6. Stephano

6

STEPHANO

I can't believe it. Mom's rings? I want to shake Matteo. My brother has crossed a line.

"Take them off. Never mind the fucking sacrilege. You can't wear them tonight."

I hold my hand out to Tasha. I made a sacred vow on Mom's rings, to her, quietly while we were alone, a few days after the fateful night that still haunts me. I can't stand seeing those rings. They only remind me of everything that's in my blood. About how broken Mom was, and how I was too young and dumb to realize it. For years, it haunted me—why did she never fight back? As if any of us ever fought him back. She was the first line of our defense, standing between him and us. Maybe she had fought back at some point, but by the time she died, she'd been glued and stitched back together too many times to hold strong through another birth. And then the Don had nobody holding him back.

"Tonight?" Gigi asks, her gaze jogging between us and ripping me out of my memories.

"None of your fucking business," I growl at her, annoyed at how those rings triggered me and how our family's dirty laundry is being aired for Gigi Trapani. She might think I have dirty Mafia paws, but she's Don Trapani's daughter and just as much Mafia as me, whether she likes it or not.

"Tonight's auction is cancelled," Matteo says.

"What?" Did I hear right? He can't be serious. Heat creeps up my neck. He could just as well have dropped a bomb. "Tonight's auction? Cancelled?"

My gaze sinks into his, and for the first time, I actually look at him. Look properly at his stance, at the way he protects Tasha subconsciously with his body by being a physical barrier between me and her.

Jesus Christ. No .

My gaze jumps between Tasha's and Matteo's and then locks with my brother's as we basically communicate without words. I don't know what happened in Sicily with the merch, but he's lost the plot. He fell for her. Matteo is a total goner. And that for the last woman on the planet he's allowed to have. I have no idea how far he's gone with her, but I'm ready to go at him.

"Oh my God! You're auctioning off your virginity!" Gigi's voice pitches in shock, bulldozing through my thoughts. "Is this for real? Are they forcing you? Is it your own choice?"

She's back in full force as she jumps up to push herself between Tasha and us men, as we are clearly the biggest threat in the room. Her fucking mouth on a run is more dangerous than anything here, and I wish I'd never removed my hand from those soft lips and cheeks.

"Don't do this," she begs now, her voice desperate.

Tasha stands, ignores Gigi, tugs Mom's rings off, and holds them out to Matteo.

"I've been promised a virgin auction," she says, her voice steady. "I want my virgin auction."

Fuck me. I don't want this auction. Matteo doesn't want this auction. But now, the merch wants to go ahead with it? My head spins.

"I have a right to clear my father's debt," Tasha says. "If this is the only way to do it, I'll go through with it."

"Please—" Gigi reaches out for her, but Tasha steps up to me, avoiding Matteo's gaze, which is growing more feral by the second.

"I'm ready to go if you are," Tasha says to me, softly, but certain.

I'm torn. I have no clue what to do. The only thing I know is we can't get deeper into shit with Gigi looking on, and I need time to figure out what to do. Tonight, our high-profile clients will clock in at seven, with expectations. I have time, but I'm not on home ground. This is France, not Boston. I've prepped everything with the focus on handing Tasha over to the winning bidder tonight. But Matteo?—

"Tasha," he begs. "You don't know what you're getting into."

She leans into me, and I put my hand on her lower back, hoping she understands my gesture is only there for support. If this were a normal virgin auction, and she pulled out by herself at the last minute, I would roll with it. It's in our contract. Except she doesn't have one of those. This is a twist neither Matteo nor I anticipated.

Matteo's jaw ticks as I touch her. He's further along than even he knows. There's only one way to deal with this situation: get Tasha away from Gigi Trapani before things get out of hand. Matteo will have to make a decision before tonight's bidding ends or I'll make it for him. Seeing what I've seen now, I already know what I'm going to do.

"What the lady wants, the lady gets." I have significant costs to recover from this whole expedition, and the least he can do is contribute if he wants to have her for himself. "Stop fucking around, Matteo. The clock is ticking, and she needs to get ready. If you're so eager to have her, you can place a fucking bid like the rest of them."

"God, you're a bunch of creeps! She isn't property!" Gigi yells now as she pulls on Tasha's arm.

Fuck. For a full blessed minute, Gigi has been quiet. Yep, not only do I have dirty Mafia paws, but now I'm also a creep. Nice. This is what I live for.

"Can you all stop talking as if I'm not in the room?" Tasha says in a raised voice as she shrugs Gigi off. "It's okay. Stephano will take care of me."

That I will. Until my brother comes to the party and commits to what he wants. I hope he makes up his mind before nine o'clock tonight.

I put pressure on Tasha's lower back, and she takes the first step. Gigi stands and attempts again to stop her.

"You. Sit. Stay," I bark at her.

The last thing I need is Gigi trailing along, meddling and messing up my schedule. This evening was planned with precision. I'll go through the motions until Matteo does what he needs to do.

To my surprise, Gigi falls back in her seat and does exactly what I told her to do.

I'm so tempted to say good girl but bite my tongue, more to hide my smirk than to stop the words from popping out. She's not my girl, good or anything. Damn shame, because I'd love to take her in hand and teach her a lesson or two.