Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

A lexandra

“Does your entire family drive like bats out of hell?” I asked as Isabella zoomed around another corner. She was heading away from the beach estate, her hot red convertible sports car Italian in design, or so I thought. It was also a convertible with a beast of an engine and thick leather seats that felt like butter.

“ La folata del vento fornisce risposte che allevieranno le tue paure .” Her Italian accent was beautiful, easily heard over both the roar of the engine and the light breeze whistling past the windshield.

“And that means?”

“The rush of wind provides answers that will ease your fears. That’s according to my late grandfather. He used to say that to his wife when he drove like a bat out of hell.”

I genuinely liked the woman. She was intelligent and funny, a take-no-shit kind of girl and I knew she was very savvy. While dressed in jeans, gorgeous leather sandals, and a white silk blouse, anyone could easily tell she was dripping in money by the gold bracelets she wore and the watch that likely cost more than the car.

Yet she wasn’t flaunting her wealth, other than the gorgeous car of course.

“Truly profound, but what happens when you’re launching off a cliff?” I asked.

She laughed in such a hearty manner, the sound seemed uncontrollable. She also glanced into the rearview mirror. “Good point. The truth is I’m trying to lose the goons my brother tasked to babysit us.”

“He has his reasons after what I described.”

Sighing, she nodded and slowed down. “I’m not belittling the horror you went through. I can’t imagine. I’ve never seen anything like that before. My parents and grandparents were very protective.”

“Now, Nico took over the role.”

“Yes, with gusto. Now, take a deep breath and enjoy the scenery. We’re headed into Palermo. Nico doesn’t like going there unless it’s for business, but I adore the older city. It’s charming yet full of history and the most fabulous nightclubs and restaurants.”

“Why doesn’t Nico like the city?”

She grinned and lifted her sunglasses when she looked at me. The woman looked like a movie star where I looked like an American pauper. I was secretly happy the clothes had arrived. Not that I’d spent two thousand dollars on a blouse, but the items were at least better suited to the world around me.

“Too many Catholic churches. They are stunning works of art, but he doesn’t like to set foot in them.”

I was more relaxed than I’d been since the night of the incident. Even with the amazing passion from the night before. I hadn’t been able to tell if he’d shut down all over again. I guess I’d find that out later if he refused to talk to me. “Afraid he’ll burst into flames?”

She burst into laughter all over again and this time I joined her. “Don’t let my brother’s gruff demeanor fool you. He’s a pussycat. You can easily wrap him around your little finger. If…” she offered another sly look, “that’s what you want to do.”

“Nico has been there for me and my aunt since my father was married, my mother dying in childbirth. I owe him so much, including my respect.”

“I know. I joke a lot about my family because at times, it’s best that I do. We’re close. Don’t get me wrong. I adore both my brothers. They are very different, but that’s okay.”

I had no idea what to say at this point, preferring to enjoy the ride. The twists and turns lessened, and the beautiful turquoise blue of the water was fading into the distance. I’d gotten a real look at Nico’s estate, shocked at the acreage he owned. The grounds were as stunning as the house itself, the manicured aspect also full of tropical touches. I hadn’t noticed a massive iron fence surrounding the property from any windows.

It was far enough away even if not covered by so much foliage and lined by beautiful trees, I couldn’t have seen it. While it should provide a feeling of protection and security, it added to the remaining fear that refused to leave. I wondered if that would ever go away. I also wanted to ask if Isabella ever felt the same or was used to her life and her surroundings.

Including the two men she wanted to brush off. Her detail. It was tough to believe in this age there were families still required to live that way. But even our politicians were, especially those in higher ranking positions.

“The actual reason Nico doesn’t like the city is too many bad memories,” she said much more quietly.

It took me a minute to realize what she was saying. “My father.”

“It nearly killed him. But enough sadness. At least I can highlight my beautiful city.”

Before I was locked down. The thought was silly but honestly, I had a feeling that’s what Nico would resort to.

