27. Marco

Chapter 27

Marco

M y night with Laura went better than expected and now it feels like we're back on track. It wasn't easy wearing that damn mask for several hours in a row—but she was easily worth the minor physical inconvenience.

I lost myself in her, and she seemed equally swept away. But now that I'm back in my condo, all the questions I've been pushing aside come creeping back in.

And made ten times worse when Ronan shows up at my doorstep. "You've been fucking quiet," he says, brushing past me and into my apartment. I sigh, close the door, and remind myself that I need to fucking move now that the whole city apparently knows where I live.

"I've been busy." I find Ronan in my kitchen going through my cabinets.

"Don't you have any goddamn coffee in this place?"

I brush him aside and start making us espresso. "I didn't know you could get out of bed before ten in the morning."

"Yeah, well, it's not exactly my favorite thing in the world now." Ronan leans against the counter and watches me work. "You've been a slimy little eel lately. Been hard to pin you down."

"Like I said, I've been busy."

"Sure, sure, took a job for those weirdo biker guys, I heard about that. But from my perspective, you've been on my ass about our little alliance deal for the last few months, then suddenly you disappear. What's the deal?"

"No deal." I hand over his drink and stand across from him. Ronan and I are friends, but not the kind of buddies that drop by unannounced. This visit is setting off all manner of alarm bells.

He takes a sip of the coffee and sighs. "That's pretty good."

"Better be. That machine cost two grand."

"Two grand? For fucking coffee?" He makes a face then shrugs. "Good though."

"Skip to the part where you tell me why you're here."

He walks off into my living room. It annoys the hell out of me, and I drift after him. Nerves jangle in my guts. I'm worried he knows about Laura somehow, but that's impossible. If anything, he'd know that a Bianco daughter was spotted with some weirdo in a fetish mask and hate them even more than he did before.

"Adam's been on my ass the last few days," he says at last, looking out my window. It's a good view: the lake stretches out into the distance, sunlight glittering off it like the diamonds in Laura's collar. He's only a few feet away from her sculpture.

"Yeah? What's his deal?"

"He's ready, Marco. No more bullshit. He wants in."

That gets my attention. I figured Adam would only agree to play along after I got Julien fully on board, but this is massive. If Adam's in, then Julien will definitely be in, and that'll be enough to convince Dusan that this is a good idea.

But I'm wary. Good news like this doesn't just happen. "What changed?" I ask.

"The guy that died in that shooting? Apparently, his cousin's daughter was in love with him, and now the girl's all heartbroken and inconsolable. Adam's nothing if not a family man." Ronan rolls his eyes and takes another sip. "Shit, this is really fantastic. I need to come over more often."

"No, you really don't." I pace across the living room. "Is he serious about this?"

"Said so himself to me just last night."

"Why hasn't he gotten in touch yet then?"

"Fuck if I know." Ronan gives me a look. "You seem squirrelly. Maybe that's why."

I stop pacing. God damn it, he's right. I've been dumping all my free time into my relationship with Laura, and I've been neglecting my duties. Valentina says she's been trying to keep everyone in the loop, but that'll only go so far.

"I'll talk to him then and work it out."

"Nah, brother, we've got to have a big old meeting again. Get all the lads together and have them hash it out, yeah? Once Adam's on board, you know the others will be too, they just need a little convincing."

I grind my jaw. This is moving fast and I don't feel like I'm in control of the situation. My relationship with Laura is new, and if this alliance comes together and we start an actual war, I might fuck everything up with her.

Besides, it's too fast. We need to be slow and methodical about this. At least, that's how I'm justifying it to myself.

"Not yet," I say, and I can tell Ronan doesn't like it. "Give me some time to lay the groundwork with Julien. I want to make sure this comes together."

"Bro, listen to me. All this talk? All this fucking around? It'll only piss everyone off. You know how these lads are. They want action, not chatter."

"Give me a few days, that's all I'm asking. I'll talk to Adam and get shit settled. This is happening, Ronan. It's a good thing."

