A/N: The next several chapters are going to be rewrites of what was posted before so that they now follow the new storyline. I've mostly made tweaks, so a lot of the characters/things that happen will be the same, just in a different context. I'll try to get through these relatively quickly and am hoping to post a chapter a day for these rewrites, but can't make any promises. :)
+++
Emiliano and Luca sat on each side of Simone as she looked in awe at the Florence skyline from the balcony of the apartment — the city's signature Duomo in perfect view. "I'm so glad that we bought this place last time we came here. It's such a beautiful location and at least we have a bit of a refuge from the villa while still being close enough." Simone said.
"Yeah," Emiliano agreed. "But I have a feeling we'll be stuck at the villa, anyway. If we host meetings, it'll need to be there so that it's clear the seat of Rossi power is still there and Claudia is equal to us, even if she doesn't have the official title."
"That's such bullshit. Your grandpa really made things more difficult for her... For all of you."
"Good thing that old fuck is in the grave. Anyway, this time we won't leave until shit is solid and we find out who the fuck this traitor might be. My money is on one of our cousins."
"I think so, too," Luca commented. "I suspect Ricardo and Florentina. They never really respected our decision to have Claudia proxy."
"I think it's her shady ass son. Niccolo is smart enough to pull something like this off and I wouldn't put it past him to betray his mom."
"That's not farfetched. We will learn more once we meet with them tomorrow. But let's start with the new Montella head tonight."
"Yeah, I didn't even know that Amedeo had a son... At least not one that he claimed."
"He was a private man when it came to family, so it's not surprising that we have never heard of a son."
"Oh, I remember Amedeo Montella from last time we were here," Simone said. "He was friendly and his face was oddly familiar even though there was no way we met before. At least not that I could remember. Anyway, do you know anything about the Montella you're meeting tonight other than him being Amedeo's son?"
"Nope, just that his name is Alessandro Montella and Claudia says he has better temperament than his hot head dad, but I find that hard to believe since they still keep the reputation of being brutal as fuck."
"Oh..." Simone didn't say it out loud, but the name Alessandro Montella sounded extremely familiar to her, though she couldn't remember why.
"But no need to worry," Luca assured, assuming Simone was concerned about the brutality of the Montella family. "The Rossi and Montella families have always had a good relationship, which is why we're meeting with their head tonight. We're cordial enough that we can talk about the recent clash."
"Right, okay..." Simone nodded. "Anyway, what should I wear to that shady ass mafioso bar tonight so I can play diplomat?"
***
"I will put a fucking bullet in the next figlio di puttana who smiles at you," Luca spat as they entered the bar. The location was just a few blocks away from their apartment and they decided to walk. Despite being on the arms of Emiliano or Luca the entire time, Simone was still met with whistles or jeers and Luca had reached the point of visibly carrying his gun the rest of the way there.
The three of them took their seats on couches toward the back of the bar where they were set to meet with Alessandro Montella. Emiliano's arms were spread across the back of couch, one going over Simone's shoulders while Luca's arm was wrapped around her waist.
"You definitely shouldn't have worn this," Emiliano said as his eyes scanned over Simone. She wore a form-fitting olive green dress that came down to her knees with black pumps and a short black fur coat that she removed when they got inside.
"What do you mean?!" she exclaimed. "You picked this outfit."
"Yeah, because I liked it and I didn't expect these other fuckers to be eye fucking you too," he grumbled.
"Well..." Simone placed her hands on her husbands' legs. "There are only two men in here who have a chance in hell of actually fucking me."
Emiliano leaned into her and caught her earlobe between his teeth before he whispered to her. "Oh, I've already got plans for that..."
"You do, now?" she replied with a raised brow. "And what might those plans be?"
"That view you love so much from our balcony..." he muttered between kisses along her neck. "How about I take you from the back while—" Emiliano was cut off when the waiter approached them with two drinks on his tray.
Luca gave him a curious glare. "Che cosa?" [What?] he asked when the waiter placed the drinks in front of him and Emiliano.
"Dalle donne," [From the women] the waiter replied, gesturing to three of them sitting at the bar just a few feet from Simone, Emiliano, and Luca.
Simone's eyes cut over to the women and her nostrils flared. Both men tried to calm her — Luca rubbing her side and Emiliano caressing her shoulder, but it was too late.
"Che cosa fai!?" [What are you doing?] Simone rose to her feet and snapped at the group of women eyeing Emiliano and Luca before blowing off a series of expletives in Italian. "... Clearly, they're here with me! Now, move the hell on," she shewed them. "Ciao!"
Once the women scurried away, Simone was pulled into a lap and felt something hard against her backside. "Already, Luca?" she questioned with a smirk.
"You know how he gets when you're angry and when you speak Italian," Emiliano taunted. "I'm surprised he didn't drag your ass out of here halfway through that rant."
"No promises I won't still do that, tesoro," Luca whispered in her ear.
