Envy by Eve Marian

8

Giancarlo

I woke up alone.

Ginger hadn’t expected to stay, anyway. It was one of the reasons I preferred professionals. No strings, no expectations, no clingy messages. Just a good time, and a goodbye afterward.

I’d probably see her at Luxor later when I introduced her and her girls to the staff. The thought of seeing her again didn’t excite me. It was usually one-and-done for me. Once I’d been with a woman and understood what she liked and what made her scream, the excitement to learn her body was gone.

It was for the best. It would get too messy with her supervising the VIP section.

Stepping down to the main floor, I noticed the door to Nonna’s room was closed. It was nearly eight. She rarely slept in. I walked over and knocked softly.

“Come in.”

I opened the door and found her sitting up in bed, reading.

“Are you feeling okay?” I asked.

“Yes, just a little tired today. I’ll be at breakfast in a minute. It’s just taking a little longer to get strength in these old muscles.”

“Take your time. It’s why I have a cook. I’ll ask her to prepare something for you.”

“No, it’s fine—"

I shook my head and added, “I’ll not hear another word,” as I closed the door.

I grinned, knowing that was exactly what she would have told me.

Entering the kitchen, I found Natacha cutting the stems from a pile of strawberries inside a strainer.

“Oh,” she said when she saw me. Her eyes locked with mine and a red tinge crept up her neck and spread to her cheeks.

“What’s the matter? You look a little flushed,” I asked. I hoped she wasn’t coming down with something. If she was, I’d have to send her home. I didn’t want her getting Nonna sick.

She patted both her cheeks and the color intensified.

“No, I’m fine,” she said and scrambled to pick up the knife and strawberry again. If she wasn’t more careful, she’d cut herself.

“Are you sure, because you seem a little frazzled?”

She inhaled and closed her eyes, as though she was strumming up patience, or courage perhaps? No, that wasn’t it. She had stood up to me the other night when I fired her. Her present uneasiness had nothing to do with me.

Shrugging my shoulders, I sat down at the table and poured myself a mug of coffee from the thermos in front of me. Natacha started filling a thermos on the second day. She must have noted how many times I got up to replenish my mug.

I liked how she was already picking up on ways to improve the job. This one might work out.

Turning away from me, Natacha stood on her tiptoes and stretched her arm as far up as she could to open the highest cabinet door.

Her white sweater crept up, revealing about three inches of her back. The smooth tan skin was appealing. Wait. Was that a tattoo on her side, or was it a shadow?

Inexplicably, I wanted to find out. I shook the stupid thought from my mind. This was one body I wasn’t willing to learn. Especially since she was working out so much better than I’d expected at first. She’d made lasagna last night and I could’ve sworn it tasted as good as Nonna’s, but I wasn’t dumb enough to say it out loud at dinner, especially with Nonna sitting across from me. Her knife was only inches away from her hand. I could picture her reaching out and threatening me with it.

I grinned at the thought of Nonna losing her temper. It wasn’t so funny when I was a kid and she would chase me around with a wooden spoon whenever I stuck my fingers in the pot to taste her sauce.

A low grunt from the other side of the kitchen snapped my head back to Natacha. She wasn’t short, but she was at least a foot shorter than me.

I pushed back my chair. “Here, let me help you.”

“No, no. I’ve got it,” she said, another groan escaped her lips.

I frowned. “Your fingers barely reach the cabinet. There’s no way you can grab whatever you need inside.”

Standing beside her, I asked, “Now, what is it you’re risking your neck for?”

She dropped her arms and sighed. “The large white bowl.”

Easily locating the bowl, I picked it up and placed it on the counter. She brushed my arm to grab it and the scent of sweet strawberries reached the dark recesses of my mind. I inhaled sharply.

An image of my mother feeding me strawberries at the park rushed through my memory, and my knees nearly buckled from the image. I was usually good at not thinking of her. But the scent of femininity and strawberries must have triggered it. I pushed away from her.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Next time, get the stool,” I grunted and sat back down.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed her eyebrows pull together. But I wouldn’t apologize. It was the truth. She could have hurt herself if that heavy ceramic bowl fell on her head.

A notification flashed across my phone, followed by a whimsical chime. A brand-new blue Mercedes pulled up in my driveway.

I smiled and pushed away from the table before she even rang the doorbell.

Dominic opened the door and my sister stood at the entrance wearing a short black leather skirt and boots. It was October, but she wore sunglasses. She claimed to have sensitive eyes because they were blue, but I think she liked how she looked in them.

“Gianni!” she shouted and ran toward me. I braced for the impact of an overzealous twenty-two-year-old.

Her arms squeezed my neck and I patted them before pulling away with a grimace.

“I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you?” She looked down at my side and bit her lip.

My wound stung a bit, especially after lifting Ginger last night, but it wasn’t a big deal. “Not at all.”

“Liar,” she smiled.

She placed her purse on my coffee table and sat down. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I got busy with the renovations at home and then Luca hurt his hand and I haven’t had a moment to spare. Not to say that I don’t have time for you, that’s not it. You know that, right? It’s just been so busy… and—”

I wasn’t paying any attention to her speech because I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the yellow mark next to her sunglasses. “It’s not sunny inside. Why do you still have your glasses on?”

“Oh,” she fidgeted with a crease on her skirt. “Do I?” While she patted the side of her glasses, ensuring they were still on her face, she made no other effort to remove them.

I waited as my mind raced. It couldn’t be what I thought it was.

“So, where’s Nonna? I heard she’s here for a visit.” She looked away, down the hallway. Her fingers clutched the edge of her skirt. “Stop staring at me. You’re making me freakin’ nervous.”

“Take off your sunglasses, Sienna.”

