Fearless.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and made the call.
It only rang twice before he answered, a deep voice packed with annoyance. “It’s three in the morning. What the fuck do you want?” Bones practically growled over the line, a bear that had been stirred from hibernation. He was easily provoked, a temper that soared and never came down again.
“I wouldn’t call unless it was important.”
“What’s important to you isn’t important to me.” The background around him was silent. He was probably at his apartment in Milan, staring at a different skyline than I was now. “I’ve retired, Bosco. Whatever you’re about to ask me for, just assume my answer is no.”
I didn’t know he was out of the game. He seemed too young to hang up his badge as the greatest hitman in western Europe. “Congratulations. What are you doing these days? Fishing?” I couldn’t picture a man like Bones doing nothing. It didn’t seem possible.
“I’m married.”
“You retired to get married?” I asked. “Sounds boring.”
“Marry the right woman, and it’ll never be boring. So what the hell do you want?”
I didn’t ask him any more questions, knowing he wouldn’t give me answers. “I don’t want anything. I wanted you to know that we’re even.”
“Even, huh? How so?”
“I ran into your sister-in-law tonight.”
He was dead silent.
“Carmen, right?”
He turned even more sinister, like I’d just hit one of his buttons. “What about her?”
“She was walking home alone. A few guys snatched her in an alleyway. I happened to be walking by, but since this isn’t my scene, I wasn’t going to intervene. But then she dropped your name as a last attempt to save herself…so I had to do something. I scared the guys off and got her out of there.” I skipped the part about the make-out session against the wall, along with the pussy juice she left on my jeans. “So, I think that makes us even.”
Bones was quiet on the line, obviously battling the rage that pounded in his temples. His relief at her safety was nothing compared to his anger that she had been in danger in the first place. “Tell me who they are.”
“You know I can’t do that, man. I’ve got a reputation to uphold.”
“Bosco—”
“I can’t.” As the king of this city, I couldn’t be a rat. I was a villain, not a hero. Money would only keep flowing in if my reputation was impeccable. Secrecy was a big deal in my line of work. It gave me all the power—because I knew everything. Men only came to my club because they knew they were untouchable under my reign. “I know you want revenge, but I can’t. I won’t say it again.”
Bones knew I was as stubborn as he was, so he didn’t push. “She’s alright?”
“Yes. Not the least bit shaken up—at least not in front of me.”
“She’s not the kind of woman to show weakness.”
“Yeah…I noticed.”
“Stay away from her, Bosco.”
When I grinned, I saw my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling glass. “I saved her, didn’t I?”
“I mean it,” he threatened. “I’m not blind to the way men look at her. I see her as a sister, but our familial relationship doesn’t change the fact that she’s absolutely stunning. I know what a guy like you is thinking when you’re near her. She’s off-limits.”
“You know I don’t chase pussy. It chases me.”
“She’s not pussy,” he said with a growl. “Talk about her like that again, and I’ll kill you.”
“Wasn’t referring to her specifically. You know what I mean. And when am I going to get a thank you?”
He was quiet again, his anger clearly smoldering. “You said we’re even, so you won’t get any gratitude from me.”
That’s what I thought he would say. “Fair enough. Tell the wife I said hi.”
He hung up.
I shoved the phone into my pocket and continued to stare at the city skyline. The lights stopped at the edge, the rest of the Tuscany quiet in the background. The second I came home, I should have dropped my jeans and put my hand to work around my cock, but that didn’t sound appealing. After I’d had those luscious lips against mine, I wanted to have them again. I wanted the real thing, to feel that desire between her legs against my skin, not through my jeans.
As I’d said, I didn’t chase pussy. Not my style. There was no woman out there worth that kind of effort.
But then again, there was no woman like Carmen Barsetti.
The basement of my building was used for one purpose only.
The Brawl.
Men were gathered in a circle around the ring, ready to get the bets started. I made my billions operating the largest underground casino in all of Europe. The cops knew about it, but they never crossed me because I was an opponent who couldn’t be defeated. Besides, when I was handing out Christmas bonuses that matched their yearly salary, it was easy for them to turn the other way.