by Penelope Sky
Cane lowered his hand, his eyes concentrating on my face. “That’s quite a compliment.”
“I like your daughter. I’ve spent time with her and Vanessa in Florence. It’s hard to believe she’s your daughter because she’s pragmatic and easygoing.”
Crow chuckled. “Ouch.”
“Whenever we’re together, I look after her.” I didn’t tell him I scared off the boys that weren’t good enough for her. No father wanted to picture his daughter being hit on in a bar. “I always walk her to her door and make sure she gets inside. I’d give my life to protect her—because I respect her.” Cane had threatened to kill me if I came near his daughter again, but I was the best person to keep an eye on her. I could get to her in two minutes if she ever needed anything. That was a lot more than Cane could say.
For the first time, Cane was speechless. He stared at me in silence, having no idea what to say.
I held his gaze, wanting him to feel like shit for the way he treated me. Everything he ever said to me was hypocritical. Crow told me Pearl was a prisoner when he fell in love with her. I imagined Cane’s story with Adelina wasn’t much different. These men were hypocrites, out of touch with reality. They only trusted each other—and no one else. But they’d been wrong about me.
Cane cleared his throat and extended his hand again. “I don’t expect you to like me. Not very many people do…”
“Including me,” Crow said.
“And me,” Pearl added.
Cane rolled his eyes as he kept his hand extended. “But I’ve got your back, Griffin. You have my loyalty and my trust. If you’re ever in a jam, I’ll fight by your side until your enemies are dead. You have my word.”
I didn’t need his pledge of loyalty. I didn’t need anything from him or the rest of the Barsetti clan. But I shook his hand anyway, knowing I needed to move forward instead of live in the past. “I don’t want anything from you. The only thing I want is now mine.” Once the handshake was completed, I dropped my palm.
Cane gave a slight nod. “I respect that. I admire a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.” He turned back to the table.
Now that the greetings were over, we sat down at the large wooden table. The men were drinking scotch, while Pearl enjoyed a glass of wine. I sat on the other side of Conway, leaning back against the wooden backboard of the chair. I remembered how the cool material felt against my skin when I was handcuffed there.
Crow started the conversation. “Griffin told me he’s done work for the Skull Kings before. He has a closer relationship with them than any of us. I think we should have him attempt to establish a meeting with them. None of us is looking for increased hostilities. Even if we have to apologize and pay back everything Conway made, I’m fine with that.”
“If this were thirty years ago, I’d say we take them out,” Cane said. “But you’re right. If these hostilities continue, our kids will be fighting this war long after we’re gone.”
Conway sat in silence, his arms crossed over his chest.
“So how should we do this?” Pearl asked. “Maybe we should try calling instead. Less invasive.”
I shook my head. “No. That’s pussy shit.”
The men turned their gazes on me.
“They don’t respect cowardice,” I continued. “It’ll only agitate them even more.”
“A phone call isn’t cowardly,” Pearl said.
“It is,” I said. “If you really want them to take you seriously, it needs to be face-to-face. If a man is truly powerful, he has no problem walking onto their turf. If you’re too scared to do that, they think they can run you over.”
“We defeated their entire team,” Cane said. “I think we have more credentials than that.”
“You asked for my help,” I snapped. “I’m giving it to you. Don’t be stupid and not take it.”
Cane didn’t take offense to the comment. “Then what do you suggest?”
“I walk into the Underground first and talk to Tony. Tell him you want me to broker a peace treaty. I’ll listen to what he says. If they agree, I’ll call you and you’ll walk in. If they don’t, we’ll need a backup plan. We’ll have to threaten them.”
“No.” Crow set down his glass. “I don’t want to escalate the situation.”
“If they don’t cooperate, you have no other choice.” Showing fear wasn’t an option. “You need to prove that your peace offering is one of convenience. You’re doing it because it’s in your best interest, like you may want to do business with them in the future. If you say you’re just looking for a quiet life in the countryside, they won’t respect that. And if they choose to be hostile, you need to pose a threat that gives them pause. Then they’ll see that peace is more convenient, and they’ll go for it.”
“I’ve been involved with the Skull Kings in the past,” Cane said. “Trust me, you don’t want to threaten them.”
“And if you really know them, then you’ll know that threatening them is the only option,” I countered. “Holding your respect in the conversation is vital. Backing down is just as bad as pulling the trigger.”
After a pause, Cane nodded. “He’s right.”
“What kind of threat?” Crow asked. “Thirty years ago, we could pull off something spectacular, but now, we don’t have many tricks up our sleeve.”
“They care about the auction more than anything else,” Cane said. “It’s their biggest source of income, and it’s easy to manage. If we disturb that convenience, it could hit them where it hurts.”
“Yes,” I said in agreement. “We could threaten to tell their enemies exactly what they’re doing and where to find the girls. If they take a diplomat’s daughter, all we have to do is tell that diplomat and the government where the girl is being held. If we do that enough times, they’ll have more enemies than they can handle. The Italian government won’t be able to look the other way anymore, not when a potential war is standing on their doorstep. They could threaten us in return, saying they’ll kill everyone we’ve ever loved, but that threat won’t be fulfilling, not when we’ve disturbed something they care so much about.”