“It’s a little bright in here. I think I’ll keep them on.” She cleared her throat. “So, do you know who did it?”

“It was the Caruso family.” I sat next to her on the couch and spotted a tinge of purple underneath the rim of her glasses.

I snatched them off.

Purple blotches splattered across her left eye, and a ring of yellow surrounded it.

My chest heaved, and my fists tightened at my sides. “Was this Luca?” My voice was soft but she still flinched.

Closing her eyes, she said, “Of course not. I knew you’d jump to that conclusion. See, that’s why I didn’t come sooner. I knew you’d think it was him.”

“Then what happened, Sienna?” I couldn’t believe how calm my voice sounded despite the raging storm brewing in my chest.

“I walked into a kitchen cabinet. I didn’t realize someone had left it open until I ran right into it.” She shook her head, as though I’d believe her clumsiness story.

“You’ve been dating this guy for how long?”

“Almost six months.”

“Well, I think it’s time that I meet him.”

She threw her hands up. “No way. That’s not going to happen.”

I fixed my face. “Why not?”

She leaned back on the couch and crossed her arms. “Because you’re just going to scare him off.”

“Listen, Sienna. If he scares that easily, then you might as well know it now.” Our family wasn’t exactly the Brady Bunch, so the guy needed to know what he was getting himself into. Otherwise, I didn’t want him messing with my sister.

She rolled her eyes. “He knows about us, at least the part about our businesses. But I know how overprotective and scary you can be. You made my last boyfriend run out the door.” She raised her eyebrows, challenging me to disagree.

Oh, yeah. I’d forgotten about that one. “I just showed him some of my favorite guns. How was I supposed to know he wasn’t into that stuff?”

“You know, it was the part about you threatening to blow his nuts off if he hurt me.”

I couldn’t help the smile that turned up my frown. It felt good at the moment when I wanted to blow Luca’s nuts off. “You heard that part, huh?”

She shrugged. “Yeah. But if he wasn’t strong enough to stand up to you, then he wasn’t worth my time.”

“Let’s go out for dinner. I’ll take care of everything.”

“Luca doesn’t like to go out.”

“What do you mean? For dinner?”

“Well, that and other things. He’s more of an introvert.”

“Look Sienna, I’m not exactly the life of a party or a charmer, but I’d take my girl out if I had one.” Wasn’t that what most women wanted? To be wined and dined?

From the corner of my eye, I spotted the cook. “Natacha, hold on a minute.”

The brunette turned around and faced us. “Yes, Mr. Rossi?”

“What do you think of a boyfriend that never wants to go out on dates or take you to dinner?”

“Does he have a medical reason for this?”

I turned to Sienna, but she was already shaking her head. Natacha frowned at first, thinking, then cracked a smile. A dimple appeared on her left cheek. “Then I’d kick him to the curb and call up my girlfriend to grab a drink or something. I’m not looking for expensive gifts, but the guy’s got to make some sort of effort.”

Ha! That was exactly what I was talking about! I pointed at Natacha, but stared at Sienna. “You see? The man has got to make an effort. I’ll make it easy on him. He can come here for dinner instead of going out. It’s a compromise… Don’t raise your eyebrows at me. I can compromise.”

“Is that everything, Mr. Rossi?”

I smiled at Natacha. “Yes, thank you.”

She grinned back and I wanted to high-five her.

“So, what do you say?” My phone buzzed with a text message, but I refrained from checking it. I was worried the distraction would give Sienna an excuse to change the topic. And I wanted to meet this man, who left cabinets open.

She sighed. “Fine,” then pointing a finger at me she warned, “but you better be on your best behavior. Do you understand?” Her voice was strong, and she looked me straight in the eye. It was at moments like these that I knew some of the same blood as mine ran through her veins.

“I promise.”

Pulling out my phone, I saw a 9-1-1 text from Vito. “I’ve got to take this.” Pushing off the couch, I added, “Bring him by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!”

I held up my finger as I walked away to speak to Vito.

“What’s the emergency?” I asked after closing my office door.

Vito’s raspy voice was low on the other end. “Sangunero hit our warehouse.”

There was a lot of background noise. Cars driving down wet streets, wind, and possibly rain. Did I hear him correctly?

“What are you saying? Did they shoot up the place?”

“No, Giancarlo. They took everything. All the guns, all the ammunition, all the dynamite. Everything.”

I dropped into my chair. “How the fuck did they do that?” I whispered, more to myself than to Vito.

He answered, anyway. “I don’t know.”

Tearing off my tie, I unbuttoned the first two buttons of my shirt. My throat felt tight, as though I couldn’t breathe.

There were only two people that knew about this new warehouse. Vito and Nicky.

I’d known Vito for most of my life, but Nicky was new. Did Sangunero send him here as a mole? Was he playing both sides? If that were the case, there was only one way to deal with a rat. But I had to be a hundred percent sure. I’d have to test him.

“What are we going to do?” Vito’s voice sounded distant. “How are we supposed to fight a war with no guns?”

It was a good question. One I hadn’t time to think about. But the answer came immediately.

“We hire them.”

“You don’t mean… Are you seriously considering working with the Russians?”

“We are in the middle of a war, Vito. We win using whatever means necessary.”

Vito didn’t like the Russians. Not after a group of them beat him up at the casino for messing with one of their girls. He came to work for me shortly after that. “All right,” he huffed out a resolved sigh. “How do you want to do this?”

“Have Dimitri meet me at Luxor on Friday. The sooner we get this done, the better.”

I ended the call and stared out the window. It was dark outside. I could only make out the tall yews lining the property and the lit-up walkway.

The Russians would provide the muscle, but to win, I needed to continue with my strategy. I’d already started to expand my business, and the flood made sure I hurt theirs. But I had to stop their rat before they took anything else from me.