He cocks his head to the side and doesn't seem convinced, but he finishes his coffee and lets me corral him back to the front door. As he's leaving, we run straight into Valentina, because of course we do, everyone loves appearing at my place these days whenever they damn well please.

"Lovely seeing you, darling," Ronan says to her.

"I know," Valentina replies, which Ronan seems to love. He walks off, before Valentina turns her attention to me. "What was that about?" she asks, eyes narrowed. "I don't think I've ever seen Ronan at your place before."

I fill her in over another coffee. She doesn't compliment my brewing skills like Ronan did, which makes me think she's gotten too used to the good stuff. I'll have to make her a couple shitty cups, just to remind her of my superior brewing talents.

"You're going to fuck this up," she announces when I'm through.

My first reaction is defensive and angry. I want to tell her to fuck off. Instead, I let that pass, because my initial reaction isn't always the best, and I force myself to sip my drink instead.

"Okay," I say once I'm calm. "Tell me why."

"It's obvious. Ronan doesn't know about Laura Bianco, so he's got no clue why you're not chomping at the bit to get this whole fight started. But your secret's no secret around me, Marco, my friend."

"And isn't that just wonderful." I give her a hard look. "What am I supposed to do here, Val?"

"If this were up to me? I'd ditch the girl and throw myself into the war. You know, the thing you've been wanting for, like, forever." She walks into the other room and sits down on the couch, legs crossed underneath her.

I pace around the coffee table. "I'm not ditching her. That's not happening."

"You're really into this girl, aren't you?"

"It's not just some fling. At least, it's turning into something a lot more."

Valentina's expression is hard to read. I know she's not happy about my relationship and I can't really blame her for that, but I like to think I've earned a little bit of goodwill from her at this point. She should know that I'm not doing this to hurt her.

"This girl is going to break your heart," she says very softly. I stop pacing and face her, arms crossed over my chest.

"You can't know that."

"Come on, Marco. She's a Bianco ." Valentina's lip curls. "I understand that she's not very involved in their business, and I don't think she participated in the war with my father at all, but it doesn't change anything. She's Bianco, which means Bianco interests will always come first. Sooner or later, your secret's going to get out, and you'll both have to choose. She'll choose family, and where will that leave you?"

I don't want to hear this. I really don't want to agree with her either. But what she's saying rings true, at least to an extent. Laura isn't going to fuck me over when things get hard, but what Valentina's saying is exactly what I've been thinking from the start: sooner or later, this is going to crash and burn. We'll have to make a choice, and Laura's entire life is subsidized by her family's connections and power. She's not going to give up her basement, her studio, her fucking art, for some guy. No matter how good the sex is. No matter how close we're beginning to get to each other.

"Maybe you're right," I tell her, "but I'm still going to try."

Valentina sighs and leans back. "Since when did you become such a fucking romantic?"

"Since I met Laura."

She groans and rolls her eyes. "That was the most disgusting thing I've ever heard."

"Shouldn't you be happy for me?" I sit on the other end of the couch, and Valentina has the good manners to look pained.

"I am happy for you, which is why I'm not out blowing up your spot and screaming my head off, but you know this is hard for me to get over. I mean, she's a fucking Bianco. Her dad murdered my dad."

"And I want her family to pay for what they did. I still believe the Bianco Famiglia is too big and too powerful, and I want to cut their knees out from under them. But Laura isn't the Famiglia."

Valentina doesn't look like she agrees. We sit in strained, uncomfortable silence, and I wish things could be different. I wish Valentina didn't have every reason in the world to hate the Biancos, and I wish I could make her see that whatever I have with Laura is a good thing, outside of my feud with the Famiglia.

But that isn't reasonable, and in the end, Valentina finishes her coffee and leaves early. "I just need to think about this for a while," she says at the door. "I love you like a brother, Marco, and you saved my life. But I really need to think."

"Take your time. Do what you need to do. I'm still here for you, Val."

She shakes her head and walks away, leaving me alone in my own place for the first time in a while, and feeling every echoing inch of the empty rooms.