Quiet Wealth by J.L. Drake

I had one of the steadiest hands out there. It took a lot to cause it to waver, and it was why I was good at my part of the business. But seeing someone threaten Sienna nearly brought on the shakes.

She closed her eyes and turned her face into my chest, and I glared at my friend who had almost got her killed.

“It was just a misunderstanding.” Mariano sounded irritated. “I had it under control.”

The gun twitched in my hand. He was incredibly stupid at the worst of times.

“Sienna, the guy who is holding you is my business partner.” He then looked at me. “They wouldn’t’ve hurt her.”

Sienna was molded to my chest, and it brought back memories of her lying next to me on the lounge chair, looking up at the stars.

“Hey.” I rubbed a hand down her back and spoke gently. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” Her voice betrayed her words, and her body trembled beneath my touch.

“Just focus on breathing.” I coached her through the shock. “What the hell was that about?”

Mariano shrugged like it was an everyday occurrence that these men were in his house threatening him.

“It was a misunderstanding, Elio. Don’t pull the rank card just yet.” He poured himself a drink and handed Sienna one from the table. “Drink up, dear.” She reached to take it, but I could see she didn’t want it and her hand shook as she held it. Who would want a used drink poured for someone else, perhaps the man who almost killed her? “It will help with the nerves.”

I took the glass from her and tossed it in the bar sink, shattering the glass.

“You’re slipping, Mariano. Everyone sees it!” I shouted, and as Sienna stepped back, I pressed her into me again.

“Sienna,” Mariano pulled her attention to him, and I slowly let her out of my hold, “you’re good, right?”

She nodded, but her raised shoulders told me otherwise.

“Why is she even here?” I saw red with him for involving her in this whole thing. I had sacrificed my own happiness to keep her out of this hell.

He started to grow annoyed with me and rubbed his face with a groan. “I thought she was in the pool.”

“Sienna,” I addressed her myself, “what did you hear?”

“Nothing.” She answered too quickly and continued to avoid eye contact with me.

“See, nothing to worry about, boss.” He smiled at me, and I wanted to drill my fist into his skull.

“Has he exposed you to anything else, Sienna?” I had to know, but I also knew I was asking in the worst way.

She glanced at him then lowered her gaze back to the floor.

“No, nothing.”

I licked the inside of my mouth and fisted my hand to control my temper that was about to blow.

“I’m tired of cleaning up your messes, Mariano.” I kept my voice calm. “But if you don’t smarten up, you’re going to ruin what we all have worked so hard for.”

“Thanks for the pep talk.” He snickered but stepped back when I stepped forward. “I need to make some calls.” He left us alone in the room, and everything suddenly became very intense.

Sienna’s gaze was still glued to the floor, and I wondered if what just happened was too much for her to handle.

“So,” she said slowly, “he knows my face?”

I closed my eyes and cursed Mariano.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Sienna.”

Her head shot up, and I saw I struck a chord.

“Forgive me for not believing you.”

Ouch. “Believe it or not, I kept my promise.”

“Right.” Her face scowled, and my rage bubbled up even further in my chest. She was the only one I would allow to speak to me like that.

“It’s true.”

She held up a hand and started to walk by me, but I blocked her path and steered her back against the wall. I used my height and weight and curled myself around her, trapping her so she couldn’t escape.

A light pink blush kissed her face just like when we were younger, when she was turned on.

Interesting…

I admired her toned skin and plump breasts that were half covered by her pink bikini. She smelled like coconut and fresh shampoo.

She tilted her head up, and I spotted her necklace. Using the tip of my finger I traced the thin chain from her shoulder, to her collarbone, down her chest, and to the side of her smooth breast to finger the two pendants. I was immediately tossed into the memory of giving it to her.

I couldn’t believe she still had it, let alone still wore it.

“Elio.” Her warm breath shot up at me, and I was instantly aroused.

“You still have this…” I stated and slipped my hand in between her robe and across her bare hip.

“I keep the things I love close.” She looked away.

“I can’t believe you’re here right now.” I missed being lost in her. I leaned down and ran my nose along her earlobe and into her hair like I used to do. “I missed this.”

I felt her body go stiff, and I knew I went too far.

“Whose fault is that?” Both her hands went to my chest and gently pushed me backward. I allowed it, as I knew this process would take baby steps. “I’m not yours to touch or play mind games with anymore.”

“I’m not playing mind games, Sienna.” I purposely reached out and hooked my fingers through hers to show I could still touch her.

“I’m not like you, Elio.” She wiggled free and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. “I can’t just turn that switch back on.”

“It’s not a goddamn switch.” I pointed to my chest. “It’s us, Sienna, it’s what we’ve always had. An unexplainable connection, love.”

“Love.” She laughed like I was mad. “You have a pretty horrible way of showing love, Elio.”

My phone rang, and I knew who it was. I cursed and pulled it from my coat pocket.

“What?” I almost yelled into the phone as I kept my eyes on her, not wanting to look away.

“We found another rat.”

I rubbed my forehead, beyond frustrated.

