The Power of a Woman: A Mafia Erotic Romance (19 page)

He jumped back into his SUV. Frank Sinatra’s “Summer Wind” blared as he hit the gas, kicking up gravel as he sped off. Stefan watched the taillights for a moment before climbing back in his car next to me. One look. That’s all I got out of him—just one glare—before speeding away in silence.

The first thing to register was my thick, dry tongue filling my mouth. I tried and tried to work up enough saliva to moisten it, but nothing worked. I was too thirsty, too dehydrated to even garner enough fluid in my mouth to swallow down the cotton that’d taken over. I opened my eyes, only to shut them quickly, squeezing them tight. The light pouring into my room only served to intensify the pounding in my head. Then I rolled over, attempting to turn away from the large window beside my bed, but even that small movement made me wince and groan.
What the fuck?

My body felt like I’d gone to war, and not in a good way. Definitely not in the way Stefan made me feel. This was due to overindulgence in alcohol, and I hadn’t felt this way in a long time. It made me immobilize myself and think back to the night before, starting with dinner. That part was clear, only getting fuzzy toward the end before leaving with Laura.

Laura…she always had a way of leaving me sick the next morning. I hated it. It left me feeling out of control. And the only time I enjoyed being out of control was with Stefan.

Stefan…did he show up, or was that my mind playing tricks on me? I would’ve bet that had he really been there, I’d be deliciously sore between my legs. I blindly ran my hand along my inner thighs, feeling nothing new. But if it’d been nothing more than a drunken dream, why did it feel so real? His voice. Those dark, piercing eyes. He had to have been there. But why couldn’t I remember anything?

I felt around for my phone, finding it twisted in the sheets. Sitting up, I groaned and grunted against the pain, realizing for the first time that I was still in the clothes from the night before. How the hell did I get home? Ignoring that thought, I rifled through the call log and texts, finding the ones from Stefan. That’s when the fog began to lift—barely.

I remembered him showing up to the club, dragging me out. But aside from his lecture after grinding on him and the smack I’d given some faceless loser, I couldn’t remember shit. Bits and pieces were there, but not full scenes that I could piece together. Even thinking about it caused my head to throb even harder.

Throwing the blanket off me, I lowered my bare feet to the ground and stepped out of bed, only to fall flat on my face in agony. A sharp pain shot up my leg from my ankle, crippling me into a ball of sobs on the floor next to my bed. I wrapped my hands around the swollen joint and breathed through the discomfort before glancing down at it, noticing the dark colors imbedded in my skin. Great. That’s exactly what I needed—a bum ankle. But at least it brought back a new memory, one of me dancing and nearly falling on my face after my six-inch heel went one way and my body went another. However, that memory didn’t do shit to help me figure out what happened with Stefan and how I’d gotten home.

A hard, desperate knock sounded on my closed bedroom door. Before I could tell the unwanted visitor to go away, it opened and my father rushed in, breathing frantically with wide, terrified eyes. That was enough to gain my attention and make me forget about the agony that reverberated from my foot to my head.

“What is it, Daddy?” I bravely pulled myself to the edge of my bed and sat on it.

He came to me, sitting next to me. “What happened to you? Your ankle? Did something happen at dinner last night?” he asked, panic consuming his voice and eyes.

“No, Daddy. I went out dancing with Laura after dinner and twisted my ankle. It’s no big deal. I’ll be all right. I just need some ice and a few pills. What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Matteo…” he breathed out, his head and shoulders dropping with defeat.

Much like every time something happened to Matty, my father came to me. It insulted me that he thought of me as too stupid to figure out his motive. Coming to me, mentioning a problem, telling me how he didn’t know what to do…yet never, not once, asking me for help. I knew the game. I was just tired of playing it with him.

“What did he do now?”

“Nothing.”

“Then what is it?” The anger began to drift into concern, taking over until the physical soreness of my body became numb to the mental pain of the unknown.

“I finished paying off Mick’s crew last week. The rest of what Matty owed them. The remainder of what I owed Stefan for clearing his debt. It was all taken care of. But now Matty is missing. He didn’t come home last night. I knew he’d gone out with you, but he never came back.” The absolute terror in his tone sent my mind spinning and my heart pounding.

“Maybe he’s just out, Daddy. You know how boys his age are. Maybe he had a few drinks with some friends and then stayed the night instead of driving home.”

“I want to believe that, Jordana. I really do. He’s just never stayed out and not told me before. And his phone is off. It’s going straight to voicemail.”

I laid a hand on his shoulder, giving him as much comfort as I could muster. “Maybe his phone died. He was out all day yesterday, so maybe he didn’t have a chance to charge it. Give him time. He’ll wake up and come home to shower. You can yell at him then. No sense in getting all worked up for no reason.” I wanted to believe my own words. They were extremely plausible and made more since than anything when it came to any seventeen- almost eighteen-year-old boy. But Matty never fit into that category before. I doubted he’d start now.

“You’re right, Jordana. I’m just so worked up with the timing of it all. I just paid them off. I wouldn’t put anything past that family. They shouldn’t be trusted. I only trusted Stefan because I had no other choice. But that was once, and it will never happen again. They’re snakes, Jordana. Lying, betraying, backstabbing snakes. And if I find out—”

“Daddy…give Matty time to wake up and come home. I’m sure it’s nothing.” God, I hoped that was true. I didn’t know what I would do if I found out that Stefan or his family had anything to do with my brother not coming home.

That’s when a new memory hit me. Gravel. A meeting.
Flora
.

Stefan came to get me from the club, and then proceeded to have a meeting with his family’s sergeant of arms in the dark beneath the train trestle. Secretive. Why so secretive, Stefan? What do you have up your sleeve? What are you hiding, and does it have anything to do with my brother?

