Page 69 of Under His Watch

“Yeah. Just now.”

“What was ‘weird’ about it?” she asked.

I filled her in on the few details that he’d shared when the call wasn’t broken up. When I mentioned the preliminary idea that Liam could visit and stay somewhere nearby, Nina nodded. “Oh, sure. Dante said they have so many properties, they could live somewhere different every week and not repeat residences.”

I raised my brows and blinked. “Wow.” Sometimes, acknowledging the family’s wealth meant imagining a staggeringly high amount of money.

Once we reached the store, we shifted from talking about Liam and any Constella properties to discussing baby things. Weoohed andaahed over all the adorable outfits, and we both admitted we had no clue what some of the apparatuses and tools were for. Most seemed to be involved with breastfeeding, and I reassured Nina that she had plenty of time to research and prepare.

“I can’t believe he doesn’t want to know what the baby’s gender will be,” I commented of Dante’s refusal to find out beforehand.

Nina shrugged. “Well, he’s already got a son. Maybe he wants a surprise this time.”

To each their own, I guess.

When we left the shop hours later,wewere the ones who got a surprise. An unpleasant one. Standing next to the car where the drivers would be waiting for us was a scowling man. He looked haggard and aged, like he’d failed to keep up with the plastic surgery necessary to appear youthful.

I didn’t know who he was, but the pair of rough-looking men flanking him were familiar. I’d never met them, but they reminded me too much of the men who’d come to the cabin for it to be a coincidence.

They kept their attention on us as we stopped short in the small parking lot. With them standing between us and the car, we had no easy means of escape.

“You’re a dead man walking, Giovanni,” Nina said, glowering at the shorter, older man between the two guards.

Giovanni?This had to be Stefan, the leader of the other family. The two-timing, scummy Mafia boss that Romeo and Dante had identified as one half of their biggest problem.

At the sound of footsteps behind us, too close for comfort, I lowered my hand to my open purse, wanting the comfort of the handgun in there. A quick glance back showed that two more men had come up behind us, preventing us from running into the store.

The man in the suit smirked at my best friend. As he pulled up a gun and aimed it at us, I stepped forward and shoved her behindme. I’d be damned if she was targeted. Vulnerably pregnant and unarmed, she had to stay back.

“What the fuck doyouwant?” I demanded, hoping I sounded a lot braver than I felt.

27

ROMEO

Franco gave me a heads up that Elliot Hines was talking about meeting with me, and at first, I was skeptical. I assumed that he wanted to discuss Tessa, and if that was the case, I would not budge. I didn’t care what he had arranged unofficially between his parents and hers. It wouldn’t stand in my way of a future with her.

When more hints came to me through the spies that worked for us, I decided I’d cut to the chase and go to the asshole. If he couldn’t man up to ask me to meet with him, he was either a coward who was afraid of the Constella name, or the rumors about his interest in speaking with me were nonsense.

I showed up, alone, and told his sex kitten of a secretary why I was there. “I’m here to speak with Hines.”

She smiled, a practiced expression of patience that I doubted she felt. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Hines isn’t available at the moment.”

“Yes, he is.”

She blinked, maintaining that air of patience but seeming curious. “And who might you be?”

“Romeo Constella.” I stared her down as she looked at her computer monitor.

“Hmm. I don’t see you in the books for any time this week. Are you certain you’ve made an appointment?”

I set my hand on her desk and leaned in, letting my jacket slide open until she saw my gun holster. “I don’t make appointments.”

She sobered, looking at my gun and keeping that polite smile plastered. “Oh. I see.”

“Do you?”

She slowly smirked as she raised her brows, indicating for me to look at the cameras in the corner of the receptionist room. “Mr. Hines’s security personnel can see too, you know.”

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