Chapter 31ANGELO

Chapter 31

ANGELO

There's a light tap on my office door when I'm going over intel recently received from Severu regarding my mother and her husband.

They're in the US already, having arrived in Boston yesterday.

"Come!" I call, assuming it's one of my men.

But it's Candi. Her hair up in a high ponytail, she's dressed casually in jeans and a sweater that clings to her curves. An instant desire to slide my hand up the naked skin of her stomach under that sweater washes over me.

"Have you got a second?" She tugs nervously at the hem of her sweater, but there's a determined glint in her eyes.

I left her visiting with her mom in the conservatory, Mars laying at their feet. The women and Cookie have stayed the last two nights. Mira seems to enjoy the freedom of the estate. But maybe Candi's going to try to tell me she wants to go back to the apartment.

"For you? Always." Standing, I come around the desk so it's not a barrier between us. But that's not enough, so, I lean back against it and pull her into me. "What do you need, piccola gatta ?"

"I'm on the schedule to work tomorrow."

I'm not sure which argument I would least like to have. The inevitable one regarding her wanting to go home or this one.

Candi's showed I can't predict her responses when she went ballistic over the joint checking account I opened for us. I told her about it when she mentioned paying Cookie's afterschool winter activities fee.

I like having things with both our names on them. Candi, not so much.

She accused me of treating her like a whore and said she wasn't taking money for sharing my bed. I told her it was our bed and what's mine is hers.

"How can I see you as a whore?" I asked, genuinely confused. "We're getting married someday."

That really set her off.

When I tried to calm her down by telling her that no man in his right mind would pay a million dollars for two nights of sex, she threatened to castrate me and put my balls in a jar for safe keeping.

The angry sex after was off the charts, but I didn't like her calling herself that.

Which is why I haven't mentioned the other financial arrangements I've made for her. Though maybe since I made them for her mom and sister too, she won't take it the same way.

I have no idea how she's going to react to being told that working right now is a very bad idea.

"It's not safe." Especially with my mother and her as yet to be discovered agenda in Boston.

Her face goes carefully blank. "Are you saying you don't want me to dance?"

Am I? Yeah, probably. But that's not fair. Because I told her I would support her dancing if she wanted to keep doing it.

So, I compromise. "If you stay on the stage, I can protect you but working the crowd is out of the question."

As soon as the words are out of my mouth I realize I should have worded that differently.

"For your safety," I hastily add.

She doesn't like working the floor anyway. Not that I expect that to influence her stance on doing it. Logically, it should, but logic didn't work when I brought up the million dollar payment thing, so I'm not mentioning her lack of enjoyment with that aspect of her job either.

"Okay."

Wait. What? "Okay?" I ask to make sure I wasn't fantasizing that response.

"I don't like working the floor anyway."

Fuck. So, I could have mentioned that.

"But you don't mind if I keep dancing?" she presses, her gaze searching mine.

Should I tell her that the men who look at her with lust will have to die? No. That puts undue influence on her to do what I want.

Maybe I can engineer a fatal dose of food poisoning for them. Or a series of fatal car crashes. Then she won't know it's because they looked at her almost naked body with lust.

Fuck if I'm not a hell of a lot more jealous than I thought. What I could stand before I touched her for the first time no longer applies. Maybe a more evolved man would have no issue with her dancing. And a man capable of empathy would feel badly about considering mass murder.

I'm just trying to figure out a way to prevent Candi getting her feelings hurt by my jealousy.

"It bothers you, doesn't it? Now that we've been together." She lets her body rest against mine, showing no signs of anger.

"Your dancing does not bother me. It's beautiful."

"Thank you, but don't pretend you're okay with me doing it on stage tomorrow. Even if you were before, alright?"

"The idea of other men seeing your beautiful body move like that and picturing themselves touching you makes me homicidal," I admit.

"You know I'm not responsible for what men think when they look at me, right?"

"You're not the one I want to kill."

