Page 100 of Between Us

37

“Hey, Mamma,” Alessandra said, the phone cradled between her ear and shoulder. Her eyes were fixed on the pile of clean clothes in the laundry basket as she pulled out one of Roman's white shirts and folded it neatly before setting it aside. She'd been at the task for only a couple of minutes before her mother called.

“Bambina,” Gabriella crooned on the other end. ”How are you?”

“I'm good, Mamma. And you?”

“Missing you,figlia mia. I thought I'd call and invite you to lunch. What do you say? Your uncle Mattia just finished with the renovations toZio's. He's been pestering me to bring you along.”

Mattia was her mother's eldest brother. Like most men in Alessandra's life, he had pledged his loyalty to the Outfit in his youth, in a time when the organization was run by Alessandra's grandfather. A true Italian at heart, he was loud, always cheerful, and the owner ofa large belly that spoke of the many hours spent in the kitchen cooking his mother's recipes for the restaurant he'd been running for over twenty years.

Alessandra put her mother on speaker then set the phone on the floor. “Today?”

“Do you have other plans?”

She didn't, but she wasn't sure she should be going out when her father-in-law was still in critical condition. It had been two days since the attack, and even though Vitaly had survived in almost miraculous circumstances, he was still in an induced coma to help with the swelling in his brain. Not even the doctors could tell them when, or if, he was going to recover from the trauma.

It seemed that the news hadn't yet reached her family, or Gabriella would have already asked her about it. That probably meant Roman was trying to keep any details on the attack from being siphoned off to the wrong people.

Alessandra checked the time. It was twenty minutes to noon. Maybe some fresh air and seeing her family would do her good. Roman wouldn't be coming home until eight or nine, at the earliest, and she needed a distraction while he was busy handling Bratva business.

“No plans. What time should we meet up?”

“Say, one-thirty?”

“That's good. I'll see you at Zio's.”

After ending the call with her mother, she finished folding the laundry and placed the basket on top of the washing machine for Nika to iron later in the day. On her way to the kitchen, she debated whether to call Roman and let him know about her plans. The room smelled of roasted vegetables when she entered, thearomas from the pots on the stove drifting past her and into the foyer.

Nika wasn't in the kitchen, but Alessandra's two bodyguards were. Both looked up from their phones when she made an appearance. For a second, she couldn't decide which one looked more intimidating: Vladik with his broodiness and neck tattoos or Vladimir with those ice-cold eyes.

“I'll be going out in a little while,” she announced. “I'm meeting my mother for lunch.”

Vladimir threw Vladik a meaningful look that confused Alessandra. That was until Vladik spoke in his deep timbre. “I'm afraid you can't do that.”

Alessandra frowned, unsure she understood him. “Do what? See my mother?”

Vladik nodded, not offering an explanation.

She let out an incredulous breath. “You're kidding, right?” When both men stared at her with blank looks on their life-hardened faces, she asked with annoyance, “Says who?”

“Boss's orders,” Vladik replied, unfazed by the deep frown pulling on her eyebrows.

She opened her mouth to speak again, but nothing came out. Grabbing her phone from the back pocket of her jeans, she dialed Roman, not moving from her spot.

He answered right before the call went to voicemail. ”Yeah?”

“Did you tell Vladik and Vladimir I wasn't allowed to see my mother?” she demanded, not caring that she was speaking to him in that tone in front of his men.

Roman was quiet for a long moment. He seemed to be moving as the voices in the background faded to silence.”It's for your safety,milaya. I can't risk anythinghappening to you after this Sunday.”

“You really think my mother poses a threat to me?”

“It's not her I'm worried about.”

She was stunned into silence as the realization of what he was implying dawned on her. When she found her voice again, she turned her back to the men in the room and walked out. “You've got to be kidding me, Roman,” she hissed, incensed. “My family would never touch me. My father is an asshole, sure, but he has no reason to harm me.”

Roman let out a deep breath, and she knew he was getting angry.“Just for once, can you fucking trust me and do as I say? I have my reasons for not letting you see your family.”

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