The Venuto family was the most successful of the five major families in New York City. Some attributed it to the fact that Giovanni Trainello had been a smart leader. Others, that he kept a strong army.
But in the past year, Lucas had come to understand that the reason was more complicated than that. Or perhaps simpler. Giovanni Trainello had been a fair man. And as a result, he inspired loyalty in others, commanding a respect that trumped smarts and fear any day of the week.
He squinted at Gia, seeing the same quality in her.
“So are you going to share the information with me? Or do you want me to guess?”
she asked.
Lucas smiled, only then realizing that he had yet to continue. “Are you familiar with the name Giglio?”
She went silent for a moment, apparently thinking. “Are you talking about Carlo Giglio? Wasn’t he one of Dad’s soldiers?”
“His top hit man.”
She nodded. “Wasn’t he convicted in two of his many killings? Received two life sentences?”
“Yes.” He admired her recall ability. “But his attorney just sprung him on a technicality.”
Gia’s brows rose. “When?”
“Yesterday morning.”
Her hand again made its way to her fabric-covered throat.
He didn’t like sharing this kind of information with her. Not if it meant watching the unbearable flash of expressions on her beautiful face.
At the same time, he hoped it would give him the leverage he needed to get her to drop her stubborn vendetta and allow him to protect her.
“Has he tried to contact the family yet?”
Smart girl. “No. At least not directly.”
“Meaning he hasn’t called Vito?”
“Meaning that, yes.”
“Who has he been in contact with?”
Lucas considered the chair in front of him but decided to remain standing. “The Guarino brothers.”
The color blanched from her face.
Joey and Gino weren’t members of rival families. They were long-standing members of the Venuto family, their status coming into question for the first time a week ago when they refused to honor a debt owed to Gia’s father. Or, rather, they refused to recognize her as the new, however temporary, head of the family.
“Are you sure?”
“As sure as I can be about anything of this nature. Vito himself shared the news with me just now.”
She absently scratched her forehead, considering the information.
Coincidence that an attempt would be made on her life mere hours after one of the Venuto family’s head hit men should be given a get-out-of-jail-free card? Lucas didn’t think so.
“But he was still in prison when my father was hit.”
Lucas nodded. “That he was.”
He didn’t say anything further because both of them knew that there were plenty of examples of family heads continuing to run their entire operation from behind bars. It wasn’t easy. And it required the institution of a whole new language in order to do so, along the lines of “buying a side of beef” meaning hit him now, immediately. “Grill some steaks” meaning burn down someone’s business.
“Ask her out on a date” might mean take Gia Trainello out. Permanently.
Gia looked at him point-blank. “Have you ever met Giglio?”
Lucas was surprised by the question. “Actually, I have. I originally represented him in the two murder trials until the case took a nosedive and your father pulled me off in exchange for a closer.”
A closer was an attorney renowned for making great closing statements that more times than not convinced the jury to swing his way. An orator, a pleader, a consummate liar.
Little had Giovanni known that Lucas was more than capable in all those departments.
Still, he hadn’t argued the reassignment. It hadn’t been easy repping a guy he knew was responsible for countless deaths.
“What kind of impression did he make on you?”
Lucas considered her. “Do you mean, did he look like a mass murderer?”
She frowned. “Something like that.”
“Surprisingly, no, he didn’t. He looked like Uncle Marco down the block. An unassuming type of guy you wouldn’t look twice at if you passed him on the street.” He shrugged. “One who definitely supports the saying that you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
“Do you think he’s behind the attempt on my life last night?”
Lucas couldn’t be sure. But telling Gia that wouldn’t further his objective.
“Depends on how much stock you put into coincidences.”
She nodded.
“Then tell Vito to pull him in.”
Lucas inwardly tensed at how casually she issued the order.
Pulling Giglio in didn’t mean invite him over for pasta and a chat. It meant literally pulling him by snatching him from his apartment or off the street and tying him to a chair in some remote location. Quite possibly torturing him to find out if he had anything to do with the attempted hit.
Nine times out of ten, it could also mean killing him, or nearly killing him, in order to extract the information.
Gia was watching him curiously, so Lucas said, “Do you want to be present for the meeting?”
He felt relieved at her visible wince. She swiveled in her chair to face the fireplace. “No. No, that won’t be necessary.”
“And if it’s determined that he had something to do with last night’s incident?”
She turned to face him fully, the hard-as-nails look back in her eyes.
“Then fire him.”
* * *
Gia sat at the kitchen counter, bent over a sheaf of papers concerning the Venuto family holdings, the only sound in the room of her pouring a splash of wine into her glass. She sipped the Chianti, then put the glass down and pinched the top of her nose.
It was after 2:00 a.m. One of Gia’s least favorite parts of the day. Gone were the back-to-back meetings and endless phone calls. Gone were the evolving theories on who might ultimately be responsible for her father’s death. Gone were the men constantly milling about the place trying to protect her and now going about their own business. Gone was Luca Paretti.