As she approached the city, I shifted forward in my seat. Not knowing anything about Italy other than what I’d read in history books and a couple of travel magazines online, nothing had prepared me for the old-world look of the massive building.

“See? Dozens upon dozens of churches plus art museums. The city is rich with incredible art. It’s interesting how when you live here, you don’t pay any attention to your surroundings or the reasons tourists flock to Sicily in the first place.”

“Just like attending college in Georgetown. I never went to Washington, DC. I had little time to do anything, but I think you always believe you have time when your luck and fate can change quickly.”

“Stop worrying, Alexandra. I know that’s hard. You’re in a foreign country. You don’t know the family and you witnessed a crime that my brother is losing his mind over. However, my brother is the best at what he does. Whatever he touches, it turns to gold.”

“What about shoving off violence?”

She smiled, but it wasn’t as happy-go-lucky as before.

“Stop worrying. That’s all I can tell you. Now, I know an incredible restaurant and we’ll start with mimosas.”

“I shouldn’t since I need to study,” I told her.

“What’s a little sinful juice to stop you from succeeding?”

Sinful juice. The two little words brought up the night before all over again. When he’d awakened me much later, I hadn’t expected him to be so determined to… claim all of me. It had been strangely fulfilling and that was definitely something I hadn’t expected. I wouldn’t admit that to anyone, but I’d enjoyed the entire night. Even watching him pacing the floors in worry.

I had a feeling the house was now going to be turned into a fortress.

Isabella cut off two drivers and she was right there screaming at them in Italian. She had a way of making me feel lighter, less anxious. Plus, she was somewhere close to my age. At least for as long as I was forced to stay in the country, I might enjoy some female company.

She pulled quickly into a tiny parking lot of what appeared to be a bistro, forced to brake hard before she smashed into another vehicle.

I had a death grip on the dashboard at that point. “Woman. Maybe I need to explain in graphic detail what happens to a human body just after a horrific car accident.”

Snorting, she cut the engine, whipping out the keys. “Please. Nico had sat me down explaining the same thing. And he’s very graphic himself.”

“But that hasn’t stopped you. Death wish much?”

Her grin could be so infectious. “Come, darling. We have getting to know each other to do.” She jumped from the car, taking a deep breath and barely waiting for me to join her.

I followed behind her, but I certainly wasn’t going to admit anything was going on with her brother.

Oh, hell, no.

“Incidentally, my stick in the mud brother agreed to allow me to plan a little dinner party in a few nights. Maybe you’ll be finished with exams by then. I’ll have plenty of celebratory wine and champagne.” Isabella made everything seem like fun, but I sensed a serious side to her.

“I think I’ll enjoy that. Unless I’m grilled.”

“Oh, I assure you that you will be grilled.” She laughed and everyone around us admired the beautiful woman getting ready to walk into the restaurant.

The entire city was incredible and before I walked in, I took a few moments to enjoy the view in every direction. While the traffic was horrific, everyone zooming around corners in tiny cars as she’d done, the majesty of the buildings in the distance was awe-inspiring.

“I think you’ll enjoy the food here.” Isabella walked inside past the hostess, who greeted us with a huge grin. I could see a man in the back in a suit. As soon as he noticed her, his entire face lit up. I would say he was the epitome of what Americans thought of when we envisioned older Italians.

Short. Pudgy. A funny-looking mustache. He had that in spades.

He walked quickly in our direction as Isabella headed for a table. While it didn’t have her name plastered on it, I had a feeling people knew instinctively not to sit there.

“Come here often?” I asked as the short man quickly moved in our direction.

She finally removed her sunglasses, her smirk just as adorable as the beautiful woman. Isabella was the epitome of an Italian princess straight out of an animated movie. Gorgeous. Voluptuous and there wasn’t a single man in the crowded bistro who wasn’t staring at her.

“I adore their mimosas.”

“ La donna più bella del mondo onora il mio ristorante .” The man in the suit was right here, pulling her chair out, beaming like a kid.

“He thinks the most beautiful woman in the world is gracing his restaurant,” she whispered, rolling her eyes.

