Page 30 of Marcus

Marcus shrugged. “All of her boys. The grandkids, too. My brothers’ wives. She makes time once a week for each of their wives, if she can. Something to do just for them. I don’t know how she does it or keeps it all up, but—”

“She loves it.”

She didn’t need him to say it.

“Yeah, she does.”

Cella’s gaze dropped to his lips and the soft smile playing at his mouth. All over again, she thought about that kiss the two of them had shared, and her mind was on everything but this party and the penthouse job.

“Later,” he said.

Her stare jumped up to meet his. “You don’t know what I was think—”

“I absolutely do. And later. We’ll get back to that later, cara mia.”

She didn’t doubt it.

Marcus nodded in response to the Capo at his left who truly believed his boss was listening to his latest complaint about some issue his crew was having with a racket deal they’d had in the works for a year now. It wasn’t something a boss could or should fix. Those were details for Capos to work out, and he planned on telling the man exactly that once he finished with his tirade.

“So, you see—”

“Did you think this dinner party was a good opportunity for this?” Marcus asked.

The Capo quieted suddenly before saying, “Well, you were here, Marcus.”

“And a few weeks ago, I might have cared to help you with your situation. However, as the acting boss of this family, I no longer have the time or concern to bother with these issues. You should find someone who does. Is that clear?”

Thankfully, the man seemed to understand that he had crossed an unmarked line of some sort with Marcus. This whole party had been exactly that, frankly. One issue after another. It never ended. He just finished speaking with one man, and another would come up with something else to say. It was like they forgot Marcus was no longer the underboss acting as the go-between for them and his father anymore, and instead their boss.

He expected that.

Tried to deal with it.

Tonight, though, his patience was thin.

Marcus was over it.

Usually, he wouldn’t be so short and quick to have a temper, but considering all these made men at the party consistently and repeatedly dragged him away from Cella’s side for business, well … he was done with it. It seemed like Cella had found more than enough people to keep her entertained while he was taken away from her in his brothers and even his mother for a few minutes.

For that, he was grateful.

Of course.

But he was ready to get back to her side—after all, while this night had turned into something he wasn’t expecting, but wouldn’t complain about either, it still had a purpose for Cella with her work. And he intended to make sure she got to learn as much about his mother as she needed to get done everything.

“Talk to Chris,” Marcus told the man, “or Bene, for that matter, and if they can’t handle your issue, then they will bring it to me and I will see what I can do.”

“Absolutely, Mar—”

He gave the Capo a sharp look, lifting his brow at the same time. A silent warning—a reminder. Apparently, the asshole still needed them.

“Boss,” the man quickly corrected.

“There you go. Try not to fuck it up again.”

His piece said, Marcus turned on his heel to leave the wet bar and find Cella wherever she had moved to within the mansion. With the majority of the dinner portion of the evening over, guests tended to move within the bottom level of the mansion freely.

He barely left the sitting room when someone else called his name. He still sighed, his back tensing, even if this voice he recognized and shouldn’t get irritated about.