So, what? You’re gonna shoot a woman while she’s down? I didn’t take you for the type.”
She snickered. “You know, that Lorenzo guy really does sling a nice dick.”
My voice fell flat. “I wouldn’t know.”
She pressed the gun to my forehead. “Good, because I’m tired of you riding the dicks of men I should be on.”
I paused. “What the hell are you doing here, Rosana?”
She smirked. “Lorenzo offered to marry me and help me take out Mateo if I snuck in this evening and killed you. Figured it was a win-win situation for all of us.”
“Suppose that requires you to get divorced first. Is Daddy Dearest going to enjoy that?”
Then, she cocked her gun. “I guess I’m about to find out.”
20
Mateo
What I didn’t tell Char was that I was about to go crash a dinner Lorenzo was hosting. If I could catch him off-guard, I had a better chance of getting him to talk. I knew this man had a plan up his sleeve. A plan to backstab me and make me look like a dying old fool. I wasn’t an idiot. Lorenzo had backstabbed everyone in his circle at least once. It’s why Ronnie kept him on such a short fucking leash.
But, just before we hit town, my car got t-boned.
“Mr. Emiliano!” my driver exclaimed.
I braced myself against the seat as the car’s tires skidded against the road.
“Can you get us out of here!?” I yelled back.
I heard my driver trying to floor it. I heard him switching gears and attempting to find a way out of this mess. But, when I looked to my right, I saw the ocean coming closer and closer into view. The drop-off toward the water made my eyes widen. Metal ground against metal as my door started intruding upon my personal space.
Then, we were hit from behind and the window behind me shattered.
“Get down!” I roared.
I heard the cars crunching before we came to a grinding halt. The ocean waves kicked up, signaling their hunger as they climbed the cliff. I tried to crawl and reach for my driver, but he was too far away. And before I knew it, a door ripped open and someone grabbed the back of my suit jacket.
Pulling me clear out of the car.
“This is for thinking you could steal from Mr. Lucchese,” a man growled.
Steel-toed boots slammed into my stomach as someone held me down by my neck. I felt someone strip me of the weapons on my hip before they turned me over. My wrist dangled off the edge of the cliff as the ocean spray lapped against my skin.
And when my head lobbed over, I saw a man pointing a gun at my driver.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I warned.
But, all the man did was smile at me before putting two bullets in his brain.
“No!” I roared.
The men cackled. “’No!’ he says.”
Another man’s voice sounded. “And they say Mateo Emiliano has no heart.”
I watched my faithful driver of over a decade bleed out onto the ground. His lifeless eyes, staring up at the sky while his brain matter pooled beneath him. Fury unlike anything I’d ever felt in my entire life filled my entire body from my toes to my nose. And when I felt the ‘whoosh’ of a foot coming at me, I moved like lightning.
Before I caught the man’s ankle.
“What the—AH! What the fuck!?”
With a measured twist, I broke his ankle clear away from his leg. I brought my legs up and pushed against his back with my knees, sending him soaring over the edge down toward the jagged rocks. A man fisted my tie and drew me up, choking me as it tightened around my throat.
I got my arm around his neck, though.
Before I broke it.
I shoved him over the edge before I turned toward the third guy. He hunched down, readying himself for a fight as I eyed my guns on the side of the road about fifty feet away from us. I had to get to my guns. I didn’t have much energy to keep fighting like this.
But, when the man snarled at me, his words gave me new life.
“You and her are going to die tonight. And I’m going to dance on both of your graves.”
Shit. Someone’s at the house with Char.
The man charged me with all of his might, roaring like a mighty dragon with his hands outstretched. And while he might’ve trained all of those muscles three times a day in the gym, my father taught me how to work smarter. Not harder.
So, I merely stepped out of the way and let that man cast his own self over the edge.
And I listened to him scream like a fucking girl all the way down.
I rushed over to my driver and skidded to my knees. I picked up his head and felt the massive hole in the back of his skull. I blinked back tears as my anger choked off my ability to breathe. I knew I couldn’t leave him here, but I had to get back to Char.
“I’ll come back for you,” I whispered.
Then, I gathered up my things and stole the only car at the scene that still worked before booking it back to the beach house.
Metal ground against the asphalt, kicking up sparks as I raced back to my place. I prayed to any God that still had any sort of sympathy for me that Char was all right. But, when I pulled into my driveway, I saw a familiar figure sitting on my porch. With a lit cigarette in her mouth and her fucking black heels kicked up on my porch railing as if she owned the place, I saw Rosana.