She picked the glass up again, her fingers tightening on the stem, and drained its contents, reaching for the bottle to refill it again.
She wasn’t exactly certain when it had happened, but soon after recovering from the shock of having Luca back in her life, in whatever professional manner, she’d begun to notice a desire within her to see him. A knock on her office door? She hoped it was Luca. Step out to stretch her legs? She hoped she’d run into him.
It was enough to drive a woman to distraction.
Or to drink.
She got up to discard the empty wine bottle and to open a new one.
She would have liked to blame the change in her long-held feelings for Luca on the precariousness of her current position. Or even on the lack of sleep, which she was definitely suffering from lately. It seemed as if all day she looked forward to these quiets moments to herself. Then when they arrived, she didn’t want them, or the fear and loneliness and grief they brought with them.
Any sort of muffled sounds from somewhere inside the house would shoot fear into her veins. And then all the things she hadn’t had time to think about during the day crowded in and demanded to be dealt with. She’d come up with an idea or have a question about one of her father’s accounts and there was no one around to discuss it with.
“Mind if I join you?”
Gia nearly dropped the bottle she held, so unprepared had she been to hear Luca’s voice from behind her.
“My God, scare the crap out of a body already.” She moved her free hand over her fluttering heart. Although surprise was mostly to credit for her reaction, she couldn’t ignore that his appearance when she’d longed for company—especially his company—was also responsible for her accelerated heart rate.
“What…what are you still
doing here?” she asked.
She’d been so certain she was alone in the house. Okay, perhaps alone wasn’t the word. Not with Lorenzo upstairs along with his nurses, and the guards out of sight but not out of mind.
“Vito and I had a few things to go over.”
Gia crowded the bottle of wine to her chest as she looked at him. “Define ‘things’.”
“The fact that we can’t seem to find Giglio.”
He passed her and took a wineglass from a shelf above the counter. He held his hand out for the bottle she still grasped like it was all that stood between her and a charging bull.
“Oh. Sorry.” She handed him the bottle.
His blue eyes sparkled at her as he poured himself some wine, and then refilled her glass.
“I was thinking about staying here for a while,” he said.
Gia blinked. He’d said the words as casually as if he’d been commenting on the weather.
Normally one might wait to be invited to stay as a guest at someone’s house. But even Gia realized that there was nothing normal about her situation…or the man before her who made her even more acutely aware of her loneliness.
“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” she said.
He handed her her glass. “Why?”
Should she tell him that sleeping at all was difficult enough without knowing he was under the same roof? Mere doors away from hers? Sleeping between sheets that had come from the house’s linen closet? Showering under the same spray provided by a common water source?
Being around every corner as she often found herself hoping throughout the day?
To include nights in that…
“I just don’t,” she said, passing him. She put her glass on the counter and began gathering the papers she’d been studying.
“Not a good enough reason.”
“Yes, well, you’re not the one calling the shots here, are you?” She turned to face him. First mistake.
“No. I suppose I’m not.”
He stepped imperceptibly closer. Gia’s pulse leaped and she was suddenly hot all over.
“Tell me, Gia,” he said softly, his gaze dropping to her mouth and then back up again. “What’s the real reason you give me the cold shoulder every time our paths cross?”
Gia found herself wetting her lips.
“Is it because you can’t stand to be near me?” He reached out and fingered a strand of her hair. “Or could it be that you don’t trust yourself when we’re alone?”
“There’s another option in there somewhere.”
“Such as?”
Gia swallowed hard, suddenly wishing the little distance that remained between them would disappear. Not just physically but emotionally.
The truth was, she missed the onetime closeness she’d shared with Luca so many years earlier. Somewhere down the line she’d managed to convince herself that what they had shared had been a summer fling, puppy love, an unrealistic relationship as viewed through the rose-colored glasses only a teenager could get away with wearing. And by doing so, she could dismiss it.
But she’d also come to understand that if you exchanged rose-colored glasses for more practical shades, the world looked gray.
In many instances, she preferred to view it pink.
“Like maybe you no longer have a place in my life,” she said.
He put his glass down on the counter next to hers and then pushed both aside.
“Oh, I don’t know. From where I stand, I think there might be a small place for me to sneak in.” He stepped closer still, his warm breath fanning her heated cheeks. “A tiny spot I’m determined to claim.”
Gia’s throat tightened as he leaned in and pressed his mouth against hers…
Chapter 7
Gia tasted like dry red wine and yearning.
The last thing on Lucas’s mind when he’d gone to the kitchen to get something to drink had been to seduce the house’s current mistress. But when he’d seen her standing there clutching the wine bottle between her full breasts and looking at him like he was just the person she’d wanted to see, he’d been all too ready to react to it.
He was, after all, a mere mortal.
