I shot him a glare and flipped him off behind my back.
“Family dinner,” he said with a gleam in his eyes. “Oh, and bring the girl…”
Hellllllllllllllll.
“We sure that’s a good idea…” I grumbled under my breath, thinking of all the ways it could go wrong, number one being her running away screaming.
“I’m sure that’s all that matters…” He flashed me an arrogant grin. “Seven, don’t be late, I’m cooking.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Ma’s letting you back in the kitchen?”
His answer was to point to his gun. “See ya… son.”
“Dad,” I said through clenched teeth.
He shut the door.
Claire pulled a pillow and put it over her face. “Just finish me off.”
“Suffocation.” I pulled the pillow away. “Not glamorous, lots of leg twitches and panic, trust me, clean shots are the way to go.”
“Who are you?” she said it more to herself than to me.
I just shrugged and got off of her. “Come on, you get to meet the Family.”
“Dad?” She just had to say again.
“Right?” I smiled. “He looks like a brother.”
“No, that’s not…” She went completely pale. “Wasn’t that…” She seemed hesitant to say the name out loud.
“Hmm?” I waited with amusement.
“Don’t you think maybe you should lead with that next time? Hi, I’m Asher Abandonato, my dad’s name is Chase Abandonato, make that scary as SHIT senator Abandonato, close to the president of the United States, and the only senator in US history to get away with murder and golf with the head of the FBI, yeah that would be good.”
I shrugged. “He’s just dad to me.”
“How’d he find you?” She wondered out loud.
“Ah, they have eyes, ears, everywhere, spoiler alert, we probably have a sex tape now.” I brushed a kiss across her forehead. “Welcome to the mafia.”
“What the—”
“—clothing,” I stood and started getting dressed. “We need to get ready; the uncles get super pissed when I ‘m late.”
“Uncles.” Her voice croaked.
“Sure thing.” I winked. “I mean, if you want to go naked, that’s fine, but I may kill my cousin if he sees you naked.”
“COUSIN?”
“Keep up.” I tossed her the t-shirt I’d just pulled from her body and then walked over to her closet. “I’d go for something you can run in just in case.”
Insert tense silence.
I glanced over my shoulder at her pale face. “I’m kidding.”
She exhaled loudly then fell back against the mattress. “Not what I had in mind for a Saturday.”
“We keep life interesting,” I said, trying not to laugh at her scowl as she finally got up, moved around the room, and got ready.
I stared boldly when she changed.
The last thing I wanted was for her to put clothes on.
Then again, we were kind of out of options.
Within the hour, we were in my car driving toward the house. I figured we were hosting since Dad was cooking—it had always been this weird competition between my parents like Mafia Masterchef or something.
Claire was quiet next to me, and then she turned and blurted, “Are were seriously driving to your parents’ house in a Maserati?”
“Don’t hate on the car, she’s new…”
“Ya think?” She spread her arms wide. “This is a dream, I’m going to pinch myself, no wait, a slap, I need someone to slap me.”
“I don’t hurt women.” I shrugged. “So, unless you start slapping yourself…” I grinned. “What I wouldn’t do to see you slap your own ass.”
She shot me a glare.
“What?” I laughed, taking the next turn and hitting the accelerator. I was going forty over, didn’t want to be late.
“There’s a cop up—”
I laughed, cutting her off. “Who? George? Yeah, we’re tight.” I sent him a wave; he just shook his head as we sped past him.
Claire’s jaw dropped. “What? Did your family pay him off?”
I snorted out a laugh. “Like we would even have to.”
“I don’t remember you being this arrogant in class.”
“Because I’m bored as fuck in class.” I pointed out. “Just like you are, it’s why you purposefully dropped your pencil—have to say, not the most original, but at least it gave me something else to fixate on.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your touch…” I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal when it was. And then she was reaching across the console and gripping my hand. I kissed the back of hers and let out a sigh just as I pulled up to the large gate.
I heard a holy shit out of her, and then the gate opened.
Ah, fortress, sweet fortress.
I pulled around the circular driveway and tried to imagine what she was thinking. The house was five stories, brick, a bit over the top with security cameras and men in suits scattered around the yard, but normal, completely normal.
For me.
I tossed my keys to one of the suits, didn’t matter which one, they all worked for my family meaning they all worked for me—I was a little shit as a toddler, dropping my spoon, hanging upside down in trees making them chase me through the grocery store.