Reckless & Ruined (34 page)

“We woke up later than we should have and this was easier,” Adriano explained.

Alessa was confused. Adriano talked like Damian had somehow known she spent the night with Adriano. How could Damian possibly know that?

“Lucky her brother is out of the city.”

Well, that answered one of Alessa’s questions regarding Joel’s whereabouts. Even Abriella hadn’t known where their brother disappeared to for a day.

“Is he?” Adriano asked.

Damian scoffed, jerking a thumb in Alessa’s direction. “Like you don’t already know.”

“I don’t know where he is, asshole.”

“Vegas, apparently.”

Adriano’s brow shot up as he shot a look over his shoulder at her. “Vegas?”

“Sorrentos. Maybe he’s trying to buy votes or something.”

“That’s the wrong family to be going to for that,” Adriano said.

“Joel has a mighty sense of entitlement, a big head, and enough cockiness to carry him through a meeting with Maximo Sorrento. One meeting, anyway. Two might cost him more than he’s willing to give, like his life. After all, Max has little to no patience for spoiled boys. Look at what he did to his own son.”

Adriano chuckled. “And then Max will head back to the Marcello crew in New York.”

“Like I said, buying votes,” Damian replied dully. “Or trying.”

“I’ll pass the info along.”

“Do what you will with it, kid.”

“Thanks,” Adriano said.

“I didn’t expect you to get here this quick,” Damian said.

“Or you didn’t expect me to get the money.”

Damian shrugged like it didn’t make a difference. “Semantics, Adriano. Out of curiosity, do you often keep eighty-k of cold cash just sitting around for a rainy day?”

Eighty-k?

That was a lot of money. The black bag in Adriano’s fist caught her attention again. It made a lot more sense.

“No, but a friend of mine did,” Adriano replied. “And I figured since he can’t use it anymore and I was the only one who knew about his stashes of cash, I might as well put some of it to use.”

“A friend?” Damian asked.

“Sleeping at the bottom of a river.”

Alessa frowned at those words. She was starting to think maybe she should roll the window back up, but she didn’t.

Damian chuckled coldly. “Well, that’s unfortunate.”

“It was.” Adriano’s tone held a great deal more feeling about the topic than Damian’s did. “But it is what it is.”

“I heard a rumor this morning,” Damian said, looking Alessa’s way again.

“I’m listening,” Adriano replied.

“There are new boots on Conti territory.”

Adriano stilled. “Oh?”

“Are we going to play stupid?” Damian asked. “I thought we were past that, Adriano.”

“There’s a little truth in every rumor, as the saying goes, Damian.”

“Well said.” Damian sighed heavily. “You’ll make a good Capo if you stay the fuck out of trouble. You’re young, yeah, but that’s all right, too. You’ve been doing this under Kolin for years. No man in the Conti crew has ever worked as closely with him as you did. I bet they’re not even looking elsewhere for a Capo but right at you. You’ll be fine out there—the guys like you. But you need to keep your head above water and right now, you’re pretty goddamn close to drowning, Adriano. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“Sure,” Adriano muttered. “But considering she’s the only thing that keeps me breathing, I don’t mind being pulled under with her.”

“Poetic,” Damian said dryly.

“Are we going to do this thing or keep chatting?”

Damian smiled, flashing his white teeth in the process. “There’s no need. You’re too late.”

Adriano’s shoulders stiffened. “We made an agreement, Damian. Twenty-four hours; eighty-k. I followed through. Why won’t you?”

“Because I don’t need to, kid.” Damian surveyed his quiet property before saying, “There was a big story on the news this morning.”

“Stop skipping around and get to the fucking point. Why in the hell won’t you follow through on the hits?”

Hits
?

Alessa’s heart practically leaped into her throat.

“Because I don’t need to. At least not on one. Laurent Rossi was found late last night by his wife after she was woken up from one of her many drunken stupors by the sound of a gunshot. Laurent had his head blown apart and was dead on the kitchen floor by the time Serena got to him.”

Adriano just stared at Damian like he didn’t believe a word the man was saying.

“So, there’s nothing needing done,” Damian continued, still smiling. “Someone already did it. Serena is still there. If she follows her usual pattern like I believe she will, Serena is liable to drink herself into her own grave. Especially now that her husband isn’t there to rush her to the hospital when she needs her stomach pumped.”

“You’re serious,” Adriano said.

Damian shoved his hands in his pockets in the most unbothered fashion. “Yes.”

“Who did it?”

“That, Adriano, I do not know.”

“Is that the truth?” Adriano asked.

“For this, I have no reason to lie,” Damian said.

“Well then.” Adriano shifted on his feet, still tense. “My father had planned nothing on Laurent, not yet. He was waiting and said it wasn’t time.”

Damian grinned. “Keep your ear to the ground, Adriano. You hear a lot there.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Adriano asked.

“Someone did this for a reason. They’re looking to help somebody. That means something is about to happen and soon.” Damian glanced back at his house. “I’ll leave you to it. My wife doesn’t like waking up alone and it’s been a rough couple of weeks for her.”

Adriano nodded once, but he still looked unsure. “Yeah, all right.”

“Godspeed, Adriano. I have a feeling this war is not even close to being over. And when the families really go to the mattresses, there’s not a soul in Chicago who won’t feel it.”

Alessa didn’t want to let go of Adriano’s hand. He kept one on the steering wheel and his other locked with hers, resting on the seat between them. Tenderly, his thumb swept over her knuckles again and again.

When the car rolled to a stop, Alessa didn’t move.

