Chapter 9

Aurelio~

Two days later, Savina's glistening blue eyes were still haunting me, and I cursed my weakness when it came to that woman. I didn't owe her a motherfucking thing, and she had no right to pop back up into my life, no matter the reason.

The door to Nero's office swung open, and I watched him walk in, loosening his tie, obviously done for the day. Apart from his wife, I was the only other person allowed in this room when Nero wasn't present, so when he had texted me for an impromptu meeting, I'd shown up at his place, and Kasen hadn't even bothered escorting me to Nero's office. She had simply greeted me, kissed me on the cheek, then had announced that she was going to go lay down. When I had insisted on escorting her, she had waved me off, saying that she was still quite capable of getting herself around.

Nonetheless, I had waited at the base of the stairs until she'd safely made it to the second floor. Kasen was about to give birth at any moment, so I could see her needing her rest. I also knew that Nero was driving her insane, so not wanting to be around any men probably sounded blissful to her.

At any rate, after Kasen had gone upstairs, I had made my way to Nero's office, using my key to let myself in. When Nero had texted me, he'd been leaving his father's, so I had poured myself a drink, making myself at home. Though my role in this family had changed some time ago, it was still hard not to follow Nero around wherever he went. I'd been the man's guard for over ten years, and I loved him like a brother. Even though Fernando was good at what he did, and even though Nero could take care of himself, I knew that I'd never forgive myself if anything ever happened to him.

I watched as he walked over to the bar to fix himself a drink, and I was kind of surprised that he wasn't lighting up a cigarette. Though he only smoked in this room, the man smoked a lot, especially when he came home from a meeting with Marco. Marco Sartori was a lot to deal with on a good day, and now that Nero was fully in charge, Marco's ego needed boosting more than it'd used to.

"How's Pop doing?"

Nero's brown eyes shot my way. "Ha. Ha."

I grinned. "Maybe he'll stay out of your hair once Kasen gives him a grandchild."

He arched a brow. "That man isn't going anywhere near my son without me or Kasen present," he said, and not for the first time. "All I have to do is get a phone call from Elio to know that Marco will have no influence on how we raise our children."

I chuckled as I walked over to the bar for him to refill my glass. "At least, we can say that Elio's a work in progress and not a lost cause."

"I'd be more forgiving if he hadn't saddled me with a dingbat for a sister-in-law," he drawled out, taking his first sip of his drink.

"You got me there," I chuckled before taking another sip of my bourbon.

After a few seconds of silence, he asked. "When are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on with you, Aurelio?"

My dark eyes shot his way, and Nero was intuitive enough to spot a lie, not that I would have lied to him in the first place. Plus, our entire relationship was based on absolute trust, and if he ever felt like he couldn't trust me, he'd put a bullet in my head, despite our history or the relationship that we had now. Nothing mattered to this man more than his wife, and he would slaughter his entire family if he believed that any of them might be a danger to her.

"Savina Valentine approached me outside The Circle a couple of nights ago," I told him before downing my entire drink.

Nero's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

I nodded as I set my tumbler on the bar. "Yep."

"What the fuck for?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't interested in anything that she had to say."

Nero set his drink on the bar, then pulled out his pack of cigarettes, and I didn't blame the man. "Well, what all did she say?"

"That she'd been looking for me because we needed to talk and it was important," I told him, trying to keep the bite from my voice, still pissed at the encounter.

I watched as Nero lit his cigarette, then take a long drag of it. Nero was the only person on the planet that knew how badly Savina had fucked me up. Though I hadn't cried on his shoulder, he'd known that Savina leaving me had damaged me a fair bit.

Exhaling the poison, he asked, "Do you think that was wise?"

"What?" I asked, my brows furrowed.

He hesitated for a second, but then said, "She's dating Congressman Oliver's son, Aurelio."

"I know exactly who she's dating," I replied evenly.

He put a hand up to calm me down. "I'm just saying that she could have been looking for you to tell you something that might be coming down the pipeline." He shrugged. "Though we've got most law enforcement and most politicians in our pockets, we don't own Congressman Oliver. I can see him trying to take a stance on crime for his newest campaign run."

"Then why not reach out to you?" I posed. "Why not call her parents to relay the message? Out of everyone that she could have gotten in touch with, why seek me out?"

"C'mon," he said softly. "We both know that Paolo didn't react too well to her leaving."

"And I did?" I asked, letting out a dark laugh.

"Well, for all we know, maybe she did try to speak to her father," he pointed out. "Plus, we both know that she never did feel comfortable around me, despite our friendship."

It was true. For whatever reason, Savina had been wary around Nero, no matter how many times he'd gone out of his way to make her feel at ease. He hadn't ever treated her badly or spoken to her like she'd been insignificant, but his importance had always had her feeling a bit starstruck.

"Still, there are a million other people that she could have approached," I countered.

"That would have taken the time to listen to her and take her seriously?" he asked. "Though it's been three years, lots of people still remember that she left, Aurelio. I can't think of too many people that would have granted her an audience. Especially, considering who she's dating."

I thought about that, and he wasn't necessarily wrong. When Savina had gone off to chase her dreams, her father hadn't spared her any mercy. He'd seen it as a direct attack on his name and everything that he'd done to raise her right. While I'd had enough self-respect to keep my broken heart to myself, Paolo Valentine hadn't been discreet about his displeasure. The fact that Savina had run off to be a real estate agent, rather than marry me, had been her biggest sin in Paolo's eyes. Instead of being father-in-law to the Sartori Consigliere, he was going to remain a simple Capo, though there was nothing simple about any of our Capos. Had Savina not shattered my heart, I would have killed him for disrespecting his daughter so, but she'd had, making their father/daughter relationship none of my business. As far as I was concerned, it was still none of my business.

"All I'm saying is that it had to be fairly important for her to come back here after three years, Aurelio," Nero went on. "Plus, if this has anything to do with Congressman Oliver's new campaign, it could affect all the families."

I couldn't help but smirk at that. "Since when do you care about the O'Briens or the Kotovs?"

"Since never," he admitted before taking another drag of his cigarette. "However, we're all getting along at the moment, so I'd prefer it if nothing overturned the applecart. At least, until after Kasen has the baby. Though they seem quite happy with the spoils of war, that could change at any moment."

"It's also not a bad idea to have both Declan and Avgust owe you, am I right?"

Nero grinned. "It can't hurt."

I shook my head as I let out a heavy breath. "So, what do you want from me?"

Knowing that there wasn't anything that I wouldn't do for him, he said, "If you really feel like this isn't something that you can do, I can send Elio to speak with h-"

"No," I said, cutting him off. "I don't want Elio anywhere near her."

His brows shot upward knowingly. "Aurelio-"

I put my hand up to stop him. "If this really is about Congressman Oliver's new political campaign, then I'd rather hear the words myself, rather than Elio's interpretation of what was said. I know that he's come a long way, but this would be too important to trust to anyone else. We're not talking local cops with mortgages and children in college, Nero."

"Duly noted," he replied, the truth about Elio undeniable. "However, I can also-"

"I'm going to stop you there again," I said. "I saw Kasen earlier, and she's about ready to pop any second, so you need to stay close to home. Besides, Savina's in O'Brien territory. You showing up there would be bound to kick off a shitstorm."

"Because you showing up there won't?" he snorted.

"Not if your wife makes a friendly phone call to The O'Brien," I smirked, pissing him off.

"You're not funny," he deadpanned, but I'd thought it was funny as hell.