Envy by Eve Marian

16

Giancarlo

Natacha said she needed a few minutes.

“Take your time,” I said and she kissed me quickly before jogging upstairs.

As I walked back into the dining room, four pairs of eyes stared at me.

Sitting down, I adjusted the napkin on my lap. Vito grabbed a piece of bread and soaked up the remaining tomato sauce inside his plate.

I cleared my throat and stabbed a forkful of gnocchi. Bringing the pasta closer to my mouth, I held it in the air as the women watched me.

“What?” I asked, then shoved the food into my mouth.

“Um,” Sienna said hesitantly, “is Natacha not joining us?”

I chewed slowly, considering my response. “No. She decided to lie down in the spare room upstairs for a bit. She isn’t feeling well.”

“Mmm,” Nonna said, taking a bite of her gnocchi and chewing slowly. “She seemed just fine before dinner.” Her lips curled at the ends, but I couldn’t tell if she was smiling.

“Yeah. But it sounded like she was crying or in pain a few minutes ago,” Vito added, stuffing his mouth with another piece of bread.

Sienna coughed, covering a laugh while Nonna didn’t hide her grin this time. Joanne looked as uncomfortable as I felt, fidgeting with her napkin.

Great, they had heard us. And Vito had to mention it.

“Shut up and eat your fucking dinner, Vito,” I said, stabbing another forkful of gnocchi.

Sienna threw her head back and laughed, joining my grandmother’s quivering shoulders.

*

“Are you ready to go now?” Vito stood in the foyer with his arms crossed over his black leather jacket. “What are you waiting for?”

Natacha hadn’t come down yet. More than thirty minutes had passed since she’d gone upstairs. I glanced up at the hallway, but she wasn’t there.

“Give me a minute.” I took the steps two at a time and walked toward the first door to my right. But when I opened the door, she wasn’t in the room either.

“Natasha,” I called and strode toward the bathroom.

“Oh, hi,” she said, walking out of the closet. “What are you doing here?”

I pursed my lips. “I came to check on you. Are you all right?”

She brushed the hair from her neck, her face was still flushed. “Yes, fine.”

She seemed on edge, but I didn’t know her well enough to say she was embarrassed about what happened downstairs. My guess, however, was that she was.

“Look, don’t worry about my family. We’ve been through a lot and there isn’t much any of us haven’t done or seen. Trust me, it’s no big deal.”

Her cheeks burned and she turned away. “Well, I can’t say the same. My parents never showed any affection in front of me, let alone…” She waved her hand back and forth between us and I couldn’t help but smile. “You know...”

I walked up to her and tilted her chin so I could look her in the eye. “I’m sorry if that embarrassed you, but you have no reason to hide. You’ll have to do more than that to disappoint my family. I think they like you.”

Her face brightened and she returned my smile. “I like them, too. That’s why I can’t face them.”

I placed my hands on her waist and rubbed her lower back. “My grandfather, when he was alive, God rest his soul, would pinch my grandmother’s butt any chance he got. And do you know what she did?”

She rolled her eyes. “What? Pinch him back?”

“No. She would cup his balls and tell him he better not start something he couldn’t finish. Then told him to get back to work.”

Natacha blurted out a laugh and dropped her head forward, resting it against my chest. She giggled for a few minutes and I pulled my arms around her.

“You see? You have nothing to be embarrassed about. Especially not in this family. We’re quite open about sex.”

She looked up. “Really? Are you going to tell me you even share your women with Vito?”

My hands fisted at her back. The thought of Vito holding Natacha like this, let alone being inside of her, irritated me. But what I didn’t understand was why. She wasn’t wrong. Vito and I have had plenty of threesomes together. I never cared about him sleeping with the same woman as me, but Natacha was different. I didn’t want to picture Vito kissing so much as her hand.

“No. I would never share you,” I said.

She looked up at me and bit her lip. “Why? Because I’m a good girl? What if I told you I want to be bad?”

