Page 12 of Bought By the Mafia

“You look fine.” I rolled my eyes. It’s not like I was expecting platitudes. I didn’t need him to tell me that my black silk jumpsuit was cute, but ‘fine’ was a bit dismissive. He could act like he wasn’t affected by me, but I was sure I saw his nostrils flair when his gaze landed on my dipping neckline.

He led me out of the apartment by and when we got to the car, I was glad to see Mickey holding the passenger door open and Johnny in the driver’s seat. I mouthed a sorry at Mickey as I got in and got a glare from Gio.

Once the car was on the road, I turned to Gio and said, “I held up my end of the bargain. Now you.” For a moment, I thought he wasn’t going to say anything. He seemed occupied with typing something on his phone, but he eventually flipped it down on his lap. “The Morelli family is currently at war with the Saccones, that part I’m sure you knew,” he said.

I shook my head.

“No?” He frowned. “Your father never told you anything?”

“I stay out of that part of his business.”

“You’re a mafia princess. The least you should do is know what your family is up to. At the very least, for your own protection.”

“My father… never mind.”

“Your father is traditional and considers it ‘men’s’ business?”

“So you know?”

“The insistence on consummation tipped me to it.” I don’t know if it was the low glow of the streetlights streaming in the car, but I was sure his features had turned soft and there seemed to be sympathy in his eyes. Even his voice sounded gentle. However, he bounced back to business mode and continued with the explanation. “We’ve been in a cold war with the Saccone family and it’s only heated recently. And since Saccone’s foothold is Vegas, same as ours, it has only made things tense. My brothers who operate there have been dealing with the brunt of the war. Dante was almost killed in an ambush. It happened in Brazil, but the men did it on Saccone’s orders. “

Holy fuck. I froze in my seat. Everything seemed to shrink down to the confines of the car as I listened to what he was saying. I knew something was going on with the Morellis and their enemies. I know what my husband does. But somehow, I never thought it was would be this serious. My voice came out small and strained. “Is he okay?”

“It happened before the wedding,” he said.

All Gio’s brothers were there, and they all seemed fine. The entire ceremony was a whirlwind, but I specifically remember Dante being in caring and sweet towards me. He had even asked me if I was sure if I wanted to get married and that the Morellis would not mind if I called off the wedding.

“One of his men was badly injured though, so blood was spilled. Which is where you come in.”

“Marrying me guarantees the support of my family?”

Gio nodded.

“What about the Bianchis? Are they your enemy too?”

“The Bianchis are staying out of it. But giving them a reason to, say, ransom the wife of one of the Morelli brothers to Saccone, would make them our enemy. That’s why I don’t want you in their territory. They could leave you alone, they ransom you back to us. But if they get other ideas…”

“I get it. You don’t want me getting in the middle of your war and causing all sorts of chaos.”

“Leonardo, being a Bianchi, is also why I don’t want you to see him, no matter the nature of your relationship.” I wanted to tell him again that nothing was going on between me and Leonardo, but I doubt he would believe me. My visit was an innocent one. I had asked Leonardo to join me in my new business and he had declined. The whole truce/war thing was probably why.

“What about Judy? Why did you stop me working at her magazine?”

“Saccone is using Judy’s business as a money laundering scheme. She used to come to us when she needed money, and I would have given her a loan on good terms. I don’t know why she went to Saccone. Regardless. If you were still working there and Saccone found out…”

He would have kidnapped me and used me as a bargaining chip. Or worse, kill me and mail my head to Giovanni. For the first time, it settled on me how serious all of this was. Gio didn’t seem worried at all, but I was beginning to worry for him. “Are you safe? These sounds—”

“New York is where we deal with the legal end of the business. He’s not going to shoot me down while I’m taking a stroll in the park, but one can’t be too careful. Do you get now why I want you to stay safe?”

“Why didn’t you tell me all of this before?”

“Because I don’t trust you. I only told you now, because you refuse to behave. It’s better you know than have you acting like a headless chicken.”

“I don’t know, maybe, I wouldn’t be acting like a headless chicken if I knew you were in the middle of a war where I could die. What’s your beef with Saccone, anyway?”

“We have no beef with him. He saw a weakness in our business when our father died and capitalized. That’s it. Just business. He thinks we are so weak he was audacious enough to gate crush our wedding.”

“What the fuck! He was at our wedding? When?” I scanned my brain for an unfamiliar face at the wedding reception, but everyone there was someone I knew or someone I knew to be related to the Morellis. It was a small affair.

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