And he doubted few men could have resisted Gia, no matter the mixed signals she gave him whenever he saw her.
Right now, right this minute, she wanted him. And in case he needed further proof of that, she gave it to him. In spades.
The instant his lips touched hers, he felt a spark arc powerfully from her to him. She seemed to sigh against his lips, her body curving into his, her mouth opening not only to give him access to the sweet depths, but also so she could explore the inside of his.
Not in a million years anticipating her response, Lucas’s hands encircled her waist. He would have expected her to protest, or perhaps kiss him mildly and then pull away. So he was unprepared for his own reaction to her open and hot answer. The full rush of desire. The need to do everything to her that he’d been wanting since the first moment he’d laid eyes on her again after so long.
No matter that that had been at her father and brother’s funeral.
He splayed his hands out above her hips, his thumbs meeting with the bottom swell of her breasts. Her quick intake of breath robbed him of his. He pressed his hips against hers, letting her know of his arousal. And she pushed back, letting him know that she not only understood but that she felt the same.
Sweet Lord in heaven…
Lucas grasped her hips and lifted her to the counter. She was instantly accommodating, pulling him between her thighs and joining her ankles behind him, their kiss growing deeper and more urgent.
Damn, but he had missed her. While he’d had his share of temporary relationships over the years, nothing had compared to what he’d once felt with Gia. What he felt again now. It was as if she’d somehow managed to crawl under his skin, a part of him rather than something separate, setting him aflame with need.
Her fingers went to work on his tie and buttons, slipping her hands inside his shirt when both were only half undone. Her touch was bold and knowing as she pressed her palms against his nipples.
Lucas groaned, shoving his fingers into the back waist of her slacks until he met with the edge of her panties, no comparison to the silk of her skin. He tugged her shirt up and over her head, their mouths barely parting before finding each other again, continuing their kiss even as they shifted to completely remove the summer turtleneck. The instant the fabric whispered to the floor, Lucas honed in on the catch on her slacks, her own fingers fumbling with his belt.
Within moments they were completely nude, Gia’s taut nipples poking through the curly hair on his chest, his hands exploring the planes and valleys of her back.
He scooped her supple bottom into his hands and pulled her toward the edge of the counter where his erection throbbed. He wanted to lick her all over. He wanted to taste her skin against his tongue. Weigh her breasts in his hands.
Explore all the areas he had been longing to explore all week long.
But urgency refused him the leisurely path. He grasped her hips tightly and fit the tip of his engorged arousal just inside her slick wetness, testing her readiness.
She moaned and released her grip around his neck so that she might brace herself against the counter, the bucking of her hips forcing a deeper meeting.
Lucas clenched his teeth tightly and sank into her to the hilt, feeling oddly like it was the other way around and that she was filling him instead. Filling him to overflowing. With need. Pure, hot, unadulterated lust. With an urgency that only she could meet.
Gia arched her back and leaned back farther against her hands, allowing him free view of her magnificent body as he slowly withdrew and then deeply stroked her again. Her breasts swayed, her stomach trembled, every nuance fanning the flames within him more. He wasn’t thinking of what he needed to do, or the double life he was leading. He merely lost himself in the moment. In the feel, smell and touch of her.
Releasing his gri
p on her right hip, he lifted his hand to her breast, curving his fingers under the swollen, fleshy orb. Then he bent to take the tip into his mouth, sucking deeply even as he thrust into her again. One of her hands found its way to the back of his neck where she entangled her fingers into his hair and pulled slightly, the movement not designed to stop him but rather to encourage him.
He switched his attention to her other breast, licking and laving her enlarged nipple until he could feel her trembling through his connection with her.
Lucas then pulled away, withdrawing completely.
Gia blinked her dark eyes open and gasped in protest. He smiled at her, coaxing her to lie back even as he bent toward her stomach, running his tongue from the curve of her breasts down and then back up again, leaving her to wonder where he was heading. Although he didn’t need to consult a road map to know exactly where he wanted to go.
He dipped his tongue lower, to the top of her triangle of soft curls. He watched as she closed her eyes and stretched her neck back, as if incapable of bearing another moment of his teasing. Her thighs fell farther open, causing her womanhood to blossom like a pink flower before him, offering up its sweet beauty.
Lucas burrowed his tongue into her curls until he found her magic button, probing it gently, insistently.
Gia called out, climaxing immediately. Lucas held her flat to the counter with a hand on her stomach, relishing the sensation of the spasms kicking against his palm. He ran his tongue along the length of her slit, lapping up her hot juices, aware of the smell of her, the smell of him, on her engorged sex.
Her spasms calmed and he leisurely lapped her clean, no matter how hard his own erection, how fervently he wanted his own release. He moved his attention from her labia to her clit, nipping at the sensitive bit of flesh and earning a surprised cry from her before swirling his tongue around it and gently suckling.
Dangerous Page 5
