Page 109 of Wrathful King
Luca DiMauro’s eyes were narrowed and locked on the screen where Dante’s face hovered, and it struck me as peculiar.
The vote started. “Yes,” the first confirmation was uttered, followed by the rest of the votes. It was unanimous.
“Congrats, brother. Now we get to play, huh?” I kept my eyes glued to the screen, hoping to catch a glimpse of Phoenix. My efforts spying weren’t in vain, because just as Dante was flipping everyone off, I caught a glimpse of her. My sister. She was smiling and looked… very good. So things must be going well, although it puzzled me why Dante and Phoenix claimed it was best they kept away for now. Amon said she needed a bit more time before she was ready to addresssomethingandsomeonewith us.
It left me confused, but I’d come to understand that she needed time and space and I had to respect it, no matter how much it killed me.
“I got a wife to tend to. So long, motherfuckers.” Dante ended the call without waiting for a response.
Possessive and unhinged men. They’d be the death of us all. Although admittedly, they loved harder than anyone else.
“Are we done here?” Amon asked the men at the table as he stood up.
With some shifting gazes, the men all got to their feet and headed out of the room.
“Mrs. Romero, I presume.” A voice behind me froze me in my tracks just as I was about to mosey back upstairs. For a second, I debated whether to pretend I didn’t hear it and keep on going, but I wasn’t a coward.
I turned on my heel slowly, coming face-to-face with Luca DiMauro. “Signore DiMauro,” I greeted him. “How are you?” I asked politely.
“Were you listening in?” Okay, no formalities, then.
“I was.”
“Why?”
I studied him, recalling what I’d heard about the man. Not much, aside from the fact that he was one of Benito King’s sons. His brother, Cassio King, had a strong bond with some of the most powerful underworld families.
“I hoped to see my sister, Phoenix, during the video conference,” I finally answered.
He tilted his head as if debating whether to believe me or not, but before he could say another thing, Amon came out of the office along with Manuel and Enrico Marchetti.
Amon’s gaze traveled between Luca and me. “What’s going on?”
I shrugged. “He caught me spying on your meeting,” I admitted sheepishly. “I wanted to see Phoenix.”
Amon’s dark eyes found Luca DiMauro’s. “We’re in her home. She can do whatever she wants.”
For three heartbeats, there was nothing but tension, then Luca shrugged his shoulders.
“I have a feeling we’ll be seeing each other soon,” he said, then proceeded to leave.
“Well, that went well,” Manuel said from his spot. “Either he isn’t getting laid, or he has a chip on his shoulder.” An understatement if I ever heard one, except I hadn’t done anything to piss him off. “Maybe it has something to do with the disappearance of Sasha Nikolaev’s child?”
I had no fucking idea who Sasha Nikolaev’s child was and I wasn’t about to ask. Instead, I flicked a glance at Amon, who looked at me with that hooded expression that made my pulse flutter. I just wanted to be alone with my husband.
“I’m going to get changed,” I said, my voice slightly breathless. I couldn’t help the flush whenever he looked at me like he was about to devour me. “We have a few things to handle today, right?”
“We do. First we’ll meet with Father Mario and then we can tour those properties.”
We had to make the last few arrangements for his mother’s burial, and then he promised we’d also take a look at a few homes that’d just become available in the heart of Venice.
We decided to set down roots here. Well, here and Japan. We’d started scouring the market before everything exploded with Hana, Hiroshi, and Maria. The Romero villa would be the base for Amon’s meetings, which was his way of keeping business separate from our life.
“Ah, you decided to stay?” Enrico actually smiled. “Isla will be happy to have at least one girlfriend close by.”
I chuckled. “It’s not exactly close by, but we’ll be in the same country,” I agreed.
“We need lots of room to accommodate our family and your career,” Amon announced. “Finding that in this city will be hard.”
