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“Nero?”
I nodded. “I told him about running into you at The Circle. He thought that your visit might have something to do with your ties to Congressman Oliver.”
She looked a bit confused as she shook her head a bit. “Congressman Oliver?”
“Why else would you seek me out, Savina?” I asked. “Nero figured that you might have heard something about his fight against crime, organized and otherwise, and maybe wanted to spare your parents a complicated situation.”
Savina looked back down at her desk, and I almost winced when she started pulling at her cuticles. It was a nervous habit that she’d had when we used to date, and there’d been times when she’d pull on them until they bled. Granted, looking at her hands now, it was easy to see that she got regular manicures, so there weren’t any cuticles for her to shred to shit. Still, that wasn’t stopping her from trying.
Looking back up at me, she said, “Congressman Oliver doesn’t discuss political business in front of me. He’s very aware of who my parents are.”
I cocked my head as I regarded her carefully. “Then I’m surprised that he allowed his son to get into bed with the Mafia, even if it is a distant connection.”
“Ash…Ashton…he has his…his own mind,” she replied, each word like a razor blade to my chest. “Still, even though Congressman Oliver might not object fully, he’s shrewd enough to keep his political agenda private.”
“Something that should actually be made available to all the people he represents, no?” I countered.
“Well, everyone knows that politicians have two faces,” she said softly.
“Not only politicians,” I remarked coldly.
Savina looked like she wanted to say something to that, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. It was bothersome to realized that I still knew her so well, and though that was something that I wished weren’t true, it was, and I didn’t fucking like it.
Ignoring what she was doing to me, I asked, “So, if Congressman Oliver isn’t the reason why you needed to speak to me, then what did you need to speak to me about? Nero’s going to want to know.” I added that last part, lest she believe that I cared. No matter what I still felt for her, I was mentally strong enough not to give a fuck why she had sought me out.
Her thumb was a bloody mess when she said, “I…I had a…a problem that I…I needed help with, and I…I couldn’t think of anyone else that might be able to help me.”
I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees as I let out a laugh that was surprisingly genuine. Out of all the things that she could have said, I’d never expected those words to leave her mouth. After what she’d done to me, how could she possibly believe that I’d ever be in line to help her with a problem? I wouldn’t hold the door open for her, much less save the day for her.
“Jesus Christ, Savina,” I said when I finally managed to quit laughing at her. “You’re either crazy or have a bigger set of balls than I’d given you credit for.” Her jaw ticked, but I was past caring about anything that had to do with her. “Either that, or you really are a spoiled, entitled, cold-hearted bitch. Which, let’s face it, isn’t that far of a stretch, knowing you the way that I do.”
A knock on the door stopped her from responding to my thinly veiled insults, and when I turned in my seat, I saw a pretty blonde poke her head through the door, and her eyes flared appreciatively when she looked me over. Though it’d serve Savina right for me to fuck her coworker, I wasn’t here for that.
“Niles Gerber is here,” she said. “He’s early and didn’t want to disturb you, but I thought you’d want to know.”
Saved by the bell.
Chapter 12
Savina~
Though the early arrival of Niles Gerber felt like a reprieve from up above, my chest still ached with a pain that I wished I were entitled to. Aurelio had every right to laugh at my request for help, and it was clear that my moment of desperation hadn’t been worth it.
“Thank you, Mandy,” I said. “Will you please let him know that I’ll be with him shortly?”
“Of course,” she replied cheerfully, eyeing Aurelio one last time before shutting the door behind her.
When Aurelio looked back at me, he said, “Well, I guess that’s my cue to leave.”
I stood up, wanting to look confident, though I knew that I was failing miserably. “Please tell Nero that I’m sorry to have wasted your time.”
Aurelio arched a brow. “So, then I take it that your problem is solved now?”
I couldn’t help but glance down at my hand really quickly before saying, “It is.”
With that answer, Aurelio stood up from his seat, and he was so tall that the entire room shrunk with just his presence. He was six-three, and built to match, and my office wasn’t any bigger than a shoebox, really. The desk was the only thing protecting me from him, but even then, I knew that he could rip it to shreds if he’d wanted to.
Staring me down with those black eyes of his, he said, “Unless it’s a family emergency, stay out of Sartori territory, Savina. You’re not wanted there.”