My dick responded emphatically, yes, but I shook my head. “It’s not that. I respect the women I’ve been with and don’t judge them for it. In fact, I applaud them for going for what they want. That’s not the reason.” I couldn’t explain the uneasiness I felt right now. “I don’t want anyone else putting their hands on you. And I certainly don’t want to see it.”

My heart thudded inside my chest. Did I just admit something to her? Did it sound like I wanted us to be exclusive? She wasn’t even my girlfriend and I claimed I wanted her to be with nobody else.

Fuck. This woman confused the hell out of me.

She rubbed my arms. “I was teasing you. We’re just having fun. And your family being cool with it only means I don’t have to worry about them thinking it’s more than it is.” She smiled, but it seemed off. “We’re good.”

I held her face in my hands. “We are?”

That strange smile remained on her lips. “Yep.”

I kissed her gently. “I have to go out now. I have a meeting with some people.” I hovered my lips over hers. “But don’t go home. Wait for me here.”

The smile fell from her face, but she nodded.

I kissed her once more, then walked out of the room and raced down the steps.

Vito caught my expression and zipped up his jacket.

“Let’s go,” I said and walked out the door.

*

Nicky drove us to the town limits. There was a dive bar where I usually met with the head of the Makarov family. The Bratva leader and my family were not necessarily allies, but we did have a common enemy—Sangunero.

The white-haired, pot-bellied, middle-aged man sat with three other family members at a table near the back. They wore gray sweaters and leather jackets and sipped on drinks as we approached.

“Rossi.” Dimitri, the father and head of the Makarov family spoke first.

Pulling out a chair for myself, I waited for Vito to take a seat next to me before addressing the table. “I was surprised to get your message, but glad we could meet in person. I wanted to speak to you as well.”

Dimitri raised his eyebrows. “Really?” He folded his arms over the table. “What about?”

I considered letting him speak first, but I wanted to set the tone for the meeting. If this was going to be a pissing contest determining the Alpha between us, I had to take the lead.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about the incident a couple of weeks ago.”

Dimitri smiled. “I heard your reflexes are not what I thought they were.”

I grinned and leaned closer. “It’s not my reflexes you should worry about. It’s the fact that I was shot at close range, yet here I am talking to your ugly face.”

The Russian mobster laughed. “You’re right. That does mean something. So, what are you going to do about it?”

“I have a plan. Some parts are already in motion. Some need some tweaking. I need you to help me with something.”

“And why would I want to do that?”

“Because it’ll make both of us very rich.”

“I’m already rich, and so are you.”

“Is there a limit?”

His sweaty lip curled. “What did you have in mind?”

“I plan to take over a shipment the Caruso family is expecting.”

Dimitri raised his eyebrows and regarded me with a curious stare. “Really? I assume this shipment is coming from Sicily and belongs to Sangunero.”

“It does.”

He pursed his lips. “Ballsy move since Sangunero is more powerful than L’Invidia.”

“Not anymore. The mafia in Italy is scrambling and I’m taking the opportunity to redraw the lines. You’ll have to decide which side you’ll be on.”

“How do you know I won’t take this information and go to Caruso with it?”

“Because you’ll have nothing to gain by wasting this opportunity and everything to lose.”

He rubbed his lips. “How do I know I can trust you and this isn’t some trap you’re setting for me?”

“I don’t have any beef with you. Unless you plan to shoot me.”

“No. I don’t have any plans… yet.” We both smiled. As much as it was a joke, we both knew that anything was possible in the future. Especially in our line of work.

“There is something that you could do. And it ties in nicely with the reason I called you here.”

I looked at the men on either side of Dimitri. Their eyes assessed me, drinking in the details of my clothes and shoes.

“All right. What’s that?”

Dimitri sipped his drink, taking his time to place it carefully on the table before looking at me again.

“I want you to marry my daughter.”

I nearly choked on my surprise. If I had anything in my mouth at that moment, I would have spewed it all over his gray sweater.

“Why?” I blurted out instead.