“Sounds tricky,” Pearl said. “I’m not sure how I feel about it.”
“And I don’t want to drag you into it,” Crow said. “You have nothing to do with this. You shouldn’t risk getting involved.”
I didn’t want to dance with the Skull Kings either, but I wanted to eradicate this threat. This situation affected Vanessa, and in order to keep her safe, I needed to fix the problem Conway caused. “This situation directly affects Vanessa. I have to make sure it’s addressed properly. Since you took out the entire team that was supposed to execute Conway, they already recognize you as a serious threat. If you walk in there with me, they’ll know you have more allies than they realize. They respect me immensely. Having me by your side is only going to help you fix this mess.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Cane asked. “You aren’t obligated.”
“Yes.” I wanted to make sure this was done right. I didn’t want anything to ever take Vanessa away from me again. “So I’ll go in first. Once I get their agreement, I’ll bring in the next person. Not everyone can step inside that meeting. It’ll be considered aggressive if we bring the entire clan.” If all the Barsettis marched in there, it would be too claustrophobic. And there certainly couldn’t be any women.
“I’ll go,” Crow volunteered instantly, stepping up as the patriarch of the family. “I’ll wait outside, and you call me in. I’ll handle the Skull Kings, hand over the money, and hope for the best.”
“I will too,” Cane said. “The three of us.”
“No.” Crow turned his forceful stare on his brother. “You can’t come, and you know exactly why.”
A silent conversation passed between them, and Cane didn’t press his argument.
“Then I will come,” Conway said. “I’m the one—”
“No.” Crow didn’t look at his son, as if the idea of bringing him along disturbed him. “O
ut of the question. You have a pregnant wife who needs you.”
“Father,” Conway pressed. “This is my mess and—”
“You aren’t coming.” Crow finally looked at him. “That’s final, Conway.” He silenced his son with his authority, his darkened eyes adding to his volatile persona.
Conway clenched his jaw tightly, clearly pissed off that he wasn’t getting his way.
“Your father is right, Con.” Pearl moved her hand to Crow’s thigh under the table. “You need to stay here with Sapphire.”
“That’s bullshit.” Conway couldn’t keep his anger back even though his father had just silenced him. “I’m the one who fucked everything up. I’m the one who should pay the price. It shouldn’t be Father—”
“That’s how it’s going to be.” Crow turned furious again, his rage filling the entire room. “I told you how important it was to live a quiet and peaceful life, to earn an honest living and not to provoke the demons that surround us. But you didn’t listen to me. Now we’re in this mess, and I will not let anything happen to you. You’re my son, and I would rather die than bury you in the cemetery next to my mother and father. You will be a father tomorrow or the next day or the next day…and that’s when you will understand this.” He grabbed his glass and took a long drink, like he needed the booze to calm his shaking hand. “That will be your punishment. To watch your father risk his life for you—again.”
Pearl’s eyes moved to her husband’s face. “Crow…”
I watched this man come apart right before my eyes, saw the love and anger dance across the surface of his eyes. He was selfless, loving his family so much that he put himself through hell to keep them together. His kids were the most important thing to him, so important that he would continually stand in the middle of gunfire and sacrifice himself—over and over.
As much as I hated to admit it, I respected him.
And I understood why he worked so hard to keep me from his daughter.
Conway lowered his gaze, hurt by his father’s words.
I let the silence soak into my flesh, felt the tension seep into my bones. The Barsettis weren’t that complicated to understand. The two brothers constantly worked together to protect the families they’d made. Crow wouldn’t allow Cane to help him with this, knowing he needed one brother to survive to protect the rest of the family.
Now I wanted to do this alone. I wanted to protect the Barsetti family—and not just because I loved Vanessa. “Nothing will happen to you, Crow. I promise you that.”
Crow turned his gaze back to me. “That’s a promise you can’t make, Griffin.”
“Actually, I can.”
I’d just walked out the door and headed to my truck when Pearl called my name. “Griffin.”
I turned around, my shoes digging into the gravel beneath my feet.
She caught up to me, her long dress nearly touching the ground beneath her feet. Her hair was pulled back into a loose bun, revealing the sharp angles of her face as well as her pretty eyes. She wore a wedding ring on her left hand, a simple button molded into the metal.
Now that I knew their story, the button made complete sense. “Yes?”
She walked with me to the truck, her perfume potent the second she was close to me. “You said you can guarantee my husband’s safety… Could you elaborate on that?” She was normally confident when she spoke to me, but talking about Crow shook the foundation beneath her feet.
I stopped at the truck, the waning afternoon sunshine starting to become less bright. “I know a lot of people, Mrs. Barsetti. I’ve been hired by the most powerful men in the world. I’ve done favors in exchange for loyalty instead of money. I know everyone in the underworld. My boys and I have made men indebted to us forever. If I ever need help, they’ll be there. At the Underground, I’ll be surrounded by men who will intervene if it comes to that. And I’ve done favors for the Skull Kings myself, harbored secrets I’ve vowed to take to the grave. I’m the last person they want to cross—and I’m willing to cash all that in if necessary.”
