Sergio (Benedetti Brothers 3)

Woman. So he heard what I said.

“Nat?”

“I don’t like people calling me that,” I say.

“Natalie?” he amends. “Just do this for me and I’ll get rid of the pictures I took.”

“You will?”

“Yes.”

“How will I know you did it?”

“You’ll have to trust me.”

“I’m confused.”

“About trusting me?”

“About everything.”

“We can talk about it later if you want, when I take you to get photos of the warehouse.”

“I don’t need those anymore.”

“Why not? I thought they were for school.”

“They are. Were.” I shake my head. “I’m not taking the internship. The professor’s weird anyway. He has a bunch of us volunteering at his firm and he’ll choose one for the summer spot.”

“What do you mean, weird?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

He’s quiet but I know he wants to push. “Sergio?” I ask. I have a more pressing question.

“Yes?”

“Am I in danger?”

“What? No. No, nothing like that. Those are just shitty locks. Let me do this one thing for you.”

“They’re old, that’s all.”

“Right. We’ll update them. A gift to the owners.”

“Okay. But next time you talk to me first.”

“I did. I told you they were shitty.”

“I didn’t think that meant you were going to replace them.” I look at the clock. “Shit. I’m going to be late for classes.”

“Eric will take care of everything. Go to school.”

“Um, okay, thanks, I guess.”

“Tell me about this professor.”

“No. It’s nothing.” I’m worried suddenly. Sergio’s not taking baby steps into my life. He’s charging in and I have a feeling he’ll shove anything he needs to shove out of his way without a second thought. “I have to go,” I say.9SergioIt took all I had to walk away last night.

What I wanted, what I would have done with any other woman, was strip her bare, bend her over the kitchen counter, and fuck her raw. Take her to bed. Fuck her again. Then again.

And then I would walk away. Out the door never to return. Never to give a second thought.

With her though, it’s different. With her, everything is different.

Wrong place. Wrong time.

Twice she’s been put in my path.

I finish my coffee. Head out to the car. Sending Eric to take care of the locks means I won’t have a bodyguard this morning. My father will have words with me when he finds out, which he always does. I need a bodyguard. We have enemies. All things I know.

Which brings me to Natalie.

If I’m not careful, she will become a target. And I feel very protective of her.

Those locks needed to be changed. They wouldn’t keep anyone out and that dog’s too old to protect her.

This professor she mentioned, I don’t like the sound of him.

My phone rings when I get in the car. I check the display. It’s my father.

“It’s early for you, isn’t it?”

“Heard the Vitelli boy is in the hospital.”

“That’s right.” I glance at the bruise on my knuckle. I don’t mind doing the physical work myself. Never want to be one of those men who’s afraid to get his hands dirty.

“He’ll be lucky if he can talk again,” he says.

“My initial meeting didn’t make the impression I hoped.”

“Roman thinks it’ll push old man Vitelli.”

“Roman needs to learn his place.”

“He was right before.”

“I’m meeting with Vitelli Sr. today. He’ll show gratitude for my restraint. My plan is not to incite another uprising like the DeMarco one. It’s to garner respect and, perhaps more importantly, obedience.”

“Power corrupts,” he says.

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely,” I say. “Where do we, the Benedetti family, fall in that? Or do we have no reckoning?”

There’s a pause. “Just make sure you take Eric and at least two more soldiers with you. Roman too.”

“I’ll take the security, but my uncle can stay home this time.”

My father would normally have handled this himself, but I’ve taken over some of the things he would do because with mom’s illness, he’s been preoccupied. As much as I trust Roman’s loyalty to him and to our family, there are moments where he’s ambitious, too much so. He’s not a Benedetti. He’s my mother’s brother. He may be consigliere, but I am my father’s son and successor.

“Sergio—”

“Is mom’s appointment at Dr. Shelby’s office?” I ask, even though I know. Instantly, I feel the shift in mood. Today’s an important day. We find out if my mom’s chemo worked. I know dad’s scared shitless. It’s actually the only time I’ve ever known my father to be scared.

“Yeah. At the hospital.”

“All right. I’ll see you then.”

“One more thing before you go. I want Eric with you 24/7. It’s why I pay him. You want to go fuck some girl, go fuck her, but he stays. I don’t care where or how, but he stays, understand?”

The way he says ‘some girl’ grates on my nerves. “Relax, dad.” I hear a door close on my father’s side.

“Relax, he tells me,” Dad says, but he’s not talking to me. “Your uncle just walked in. Twenty-four fucking seven, Sergio. I’m not budging on that.”