“Sure do.” Steps behind the bar, pulling out the glasses and setting them on the bar top. My father is proud of his collection, making sure to have plenty of the common ones for his guests.
“I’ll have the same, Pops.”
“Same for me,” Delaney calls out, checking his phone again. This is the second time I saw him on it in a matter of minutes.
“Everything okay?” I ask Delaney.
He lifts his head and with a smile, says, “Yes, just checking the monitor on the little ones.” He shows me the screen of his little boys sleeping.
“Damn. Paranoid,” I remark, knowing damned well that I’ll be worse.
He laughs, taking a drink before saying, “I never had a soft spot until I met Gloria. Now, I’ll do anything to protect them.”
Grasso clasps his hand on Delaney’s shoulder, smiling at his son-in-law. “Good. My grandbabies are well protected, but I worry as well.”
“I’m still worried about my boys, and they’re grown men,” my father adds. I know it’s true because he’s been on me about my obsession.
“Where is your other son?” Don Grasso asks.
“He’ll be coming soon. The boy lives with his head in the books.” Niccolò’s one hell of an accountant. He works to keep us out of prison, making sure nothing ties us to illegal activity.
“That’s really good. I wish I had sons, but the girls are my angels.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky with tons of bambinos.”
“This one is already working on it,” he mutters, nudging Delaney while glaring at me.
“Lucky fucker,” I say under my breath.
“Damn right. Soon, I’m sure you two will fill this mansion with a horde of little ones.”
“Two more days.” I down my glass, barely swallowing before adding, “Do you think we should check on them?”
“No. They’re fine, just like you told your mother. Relax. In two days, she’ll be here forever.” My father-in-law laughs before taking a drink of his whiskey. Everyone finds my misery hilarious, but if he keeps fucking with me, I’ll have Aria locked up in our bedroom for months too busy taking my dick to visit her parents, and I’ll let him know it too.
My phone buzzes in my inside jacket pocket. “Excuse me.” I step away from them and pull it out, and it’s Nero, my second-in-command and cousin.
“Get everyone to safety. Someone’s lurking outside. I’m going to check it out.” Shots fire in the distance as he hangs up.
“Get Aria into the safe room,” I bark out to Luigi who’s standing guard at the entryway. He immediately takes off and runs to their location.
“What the hell is going on?”
“Yeah. Bianchi what’s happening?”
It’s a surprise to find someone lurking outside the exterior on the cameras. I get up and call the front security at the gate. It rings and rings. I pull up the surveillance cameras on my phone and see that several of my guys are running out of the gates. “Someone’s shooting at my men.” I glare at the two other men in the room who aren’t blood, feeling suddenly suspicious of them.
I pull out my gun and run straight down to the fucking front. My security gate team has been shot. One’s dead, and the other is bleeding out. I call the ambulance as Delaney and the Don come following. We secure the area with my other ten men that circle the perimeter. The intruder can’t get inside, but they shot through the gate.
I’m hot—ready to bust some heads and throw salt in the wounds.
“Shit, where is Niccolò?”
My father pulls out his cell and calls him. He’s talking to him, so thank fuck for that.
“I haven’t had a problem in years. Now that I bring my bride here, someone attacks?”
“I believe someone doesn’t want our families to be tied together.” Grasso is right, but none of the families have even hinted at the alignment between the Grasso and Bianchi Families.
“Who? This has been in motion for years,” I remind him.
“I don’t know, but until we do, it’s best to be on high alert.”
“Where’s Nico?” I ask. He’s supposed to be here any fucking minute. If that fucker finds him before he’s somewhere safe…I just can’t even think of that.
“He was just leaving his condo. He’d gotten carried away with work.”
A sense of relief fills me, but everything isn’t said and done for the night. “Sounds like him. Did you tell him to stay there as well?”
“Hell, yeah. The boy doesn’t need to get into this.” My father checks his gun as we stalk together to check on our women. I have to hold Aria and promise I’ll make it better.
“Fucking hell. Who would be that stupid?” I look at the footage as we head to the safe room, but all I can think about is getting to Aria. Maybe that’s my motherfucking problem; I’ve been too fucking stuck in the clouds to see the enemy creeping in.
I punch in the code, and the door slides open. Everyone enters before I do, but we find all our women comforting each other. Their eyes turn to us and they run to their men, and then it’s just Aria, who gasps.
“You’re okay,” Aria cries out, throwing her arms around me. Fuck, I feel like a king just to have an ounce of her concern.
I kiss her temple and hair before I answer her. “Yes, amore. I’m well, but two of my men have been injured.” I leave out that one is dead because I don’t want to upset her any more than necessary. “You’re staying here tonight where I know you’ll be secure until we have this under control.”
“I need to get to my boys, but I want Gloria here until I come back with them,” Cormack says, staring at me with the warning that he’s trusting me with her safety. I nod, answering his unspoken request.
“All of you will stay here tonight. This isn’t random,” I answer.
“Do you know who it is?” Aria looks up at me with a fear that pisses me off.
Cupping her face, I stare into her gorgeous eyes. “No, but I will. Nothing and no one will stop our wedding,” I tell her, but it’s for everyone just in case they get any crazy ideas of canceling it.
My phone rings, and it’s Nero. “What do you have?”
“He’s gone. It’s definitely a guy with brass balls. We’re waiting for a medic and the fucking fire department out in the woods.” He’s breathing heavily as he spits it out for me.
“What the hell happened?”
“We gave chase, and the asshole had a trip wire set up with rigged explosives. We’ve lost two more guys.” I could put a bullet in this bastard’s head, but we need to make him earn his death.
“When we find this asshole, his death will be slow and painful. Do what you need to do. Are you good, though?”
“Yeah, I’m a little slower than these guys,” he huffs. That’s when I realize he’s still catching his breath.
He’s fast, but not sprinter fast. “That’s because you’re built like a tank. Stay safe.”
“I told you,” Aria huffs, slapping my chest as tears stream down her gorgeous face.
“You did. Did you know something, Aria?” It’s a stupid question, but maybe she heard something without understanding what it meant.