Mafia Runner

Chapter Eighteen

By minx, I hope he meant a fiend, not a slut.

My grandmother and I had been close. Gabriele wouldn't get away with insulting her in my presence. But I wouldn't jump to conclusions, not when I wasn't sure what Gabriele had really meant by a 'minx'. Instead of giving a biting remark, I only offered Gabriele a tight smile and turned back to my breakfast.

"But you don't have her eyes," he continued without pause. "Same green, but she never had your fire. As soon as she realized what she married into, her eyes were dead. Let's hope you don't turn out like her when you realize what you're getting into with Luciano."

"Gabriele," Contessa screeched sharply.

Before she could reprimand her husband further, Siena began crying loudly. The tall woman scooped up her child and began walking from the room with a muffled farewell to me.

"You're not offended, are you, Conti?" Gabriele asked, brushing off Lucian's hiss of displeasure.

The man was a fucking asshole. I leered. "I don't get offended over petty insults, sir. Otherwise, that would make me an easy target, now wouldn't it?" my tone was dripping with dry sarcasm and it stopped Gabriele in his tracks.

Across from me, Blaise chuckled into his plate, clicking his tongue in approval. I refused to remove my eyes from Gabriele, easily telling him that I wasn't afraid of him.

I hated him.

Gabriele was silent for a long moment as he stared back at me, his eyes not cruel, but pensive. "Well, I'll be damned. Luciano was right, you do have a backbone."

Lucian's hand found my thigh under the table and gave a reassuring squeeze. "Afton has always had a backbone, Padre. You just refused to see it." His thumb began rubbing small circles close to my groin and I jerked away from him, refusing to show any outward discomfort.

"Speaking of padres, how is your father, Conti?" Gabriele continued, ignoring his son's mocking. "Is Marcello keeping busy?"

The way he phrased the question made it seem as if he knew Marcello wasn't up to any good. Did Gabriele know my father was working with a detective? It was a possibility and it honestly scared the shit out of me. Being Lucian's lover gave me immunity from things, but that did not extend to my father.

"Marcello is keeping busy with his cases." I met his eyes again, refusing to appear guilty. "I haven't seen him much since coming home from school."

"Speaking of vacations," Lucian interrupted. Perhaps his interruption was intentional, maybe not. Whatever the case, I was grateful. "I will be absent for a few days."

Gabriele's eyes swung away from me and looked intensely at his son. "I told you last night that you needed my permission before taking anymore foolhardy vengeance trips." Here, he looked at me again, as if I were the reason for everything.

He was referring to Lucian's sudden and unexpected leave a few days ago to go hunt down one of the Gallo brothers. I wondered what the other Dons talked about with Lucian last night regarding the unauthorized attack.

"This isn't business, this is entirely pleasure." Lucian eyed me with interest. "Afton and I will be leaving for Italy for a few days."

Considering Lucian mentioned he hadn't told anyone else about his house in Florida, I imagined he'd want to keep it from his father as well. Lucian lying to Gabriele was actually a relief to me. I didn't condone lying, but it was good to see that Lucian had the ability to independently think and act away from his father's rule.

Gabriele frowned in my direction. "You'll need security detail."

"Of course," Lucian agreed easily. "We're leaving next week, Monday. I'll let you know the time."