AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So Ethan’s wife didn’t know. I guessed it wasn’t every day your husband put a hit out on a woman.
Ethan turned to Sabrina. “Remember how you said you didn’t want to know the more brutal details of the business?” She nodded, her brow furrowing even before he added, “This woman is one of those brutal details.”
Valentino stood like a silent mountain beside me until he said succinctly, “I couldn’t eliminate my target.”
Sabrina gasped. “Chantilly was your target?”
Valentino nodded before another dark-haired girl approached with a blond man in tow who I knew immediately was Sabrina’s brother. The siblings were very alike and as gorgeous as each other. He was clearly besotted by his dark-haired wife, his icy-silver stare constantly straying her way.
“I was starting to think we’d be eating without you,” the dark-haired woman said to Valentino in a sultry voice, one that seemed to enhance her gorgeous body encased in a silver skirt and a black blouse with a ruffled front. Her upswept black hair further showcased her plum-colored lips and kohl-lined eyes.
“You couldn’t have kept me away,” he said even as he snaked an arm around my waist and snagged me closer. “This is Chantilly.”
“It’s lovely to meet you,” she said, her eyes warm. “I’m Isabella, and this is my husband, Salvatore.”
Salvatore nodded, his eyes speculative as he glanced from me to Valentino and back again. He was probably wondering what the hell I’d gotten myself into. Then he smiled, his white teeth glinting, “Ciao.”
Three other men approached next, all of them as intimidating as each other. Valentino’s arm tightened around me. He nodded at each of them while making introductions. “Chantilly, meet Serafino, Evander and Alessandro. They’re brothers to our don, Ethan.”
I shivered a little at Serafino’s silence followed by his cold smile. Though he wore his hair longer as though he was more casual and down to earth, he was definitely not warmer for it.
Evander seemed the friendliest with his open smile and warm stare. “It’s great to finally meet you,” he said.
Alessandro nodded. “I was shocked…but not so much now.”
“Thank you, I think,” I said.
An older man approached then, his thinning gray hair and paunchy body not taking away any of the power he radiated. He brought a glass of champagne with him. “I’m Carlo,” he said in a raspy voice. “I thought you might need this.”
I accepted the glass even as Ethan said, “Carlo is my consigliere. If he approves of you, then we all do.”
“Then I hope I make a good first impression,” I said, trying to smile and not quake in my heels.
Carlo eyed me up and down. “I’m sure you realize how much we’d appreciate any information about our Irish rivals.”
I almost gaped. Fuck. It hadn’t occurred to me that I might get interrogated for my knowledge. “What do you want to know?” I asked weakly.
His silvery eyes hardened fractionally. “Who will their next don be now Sean is dead? What are their future plans? Who exactly is their coke and arms supplier?”
Valentino stiffened. “This is a dinner party,” he reminded silkily, “not an interrogation.”
Sabrina sent a pointed look Ethan’s way and he acquiesced. “Yes, let’s enjoy tonight. No more talk of mafia business.”
Carlo’s face flushed a ruddy color. “Your father would never have let any opportunity—“
“My father is dead,” Ethan interjected harshly. “We don’t do things his way anymore.”
“Dinner will be served shortly,” Evander cut in smoothly, nodding toward the huge table inside. “We should probably take a seat.”
We stepped inside, two men who I presumed were soldiers staying out on the balcony, while another two stepped inside to stand guard near the elevator. The lift doors pinged, a trolley cart then pushed into the dining room by a waiter in white. Or perhaps it was the chef?
Valentino leaned close to me and murmured, “Saved by the bell.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chantilly
I didn’t say a word, I was still reeling from Carlo expecting me to rat on the people I’d once considered family. Despite the fact I’d hated Sean, I didn’t hate every other member of the extended Irish mafia family. Although some of Sean’s men had frightened me, there had been as many who’d shown me compassion, even friendship.