I obviously could never ask him those questions. He’d turn it around on me and accuse me once again of not trusting him. But how could I possibly trust someone who kept so many things hidden from me? I still couldn’t forget the fact that he’d taken money from my father behind my back when he’d said he’d taken care of it. But I couldn’t ask him that, either. He’d made me believe that I had to prove to him how much I could trust him, saying it was the only way he could trust me.

Fucking fool. That’s what I was. A goddamn woman running on emotions and feelings. That’d get me nowhere. I thought I was being smart by playing it safe. I thought I was doing the only thing I could if I wanted to be included in his fold. But that thought had just been thrown back up in my face, drowning me in reality. He’d played me. Stefan—the man I’d been sure I loved, the one I trusted completely—lied to my fucking face. Well, fuck being clever. It was time I acted smart, regardless if it meant putting an end to my relationship with Stefan. But I couldn’t let my emotions rule me. I had to wait and let this Matty thing play out. See if he came home. See if he was all right. I’d give him until the night to return home. If he didn’t, all hell would break loose.

Hell…fury…woman scorned and all that shit.

“I really think you’re worrying over nothing, Daddy. You know Mick and the rest of the Giannottis. Our families have gone way back. He may have pointed his finger at you and accused you of crimes you’d
never
commit, but he’s not stupid. He’d never go after you or one of your own without proof of the allegations he’s slung at you. He follows code, Daddy, and you know it. You’re just worried and letting that fear rule your emotions.” I’d said it for his benefit. However, I had to believe it, too. Regardless of my feelings toward Stefan—trust, mistrust, love, hatred—Mick Giannotti would never pull the trigger without absolute cause. He wasn’t some new kid on the block with a big dick needing to prove something.

No, that seemed to be his son.

Well, fuck Stefan. Fuck his big dick and quest to prove something.

The day passed with my father locked in his office, the phone physically attached to his ear. I hobbled around on my bum foot, popping pain pills every few hours and icing it in-between. Matty never showed up, and that only added fuel to the already burning fire in my house. Daddy was frantic, paranoid over what was going on with my brother. Me, on the other hand—frantic and paranoid were not words to describe me. No. Anger, rage, fury…those were the emotions that riddled my mind.

Matteo’s phone was still off, still going straight to voicemail. Daddy had called all of Matty’s friends, hoping to gain some insight into his whereabouts. But they knew nothing. It was as if he’d left the restaurant last night and vanished into thin air. Even the feedback from some of the street men came back nothing. No one had seen him, heard from him, knew anything about where he might’ve gone. All the gambling connections came back clean. He hadn’t been placing bets or borrowing money—at least not with the connections we had. My father had a right to be worried. And I had a right to be pissed.

I’d called Stefan several times throughout the day, all calls going unanswered. The texts I’d sent him showed he’d read them, but I received no response that way, either. I would’ve gone to his house, confronting him face to face, but Daddy wouldn’t let me out of his sight. He’d beefed up the security around the house, his paranoia telling him I’d be next to go missing. We’d just have to wait it out.

And for four days, that’s exactly how it went. Muscles guarded the home, my father only leaving when necessary. Otherwise, he kept to himself in his office, locking me out of business matters. Things felt like they were falling apart. Daddy left the business end of dealings up to his number two, deciding to focus all his energy on my missing brother. I could practically hear the muttered words that were said behind his back. Matteo would be the end of my father whether he meant to or not. It never appeared good to others when the boss went into hiding. And this was the second time in one month that it had happened. They all thought Daddy had lost his touch. I, however, thought he’d lose his mind before that ever happened. With a firm hand, he controlled everything. Only showing weakness where Matty and I were concerned. It was just unlucky timing that my brother brought out our father’s weakness so often.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t worry about Matty. After all, it’d been four days since anyone had seen him. But on the same hand, I didn’t think the Giannottis had anything to do with it. However, the Carraras were a different story all together. I wouldn’t put anything past them. They were nothing but a weak branch from the family tree out of Italy. They came over ten years ago to start roots in the States. Slimy fuckers they were. Definitely not to be trusted—ever. But I doubted they’d go after an Albanese without cause. And if there were cause, my father would’ve known about it. The bad bets Matty had placed with them had been taken care of by the loans he’d taken out with the Giannottis. So that wouldn’t have made for cause of an attack. It just made no sense, and I was stuck in the house, unable to obtain answers from anyone.

Especially Stefan. He kept up the silent treatment, ignoring all my calls and texts. Even my more desperate ones, pleading for his help, telling him that I was in danger. I really thought those would get to him, but they didn’t. Which could only mean one of two things. One: he knew more about Matty’s disappearance than I did. Or two: the relationship we’d had was all a lie. Either theory burned like a knife in my back.

I needed answers. And I needed them yesterday.

On the fourth night, I snuck out my window after my father had gone to bed. I knew where my father’s muscles were stationed, where they hid along the property to ensure the safety of my family, so I knew how to get out undetected. It had taken me this long to do it since my ankle had been so swollen it wouldn’t have held up my weight to climb down the trellis outside my window and crouch between the bushes along the exterior of the house. Once my foot was well enough to go on a secret op mission, I took my chance and snuck out.

It took me three times as long to make it to Stefan’s place considering I couldn’t use my car without being noticed, but I’d made it there, the anger and rage nearly boiling over. By the time I got to his elevator, I was ready to rip him apart. But that was nothing compared to how I felt once I made my way up to his place.

The elevator door opened and I stepped out. Ripping him apart would’ve been going too easy on him once I spotted the woman coming out of his bathroom, zipping up her skirt. Her eyes met mine, but all I saw was red.