“Asshole,” I mutter underneath my breath.
His left eyebrow raises. “What was that?”
Swallow your pride, lovely trained wife to be, I mentally chant again.
“I could have sworn I heard you calling me an asshole while I just arranged for you to have a little friend to keep you company when I have to deal with business.” The snap in his voice with the whole “I deal with business,” is another sneer at me that I should mind my own business.
“Asshole,” I spit loud and in full anger at his face.
He did mention I could be myself when it’s just the two of us, right? So, the hell with holding back, he sure doesn’t.
“You’re right, I call it the way I see it and you are one huge freaking selfish asshole. Go and deal with your business while I slap some lipstick on to look pretty and be a good freaking wife.”
“No need to add lipstick or look pretty, you’re already mine.” He looks down his nose at me as if I don’t matter, and it really rises the need inside me to poke his eye out with my middle finger.
Swallow your pride, my inner voice repetitively tries. And this time I decide to listen because going head to head is getting us nowhere. We’re not even married and are trying to lash out at every turn.
I take a calming breath and plaster a tight smile on my face. “Thank you for the reminder, and for your help with my cousin. If you’ll excuse me, I have to get ready for my meeting with your sister.”
I give him a nod and head for the stairs, cursing him seven ways to Sunday in my head while killing him slowly. Gosh, it’s nice to have private time in your head and the ability to keep killing him over and over to lessen some of my frustrations.
CHAPTER FIVE
I vote for killing them
— Clemente —
I storm into my office and slam the door shut behind me.
“I’m guessing your future wife is already drawing blood from underneath your fingernails?” Leandro states with a little laughter in his voice.
“It’s my own damn fault,” I snap. “I didn’t know what to expect and should have been more prepared instead of going in blind. And you.” I point at Arturo. “You keep your cock reserved for your future wife. I’m damn sick of hearing rumors about my underboss’ cock qualities instead of his ruthless torture abilities.”
“You’re the one with the outstanding torture reputation. I’m the one with the knife throwing qualities while Leandro has flawless aim no matter what weapon he’s palming. The rumors about my cock abilities are spread by jealous fucks who can’t get laid. They rave about me to throw the focus off themselves. Jealous assholes I tell you.” Arturo has a damn grin in place and I’m man enough to admit I’d like to punch it off his face just for the hell of it.
My phone rings with an unknown number. That’s the second time today. The first time I didn’t answer because I was working out. This time I will and maybe I can throw some anger at this unknown person calling me.
“State you’re fucking business,” I growl into my phone.
“Clemente, your sister, Gracy, gave me your number. I’m Chance. I’m friends with—”
“With my sister as well as Eddie Barhamer. Chance Bateman. You’re Eddie’s old cellmate. I know exactly who you are. No one comes near my sister without a thorough background check. Now, I repeat, state your business.” I never denied being an asshole. I absolutely am, but a softy never becomes the head of the Famiglia.
“Then you’re probably aware of the reason why I went to prison. This also happens to be the reason why I’m calling. Gracy suggested I ask you for help since you practically own the state of California. Her words, not mine,” Chance chuckles.
His words should agitate me, but I happen to have a soft spot for my sister. She rarely talks about me in this way so I assume she did it with good reason. Besides, this guy’s wife is a good friend of my sister.
“Is the reason you’re calling your sister’s ex, or the drug dealer who raped her?” And yes, I know every detail of his background, and of his wife, Aubrey. Like I said, I have a soft spot for my sister and I need to keep her safe. Hell, it’s also why I’m about to marry the fire spitting goddess who yanks on my nerves any damn time I’m around her.
“They were both in prison but I heard they are out, have been for a couple of weeks. I’m worried.” A deep sigh rips from his chest and in this moment I understand this man completely.
“I’ll look into it. I’ll make sure they won’t come near your sister again,” I vow.
And I rarely make promises I can’t keep and do favors for folks who aren’t even in my life. But like I said, I can relate to this man and he, and his wife, are in my sister’s life. This brings a risk of something happening to Gracy if those two would think about striking at Chance or his sister while Gracy is with them.
And, fuck. Just the thought of having my sister go through what Chance’s sister, Adele endured. Adele’s ex, Darius Marshall, a drug dealer, had a dispute with another drug dealer by the name of Daniel Sneyder. As a form of retaliation Daniel kidnapped and raped Adele.
Chance went over to Adele’s ex to get the address of the one who raped his sister but snapped when Darius basically said something about his sister being a whore. Chance went to jail for assault. Twisted fucking world where the good guy ends up paying for shit lowlife scum started.
Maybe I should hunt down both drug dealers and spend some time torturing them to make me feel better. It would solve his problem and would lighten my mood. Yeah, I think hunting down those two is going to be on my to-do list for today.
“Thanks, Clemente. I appreciate any help you can give me.”
“Just keep your nose out of this so my sister stays safe.” I put a little snap in my voice so he knows he needs to keep his nose clean and not go near Darius this time.
“Don’t worry, I’ve learned my lesson. And I completely trusted Gracy when she mentioned you were the one guy who could keep us safe no matter what. And if there’s anything I can do for you, let me know.”
An idea comes to mind and it might just give me a chance to smooth things over. “Come to think of it, there is something you can handle for me. Well, it would concern your wife making the arrangements, but that’s for you to deal with. My future wife likes animals, your woman owns a shelter, right?”
“You want me to arrange for a pet?” he questions.
“Fuck, no,” I snap. “I don’t want any pets. I was thinking about allowing her to come by a few times a week to pet those things.”
Chance chuckles. “Pretty sure you’re not supposed to call them things. But you’re asking about volunteer work, right? Walking dogs and such? That can be arranged. They are always looking for help, I’ve done it myself and can highly recommend—”
“Excellent. You do your part, I’ll do mine,” I grunt, needing this conversation to be over.
I’m about to hang up but hear him state, “Thanks again, I’ll see you at the wedding.”
I hit the end call button. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. I don’t even know the dude and my sister invites him and his wife as if it’s her own damn wedding.”