“For making you mine. The right honorable way.”
She threw her hands in the air. “You’re crazy. Tino?”
“With all due respect to your capo and mine, don’t go looking for help in that department from Il Lupo or Il Tagliatore. Do you think either would have gotten their wives if they’d taken no for an answer?” I passed a daring stare between the two bosses who glared back at me.
Even though I honored and respected them and would forever remain loyal to the family, no one had a say in my choice of women. Because of a secret he and very few knew, Enzio had never asked me to marry for the family, and I wasn’t the kind to offer myself for these arrangements. For everything else, yes, but never these. It was the only freedom I’d made sure I got. Choosing my own woman when the time came. And after a very long time, I chose Nicky. No one had the right to object or stop me from having her, especially these two...and not even Nicky herself.
Tino’s glare tightened, the creepy blue of his eyes shining like a real wolf. “You want to marry my daughter?”
Daughter, not sister-in-law, not Nicole, but daughter. Was that a mere show of her worth or a threat? Knowing Il Lupo, it was both.
It wasn’t going to intimidate me, though. I knew her worth and valued it even if she hadn’t been a Bellomo. And the threat was useless. I was a Lanza, as powerful and as honorable and loyal as any Bellomo—except for that piece of shit Leo. That bastard had no honor.
I played by the same rules. Protecting and taking care of women was one of them. “That’s whyIinitiated this meeting,” I reminded him so he and Enzio knew I’d never mess with either famiglia’s honor. “Yes. I’d be honored to marry your daughter.”
Nicky’s nostrils flared. “Tino, you can’t—”
“Shhhh.” He gave her a warning stare so menacing that even sassy Nicky couldn’t dare challenge. She should have known better than to interrupt a conversation as important as this one. Tino had already given her a lot of liberty, allowing her to be in the room, listening to the whole thing before we reached an agreement. In many of our families, the women were rarely included in forming a family decision in matters such as marriage. They were simply informed of it and had very little choice whether to accept or refuse. Such freedom he’d given her should be used wisely. She shouldn’t have abused it. My little kitten, sassy or not, had so much to learn.
I couldn’t wait to start teaching.
A smile twitched on Angel’s lips. She might have ratted me out to Tino, but something told me she might be the only one on my side here. Obviously, she didn’t tell her husband what she saw in details or we would have been having a different conversation here, one that didn’t have so many words. “Nicky…remember what we talked about last night?” she asked quietly, but it was loud enough for me to hear and pique my curiosity.
What did they say about last night?
“Yes,” Nicky hissed. “But I’m not gonna do it. Listen, all of you, I’m not—”
The doors burst open, and one of Tino’s bodyguards rushed in to his side. Then he whispered something in Tino’s ear that, by the look on Tino’s face, couldn’t be good.
What the fuck just happened?
CHAPTER 8
Nicky
My fists clenched. “What do you mean Leo escaped?”
Tino stared at me for a second, and then he just looked at Lina. “Take Nicco and your sister and stay in our room. Don’t come out until I say so. My men will follow you upstairs.”
“And you?” she asked, alarmed.
He brushed her cheek with his thumb. “Don’t worry, my sweet Angel. I’ll take care of things and come right away.”
“Is he here in Chicago?” I asked.
Tino ushered us outside of the office. “Not yet, but it’s only a matter of time.”
“I thought he was in that nuthouse in exile, as in he wasn’t allowed to come back here. How could he escape and return? And what the fuck does he want? To finish what he started? To have revenge?” A surge of panic went through me.
“I have no idea, but I’ll find out, and I’ll stop him before he even starts. My wife’s and baby’s safety along with yours are my top priority. You know I’ll protect you at all costs.”
“The last time you two had a confrontation you almost died.” Lina trembled. “Tino, I can’t lose you.”
He cradled her face between his hands. “You won’t.”
As much as I hated what he’d done, Tino’s overprotective love and care for my sister was…beautiful. Twisted but beautiful. “How about we all just go? Somewhere where he can’t find us? We can’t just stay here and wait for him to show up.”
“He won’t set foot in this house,” he gritted. “As long as you’re here, you’re all safe, which means, Nicky, you can’t leave now. You have to stay, at least, until it’s over.”