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"Do you need me to serenade you again?" Rocco speaks through the phone.
"Don't even think about it, I'll hang up on you before you finish the first sentence," He's being annoying again, wanting me to own up to my supposed feelings for Xavier.
"Let me try then-"
"Fuck no, Rocco," I say to him, sitting down on the couch in the living room. Some of the members in the corner stare at me in question and I wave them off dismissively. "Why did you call? It wasn't only to bother me I hope."
"That was partly the reason," His voice states and I try to hide the smile on my lips. "Listen, it's not being annoying when I want you to own up to how you feel! You had sex with him, like, that fucking God!"
"I sleep around with a lot of people," I tell him with certainty, and at that exact moment, Xavier and Marc step into the living room. Xavier gives me a piercing glance and I shrug my shoulders at him, it's not a lie, I did sleep around a lot. "Come on, Rocco. What do you want to tell me?"
"Fine," He sighs and I'm entertained at his persistence. "I fixed the club and it's ready to be protected by your gorillas."
"I'll tell Xavier then," I nod my head at Xavier and he sits down next to me, placing his arm on top of the backrest behind me.
"Then tell him you love him as well, while you're at it," His voice cuts through again, and I know that Xavier must've overheard him.
His hand behind me starts playing with my hair, the action is enough to calm me down the tiniest bit. "Rocco, I won't hesitate to come out there and kill you, got it?"
"You could never kill me," The confidence in his voice actually has me wanting to prove him wrong.
"Is that a challenge?" I ask him.
He chuckles on the other end of the line, "Bet."
"Fuck you," I tell him and hang up on the phone.
Xavier tugs my body closer to his, and I relax against his strong frame. Knowing that he and I will endanger ourselves soon enough has me on edge, I won't be without him when I just allowed myself to open up. It would be cruel to lose him now.
"Is there something you need to tell me?" His dark voice speaks slowly against my ear, a shiver dances down my spine by the closeness.
"The Dungeon will open up tonight, he needs some members," I notify him and settle my hand on top of his strong thigh.
"Is there anything else you need to tell me?" The teasing on his voice doesn't go unnoticed, and I smack him on the thigh in response. "So that's a no then?"
"Mi importa di te," (I care about you) I tell him. "But I'm certain you already knew that."
"It's always nice to hear, Eloisa," He speaks and kisses my temple. "I care about you, too."
Hearing him say those words has me feeling something in my gut, a certain happiness washes over my frame and I cuddle closer to him. Had I told myself a couple of months ago that I would be cuddled up to Xavier Romano, I would have simply killed myself. And yet, here I am, not wanting to be anywhere else at this exact moment.
"How do you feel after everything?" He suddenly asks me, quietly enough to keep this conversation private even with all the members roaming the living room and kitchen.
Hesitating on my answer, "My body feels great, the wound is healed and my stomach only twitches when I truly do something to bother it. I feel ready for the attack and I guess that's the most important thing."
"You aren't allowed to die once we storm them," He speaks and buries his face in the crook of my neck, placing a simple kiss on my collarbone.
"You aren't either," I tell him and run my fingers through his hair.
I have no clue when this change between us happened, but I truly love how comfortable he makes me. Xavier allowed me to relax for a minute, he allowed me to hide my strong facade away for a minute. Being strong all the time is fucking exhausting, he gave me the opportunity of feeling secure with him and I loved it.
"You smell amazing," He whispers against my skin, goosebumps arise when my gut tightens in a pleasurable need.
"You're growing quite romantic here, Xavier," I tease him with a content smile playing on my lips.
"Place your complaint elsewhere, I can't seem to control myself around you," His words are enough to make my heart flutter, nothing in me wants to end this.
"Sorry to cut in," Marc speaks and Xavier straightens to meet his eyes. "Or, I'm not really because I might just throw up all over the floor."
"Says the one who was head over heels for a chick a couple of months ago," I tell him with a shake of my head.
"Not just some chick, she was my girlfriend," He defends himself.
Xavier groans, "Yeah, let's not open that subject again. What do you want?"
"Bastien was killed," Marc states and the room quiets down instantly.
Xavier stands up and I follow along, there is a thorn of anger hiding beneath his calm facade, "Get the trusted ones upstairs, prepare the others. I won't wait around for this anymore, he's killing our own. Make sure we get some members down to The Dungeon and double it for everyone's safety. They're playing dirty."
This is it.
I know what Xavier wants us to do now.
He's certain I'm feeling okay and I'm prepared to fight. Now that Carlos killed one of the trusted ones, it won't end well for the rink of dealers. Although, Bastien was the one who broke Omertá to me on my first night here. He was still a cool guy, he did his job in the mafia and I know that Xavier respected him.
This was the last straw and now all there's left to do is put the plan in action. We'll kill them off sooner rather than later, and I will finally murder Carlos Romano. Along with knowing who the hell Dracona is, and what the fuck he has to do with my family.