Simone chuckled and shook her head. "I know how it is here, Italian women hate to see their men with foreigners. Always making slick ass comments like I don't speak the language or trying to flirt."
"You sound very familiar with that, love." Emiliano pursed his lips. "Like you may have experienced it?"
"Amore," Luca said as he used one hand to caress the inside of Simone's thigh. "Do you have something you need to tell us?"
"What do you mean? I lived here for a year, remember?" Simone avoided eye contact with Emiliano and Luca. "I'm just talking about my observations..."
"'Observations,' she says," Emiliano mocked. "Well keep it cool, sweetheart. We only have eyes for you, no matter who might come around and try to hit on us."
"Which reminds me..." Simone looked between Luca and Emiliano. "Do I need to worry about us running into any of your ex hoes? Because I still remember when we came here in the middle of our honeymoon and one of Luca's showed up out of nowhere while we were out in Sicily."
Both men burst out laughing at her question.
"I'm serious," she pouted. "While I am usually pro-hoe, I am not when they're trying to fuck with my husb—"
"Mia cara?" [Dear?] A familiar voice interrupted Simone and she immediately went stiff. Luca's grip on her hip tightened as she remained in his lap and Emiliano's eyes turned to a glare.
"Syd Johnson?" The voice asked, now closer to her.
Simone slowly turned her head to see a toothy grin and a pair of brown eyes that she knew well staring back at her. The man's facial hair was cleanly trimmed and he had his hair up in a bun. Two men in suits that matched his followed not far behind him.
"Who the fuck are you?" Emiliano asked sharply as Luca remained hauntingly silent and glared at the man.
"Hi..." Simone finally replied to the man.
"So, it is you, Syd Johnson!" Alessandro beamed.
Emiliano shot to his feet before Alessandro could reach Simone. "And what the fuck do you want with Syd Johnson?"
Luca gave Emiliano a warning look and released Simone from his lap for her to stand up and speak to the man.
When he greeted Simone with kisses on each cheek, as was customary, Emiliano began to approach him again, but Luca raised a hand to stop him.
"I can't believe I'm seeing you here!" the man chimed as he took Simone's face in his hands. "I've missed you so much all these years... I'm sorry we lost con—"
Suddenly, clicking noises went off in their vicinity. Emiliano had a gun to the man's head and one of the two men with him pointed his gun to Emiliano while the other aimed his at a sitting Luca who had his hand on his gun.
Emiliano's face still tense and his gun against the man's head, he asked the guard, "Do you know who the fuck you're point your gun at?"
"Do you know who you're pointing your gun at?" he countered.
"Okay!" Simone shouted, pulling the man's hands from her face. "Can everyone just please calm down?! I think there's a misunderstanding... This is Alessandro Montella."
Emiliano's face was washed with surprise. Neither he nor Luca knew what Alessandro looked like and he was wondering how Simone knew him and why she didn't say anything earlier.
Alessandro called his men off and they lowered their weapons before Emiliano did the same.
Simone stepped back from Alessandro and took Emiliano's hand. She looked between him and Luca and then back to Alessandro. "When you said we were meeting with 'Alessandro Montella' from Naples, the name sounded familiar, but I couldn't figure out why... until now."
Alessandro looked at the three of them and that was when the realization hit him.
"So it's true... You are Simone Davidson."
"Davidson-Rossi," Emiliano corrected.
"Yeah," Simone replied dryly.
"I saw pictures of the three of you together and you looked familiar... But I still wasn't sure. Now that I see you in person, there is no denying it is you! You never said anything about this before when we were—"
"It was something I was running away from," Simone interrupted. "Not like you told me you were a crime family heir either..."
"I didn't want to scare you away. Why were you running away from your family?"
"Well, maybe 'running away' wasn't the best term for me to use. Honestly, it's a really, really long story..."
"But in short," Emiliano spoke up, pulling Simone's body against his and wrapping an arm around her waist. "This is our wife." The move only seemed to thicken the tension in the air.
"Okay, okay," Simone nervously waved her hands. "How about we all sit down and start over?" When she pulled Emiliano back over to the couch and sat between him and Luca, they both had a possessive hand on her as Alessandro and his two men joined them.
"Yes, of course." Alessandro reached out his hand toward Emiliano and Luca. "We should focus on the reasons are here."
"Agreed," Luca replied and shook Alessandro's hand before Emiliano followed.
As Simone watched, she could tell by looking at their hands how tightly their grips were on each other and she rolled her eyes before leaning against Emiliano's shoulder and taking Luca's hand in hers.
Alessandro's attention returned to Simone and he examined her as if in a trance while she avoided eye contact and was sure to keep her hands on her men.
Luca looked between the two of them and ran his fingers through his hair before leaning forward toward Alessandro. "How do you two know each other, exactly?" Luca asked.
"We were, uh..." Simone hesitated as she tried to figure out the right words.
"We were lovers."
+++
A/N: Thanks for reading and don't forget to follow!