“Are you spoiling her?” Vittorio asked as they prepared to leave the condo.
Geno glanced at his watch. “My brothers are meeting us at the restaurant. We have the entire back room to ourselves. They wanted to get there first and do a sweep to make certain we can safely talk. We own the place, but you never know. And no, absolutely not, Vittorio. This was Salvatore’s idea, not mine.”
Valentino didn’t believe him for a minute. Evidently, neither did the bodyguards. They had gathered up their cards and put them away. One of them gave a little snort of derision, but when Geno flicked them a cool gaze, there was no expression on any of their faces.
Emmanuelle rolled her eyes. “See, Geno, no one believes you. You made your first mistake when I was a baby and you let me crawl in your lap and sleep on you at all the family events.”
He rubbed his hand over the top of her hair. “I just did it to annoy your mother. She detested when I picked you up. It was fun watching her get that pinched look on her face. Then she’d have the big dilemma. Did she take you off me? Or let you stay?”
Geno showed Val’s men to the elevators. Valentino liked that Levi and Axel were hesitant to leave Emme’s protection to others. They didn’t step onto the elevator until he gave them a subtle signal. Both he and Dario would ride down with Emmanuelle and her brothers and cousin in the other elevator to the garage and meet them there.
“There was no way she would have taken me off your lap,” Emmanuelle guessed.
“Nope, so I held you until Stefano came and got you,” Geno confirmed. “See, wasn’t being nice or spoiling you. Get in the damn car and stop bothering me.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss on top of her head, ignoring the four bodyguards that had been waiting, and moved a little closer to her, as if he might suddenly decide to shove a knife in her ribs.
Valentino pulled her close to him on the back seat of the town car. Before she could say anything to him, he took her mouth. Kissing Emmanuelle in front of her family was always a risk. It could get out of hand fast. There was no holding back, and fire flared hot and bright the moment they came together. He preferred to do so when they were alone, so whenever he had the opportunity, he didn’t waste it.
Geno had arranged for several cars, so Valentino had his wife all to himself, although the restaurant was close—too close, as far as he was concerned. “Want to get you back home so I can be alone with you, baby—too many around us all the time.”
She laughed softly. “I agree, but you will love everything about this place.”
The car pulled up to the front of the restaurant, and Emme slid out, Valentino right behind her. She stood on the curb a moment while the others also got out of their cars. Val looked cautiously around, being subtle about it. The bodyguards did the same, taking in the rooftops and surrounding buildings. Dario walked a few steps from them, looking at the restaurant itself.
The building was large and made of stone. It looked on the outside as if it had once been a warehouse sandwiched between other warehouses. The city had crept into the district, overtaking the boho lifestyle, claiming the large buildings, turning them into smaller boutiques or larger galleries so that shops were flourishing all along the streets.
Emmanuelle’s hand slipped out of his as she tipped back her head to try to get a better view of the front of the restaurant. “This is so cool, Val. It really was a warehouse before Geno, Salvatore and Lucca had it renovated. Salvatore is really interested in design. He came up with the idea and kind of sold it to his brothers. He found the warehouse, and they bought it. Lucca found the architect to work with them. According to Salvatore, he was quite brilliant. Wait until you see the inside. You’ll agree completely.”
As she spoke enthusiastically, indicating the front of the building, she moved around Dario to step back from the shrubbery so she could gaze up where the scrollwork was etched into the stone.
Val turned to look where she indicated, but the sound of tires screeching and catching had Levi and Axel both spinning and moving fast, and him turning back toward Emmanuelle. A car lurched, boring straight at them, then jumping the curb, heading right at Emme. She had her back to it. He reached out for her wrist, his heart in his throat, intending to yank her to safety.
“Emme, get out of there,” Stefano yelled.
Dario slammed into her, sending her into Valentino’s arms. Dario landed on top of the two of them, with Levi and Axel over the top of them, weapons drawn, aimed at the car. The driver managed to get control before he hit the restaurant. He turned off the car and got out, crouching down to put one hand over his face.