chapter 9

LUCA

“I have a bad feeling about today,” I said as I steered our car toward the Bardonis’ town house. Bardoni had been close with my father, one of the reasons why Matteo and I couldn’t stand the asshole. He was my Captain, not a good one, and his son was a fucking coward.

“Because of Gianna and Matteo?” Aria asked with a small frown. “I know you’re worried because he took off her ankle monitor but she won’t try anything today.”

I wasn’t worried about that. Since Matteo had caught Gianna a couple of weeks ago, they had either been fucking or fighting. And things had been fucking tense in the Famiglia because my uncles weren’t the only ones who thought making Gianna part of the Famiglia was a bad idea. I shared their opinion but couldn’t say so outright, not only because it would make me look weak to doubt my decision, but also because of Matteo and Aria.

“Bardoni thinks his son should be Consigliere and because of Matteo’s decision to marry Gianna, some forces in the Famiglia agree.”

Aria bit her lip. “I hate that you are having so many problems because of Gianna’s flight.”

“I will silence my doubters eventually, but it’s a pain in the ass,” I said. Another bloody statement was inevitable at some point.

Aria huffed out a laugh when we pulled up in the Bardonis’ driveway. “What is that?”

I followed her gaze toward a massive angel carved out of ice that had been set up in the front yard. The entire yard sparkled in white and gold. “Bardoni likes to impress,” I muttered.

Aria raised one pale eyebrow, and I squeezed her hand briefly before I got out of the car and dropped the pleasant expression.

I opened Aria’s door for her when Matteo pulled up with his Porsche behind my Aston Martin.

Aria sighed as she regarded me.

“What?” I asked quietly.

“Sometimes your expression scares me. I prefer the way you look behind closed doors.”

I touched her back. “I know.”

My eyes settled on Bardoni and his wife. Both were beaming at us, fucking fake smiles on their faces. I nudged Aria lightly and she followed me toward my Captain. He shook my hand before he took Aria’s and kissed it. He helped her out of her coat, his eyes darting toward her chest for the briefest moment. I leveled my gaze on him and he quickly stepped back, and turned his attention toward Matteo and Gianna.

“Come on,” I said to Aria, touching the exposed skin of her back, and led her into the living room. My eyes did a quick scan of the guests—the majority were soldiers from New York but I recognized a few men from Philadelphia, among them Cassio. As I made my way toward him with Aria at my side, I said under my breath, “That’s Cassio Moretti.”

“Son of Mansueto Moretti, Underboss of Philadelphia,” Aria finished with a smile. “I remember him from our wedding, Luca. I have a good memory. I know most of the men in this room, and the women too.”

I nodded. Sometimes I forgot how clever Aria was, but I had seen her grades when I’d prepared everything for her application to NYU.

Cassio straightened when he spotted me and I extended my hand for him to shake. Then his eyes moved on to Aria, respectfully. “It’s an honor meeting you again.”

“The honor is all mine, Cassio,” she said with a sophisticated smile, looking up at my soldier. “How’s your wife doing? I heard she gave birth to your first child a few days ago.”

I had forgotten about that. I gave Aria’s hand a light squeeze to show her my appreciation.

“She’s recovering,” Cassio said, then his eyes moved back to me and I could tell he had business to discuss.

Aria smiled, catching the silent message. “I’ll go talk to Mrs. Bardoni for a while.” She turned around and left, giving me a stunning view of her naked back.

Cassio cleared his throat, his eyes on me, and I finally tore my own gaze away from Aria. “My father’s health isn’t improving. He can’t take care of business anymore.”

“I will announce you as Underboss of Philadelphia in our next meeting.”

Surprise crossed Cassio’s face. “I thought perhaps you wanted to give the position to one of your cousins to…”

“To what?” I asked in a sharp voice.

He met my gaze. “To appease your family.”

I smiled darkly. “My family will bow down to my command if they know what’s good for them. You are loyal, and I prefer to reward loyalty than favor someone because of their blood.”

Suddenly Gianna appeared at my side and gripped my forearm. I leveled my gaze on her, caught off guard by her closeness.

“Luca, can you please come with me for a moment?” she asked in the most civil voice she’d ever directed at me. My body went into high alert at once.

“Excuse me,” I told Cassio, who nodded and stepped back.

Gianna didn’t loosen her grip as she led me out of the living room.

“What the hell is going on?” I asked suspiciously. I didn’t trust the redhead one bit.

“Matteo needs your help,” she whispered, her eyes darting to a door down the corridor.

“Fuck,” I breathed. “Get back to the party and find Aria and Romero before people get suspicious about us being gone together.”

She pursed her lips. “As if I would ever have a quickie with you.”

“Don’t worry, the idea of fucking you excites me just as much.”

I turned my back on her and headed for the door she’d indicated.

“Matteo?” I growled, already losing my fucking patience though I didn’t even know what had happened. Knowing Gianna and Matteo, it couldn’t be anything good.

Matteo opened the door and waved me in.

“What do you want? Gianna didn’t say anything,” I began when I spotted Bardoni behind his desk with Matteo’s knife buried in the underside of his chin. “Oh fuck.”

Matteo shrugged. “Bardoni had an accident.”

I couldn’t fucking believe his nerve. He’d killed one of my Captains in his home, as if I needed more problems than I already had. “Fuck, Matteo, what did you do?”

“If you ask me, I think good old Mr. Bardoni killed himself,” he said.

I walked around the body. Few people killed themselves by shoving a knife up their throat. “It’s because of Gianna, isn’t it? Bardoni did or said something that annoyed you and you lost your shit. I knew the girl would bring nothing but trouble.”

And that was the understatement of a lifetime. Damn it.

“The asshole has been on your death list for a while. He’s been stirring up shit. You are glad he’s gone—admit it. We’ve discussed having him killed countless times. I decided to finally act.”

“Of course I wanted him dead, but not in his own fucking home at his Christmas party. Damn it, Matteo. Can’t you think first and shoot second for once?”

I could tell that he wanted to make a joke, probably about having stabbed Bardoni and not shot him, but I narrowed my eyes and he shut up. “I’ll call Romero. He’s keeping an eye on Aria and Gianna, but we’ll need him here to deal with this fucking mess.”