Lady Night

Chapter five

"You b***h!"

Were the first words I heard the moment I walked through the door of my apartment. I didn't even have one foot in the door before Audrey was in front of me looking slightly unhinged.

"Um, hello to you too," I grumbled, exhausted from an eight hour stint of poring over Elysium's second quarter number projectiles.

My brain was fried and my sister was not helping.

"Why wouldn't you tell me you were moving?" she demanded, hands on her hips and looking very much like a stern school teacher.

"What?" I asked, very intelligently.

"You're moving! I can't believe you wouldn't tell me or at least let me know! I mean I know your portion of the lease is still covered by your work living stipend but-"

"Audrey," I interjected, throwing myself onto the couch, "what the hell are you talking about?"

Finally, she seemed to realize that I was completely unaware of whatever she was talking about. She paused her rant long enough to scan my face. Then, she broke into a rushed explanation.

The longer she talked, the angrier I got. The more I looked around the apartment, the more I wanted to kill someone. Finally, she finished her explanation and I was out the door before she could say goodbye.

***

About an hour later, I was banging on the door of the top floor penthouse with literal smoke probably coming out of my ears. Hair that looked like fire and I was ready to breathe it too.

When the door opened, I shoved past whoever it was that opened it and stalked into the room. I whirled around to face whoever opened the door.

"You moved me out of my apartment?!"

But I wasn't looking at who I expected. The blonde haired man from before was standing at the door staring at me and looking a little shocked at my outburst and sudden entrance.

A throat cleared from behind me.

"No, that would be me."

I turned to face the familiar voice, my face heating as I realized that I'd clearly burst into some type of meeting. I'd only been expecting one man and was faced with four of them sitting on a black leather couch plus the one I just left stunned at the door.

Gio was watching me with amusement sparkling in his eyes. The man next to him, however, held something more dangerous in his gaze when he looked at me.

He was older than Gio, probably by a sizable gap. His hair was graying on the sides and it wasn't necessarily that his size or his looks were imposing. There was an air about him that the other men in the room seemed to gravitate around. As if he was the planet they all orbited around.

"And who might this be?" The man spoke and my spine straightened. A slight foreign lilt to his words and a sparkling ring on his middle finger.

I knew if I got closer, that ring would have an 'R' on its face. Don Russo.

"Sabina Night," I said before Gio could answer for me- I was still furious at him no matter how embarrassed I was at the moment. Or scared.

The Don tilted his head, an interested smile spreading across a lightly wrinkled face. He was handsome, sure, but not in the devastating way that his younger brother was. The Don still had that all-consuming presence, but where his was stifling his younger brother's was... not. I swallowed.

"I'm the new manager of D&D," I explained.

The Don nodded slowly, and for some reason I couldn't tear my eyes away from his. It was the power behind that gaze, the threat that lurked behind a polite— if a little flirtatious— exterior.

"Of course you are," Don Russo glanced sidelong at his brother who stiffened. "Gio, me lo hai nascosto."

"Puoi biasimarmi?"

Whatever Gio said made his brother size me up.

The Don shook his head, smiled again, chuckling a little and standing up. The two other hulking men stood beside him, moving when he moved and breathing when he breathed.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," I began but he held up a hand cutting off my apology. "Please don't leave on my account, I can wait-"

"We've finished anyway, haven't we Gio?"

Gio seemed very much like he wanted to argue-like they were very much not finished in his mind. Instead, he nodded sharply and directed his attention to the man behind the door.

"Jacob, you'll send me the final copy before finalization?" Gio's tone implied it was more of a direction than a question.

The man behind me, Jacob, nodded. "Sure thing, boss."

"Well," Don Russo said, smiling at me, "I believe Miss Night here has an appointment requiring your attention, Gio. Mandamela per il prossimo appuntamento."

He reached for my hand and I offered it, feeling a thrall of intense fear creep up my spine as the Don neared. Up close I could see the crisp icy blue of his eyes, slightly wrinkled in the corners.

As his lips pressed against my knuckle, it might as well have been nails against a chalkboard. His presence was as much of a threat as the two hulking men who followed behind him.

"I am certain I will be seeing you again, Sabina Night."

With that, the four men left me alone in the penthouse with the one man I'd actually come here to see. Once they were gone, the apartment suddenly felt much bigger.

The walls were covered in floor to ceiling windows looking out over the Vegas skyline.

Cold stone floors and black furniture, the entire apartment seemed just as stoic as it's owner.

Still, just like it's owner, there were small glimmers of color such as the authentic paintings on the wall or the half finished chess game on a table in the corner of the living room.

I crossed my arms over my chest, remembering once again the reason why I was here.

"What's the problem, Miss Night?"

"You literally moved me out of my apartment without my permission and you have the audacity to ask me 'what's wrong?"

Gio blinked innocently, looking down at me with sharp, exacting eyes. He stepped closer to me so that we weren't speaking to each other from across the length of his apartment— which was huge. He was still a few feet away and yet I felt the need to take a step backward. An instinct perhaps.

"Your current arrangement was not working-"

"It was working just fine!"

"Clearly not."

"I'm not moving!"

"It is, of course, your choice to accept it or not. I can have your things returned by tomorrow.

Though, it appears," Gio murmured

thoughtfully, "that men are incapable of acting rationally in your presence. So, I provided a safer alternative for everyone involved."

I wondered if he was merely talking about my own safety or if I was imagining the threatening edge in his voice. While I was somewhat grateful for the thought for my safety, I was still indignant about not being consulted.

