Black

“I already told you the answer is no. I’ll do my part, run the club the way you want it run, and eventually I’ll take over Ambrosi’s, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. You know I’m trying to keep my hands clean.”

“You’re a fucking Ambrosi.” His voice booms through the room. “Ambrosis don’t know what clean hands look like.”

“This one does.”

He waves me off, dismissing everything I’m saying. “You’ll change your mind. Once you get a taste of it, you’ll be begging for more.”

“I doubt it. Now, is that all you wanted to ask?”

His eyes narrow. He takes another puff of his cigar before snuffing it out in an ashtray on the table. “What’s her name?”

I roll my eyes. The fucker doesn’t give up. “Why do you care?”

“She looks familiar.”

I’m not sure when he’s had a chance to get a look at her. Although he does have cameras everywhere, so it’s really no surprise.

“She’s new to the area. Trust me, you’ve never seen her before.” I don’t dare tell him Shae grew up here. That would be a sure-fire way to get him digging into her life.

“You sure about that?” he challenges.

“Positive.”

“All right then.” Father drops back onto his chair and picks up his snifter from the table. “Just don’t knock her up. You know damn well my grandchildren need to come from a specific bloodline.”

Him and the goddamn bloodline.

If he had his way, Dante and I would be married off to his friends’ daughters—specifically Liza. Not that she wouldn’t make someone a damn good wife, because I’m sure someday she will, but I’m not that someone. I know for sure that I don’t want to marry a woman in my father’s circle. In fact, I want to end up with someone so far out of the goddamn circle she doesn’t even know it exists.

My father’s comment doesn’t deserve a response, so I leave him with his friends and walk back to the dining room. Just being near my dad makes me angry, and now I just want to get Shae and get the fuck out of here. Had I known my dad had come back early, I never would’ve brought her here to begin with.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I’m reminded that if Shae and I were to ever make this work, I’d have to tell her about my family, but I push that thought to the side. No sense dwelling on it when she’s adamant about keeping things casual.

When I walk back into the dining room, Shae is sitting quietly at the table, smiling at something on her phone.

“What’s so funny?” I whisper, sitting down next to her.

She glances up, her eyes bright and smile brighter. “JJ just send me a text.”

Fucking JJ. I know she said they’re just friends, but the mention of his name makes the green monster inside me rear his ugly head.

“What…what just happened here?” she asks, setting her phone down. “You were smiling when you sat down, and now you’re scowling.”

“Nothing.” I shrug. “I’m not scowling.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Fine, I’m scowling.”

“Are you jealous?”

“No,” I scoff.

“You were making fun of me earlier for being jealous, and now you’re the one who’s jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.”

She grins and shakes her head. “Good, because you have nothing to be jealous about. JJ is Shae gay.”