Page 564 of Sinfully Savage Mafia

“Listen,” I say, poking her in the shoulder. “You may have landed a punch once, but it was only ’cause I wasn’t paying attention. Don’t be stupid enough to think?—”

Pop!

“Fuck!” I shout, holding the side of my face. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Kat!” A dark-haired guy walks up to us and pulls her away from me with a roll of his eyes. “Rocco Lucchese,” he says to me. “Her husband.”

I snort. “Who’d you piss off?”

He chuckles and leads Kat away, but not before she flips me off.

“She’s just upset,” Kazimir says. “Lily is like a younger sister to her, and when she got caught up in all of this, with you…” He shakes his head. “It was hard for her to hear it. She’s had Lily’s back plenty of times, and to know she didn’t this time makes her crazy.”

Hence, my nickname for her.

“Yeah, well, maybe she should learn to channel some of her inner beast.”

Alek smirks. “It’s the inner beast that keeps our enemies at bay.”

I lift an eyebrow at him. “Are you gonna left hook me, too? Did I fuck up your plans for Salesi?”

“Nah,” Alek says. “He’s in. He may not admit it, but he’s thankful for what you did. He knows what you put on the line, and I think he realizes now that the control he had over Lily is a thing of the past. She’s her own woman.” He narrows his ice-blue eyes at me. “A very special woman. You may not have paid any attention to my warning the first time, but let me tell you this, if anything happens to a single hair on her head, I will gut you and have Tommy put you on his specials menu. You feel me, Zeno?”

A gorgeous brunette sidles up to Alek and puts a hand on his arm. It’s Gianna Marcone Severinov, his wife and Tommy’s sister. “Sweetie,” she coos. “You’re very tense. I can see the vein in your forehead protruding again. You told me you’d relax today.”

His lips stretch into a thin line. “Gianna, I’m just finishing up with Zeno. Why don’t you go into?—”

“No, I think you’re already finished.” She winks at me. “And we can go into the back room together.” She loops her arm through his and guides him away from me and Kazimir.

“So everyone is here, cozying up to each other,” I say, watching the family patriarchs talk at a corner table off to the back of the restaurant. I see a lot of hand shaking and nodding. A few chuckles follow. I guess those are all good signs. Maybe I won’t get my ass handed to me by my father after all.

“Looks like you didn’t fuck it all up. Cheers to that. I’m used to being the loose cannon, and I’ve gotta say, it’s nice to hand over those reins,” Kazimir snips.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter. “What in the hell are we even getting ourselves into with this Red Ladro shit?”

Kazimir slaps me on the back. “Just think of it as an extended family.”

“Most of my family wants to put me in traction.”

He snickers. “Better us than the enemy, yeah?”

I roll my eyes.

Sometimes I wonder if they aren’t one and the same.

EPILOGUE

LILY: SIX MONTHS LATER

Ihold out my hands, trying to feel something…anything…in front of me, but I can’t. The blindfold Zeno tied on a few minutes ago doesn’t allow a single sliver of light in, and I have no idea where he drove us.

“Listen, I know you love using these in the bedroom, but not seeing anything is driving me crazy. Now, tell me where we’re going. And you can’t take us on too much of a detour because we’ll be late for dinner!”

My parents, Nico, Shaye, and my nephews flew in for my college graduation this afternoon, and we’re supposed to be meeting them for dinner. I know things have been better between Nico, my dad, and Zeno, but I still feel like there is static between them, so I really don’t want to keep them waiting and add salt to any unhealed wounds.

“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise. And besides, I like seeing you blindfolded,” he murmurs against my ear as we walk. My heels click against pavement, and one gets caught in I guess what must be a sidewalk crack. I pitch forward with a yelp, slamming against Zeno’s back.

He responds with a loudoof!

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