"You should have asked."

"There was a provision in your contract which indicated that we may require you to relocate-"

"That's not asking, Gio."

His eyes flicked up to mine at the use of the nickname. It's what I'd been calling him in my head and it merely slipped out now without thought. He smiled a little, and I suddenly found it a little more difficult to hold on to my anger.

"I should have asked," he relented. "Though it may be redundant now: Miss Night would you consider moving into the apartment two floors down which already has all of your things in it?"

"Two floors down?" I rubbed my forehead, weary at the sudden shifts my life kept making.

"You really have to keep that close of an eye on me?"

"Perhaps you should be thankful that we are two floors apart. I might have preferred you to be directly under me, and then where would we be?"

Had his voice lowered? I wasn't sure. But I was sure that I knew the look that flashed for only a moment in his eyes. It was the same one I saw in his brother's. The same one that I saw from plenty of powerful men when I poured their drinks.

Interesting, I thought, perhaps Marafi was not so far off.

"I would be hitting my ceiling with a broom every night."

"I look forward to it."

He chuckled a little and curiosity was starting to get the better of me about this new apartment.

"I'll stay on a probationary basis," I finally agreed, "but only probationary."

Gio nodded and seemed to mull something over in his head. I waited to see if he would share it, but he seemed to think better of it and turned to take a drink from the glass he left on the side table.

Feeling as though that was the end of our conversation, I turned and started heading for the door, but stopped when he cleared his throat.

"Miss Night?" he called out, "another matter to discuss before you leave."

I arched a brow. "Yes?"

"Do not speak to my brother again," Gio added, his voice losing all of its previous humor.

"What?"

"If he attempts to speak to you, be polite. But do not..." he seemed to struggle to find the right words. The words he was allowed to say.

"If he becomes interested in you... there is not much I will be able to do to stop him from pursuing you."

"I've had men pursue me before, I'll be fine." My words sounded much more confident than I actually felt. Still, Gio didn't seem to buy it.

"Not like him," he said, "it is not a pursuit you would prefer."

I took a step closer, c*****g my head. "What makes you think you know what kind of pursuit I prefer?"

Gio crossed his arms over his chest. "Call it intuition."

Don Russo was frightening and I was not interested in his pursuit or anything to do with him. But if he was interested, then maybe I would gain access to information for Marafi.

With the way that I reacted to him in the brief moment beforehand, I doubted that I would even be able to feign a returned interest. The thought of being in the same vicinity as him scared me.

However, it would be rather easy feigning interest in Gio. Perhaps too easy. Still, a plan started to form in my head.

He already proved that he was concerned for my safety and I would be a fool to not understand what the heat in his eyes meant when he looked at me. Perhaps now I could see how far I could push him.

"Would your brother pursue me if he thought that you were interested?"

"Likely not." Dark brows narrowed slightly in surprise. "But what makes you think that I'm interested?"

"Oh, I don't," I assured him quickly, lying through my teeth, "but if you were able to make your brother believe that you are, then you wouldn't have to be concerned."

Golden eyes scanned my face, searching for some indication of falsity but I had years of hiding my thoughts from my expressions.

Especially, from distrustful eyes of dangerous men. My eyes widened, blinking as innocently as possible.

"I think you're lying," he said bluntly.

This time, my expression was one of genuine surprise. I was a good liar. I prided myself on it in fact.

"No, I'm not," I assured him, "you said it yourself that your brother wouldn't-"

"I don't doubt your logic, Miss Night," he interjected with a hand in the hair, "merely your reason for applying it."

Did he ever talk like he wasn't writing a legal brief? It was always calm and sophisticated, and

—with an Italian lilt-just a little bit sexy.

"I don't want your brother pursuing me," that, at the very least, was not a lie. "Of course, I understand if you're unwilling-"

"Did I say I was unwilling?" he asked sternly. I shook my head. "I merely think that you're not being completely honest, but I do not fault you for that. So long as you do not fault me for figuring out why."

Good luck with that, Gio.

"Sure," I smiled lazily, all but forgetting the anger I felt bursting in to his home, "whatever you say, Gio."

I turned on my heel, back toward the door. Gio cleared his throat pointedly and I glanced back at him. He was dangling a key from his index finger.

"Don't you want to see your new place?"

I swallowed, noticing the wicked smile that ghosted his lips. Something about the position of his fingers and the smile on his face was inviting in more ways than one. As calmly as possible, I crossed the floor toward him and reached for the key. He moved it just as I grabbed for it, holding it above my head out of reach.

"One last thing, Miss Night," his voice was light but there was a coldness in his gaze. "Feel free to knock on my door if you need something. A cup of sugar. Spare batteries. Or somebody to unzip those little dresses of yours."

He took a step closer, and I snatched the key but he didn't let it go.

"But never again interrupt my business meetings."

It sounded both like a threat and, somehow, an invitation. As though he hoped I would disobey him.

I swallowed and nodded, grabbing the key from him and officially turning to leave once again.

Then, unable to resist that heated stare on my back, I turned for the last time.

"By the way," I added as I stepped out the door,

"you're about to lose your chess game."

He turned, glancing back at the board that sat in the back corner.

"What?"

"I see checkmate in three."

His eyes narrowed. "How do you know which pieces are mine?"

"Please," I scoffed, "all of your pieces are set to protect your queen. You're not a gambling man, right?"

Gio's smile was slightly impressed.

"Maybe you'll join me for a game and you can see what kind of man I am."

"Sure, I mean now that we're neighbors."

I smirked and left.