down at me. “Come on,” he said. “It’s time for introductions.” I let him lead me like a lamb to the slaughter, not putting up a fight at all, as I came face-to-face with the most dangerous and deadly group of people I’ll ever meet.
He must have been able to feel my apprehension because he kept his hand on the small of my back as he introduced me to his family. “Remy, you’ve already met Ciro,” he said, and Ciro threw me a wink. “This is his wife, Robbie.”
She smiled and, Lord, she was pretty. “Hi, Remy,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too,” I mumbled like an idiot.
“This is Phoenix Fiore,” Luca continued and, Sweet Baby Jesus, the man smiled, and a pair of dimples flashed on his already perfect face.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Remy,” he said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“And this is Francesca Fiore,” Luca finished. “She’s Phoenix’s wife and Ciro’s sister.” His voice had taken a drastic turn when he introduced everyone else versus introducing Francesca. She was special to him and it was obvious to everyone in the room. “She also my very best friend.”
I gave her my undivided attention and talk about intimidation. She had the same golden gaze as her brother’s, and she looked flawless.
Francesca Fiore was a truly beautiful woman.
I, suddenly, felt like last week’s leftovers.
“It…it’s nice to meet you,” I said, holding my hand out to shake like an idiot. Francesca smiled and her face went from beautiful to radiant. She opened her arms and wrapped them around me in a hug I had not seen coming.
When she pulled back, her eyes were glassy. “It’s so wonderful to meet you,” she beamed. “I’m sorry I hugged you like a lunatic, but I’m so excited to finally meet you. Luca’s told me so much about you and I…I don’t know how to act in public sometimes.”
“Sometimes?” Ciro snorted.
Francesca hissed at him. “Shut up.”
“So, what was all the yelling about?” Phoenix asked, those dimpled still doing damage to the Universe.
“My proposal surprised her,” Luca replied dryly.
My eyes bugged out. I looked up at him. “That was a proposal?”
He smirked. “Well, technically, last night was my proposal.”
My face turned beet red.
“Stop it, Luca,” Francesca chided. “Her finger is still bare. Don’t give her a reason to run for the hills.”
“Then why’d we invite Ciro to lunch,” Phoenix asked.
“Fuck you, Nix,” Ciro replied. “I’m a delight.”
Francesca grabbed my hand and pulled me with her. “Don’t listen to them,” she said. “Let’s eat some lunch and get to know each other.”
I followed not entirely sure if I should break the news to her that there was no way in hell that anyone could ignore those three men.
Jesus Christ.
What was I getting myself into?
Chapter 15
Luca~
Things had gone better than I expected, considering.
At first, Remy had been nervous, and I didn’t blame her. Our reputations preceded us, and I knew I had thrown her off with the marriage comment, but what had she expected? I hadn’t been throwing flowery at her last night. I had meant every fucking word I said.
After lunch, everyone graciously let her have the floor, and she told them the basics about herself. She told everyone about her parents, that she was a social worker, and even about her friend, Anita. The second she had mentioned her friend’s name, Phoenix had his phone out, making notes to do a check on Anita and Gus Saint later.
Everyone had accepted Remy with open arms and were just waiting for her to accept her fate and position within the organization. I wanted to give Remy time to come to terms with everything, but I knew we didn’t have the time. Even if I hadn’t already gone public with her, Gio’s comments were still playing in the back of my mind and I needed Remy married to me to secure her safety. I wouldn’t put it past Gio to kill her or run her off in order to keep me from stepping up so soon.
“He was found last night with a bullet to the back of the head,” Phoenix said. “It was all done very clean like.”
During the after-lunch conversations, I noticed Remy only had her purse with her. When I had asked her where her bag was, she had told me she hadn’t brought one. She hadn’t been expecting to spend the night. From there it had gone to shit.
Sticking to tradition, I told her we were packing her apartment up this week,