“This moron.”
Holding my gaze, her voice low and smooth, she says, “Dear husband. You should know by now that there’s nothing small about me.”
We stare at each other across the room. And of course—because I clearly have a problem—my dick starts to get hard.
She glances down at the growing bulge in my trousers, and her lethal smile grows wider.
I cross the room, take her by the arm, and head to the front door, guiding her along.
She pulls her arm from my grip and says acidly, “I’m able to walk without a rabid service animal, thank you.”
So we’re back to square one. Fucking wonderful.
Opening the front door, I make a grand sweeping gesture, complete with a mocking bow.
She walks past me like a queen past smelly beggars.
Once we’re in the car, she decides her hatred of mankind doesn’t extend to Kieran.
Sitting forward on the back seat of the SUV, she says to him, “So tell me all about the reception. Did you have fun?”
“Ach, did I! Met one of yer kin that I fancied. Wee lass named Aria?”
“That’s Leo’s daughter! Oh, she’s the prettiest thing, isn’t she?”
“Aye.” Kieran whistles, his cheeks turning pink. “What a wetser. With the sweetest little arse I’ve ever seen in my—” He cuts off abruptly, sending a horrified glance over his shoulder. “Sorry, lass. I’m an eejit. Just ask Spider.”
She waves a hand and laughs. “Don’t be silly. I don’t mind.”
I growl, “You mind if I breathe in your general direction, but you don’t mind about that?”
Ignoring me, she says, “How did everyone get along? Were there any altercations?’
“Altercations? Nah, it was pure craic! Half the lads were ossified, the other half were fluthered! And the Bettys were bleedin’ deadly on both sides, so there was plenty of tonsil tennis goin’ on. If they weren’t on the dance floor, they were in dark corners, wearin’ the face off each other.”
“So translated that means everyone had fun?”
“Yer bang on they did!”
She exhales a relieved breath and sits back against her seat. “That’s good to hear. I was worried. You know how dangerous putting a bunch of oversized egos into one room can be.”
I say, “Was that jab about egos directed at me?”
“Not everything is about you, Prince of Arrogance.”
“That’ll be King of Arrogance, if you please.”
After shooting me a sharp glare, she turns her attention back to Kieran. “So where are we going?”
He sounds confused. “Spider didn’t tell ye?”
“We’re not on speaking terms at the moment. You tell me.”
He sends me a look in the rearview mirror. “Er…forgive me, lass, but if it’s all right, I’d rather stay out of a marital spat. I tried to intervene between my ma and da once and only got a savage slap about for the trouble.”
She folds her hands in her lap and crosses her legs. “Then I guess it will have to be a surprise.”
We drive through the city center to an industrial area near the docks. It’s crammed with warehouses and shipping containers waiting to be filled and sent across the Atlantic. We pull up in front of one of them, a big white brick building with bars over the windows, and Kieran parks.
Looking out the window at the parking lot, Reyna appears bored.
The stubborn woman won’t ask me where we are.
But when I say, “You’ll want a gun for this,” she whips her head around and stares at me.
“For what?”
“We’re meeting with the heads of the other four Mafia families.”
Ah, that look of shock on her face is so bloody satisfying, heat rushes to my balls.
“Why?”
“Dunno. They called the meet. You tell me.”
Obviously unsettled, she frowns. “There’s supposed to be a vote for the new capo.”
“So why isn’t Gianni here?”
“How do you know he isn’t?”
“They told us he wasn’t invited.”
She ponders that in silence, then shakes her head. “That doesn’t make sense. He’s the head of the family. And the vote was supposed to happen tomorrow, not today.” She glances out the window again, this time with a wary expression. “Mamma said he didn’t go to the reception. He never went back to the hotel last night, either.”
Declan’s already told me about the vote and that Gianni was missing from the reception, but the news about him not going back to the hotel is new.
In our world, when someone goes missing, it only means one of a few things.
None of them are good.
From the pocket on the back of the driver’s seat, I remove a handgun. I check to ensure there’s a round in the barrel, then hold it out to Reyna. “You know how to shoot a Glock?”
“It can’t be that hard. You know how to do it.” She takes the gun from my hand.
When I shrug out of my suit jacket, she says, “What are you doing now?”
“You’re not walking into a room full of made men looking like that.”
She says coyly, “Like what?”
I give her a hard stare. “Put on the goddamn jacket.”
She thinks about arguing, but apparently decides better of it. She shrugs and slips the jacket on, rolling up the cuffs.
“Button it.”
She levels me with a look, but I’m in no mood for sass.
“To the top.”
“I want you to know the only reason I’m wearing your jacket is because I don’t have anywhere to stash the gun in this miniscule dress you bought me.”
“Too bad you forgot to bring your bag of skulls. You could’ve put it in there.”
She smiles sweetly at me. “It’s only got space for one more. I was saving it for yours.” She opens the door and gets out.
After she’s gone, Kieran looks at me in the rear view mirror. “I really like her.”
“That’s because you’ve got the common sense of a carrot.”
“Just because ye don’t know how to handle her doesn’t mean I can’t like her!”
“I know how to handle her perfectly bloody well!”
He smiles. “Sure ye do. Let me get back to ye when my eardrums have healed, and we’ll have a lovely chat all about it.”
Muttering, I exit the Escalade and walk around the back to where Reyna’s waiting. I’m all ready to have a scuffle over her not buttoning my suit jacket, but to my great surprise, she’s done it.
“Ready?”
“I’m not sure going in there alone is a good idea.”
“We won’t be alone. Everyone else is already here.”
She quirks an eyebrow at me. “Who’s everyone?”
I can’t help the smile that lifts my lips. “You’re in the Mob now, darlin.’ You’ll never be alone again.”
A flare of emotion warms her eyes. Or maybe I’m imagining it. Either way, she looks away before I can decide.
I expect her to pull away when I take her hand, but she doesn’t. She lets me lead her from the parking lot around the side of the building to a door at the top of a ramp. A big bald man in a black suit waits at the top, his hands folded over his crotch, his legs spread apart, and his face as blank as a brick wall.