Her lips tilt wryly and she pats my chest. "Not sure you should be thinking about killing anyone."

"I'm sorry." I feel actual regret for disappointing her.

It's a new sensation and not one I particularly enjoy.

"If I don't dance, how do I support myself? And more than that, how do I save the money for my sister to attend university?" Her head tips forward against my chest and her next words are muffled between us, but I understand them. "Don't bring up the million dollar checking account balance."

I won't mention it, but it's not going anywhere either. Now's as good a time as any to tell her about her brothers.

"Miceli ordered Bianchi to sign over two of his companies to your half-brothers and for Renato and Cosimo to pay you 10% of the profits in perpetuity."

Candi goes rigid and rears back. "What?"

"It's to compensate for his neglect of your welfare as a child." Doing what I wanted to earlier, I slip my hand under her sweater and rub her back in soothing circles. "Your brothers want to give you the money. They're furious you weren't brought to live with them when your mom died."

"What? Really?" Candi sounds dazed.

"If you're open to it, they want to get to know you. Mira and Cookie too." Which is how I know they're sincere. "They were respectful about you and your mom without pretending ignorance of either of your professions."

"They weren't mean about mommy?" she asks in a tremulous voice.

"No. I did some digging into them. They check out okay."

She swallows. "They're mafia?"

"Renato was made when he turned twenty-two, after he graduated from university. Cosimo already runs the legit business Miceli is forcing your father to turn over to him."

"Cosimo is not a made man?" Her shock is understandable considering how old school her biological father is.

"No. He was supposed to get made after he got his MBA like his brother, but after he did the interview with Severu, my boss ordered Bianchi to put Cosimo to work in the legit businesses."

"And Stefano was okay with that? He didn't disown Cosimo, or anything?"

"You been talking to Boomer?" I ask.

"His story is so sad. I'm really glad you brought him into your family."

Fuck. Is that what I did? "I thought I just gave him a job."

"Training your dog and looking after us. That sounds like family to me."

Shit. She's right. "He's a good man."

A better one than me because he's always had a conscience.

"What about my sperm donor and Cosimo?"

"Bianchi believes Severu wanted Cosimo to be one of the members of the mafia we keep clean to interact with the FEDs and facilitate our legitimate businesses." He assumes that someday, Cosimo will be forced to get his hands dirty like everyone else.

According to Severu, that's not going to happen. Miceli is Cosimo's don now and he's as committed to keeping the younger Bianchi clean as Severu is.

"Is that true?" Curiosity about her brother infuses Candi's voice.

"Cosimo is not a killer. Miceli will not allow him to be forced to become one."

"That's kind of enlightened for a mafia don, isn't it?"

"It's practical is what it is. You force someone with the wrong mindset to kill and you can't predict the outcome. We thrive by not drawing attention to our business. You get someone unstable in the mix and shit goes sideways fast."

"Oh. I don't think I could kill either, but I'm not nearly bothered enough that you do."

"That's not a deficiency, amate . It only makes you perfect for me."

"I want to meet them."

I knew she would say that. "I'll make it happen."

"Good."

"Are you going to argue about taking the money from the companies?"

"No. It's not from Stefano. It's from my brothers because your don saw an injustice and chose to address it. If it was just me, I'd probably donate it to charity regardless. But it's not. The money will allow me to take care of my mom and sister the way I want to."

"With more than a million dollars a year, you can donate plenty to charity and do whatever you want for your mom and sister."

Candi's knees buckle. I have to grab her tightly against me so she doesn't fall.

"This is probably a bad time to tell you I've already set up a trust fund for Cookie's future education." But I'm not going to let her believe she ever has to worry about her sister's future again.

Regardless of what happens with the Bianchi holdings.

"What? Why would you do that?" she asks in a stunned voice.

"Because she's my sister too."

That has Candi straightening her spine. "Not yet, she's not."

"It's just a matter of time." But first I have to figure out how to give Candi the perfect proposal and I have no clue what that should look like.

I am not a romantic guy.