Relief flashed across her eyes as she took in a deep breath. She placed her hands over her face, covering her expression for a second so I couldn’t see her reaction. In front of her husband and children, she was always poised and strong, but the second they were gone, she showed her true anguish. Vanessa was the same way, only dropping her mask when we were alone together.
“I’m the silent king. I rule with both loyalty and fear. The Skull Kings respect me, and if I ask them to drop this, they will. But it’ll make it a lot easier if Crow presents some peace offering, like the money that should have been theirs. Then their egos are left intact, and they won’t feel like they lost anything. I don’t cash in my favors very often, but I will do it this time. It’s in my best interest to make sure your husband gets back here in one piece.”
She dropped her hands, showing her wet eyes and trembling lips. “I’m so sorry for what I did to you, Griffin…”
I wasn’t expecting an apology. I was expecting gratitude, especially since she’d already said these words to me.
“I’m so sorry that I took my daughter away. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I’m sorry I hurt you so much…” She wiped her fingers underneath her eyes to remove the tears and fix her smeared makeup. “You’re so wonderful, and I should have loved you from the beginning, not banished you. I judged you for the sins of your father instead of getting to know the man you truly are. I was unfair and cruel. You’ve done so much for my family when you didn’t have to. You love my daughter as much as I do…as much as Crow does…and that makes me so happy.” She moved into my chest and hugged me, her tears smearing against my t-shirt.
I let her hold on to me for a moment before I rested my hand against her back. I felt strange touching her, felt strange touching someone other than Vanessa. Once Vanessa was mine, I didn’t even shake hands with another woman. My body was hers and hers alone.
When she pulled away, her eyes were no longer swelling with tears. “I don’t expect you to forgive me—”
“I do.”
Her eyes moved to mine, heavy with surprise.
I didn’t know why I blurted out those words, not when I’d been harboring anger for so long. But something about Pearl softened me. Maybe it was the similarities she shared with Vanessa. Maybe it was because she was a woman. Or maybe it was because she reminded me of my mother. I’d always had a soft spot for strong women, for women who only broke down into tears out of love for someone else, not because of self-pity.
“Will you have dinner with me? There’s a cute little place just down the road.” She looked at me with hesitation, like she wasn’t sure if I would agree to something so unorthodox.
“Just you and me?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to make Crow angry.” There had never been a time when he’d allowed me to be alone with his wife. When I first came to the winery, he made sure I never had direct access to her. He was always around, watching over her like a guard watching a prisoner.
“You won’t,” she said. “He trusts you, Griffin.”
I drove us to a little restaurant ten minutes away. It was in a village so small I wasn’t sure what the name was. We sat inside the quaint building constructed of cobblestone at a table for two in the corner. The chair was a little small for my size, and I hoped the legs wouldn’t give out on me.
Pearl ordered a bottle of wine for the table and looked at the menu. “Crow brought me here when we were first getting to know each other. The waitress was making subtle moves on him, and I got extremely jealous.” She smiled at the memory, still scanning her menu.
Had she still been a prisoner at the time? I looked at the menu and picked out the first thing that looked good. I’d never sat across from Vanessa’s mom like this, just the two of us without another Barsetti around.
It was strange.
The waitress returned, and we both ordered.
I was glad the waitress was being quick with our se
rvice. I didn’t hate Pearl, but this situation was too intimate for me. I never dined with anyone but Vanessa. Even when I had a woman in my life, we didn’t go out to dinner. It was all straight to business—fucking. Pearl was the only woman I’d been out with besides Vanessa.
She stared at me, a slight smile on her lips and affection in her eyes. “Let me pay for dinner tonight. It’s the least I can do…”
That was even stranger, but I didn’t make an argument against it.
My phone started to vibrate in my pocket. I fished it out and saw Vanessa’s name on the screen. I’d slipped out while she was at work, so she had no idea where I was. If it had been someone else, I would have ignored the call. I answered. “Hey, baby.”
“Where are you? Are you picking up dinner?” I liked the slight anger in her voice, the disappointment she felt when she didn’t see me on the couch when she walked through the door. Possessive like I was, she wanted me all the time. When that didn’t happen, she got angry.
“Sorta.”
“Meaning?” she asked, growing angrier.
I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my lips. “I like it when you get mad.” When I spoke to Vanessa, I forgot about her mother altogether, who was listening to the conversation.
“I’m not mad,” she said defensively. “I just want to know where you are. You didn’t tell me you were going anywhere.”
“You don’t tell me where you’re going, and I never ask,” I reminded her. Vanessa did whatever she wanted without asking for my approval or permission. If she wanted to see Carmen at the flower shop, she didn’t mention it to me. If she wanted to go out, she did that too.
Vanessa was quiet, knowing I had her cornered.
“Just admit that you hate when I’m not home.” I leaned back in my chair, enjoying the anger simmering in her silence.
“I just wanted to know where you were…that’s all.”
“Sure, baby.”