“Because marriage between families like ours cements relationships. It builds trust and a foundation for future generations.”

Dimitri’s words made sense, but something niggled in the back of my brain that there was something more he wasn’t telling me.

“Is your daughter here in the U.S.?”

He waved it off. “Yes, yes. It’s not that.”

But there was more. I was sure of it. “Then what?”

He sighed and grumbled profanities under his breath. “The silly girl has gone and fallen in love with an artist.” He spat out the last word as if it tasted like dirt in his mouth. “He has no home and no future. He can’t take care of my daughter. He can’t even support himself!”

A marriage with the Makarov heir would surely cement a future between our families and secure Dimitri’s loyalty and trust. But could I marry her? Could I marry anyone?

An image of Natacha flashed in my mind and I grabbed Dimitri’s drink and took a swig.

The alcohol burned my throat, but I held back a cough. Dimitri laughed and everyone at the table joined him. Everyone but me.

I knew what the right thing to do was, but I couldn’t say it. So I nodded instead.

Dimitri’s eyes lit up and he stuck out his hand. “Then we have a deal?”

I stared at the hand in front of me, and my throat tightened. It felt as though someone was strangling me, but I couldn’t fight them off. I cleared my throat hoping that would help, but it only made it hurt more.

Man up, Rossi. Do what you need to do to get this done.

I inhaled a deep breath and shook the Russian’s hand.

I didn’t say a word the entire ride back home.

As I stared into the dark sky, my conscience weighed heavily on my mind. I wasn’t in a committed relationship. There was no reason why I couldn’t marry another woman. Except, I couldn’t imagine giving up Natacha either.

Maybe I wouldn’t have to give her up. Maybe she would understand I didn’t care about this other woman. We wouldn’t have to stop seeing each other.

But even as I thought this, my gut twisted and I knew I could never do that to Natacha or the Russian princess.

Fuck. What was her name, anyway?

I hadn’t even asked.

Nicky pulled the car into the driveway and I got out. My feet felt like bricks as I climbed the front steps. My chest hurt and my head pounded.

There were so many moving parts to my plan to take down the Caruso family. Throw in a rat, a sexy cook, and now a fiancé whom I’d never even met—and my head spun trying to keep track of it all.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, brother,” Vito called from the car. Nicky drove away as Dominic opened my front door.

We nodded briefly to each other, and he took my jacket. As soon as I was inside, however, the outside world faded away.

She had lit candles throughout the living room, and a light scent of vanilla was in the air. I remembered asking Natacha to stay and the heavy weight on my chest lifted slightly.

I checked the kitchen first, but she wasn’t there. My mind went to the guest bedroom next. As I climbed the stairs, anticipation built in my gut. I unbuttoned my cuffs and rolled up my sleeves. I considered undressing completely, but even I wasn’t as savage as that.

When I turned the corner and opened the door to the guest room, I was disappointed to find it empty.

But there was still one more room left to check, and secretly I was glad she chose to wait in my bed while I was gone.

Pushing the door wide open, I noted the untouched bedspread, and my stomach dropped.

Had she left? Did she get tired of waiting for me?

I wouldn’t blame her if she did, but I also couldn’t help feeling confused that she would leave without sending me a text.

A splash of water snapped my head toward the bathroom, and I walked there faster than I was willing to admit. With my hand on the door, I slowly pushed it open.

The scene before me nearly brought me to my knees. Natacha sat in my marble tub, wearing nothing but a smile and a pile of bubbles.

I breathed in deeply, calming the adrenaline that pumped through my veins. My shoes clicked on the white porcelain floors and I approached the tub.

She pushed herself up and the water sloshed around her breasts, but the bubbles hid them from view.

“You stayed,” I said.

“You asked me to.”

I nodded.

She had waited for me.

And she got naked doing so.

I was the luckiest bastard on earth.

“The water’s warm. Do you want to come in?”

My heart raced as I unbuttoned my shirt. “Sweetheart, there’s nothing in this world that could stop me.”