Adriano eyed her from the side knowingly. “Back to life, Lissa.”

Alessa sighed. “Confession time?”

“Shoot.”

“Last night was the first time I’ve slept without nightmares.”

“Since the restaurant,” he said quietly.

“Yeah.”

Adriano looked her over without sympathy. Alessa appreciated that in a way. He didn’t coddle her or tell her false platitudes. “Give it time.”

“Time.”

“You’re not going to forget, but it’ll get easier. Less nightmares, more sleep. Less time spent thinking about it because you’ve moved on to new things. That’s life, Lissa.”

“My sister almost died,” Alessa said, staring down at their connected hands.

“Some of my bullets might have gone inside that restaurant,” Adriano admitted.

Alessa sucked in a deep breath, nodding. “I want this to be over. I don’t want to lose someone else I love in this mess.”

Adriano leaned over and kissed her softly. Ghosting the pad of his thumb over her cheekbone, he murmured, “We won’t be one of them. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Okay.”

“Back to life,” he repeated.

Alessa smiled, feeling better already. She had a part to play, too.

“How many people do you think are playing games in this?” Alessa asked.

Adriano shrugged. “A lot. And we’re no different than them, Alessa.”

She knew he was right.

“Text me later,” Alessa ordered teasingly, before kissing him quickly again.

“Will do, pretty girl.”

Before Alessa could find another excuse to stay in Adriano’s Camaro, she dropped his hand, grabbed her messenger bag, and got out of the vehicle. The cool September air chilled her through the skinny jeans and long-sleeved Henley she wore. Alessa waved to Adriano as she stepped inside the treeline onto the familiar trail she had used more times than she cared to count.

Glancing over her shoulder, she knew Adriano couldn’t see her through the thick brush. Even still, he sat with his car running for a good few minutes. About the time Alessa knew it would take her to get to the back property.

When he pulled finally pulled away, she watched him go.

And missed him already.

Alessa jogged the path back to the Trentini property. She slipped under the rear side of the old willow tree, shoved her bag into a hollow spot on the trunk, and then emerged from the other side. Alessa crossed the six acres of backyard property quickly. She was thankful Terrance had been a proud man when it came to his land. Landscapers had long ago come in and made beautiful pathways with trees, rock gardens, and bushes. More than enough to keep Alessa hidden as she walked back to the house.

Climbing the stairs that led to the rear large deck meant for entertaining a good one-hundred guests or more, Alessa pulled the keys for the back door from her pocket. The sound of a throat clearing made Alessa stumble in her walk. The keys dropped from her hand, falling to the wood deck with a loud jingling clatter.

“Shit,” Alessa mumbled.

Sara Trentini sat on the rocking bench with a book in her hand and her head turned down like she was thoroughly engrossed in reading. The cock of her mother’s eyebrow as she regarded her daughter told Alessa that Sara had probably been waiting for her.

“Mom,” Alessa greeted.

Sara’s lips drew thin as she looked Alessa over. “Same clothes as yesterday?”

Alessa chose not to answer that question.

“Your brother isn’t home yet,” her mother said.

“I know,” Alessa replied simply.

Sara didn’t look all too impressed with that answer. “I don’t know where you’ve been, Alessa, but you can’t expect me to hide your secrets when I find you sneaking around.”

Alessa tried not to sneer and failed miserably when she replied, “Like you sneaked around with Terrance for years?”

Sara sucked in a sharp breath, her gaze narrowing. “Now that’s quite enough, Alessa.”

“You’re right, it is. You don’t deserve that, I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” Sara murmured.

“But those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, Mom. And if I don’t pass judgement on your mistakes, then don’t begin to lecture me on mine.”

“I learned from my errors, sweetheart.”

Alessa snorted. “Did you, or did you just learn to be more careful?”

“Alessa!”

“It was an honest question, Mom.”

“Well, it was a little bit of both,” Sara admitted.

Alessa was surprised to hear her mother confess anything in that regard.

Sara swallowed hard and then nodded toward the back door. “Go inside. Your sister is feeling awful this morning. She’s got some pain in her back and had shortness of breath when she woke up. She called me through the intercom, wanting me to check her over. I asked her about you. Abriella is a damned good liar when she wants to be, but I went looking because something didn’t feel right.

“And when I couldn’t find you anywhere in the wing, I went back to Abriella and demanded she tell me where you had gone,” her mother finished.

Alessa steeled her spine, refusing to let her mother wear her down. “So?”

“You know, when you girls were just little, I always hoped you would be close. I wanted you both to have what I didn’t—a good, close relationship with your siblings. Joel managed to screw that up royally on his side, but you and Abriella … you two are exactly what I had hoped for.”

“Are we?”

“Yes, she would protect you right to the very bitter end,” Sara said, laughing under her breath. “But that also means you don’t get to be selfish, Alessa. Not right now with what your sister went through. You don’t want me to throw stones, then fine. You want me to keep my mouth shut about seeing you come home in the early morning looking like you’ve been out all night, then fine. But you need to be here for your sister right now, not feeding whatever craziness you have going on.”

Guilt wrapped Alessa in a smothering grip. Her mother was right.

Alessa took that as her cue to leave her mother and go inside. As she opened the door, her mother cleared her throat once more.

“Yes?” Alessa asked. 

“Did you have fun?”

The question had been posed quietly, but innocently.

Alessa couldn’t have lied if she tried. “Yeah, I did.”

Sara smiled. “Be careful, Lissa.”

“I am, Mom.”

“I hope so.”