Page 23 of On Ice

“I never said he should break anyone’s legs,” she mumbles around her mouthful of ice cream.

“But that’s what you want, right?” Marco shrugs. “You want him to hurt this scumbag who lied to you.”

Isabella swallows and avoids Marco’s gaze. “I just think he should pay in some way for using me like that. It’s not right.”

I meet Marco’s gaze, smirking. “ I mean, to be fair, I’d break his legs even if I wasn’t head of the syndicate. He messed with my sister and that’s not something he can get away with.”

And he’s not Italian.

Isabella laughs as she watches me. “You have that look, Luca.”

“What look?” I slide onto the stool next to her, loosening my tie.

“The same one you had when Bobby Castellano stood me up for prom.” She manages a watery smile. “Did they ever find his car?”

“How would I know?” I steal her spoon and take a bite of gelato. The rich chocolate flavor bathes my tongue. “Although Ithink I heard something about the police finding his car at the bottom of Seabrooke lake. Can’t imagine how it got there.”

That gets a laugh from her, which makes me feel a little better.

I nudge her slender shoulder with mine. “Why don’t you give dating a rest for a while? You keep picking real jerks.”

She sighs. “There are so many of them out there. God, I can’t believe I fell for his lies.” Her eyes fill up with tears again, which makes me feel vaguely panicked. “He seemed to really like me. I can’t believe it was all fake.”

That damn guilt about Evan returns.

“He wanted what he wanted,” Mama interjects, adding fresh basil to her sauce. “Sometimes you have to lie to get what you want.”

“Mama.” Isabella looks betrayed. “You’re on his side?”

Mama’s face gentles. “Of course not, Piccola. I think breaking his legs is too good for him. He needs his dick cut off.”

Marco guffaws. “That’s what I love about you, Mrs. Barone. You look so sophisticated and demure, but you’re Cosa Nostra through and through .”

She smiles, looking flattered. “Well, I was married to Giovanni from the time I was eighteen.” She makes the sign of the cross. “He didn’t suffer fools.”

“No, he did not.” Tony nods, lifting his dark brows. “Father didn’t even suffer non-fools very well.”

Isabella slumps. “I feel like such an idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot, Tesoro.” Mama sighs, looking at her daughter. “Men are idiots. Present company excluded.”

Tony quirks a brow. “Did you hear that guys, we’re excluded this time.”

Marco chuckles. “Whew.”

Mama turns down the heat under her sauce and comes over to us. “That man is garbage for cheating on his wifeandfor using Isabella. It’s one thing to steal and run rackets, but when you start manipulating people’s emotions, that seems wrong.”

It feel as if she’s talking directly to me and my face warms. “Sometimes you have to trick people to get things done.” I glance at my sister. “I don’t mean like what happened to you, Bella. That man was using you for his own personal rewards.” I clear my throat. “But sometimes you do have to manipulate people’s emotions in business to get things done.”

Mama studies me and I feel like an ant under a microscope. “It’s never right to make people think you like them romantically, if you’re just using them,” she says. “That isn’t how the Barone’s operate.”

I lift my chin. “I’m not sure I agree. Father emotionally blackmailed lots of people over the years. It was one of his best strategies for getting what he wanted.”

Mama hesitates. “That’s true, but he didn’t sleep with them to get them in line.”

My face is hot as I hold her gaze. I almost wonder if Marco has said something to her about what I’ve been up to with Evan and the Ice Hawks. I shoot him a suspicious glance but he simply lifts his brows in question.

“You can threaten people till the cows come home, but you shouldn’t abuse their hearts.” She looks at Isabella. “Look at howhurt she is. How anyone could think using another human that way is okay is beyond me.”

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