Until Her - Ami Van Page 0,33
isn’t normally a blabbermouth. “They call themselves outlaws. They may be nationwide but they’re unpredictable. A bunch of boys wanting to show off who has the bigger guns. They unnecessarily draw too much attention and that’s bad for business. Since it seems this is a new business deal, did the Romanos reach out to this crew first?”
She nods. “Yes.”
“Why? It’s not a large enough deal to make the risk worthy and The Five don’t need the heat that could come with this.” He doesn’t mention that Isabella made good note that the Don of the Midwest famiglias was looking forward to this deal.
“I-I’m not sure,” she says with her eyebrows nearly touching. “Since Don Pietro died, Isabella and Cristian had been worried about loyalty. I-I think they’re looking for more alliances because they can’t trust people to stay with them.”
He can see why. Those two siblings know their heads from their asses. He can only imagine how they wouldn’t know how to handle real business. And with Matteo never having much of a hand in the family business on account that he handles business for other families, he doubts the man paid any attention to the Romano empire either.
But the information about loyalty being questioned can be useful. He’ll have to dig for more info on their capos.
“Do you think they have people who want to take over their empire?” he asks for her opinion.
“I-I know there are,” she replies. “People tend to speak freely around me. As…as if I don’t exist. I am but a whore in a whorehouse.”
“Don’t call yourself that,” he snaps.
She flinches and he nearly apologizes. Instead, he merely holds his hand up as a show that he meant no harm. He came too close to losing his shit though.
“Maybe some tea for yourself?” he asks. “This is going to be a long talk.”
She doesn’t say anything and he gives her the out that she needs.
She gets out of her seat and quickly retreats to the kitchen. He takes the time to compose himself as well. This is going to be a long talk indeed if he’s going to want to snap every time she makes remarks like that.
He takes a deep breath. And this is only the beginning of this fucking talk. Why the fuck was he insistent on being the one to do this? She would have been more comfortable with Stella.
That’s a fucking dumb ass question if there ever was one.
He knows exactly why.
“I think I know why you’ve been working off a neverending debt,” he mumbles to her while she makes an omelet.
“You do?” she turns and asks in all seriousness even though she seems to have tremendously relaxed now.
They’re both relaxed. He lost his jacket hours ago and his sleeves are rolled up. They’re both in the kitchen after a two hour Q&A session and her stomach was audibly growling. It was worth it to learn the list of individuals he needs to have Elias research AND to get to spend the time with her.
“This coffee is fucking horrible!” he exclaims. “How have you not killed them with this yet?” he asks.
She gasps and her mouth widens into the perfect “O” before she slaps a hand to cover it. That didn’t help the burst of laughter that spills out anyway. It’s a fucking symphony. The way her shoulders shake and her body trembles from the unrestrained reaction is a sight for sure.
Admittedly, her mouth forming that perfect “O” does a thing or two to him also. He shifts in his seat before he makes a fool of himself and clears his tightening throat. He’d allow her to see his smirk though. She’s earned it.
“I’m…I’m sorry,” she apologizes once she calms down a little. “They didn’t drink much coffee and when they did, it was always the perfect cup with a Keurig machine.”
He gets out of his chair and walks over to the sink where he pours the dark poison down the drain. She laughs at his dramatics and he can’t help but roll his eyes at her. Making her smile and laugh is already climbing his list of to-do’s now.
“Please tell me the omelet is going to help me recover,” he says pointing at the slowly cooking food on the stovetop.
“I can hold my own,” she says with pride. “I’m not on the same level as Chef Stella but I can manage.”
An electric current whips between them like a lasso and he finds himself wanting to be closer to her. He