“Guido, sai che è meglio che chiedermi di uscire di nuovo .”

I had no clue what was being said other than his name. Guido?

Guido, you know better than to ask me out again.

He acted as if he was broken-hearted, placing his hand on his heart. “Would the lovely ladies enjoy a bottle of our finest champagne?”

“We’ll start with mimosas,” Isabella told him, waving him off. I couldn’t help but notice no one had pulled out my chair.

“Does that happen all the time?” I was genuinely curious.

“With Guido it does. He means well. He’s very sweet and never forgets my birthday, but my brothers learned a long time ago, I will not be fixed up with anyone. I do like them younger and with hair. But he’s undaunted, asking me out every time he sees me.”

We both giggled. “There seems to be no shortage of gorgeous men in this town.”

“Oh, please. Some flaunt whatever ridiculous title they were given as a baby, which means nothing these days. Others couldn’t get it up with two hands and a flashlight.”

People would call her crass. I found her refreshing. “At least men find you attractive.”

“Oh, please. You’re stunning. You’re simply living in your studies. I admire you for that, but the hot doctor look sadly only works for men.”

“How do you know?”

“ Grey’s Anatomy ? Please. Whew, baby.” She fanned herself and we continued to laugh as if we were fast friends as the tall flutes of mimosas arrived. Complete with a slice of a fresh orange. She didn’t acknowledge the waiter, but he didn’t wait around to see if we were ordering either. “Plus, I noticed something a little while ago.”

“What’s that?” I took a sip of the heavenly concoction and realized I had no clue how long it had been since I’d had a mimosa. Another taste was in order. Maybe I could really relax.

“My brother has a little thing for you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her sly look as if I’d been caught in a lie. I spit out almost the entire sip, narrowly avoiding spewing all over her. “What?” I quickly grabbed a napkin, but knew drops were trickling down my face. What a sticky mess.

She was holding the flute as if taught by an aristocrat. “Please. I was beginning to think my brother swung the other way, but his expression was positively carnal. You’d make a beautiful couple and perfect children.”

“Whoa. Hold on here. I barely know the man because he refused to allow me to get close over the years. Yes, he was generous to a fault, but I’d felt like the bastard stepchild and nothing more after a few years. He’s incorrigible, needing to have his own way with everything. He acts as if I’m fragile when I’m anything but. So far, he’s treated me like a child in almost every respect and he’s surly on top of that.” I was huffing out the words, but they were true.

And her grin was slowly increasing. “A match made in heaven.”

“Please. He hates me, but I can assure you he’s not gay if you were wondering. What you noticed was his fury and lingering jealousy.” I shot back the rest of my drink, which shocked both of us. She immediately raised her arm for a waiter.

“Now you have me more than curious. My brother is many things, but jealousy isn’t an emotion I’ve ever seen before.”

I’d opened my mouth and inserted both feet. I might not know the girl, but I realized she wasn’t going to let this go. Not at all. “He took me on a tour and Romeo was with the horses. He must have thought the man was flirting with me or vice versa and flew off the handle. He was trying to forbid me from seeing the guy again, but I laughed in his face. It got worse after that.”

“Do tell.” Isabella leaned over the table. Her eyes could sparkle in a way mine never could.

“He said I could see the grounds, so I took a walk when he was conducting business.”

“And you ended up at the stables.”

The woman was a beast. She was egging this on. “Yes. I’ve always wanted to ride. Romeo was kind enough to allow me to sit on a horse and take me around the corral and nothing more.”

Thank God the waiter appeared as if on speed call. She had everyone here at her beck and call. Just once I’d like to feel that way. Just once.

“And my darling brother caught you.”

“Yes, and he went ballistic. I refused to take his crap, trying to get the hell as far away from him as possible. He followed me like some spiteful kid. So see? I can’t stand him.”

She simply grinned and finished off her glass, immediately pushing the empty away and grabbing the fresh one that had been brought to her as well. “Whatever you say, my American family. But I know my brother. He never acts that way. I think perhaps you’ve brought him back from the dead. So let’s toast to men with a libido and a pulse.”