Smirking at me as I stormed out of the car.
“Where is she?” I growled.
Rosana tossed her cigarette to the ground. “Where’s who?”
I cocked my gun and aimed it at her head. “Char. Where is she?”
Rosana pulled a gun from behind her back and dangled it from her fingers. “You know, she really is a spitfire.”
It wasn’t until I looked a little closer that I saw Rosana had a black eye and a scratch against her cheek. And it made me even more fearful that I arrived too late.
“Where. Is she?” I growled.
The idea of Char being dead after I promised to keep her safe made me sick to my stomach. And if this stupid bitch had killed her, I’d torture her in my basement. I’d cover my walls with her blood before burning this entire place down with her tied up inside of it.
The thought alone made me salivate.
“You can put the gun down, sweetheart. She didn’t have the guts to pull the trigger herself.”
My eyes whipped over to the front door and I saw Char hobble out. She propped herself up against the doorway and I rushed to her, taking her into my arms. I peppered kisses along her neck. I kissed her cheek until she giggled with delight. And when I captured her lips with my own, Rosana groaned.
“God, that’s gross.”
I cupped Char’s cheek. “Are you all right? What did she do to you?”
Char giggled. “It’s more like what I did to her.”
Rosana clicked her tongue. “She took the damn gun from my hand and smacked me with it.”
Pride rose in my chest. “Good woman, that’s what you are.”
Char beamed with pride. “She’s strong, you gotta at least give her that.”
Rosana snapped and pointed at her. “Same goes for that one. Most girls would’ve already killed themselves by now.”
And while I never thought I’d see the day, it seemed as if someone on this planet had earned the respect of my wife.
Well, soon-to-be-ex-wife, anyway.
21
Charlotte
I looked over at Rosana. “I think you can go now.”
Rosana stood. “Yeah, yeah. I’m getting out of here. It’s all weird with feelings and shit over here anyway. Not really my style.”
Teo chuckled. “Oh, and before you go, I want you to know something.”
Rosana faced him. “Yes?”
Teo stalked over to her. “The next time you step foot on my property, I will have you arrested.”
She blinked. “What? No killing?”
Teo slid his hands into his pockets, which was a move I knew all too well. It was his tell, you see. If he felt himself getting so emotionally involved that he thought his hands might disrupt the conversation in any way, he stuck them down into his pockets to take them out of play. He did it in this suave little manner that made him look laid-back and nonchalant.
But, to me? It was a tell of his strong prowess and his ability to take down anyone in front of him.
“I won’t just have you arrested, though, Rosana. Your father, too. You might have dirt on my family and inner workings of my empire, but understand that it works both ways. I’ve got at least fifteen different files on your father I’m more than willing to hand over should you ever think about coming back here again.”
Rosana narrowed her eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Teo lifted his chin. “Try me, and see. But, when it’s all said and done and you and your father are sharing a jail cell, how long do you think the two of you will survive before the men you turned on and put there will take you both out?”
Her nostrils flared. “Very well. You have my word I won’t step foot onto the property.”
Teo nodded. “Oh, and one more thing.”
Rosana groaned. “What? You want my soul, too?”
“Nah, it’s too dark. Doesn’t go with the décor of the house.”
I had to stifle a bit of laughter at that one and Rosana didn’t even have the balls to look at me. Which I found particularly interesting.
“What I want is for you to stay out of this,” Teo said.
“What?” Rosana and I asked in unison.
Teo sighed. “This war? It’s going to be bigger than all of us. And while I might not like you, I’ve been married to you for some time now. We’ve shared a life. We’ve shared a home. We’ve shared meals and secrets and long nights.”
I patted his back. “You can stop now.”
Teo chuckled. “If you want to get out of this alive, know where your priorities lie. Because if they lie with taking me out? I won’t have any issues taking you out before that happens.”
Rosana’s eyes fell down his body. “I’ll have my lawyer send over the divorce papers as soon as possible.”
Teo wrapped his arm around my waist. “And I’ll have mine take a look at them before we make adjustments.”
Rosana’s eyes met mine with a curious stare, as if she were trying to figure out why the hell Teo would choose me. I knew why, though. It was because, deep down, Teo had a side to him that didn’t like all of this darkness. He had a caring side to him that gave a shit about other people, whereas Rosana was just as heartless as the Luccheses.
