Gian (Trassato Crime Family Book 1)(50)

“You think they were behind the car chase, not only the brick.” I knew they had something to do with the brick. The word Vor was a term used by the Russian mafia that meant “Thief-in-Law.”

“It makes sense,” Carlo said, a reptilian grin cutting across his face like he actually had more than two brain cells in his head.

What I wouldn’t give to wipe that fucking smile off his face…

“I wasn’t asking for your opinion,” I sneered at Carlo.

Carlo’s shoulders stiffened, and he raised his eyebrows like a condescending fuck. He stood up to leave, stopping only to rap his knuckles against the top of the desk. “Fine. Whatever you want, Gian. Let me know if you need anything.”

I glared at his retreating back as his cocky ass strutted out the door. If Nico weren’t in the room, I’d seriously consider pumping a couple of bullets through his knees solely for shits and grins.

Nico stood and the wooden legs of the chair scraped across the tiled floor. “How’s the fiancée?”

I gritted my teeth. I didn’t want him sticking his nose in my personal life. He had already inserted his opinion into every decision I made as a capo. “Perfect. Couldn’t be better.”

It was the truth. Evie slept in my bed every night. She shared a cup of coffee with me every morning. Nothing about what we were doing felt fake, and my sorry ass couldn’t get enough of her. Her graceful movements consumed me. I couldn’t be in the same room with her without wanting to get lost in her. Her taste. Her sweet, flawless skin. Her mile-long legs. The list of things I liked about her grew every day, which was novel for me.

“Good. Good.” He strummed his fingers against his thigh. “Tony dug up some stuff on her ex.”

“Oh?” My gut soured.

“Yeah. Turns out he was hooking up with some slut with connections to the Russian mafia when your girl broke things off with him.”

“Was hooking up? As in they’re done?”

“Yep.” He cupped his chin between his index finger and his thumb. “She didn’t stick around for more than a week after your girl walked.”

My thoughts were deafening as the implications whirled inside my head. Dread throbbed inside me. It could be a coincidence. I couldn’t wrap my head around any other scenario that made sense because what went on between her ex and that woman happened before I entered the picture.

I pushed back my shoulders, standing taller, my arms locked behind my back. “Yeah, well, let me worry about my fiancée and her ex.”

Nico open his mouth for a second like he didn’t have any intention of letting this go, but he closed it without saying anything. Seconds ticked by, the pumping of music from the club giving life to the testosterone filling my office.

“I know for a fact your uncle won’t pull Tony off this. You know how he is when he gets his mind set on something, and right now that something is Evie.” He rubbed his fingers along his jaw to emphasize the reference to Dominick. “Let me be straight with you. He doesn’t like the way this looks, and I can’t say I disagree. Something stinks.”

My hands trembled with fury, and I stuffed them into my pockets. “I wouldn’t expect anything else. You gotta do what’s best for the family.”





CHAPTER

TWENTY-FOUR





Evangeline



“Hello, Mrs. Trassato.” I leaned my hip against the doorframe. “Gian’s not here. He’s working late tonight.”

“Call me Helena.” She squeezed my arm, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “And I didn’t come to see Gianluca.”

I blinked. “Oh. Okay.”

She tilted her head to the side, her stiff dark hair brushing the collar of her pale pink blouse. “Are you going to invite me in, or are you busy?”

“Right. Sorry.” I shook my head. “Gian didn’t tell me you were planning to stop by today. So, um, yeah…” Heat climbed up my face. I sounded like an absolute idiot. I wouldn’t be surprised if she called Gian the minute she left to tell him all the reasons she didn’t think we were a good fit. Not that it mattered. Gian and I weren’t really…anything.

A heart-clenching wave of panic thundered through me, and the thoughts I’d fought to keep at bay rushed forward like vomit. I’d done my best to beat back my feelings for him, but I wasn’t deluded enough to think I’d succeeded.

She cleared her throat, and I realized I’d been hopelessly trapped in a mental quagmire of my making.

“Sorry, it’s been a long day,” I mumbled and opened the door wider.

She dropped a stack of magazines on top of the black coffee table and perched on the edge of the gray sectional. “I didn’t tell him I planned to stop by.”