She was a naughty woman and our light banter returned, but I had no doubt she’d stored up our conversation. When would it come back to bite me?

Breakfast or brunch had been fantastic. I’d eaten every morsel. While she’d ordered, the food had been as close to an American stylized and beautifully created brunch plate as I’d ever seen. My mouth had watered when it was brought to the table, my hunger pains more than I’d realized were possible.

She’d given me more of an insight to the family business and the incredible city, also sharing with me how happy she was being in charge of the winery division. We’d laughed and ignored everything else. I might pay for my behavior later, but I needed this more than I’d thought possible.

Her phone rang and she sighed. “One momento .” After pulling it from her purse, she frowned. “I hate to do this, but I need to take it. I have clients coming in and I have a bad feeling someone is trying to put a… monkey wrench into the sale.”

All I could do was laugh. She really did appreciate American sayings and colloquialisms, adoring New York as much as I could see myself enjoying Palermo. I sat back, finally allowing myself to take in the view from the window nestled next to our table. It was on the side of the building and I hadn’t noticed there was a water canal. There were small rowboats and what had to be considered gondoliers floating on both sides.

The buildings were similar to the photographs of what I’d seen of Rome, stunning yet not as colorful. Although there seemed to be baskets of flowers hanging from every iron balcony. The look was fabulous and I could see living here.

But not in this lifetime.

I corrected myself, rolling my eyes after doing so. I was going to pass my exams with flying colors and try to stay out of Nico’s way.

Not that I wanted to. I adored the man too much, craving his body like I needed air to breathe. I might have awakened him to some degree, but he’d brought out a side of me I hadn’t known existed. Oh, that wasn’t good.

I placed my glass on the table and buried my face in my hands.

“ Come può una bella donna essere così triste? ”

The voice was a deep baritone, smooth and alluring. I was thrown by the tingles drifting through me. I certainly couldn’t have this kind of reaction to every man I met in Italy. Nico might kill them all. “I’m sorry. No Italian.” Oh, God. I was like one of those terrible tourists who thought by faking an Italian accent it would help.

I was ready to beat myself in the side of the head.

What surprised me wasn’t so much that I’d been approached or that the mystery man was as good looking as his voice suggested. It was that he took Isabella’s seat, pulling it closer to me. Talk about being forward.

“I asked how such a beautiful woman could be so sad.” His English was pretty damn good for an Italian. I sensed he’d been educated in the United States at some point.

“I’m not sad. Exhausted maybe, but not sad at all. How could anyone be so sad being in a beautiful city as this?”

There was something odd about the way he was looking at me. Yes, I wasn’t used to admirers so there was that aspect, but he was studying me as I would a dead specimen on a glass plate under a microscope. I was very uncomfortable.

“Ah, you are American.”

Gee. How could the dude tell? He was dressed well, wearing an expensive-looking polo and a pair of trousers that I knew cost money. I also had made it a mission to study watches people wore, other than those created for fitness and health. I hated those. They might be functional, but they weren’t sexy. His was.

All black with a metal black band, diamonds crystallizing the face. A stunning piece and no doubt over fifty grand.

He noticed me looking at it and grinned. “A gift from my father. Are you a tourist?”

“No, a guest for a month or so. A respite for hard work this past year.”

“Ah. Who are you visiting?”

Now he was digging and the red flags were raised. I was squirming, trying to figure out how best to handle this situation. “No one you’d know. No one famous or fabulous. Just a friend from college.”

“The best kind.”

I hadn’t noticed Isabella had suddenly appeared, but when I did, I could see she was fuming. She manhandled him, literally jerking him to his feet by his shirt.

She threw out sentence after sentence in Italian, likely accusations, so fast I couldn’t catch a single word.

He tried to act like some lovesick puppy dog. Even I knew that had been a stupid thing to do. When he dared touch her, she used both hands to shove him aside. Suddenly, the pudgy man was back, getting into the fray while the other customers were gawking.