“Get him ready. I’ll be there in ten.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

I tucked my phone away, and when I looked back over at her, she was watching me. Lord, she was gorgeous. Her perfect lips that were meant for me had turned into a scowl.

“You better go.”

“This isn’t over.” I waited a beat then kissed her cheek and peeled myself away, rounding the corner where Vinni and Niccola were waiting for me. “I don’t care who, but one of you needs to watch her at all times. She is not to be alone here. Ever.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Vinni answered for both of them.

“Good.” I whisked past them and out the door and into my car. I spun out of the driveaway and floored it down the hill on my way to the dockyard. Her scent was all over me, and I tried to focus on what I needed to do, but I was hard and tightly wound. I hadn’t felt this out of sorts since the day we got the call to leave the island.

My patience was gone as I skidded to a stop and slammed the car door. I slipped my gloves on as I walked up to the man who waited for me.

“He won’t say anything, boss.” Donatello folded his arms, clearly as annoyed as I was. I pulled back my fist and started to pound on his face then his body. I lost count how many times I punched him, but when he couldn’t hold himself up anymore, I pushed him to the ground.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk?” I held up a container of gasoline and a box of matches, but when he rolled his head to look away, I doused him, threw a lit match, and watched as his body burned.

“Why are you taking out your own men?” Donatello stood next to me as I lit a cigar. “It just seems kind of backward to me.”

“Or brilliant,” I hissed and blew out, letting the smoke rise to mingle with the smoke and screams from the man who lay writhing at our feet.

He nodded, but I could see he wasn’t sure where I was going with that. Nothing like forcing me to do the dirty work to remove my own men. I felt like I was plucking them off one by one, leaving an open trail for whoever was behind this.

“I want you there tonight, I’m tired of this shit.”

“Yeah, boss.” He snapped his fingers, and two men came closer, waiting to dispose of the body.

“Hey!” I ran my tongue along the inside of my teeth. “Take a photo and let it circulate as a warning to the others.”

“Will do.”

Slowly, I made my way back to my car where I finished my cigar then tossed it in the trash and headed for my parents’ place. The entire way, my mind flipped from the one woman I’d ever loved suddenly being here, to the faces of the men I’d once known and trusted, who I considered an extension of my family. It drove me mad. There were too many unanswered questions. The worst part was when I turned on the cooling system, Sienna’s smell swirled around the car like the smoke from my fine cigar. As I pulled into the roundabout driveway, my mother greeted me in the entryway.

“Did you see her?”

“Yes.” I kept walking to the kitchen.

“And?”

“And what?”

“Elio Capri.” I stopped with a sigh and turned around to find my mother with her hands on her hips. “That girl was like my daughter for years. Your father saw her, and now you have, twice. I want to know how she is…now!”

I slipped out of my gasoline-smelling suit jacket and draped it over the maid’s arm. She whisked it away without comment. I rolled up my dress shirt while I thought about the right words to use.

“Elio,” she snapped impatiently.

“She’s Sienna, still gorgeous and has a new bite to her personality. She’s pissed and hurting, but…” I paused, remembering how good it felt to have her in my arms again.

“What?”

“She’s still wearing the necklace I gave her with the two pendants.”

Her hands went to her mouth as she let out a breath. “That’s something, isn’t it?”

“We’ll see.” I wasn’t getting too excited yet. We had a long way to go first.

“Do you…” She came closer. “Do you still feel the same way?”

“Yes.” There was no denying it. I was still captivated by her.

“Little steps, my son. You’ll get there.”

“What about Mariano?”

“We don’t know exactly what, if anything, they have between them. Besides, Mariano doesn’t share a past with her. Elio, you and she have deep roots in your relationship. She loved you once, and she’ll find her way back to you again. Just give her a little time and help her remember what you had.”

“Agreed.” I rubbed my head, thinking it was possibly the worst time for her to show up.

“Besides, Mariano is a selfish man-whore who doesn’t think about anyone but himself. She’s smart and will see that quickly.”

I grinned at her choice of words, but she was right. He was self-involved, and over the years he had gotten worse.

“Now, go get cleaned up.” She turned away. “You have twenty minutes to get that smell off of you.”

I headed upstairs to my old room where I had the convenience of a second wardrobe.

“Son.” My father stopped me at the bottom of the stairs. “Another one?”

“Yeah.

“Has it been dealt with?”

“Yes.”

“By you?” I nodded. “Why don’t you let someone else handle it?”

“Fear is a weapon, Father. You taught me that, remember? It can’t be seen, you can feel it, you know it’s there, but it’s faceless until…” I held my arms open as if to say until they see me.

“Very well, then.”

“Oh!” I turned back around. “How was she when you spoke to her?”

His face slipped, and I could see it hadn’t gone as well as he had wished. “She’s hurt and angry, son. We just need to figure out what Mariano is up to. Give it some time.”

“Clearly, I’m not a patient man…but a few more weeks won’t kill me, I suppose, though I can’t promise Mariano’s fate.”

“You and me both.” He nodded and left as I rushed to get ready for dinner.

A black dress shirt with my sleeves rolled up with a pair of dress pants was normally as casual as I got when we were hosting a dinner. Especially when it was a dinner with Mariano’s family.