Page 37 of Unruly Protector
“Arturo,” I say in greeting.
“I hope you had a nice little time alone with the new wife and all, because we need to jump back in.Oh, and Beck wasn’t exactly pleased when he couldn’t reach you, so he called me instead.But it was smart to let your uncle smooth talk things over with the wives first.Worked like a charm.”Arturo chuckles.“Though, Beck did leave you one instruction he expects you to personally see through.”
I instructed Arturo to let my uncle handle the whole “Swooping them away to Italy” part.Romanticize the spur of the moment trip instead of telling them to take off for a few days or weeks for the good of their own safety.Nice to hear it worked.
“What’s the instruction?”I question.
There’s laughter in his voice when Arturo tells me, “You have to join your woman while volunteering at the shelter.He said you’d know what that meant.”
“Fucking hell,” I grumble.“I’m allergic to furry animals, Arturo.You know that as well as I do.”
Arturo snickers.“No, you’re not.You’re just a fussy asshole when said fur gets on your classy suit.Anyway, I told him you would be delighted.”
“I’m sure you did,” I mutter.“Just get Gian down here and be in my office along with Leandro when I arrive at home.And just so you know, Rina won’t leave my side for the time being.”
“I expected as much.Gian will be there within the hour.Talk later.”
“Talk later,” I reply and end the call.
I reach out and cup the side of Rina’s face, pressing a kiss on those soft and delicious lips of hers.
“Let’s have some more coffee and get dressed.Gian will be here to take us home.Like I just told Arturo, you’re not leaving my side for the time being.And it seems both of us signed up to volunteer at the animal shelter.Beck demanded it after we shipped them off to Italy.”I want to grumble but the way her face lights up with the mere mention of the animal shelter is worth the fuss of being around animals.
She’s worth anything and everything.
The time we have to wait for Gian to get here is spent with Rina raving about the animal shelter.Seems like Flora has gotten her all up-to-date about everything the last time they met, and she’s overly excited to volunteer.Not to mention the fact that I’m joining her.
We check the closets for some fitting clothes for Rina since most of the clothes in our safe houses contain suits and sweats and little to none female clothing.She picks some sweats along with a shirt and a pair of sneakers.None of them fit perfectly, but it will have to do.
She’s holding her wedding dress draped over her arm when we get inside the limousine.Without thinking I reach for her hand to lace our fingers.A tiny action and yet it feels natural to show affection.And to see her eyes light up in the brightest of blue is more than worth it.
Once we’re home, Rina takes off to shower and change into her own clothes.Something about using her own shampoo.Arturo and Leandro are both in my office, so I’m fine with her being in the safety of our house while I’m near.I know I’m obsessing but I’ve also never had these strong feelings toward a woman.Other than my sister but those are clearly of a different kind.
“What did you have planned?”Arturo asks, jumping right down to business.
I stalk around my desk and grab one of the files I have regarding Fredo’s floating casino.“I’m going to call him in for a meeting.”
Leandro leans forward, places his forearms on his elbows, and says, “And then you’re going to confront him about the illegal gambling parties?”
I give a tight nod.“There’s no use in denying anything.With the shit that happened yesterday he knows we cleared the church because he left early.I’m going to lay it all out and demand he set up a meeting with Dustin.”
Arturo rubs his hands together.“And then we’ll know exactly where the fucker is and end him.”
“That’s correct.Daniel and Dustin are lowlife, drug dealing scum who are body pickers.Bottom of the fucking food chain, thinking they can make a quick buck the second they get out of jail.”
Leandro growls low in his throat.“Some of their old gang are still loyal to them.Well, to Dustin now that Daniel is dead.But the connection with Fredo is still—”
I cut him off.“Thin, I know.That’s also why I want him here to confront him.Maybe he’ll come clean.Not that it would do him any good but the whole ‘gambling addict’ angle just isn’t enough.I need to know exactly why he signed his own death certificate because he knew damn well where going into this shit would lead him.”
I take my phone and find the number I need.It takes a while but ultimately Fredo growls into the phone and it isn’t a nice hello.
“Mind toning it down?”I snap.
“Sorry, Clemente.You caught me at a bad time.Can I call you back?”Fredo says in a nauseating sweet tone.
“No.What I want is for you to come here.I want to run a few things by you and it can’t wait.”
“Three o’clock okay?”Fredo asks.
