Until Her - Ami Van Page 0,13

at me or Ro because she thinks we’re beneath the twins.”

“That bitch is about to be your new sister-in-law,” Rory replies.

They’re all sitting in the office awaiting Isabella’s and Cristian’s arrival for a meeting. Not only will this be a business meeting but Matteo Romano is pushing them to get better acquainted. He’s not sure how much more acquainted he needed to be since he and Isabella fucked within the first hour of meeting each other.

“Are you going to introduce her to Jazzy?” Derrick asks him.

“Well, she’s going to have dinner with us so I guess so,” he answers.

He’s never let any of his women meet Jazzy before. But with both hands tied, it has to happen sooner or later. Thankfully, Stella has been busy in the kitchen and subtly prepping Jazzy about who’s coming.

“Where’s Brooks?” he asks Derrick.

“No clue,” Derrick replies with a shrug. “I haven’t seen him in a week. Maybe longer now that I think about it. He wasn’t here when we came back from New York.”

“That’s never good. Maybe we need to have someone check on that,” Rory warns. “Stella hasn’t been herself lately either. This whole thing is fucking with her head. She’s been hinting at going out on drops again.”

“Tell me about it,” Derrick mumbles. “Rian is about the only one who can get her to smile these days. She’s not sleeping well either. Paces most nights. And Rory, thanks for keeping her at bay. You know I don’t want her out on business anymore.”

“That’s not going to last for long,” Chase tells everyone with a snort.

He knows Stella. He knows her well enough to guess that she’s searching and trying to find any angle possible to get them out of the hole that she’s sort of helped dug them into. Plotting and finding angles is something that he would normally be doing too except treading carefully has taken precedence this time around. The Five were never people they wanted to fuck with and even though Dominic Mazzilli is Stella’s blood relative, it’s still unclear what the Don has planned for them.

Gut instinct voices to him that if the Don knew of a way to take Derrick out of the picture and still have Stella at his side, the man would go for it. Mazzilli didn’t get to his seat coddling a heart.

Stella’s mind is what draws him to her. He can always count on her to know what he’s thinking and what he’s feeling without him saying a word. Almost the same way it is between him and Derrick. He can always count on her to step up in this family. She’s proven herself time and time again, matching his astuteness and Derrick’s level of mercilessness. She loves his family just as fiercely as he does. Trust when he says, this bunch isn’t easy to love. The lengths that she would go to keep everyone together and unharmed are endless. It’s commendable but it also scares the shit out of him too.

“Here they come,” Elias informs everyone from his desk, his eyes glued to the monitors.

Derrick gets up and the four of them head out to the front of the mansion to greet their guests.

At least Isabella didn’t bring an entourage. She probably thinks it classy and a good show of power. It’s fucking pretentious more than anything else though. But only two town cars are pulling in on this trip.

“Dom didn’t give us a timeframe, Adam. You don’t need to rush things. Maybe there’s still a better way,” Derrick tells him before the first car door opens and a surprisingly thin lackey steps out to open the door for Cristian.

“I fucked her half an hour after meeting her. I don’t think I’m the one doing the rushing, brother.”

Derrick doesn’t respond. He didn’t have to because he’s one hundred percent sure Derrick already knows what’s going through his mind.

The ball is rolling and he’s just along for the ride right now. He’s never been one to wing things. They didn’t get to this position without cunningly plotting except even with all the brainstorming he’s been doing these days, he’s come up empty-handed. Winging shit is all he has left.

To his surprise yet again, a second scrawny man steps out from the second car and opens the door for Isabella. Do they not feed their men or is it a requirement that their soldiers stay lean and look like GQ models? The man stays standing by Isabella’s side while the other passenger door opens