You belong better with them, you sorry excuse for a bitch.
Without another word spoken, though, Rosana climbed into an SUV, of all things, and left. She didn’t squeal her tires and she didn’t curse us out the window while she blazed off into the darkened horizon. She left as quietly and as coolly as she came.
But, the revelations weren’t done yet.
“Teo?” I asked.
He whipped around. “Are you okay? I mean, really?”
I slid my hands up and down his upper arms. “Let’s go sit out back, yeah? I think we need to talk.”
He snapped his fingers and a woman came running. “Yes, Mr. Emiliano?”
“Bring Char and myself something non-alcoholic to drink out on the back patio. And heat up some leftover dinner, if there’s any.”
“Anything else?” the woman asked.
I tugged on Teo’s arm. “Come on, this’ll be quick, okay?”
I saw the hesitancy in his eyes, but he followed me anyway. I slid my arm through his as he ushered me out onto the porch before pulling out my chair. He helped ease me down against the cushioned wrought iron, and two minutes later we had fresh lemonade and piping hot soup with warmed bread and butter to dip in it.
I wasn’t very hungry, but I took a few bites of the soup.
What I did do, though, was I chugged that lemonade.
“Oh, God, I’m so thirsty,” I said breathlessly.
Teo murmured something to one of the security guards before a pitcher of lemonade descended between the two of us.
“Drink up,” he said.
I snickered. “I’m going to miss this.”
“Sorry, what?”
I leaned back into my chair. “I know you’re not going to like what I have to say--.”
He shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere. Not with a concussion.”
“Teo, just lis--.”
He leaned forward. “You were just in a medically-induced coma, Char.”
I giggled. “He gave me some pain killers and I passed out. That’s hardly a medically-induced anything.”
He shook his head as he leaned back. “No. You’re not going anywhere. Nope.”
“Will you just listen, you bull-headed bastard?”
He clenched his jaw. “What?”
I took a long pull of my lemonade. “You want to take down the Luccheses right?”
He looked around him before answering. “Correct.”
“And now that we know my mother works for at least one of them, we can assume that taking her out of the picture gives you better odds.”
He blinked. “Yes.”
“And I work for my mother.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Get to it, Char.”
I reached across the table and offered my hand to him. “Give the okay for me to go home. Send me with some clothes that aren’t too flashy, and let me go back. Let me just show up to my mother’s office one day, unannounced, ready to work, and see what I can find when she’s caught off-guard. I have a key to her fucking house,
Teo. You can’t tell me that isn’t valuable.”
He took my hand. “I can’t let you go, Char.”
“Let me put it this way: taking down my mother might be the only way to keep us together alive. And you’re willing to give that up because you don’t think I’m going to come back?”
His eyes met mine. “Yes.”
I got up and went to sit on his lap. “Whether or not you love me back, Mateo, I love you. I don’t know when it happened, and I don’t know how, and I definitely don’t know why, but it did. So, you have my word that when it’s safe and when my mother is completely neutralized and in handcuffs, I’m coming back. Okay?”
His eyes searched mine. “There isn’t any other way?”
I cupped his cheek. “To be honest? I don’t want anything to do with this. I’ve been in survival mode for so long that the only thing I want to do now is survive this. I miss home, Teo. I miss my things, and my bed, and the comfort of McDonald’s french fries dipped in a milkshake.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Ew.”
I kissed the tip of his nose. “But, more than that, I won’t be able to sleep a wink until I know you’re safe. And one thing I can help with is my fucking mother.”
He licked his lips. “I’m gonna miss the hell out of you while you’re gone.”
I blinked. “So, does that mean ‘yes’?”
He gripped my chin. “You are to keep yourself as safe as possible. If you get into trouble, you call me and I’ll make it happen. I want to send a guard with you as well, just in case--.”
I shook my head. “No guards.”
“What?”
“No guards and no fancy clothes. Teo, my mother is a borderline genius. If she catches even a whiff that I’ve got some sort of alliance somewhere to anyone, she’s going to attack. And fast.”
He ground his teeth together. “You drive a hard bargain.”
“But, since you’re agreeing to do this my way…”
I cast him a look and he rolled his eyes. “Yes, we’ll do it your way.”
I smiled softly. “… then I suppose I owe you for what you’re giving me.”
He shook his head. “The doctor said no sexual activity until--.”
Traitor: An Enemies to Lovers Mafia Romance (Sold to The Don Book 3) Page 11