She remained spitting mad, pointing to the door. The mystery guy tried to argue and that was the moment I noticed the outline of a weapon under his expensive polo.

Shit. Who the hell was this man?

Finally, two more burly waiters pushed the unwanted mystery man toward the door. I noticed he was with a party of his own, three ginormous guys who didn’t look too happy being tossed out of the restaurant.

One of them had a horrific scar.

From a knife.

I knew that well. I’d had a course in the injuries various weapons could make. The guy likely had issues with his vision.

And what did I care at this point?

“I’m sorry, Ms. Marciano. I won’t allow that bastard and his ugly group to bother you ever again.”

Poor Guido. He looked at her as if she was going to kill him.

She had her hands planted on her hips, immediately pulling out her phone and continuing to speak Italian. I realized seconds later she’d called one of her men, both rushing inside.

“I’m sorry, Alexandra. We should cut this short.”

Should or needed to? There was a sense of urgency to her voice, almost a slice of fear but definitely anger. The two six-foot five-inch dudes stood right in front of our table. There was no doubt they were packing.

I wasn’t certain what had occurred, but she was flustered as hell. I hadn’t expected that from her at all.

“Let’s not allow the asshole to spoil our fun. But we need to go back.”

Yes, the sense of urgency was strong. “Of course.”

As soon as we walked outside, the men Nico had required come with us were also right there, escorting us to our car. All four of what I’d call soldiers were scanning the street. What in God’s name were they expecting to find?

The men from before.

They were afraid we’d be ambushed.

With both of us safely nestled in the car, she took off. Only this time, one of the dark SUVs was in front of us, one behind. They weren’t taking any chances.

I remained floored, trying to keep from panicking myself when I had no idea who the guy was.

We were out of the city before she finally took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry about that. He’s not a good guy and neither are his men,” Isabella admitted.

“Who was he?”

She checked her rearview mirror even though no one could get near us, the three cars were so close. “His name is Mattia Russo. Neither he nor his goons are supposed to be in Sicily.”

“A rival family?” I asked. She didn’t need to tell me I was right, but she did.

“Yes, old rivals from generations ago. There has been peace for over a decade, especially since my brother took over. The five families do not want to cross each other.”

“Five families? It sounds like the mobs from days gone past in New York.”

She laughed. “Yes, very similar. From what I understand, the syndicates modeled their regimes after the Italian Cosa Nostra. I don’t know if that’s true.”

“So you are the mob?”

Isabella suddenly realized I’d been told very little about their family. “We were. Perhaps the rest of the world still thinks of us that way even today, but most families have evolved over time. We’re businesspeople. We make the majority of our money by handling legitimate and very profitable businesses. We don’t go around killing people as the norm.”

“But you will if you need to.”

She wasn’t exactly annoyed, but I could tell I’d irritated her. “You don’t understand about syndicates and that’s fine. You shouldn’t need to, other than you are here and you need to understand the dangers that will always be there. Always rearing ugly heads when someone gets a stick up their ass.”

“Nico likes to downplay it.”

“He has good reason to. That man being here is troublesome. He’s either scouting or making deals that he shouldn’t be.”

“So commerce isn’t allowed on each other’s turf?”

Her laugh was at least not nearly as full of tension as it had been. “Of course we can, but not the illegal kind. That will only bring trouble to our various territories. I assure you that on top of worrying about these Greeks in America, my brother will be pissed.”

“He’s always pissed about something.”

“You need to remember my brother is responsible for a billion-dollar enterprise, a family who is a bit impulsive, and a reputation that he’s done a significant job of improving over the years. I consider him a hero, but never call him that. He’ll be very angry.”

“Why?”

“He has his reasons, Alexandra. They’re for him to tell if he wants to, but don’t hold your breath. Just to see him with any emotion at this point is amazing and I thank you for that.”

While there was no way of knowing what she was talking about, thanking me didn’t make me feel any better or strip away any of the guilt.

How would she feel when she learned what had transpired between the two of us? I doubted she’d be eager to be my friend any longer at that point.

Life could indeed turn on a dime.