I peered from the beautiful woman who came in the kitchen to Savio and saw the glare on his face, partly jealous that he wasn’t paying attention to me any longer. I couldn’t explain why I was pissed, but I didn’t want him to know.
“Adelina, so nice to see you again.” Viviana reached out for a hug, but the smile didn’t reach Adelina’s eyes like they did when I stepped in the room.
“Mr. Calabresi, you’re still just as handsome,” Viviana said.
“Who invited you inside, Viviana?” Savio asked.
“I’m family, Savio.”
“McKayla, let’s go in my office to speak.” Mr. Calabresi placed his hand on the back of my shoulder and escorted me to his office. I looked back over my shoulder at Viviana and Savio arguing.
“Come have a seat.”
“Thank you.”
“I know you’re probably confused and have a lot of questions.”
“Is it obvious?”
“Let me try to explain.”
“Please.”
“Savio is the don of the family, and he doesn’t like that I’m doing an interview and letting them write the story of my life.”
“I got a hint of that the first day.”
“In our family, we have arranged marriages; my wife and I were one.”
“You weren’t scared?”
“Never, she’s been my best friend for many years. Savio is the oldest and once I agreed to let him take over, I had to make a deal with some associates.”
“The other families.”
“Yes, and Viviana is the daughter of one of them.”
“So, why doesn’t he marry her?”
“He’s against marriage in general. He’s always been the type of never wanting to do things that are expected of him.”
“Rule breaker.”
“He’s hardheaded but smart. What he’s done for the family has brought us into a new way of doing things when it comes to our legit business.”
“What about the mafia business?”
“He’s called the beast for a reason.”
“The beast.”
“Renato kills for fun, but Savio kills with a plan.”
“Oh.”
“You witnessing a murder put you in the line of every boss and family in the business.”
“So, I’m a target?”
“Yes, not just for Savio, but other people as well.”
“Can’t you do something to stop them?”
“I have some power, but not much.” He chuckled.
“Mr. Calabresi, I can’t marry your son.”
“Normally, I would agree. My son is a little impulsive on his decisions.” My brows furrowed.
“Can I make a call?”
“Sure.”
“Just like that. What if I call the police?”
“You can call the police, but they won’t do anything.”
He stood, and I grabbed the phone to call my parents.
“Stanton,” Dad answered.
“Dad.”
“McKayla…” he whispered.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
“Where have you been? Your boss has called and told us you just disappeared.”
“Ummm… I need to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong? Are you in danger?”
“I…I…”
“Tell him you’re getting married,” Savio growled behind me.
“Who is that? And what is he talking about?”
“I’m fine.”
“So where have you been?”
I glanced up at Savio and squirmed in my seat.
“Answer him,” Savio responded.
“I was kidnapped by the mob boss Savio Calabresi,” I answered, staring right at Savio.
“What!” Dad shouted.
Savio laughed and took the phone out of my hand.
“Mr. Stanton.”
“Who the hell is this and where is my daughter?”
“McKayla and I are getting married. She’s been secretly dating me and was afraid to let you know.”
My entire body felt hot, and I tried to reach for the phone, but Savio turned his back toward me.
“I want to speak to my daughter right now.”
“She’s a little preoccupied, but I’ll have her call you later,” Savio replied and ended the call.
“What is your problem?”
“You.” Savio picked me up, placed me on top of his father’s desk, and stood between my legs.
“Your girlfriend is right outside the door; I suggest you move.”
“Are you jealous, McKayla?” he questioned, and I scoffed.
“I despise you, everything you’re about.” I tried to push him away, and he grabbed my wrists, placed them down on the desk, and closed the space between us. Our lips almost touched.
“Either you move, or I’m going to kick you again in your balls.”
“Try it again and see what happens to you.”
“You don’t scare me.”
“Some people might find this innocence cute, but I’m getting exasperated at the belief I need you to be scared of me.”
“Savio, we’re not done talking,” Viviana interrupted, pushing the office door open. I tried to move out of Savio’s hold, but he wouldn’t allow it.
“Go home, Viviana,” Savio said, not removing his eyes from me.
“Who is she?” Viviana asked.
“My wife,” Savio answered, and my eyes rose in shock.
“What about us? My father is going to hear about this.” Viviana charged into the room.
“Tell Gennaro he’ll get a payment,” Savio said.
“Viviana, right?” I asked.
“McKayla,” Savio grumbled, reaching up and grasping my chin.
I moved my head out of his hold.
“Hi, I’m McKayla. Savio—”
Before I could get the comment out, he placed his hand on the back of my head and pressed his lips to mine. I hated myself for feeling something through this kiss. I tried to hold off from moaning, but his tongue sucked me in even more.
“Savio!” Viviana screamed, waking me from a trance. I pushed Savio away and jumped off the desk.
“McKayla.”
“No, take care of your girlfriend.”
I tried to get out of the office, but he picked me up and tossed me over his shoulder again. He stalked out of the office with Viviana behind his back in shock.
“Where are you taking me?” I questioned.
“Shut up.”
He walked over to the elevator, pushed the button, and stepped in to keep Viviana out. He placed me on my feet, grabbed both sides of my face, and captured my lips again.
“Savio,” I moaned, wrapped my arms around his neck, and fell into his chest.
The elevator stopped and he pulled back, peering into my eyes.
“Go freshen up for dinner,” he said.
“Huh.”
“We’re staying for dinner.”
“Savio, we need to talk about what happened.”
“We will later.”
He walked out first and pointed to the bathroom at the end of the hall.
A week later, I was still at Savio’s penthouse, not at the office like I wanted, but at least he allowed me to continue to work with his father. I was exhausted from going back and forth, and when Rory tried to get in touch, that made it even worse. Savio acted like he was cool and calm, but the minute a guy tried to talk to me or come near me, he was all possessive and back to the asshole I hated.
“So, you have five sons: Savio, Renato, Sante, EJ, and Vincenzo,” I repeated to Mr. Calabresi.
Savio’s father came over to have lunch with me and go over more questions for the book. I decided to keep some of the extra-sensitive information out of the book out of respect to certain people like his mother. He grew up in Sicily as a young boy and was expected to do what his legacy established for him as a mob boss. At first, he fought against being in the lifestyle and wanted to be an artist. He showed me some of the artwork he made for his wife, and I asked him if he still painted, but he said no.
“Mr. Calabresi, you’re turning sixty-five, correct?”
He smoked on the cigar that he snuck out of the house. It was cute the way Adelina wasn’t scared of him like everybody else in the world. If you read the papers and searched on the internet, Elio Calabresi was the devil reincarnated. I could answer that and say he’d been replaced by his son Savio.
“I still look thirty-five though.” He laughed, and I chuckled.
“I’ve seen Renato and Sante. What about Vincenzo and Elio? Are they in the family business?”
Right when he was getting ready to answer, he looked up, and I turned to the patio door. Savio came out with Enzo behind him. I grabbed my smoothie off the table and took a sip.
“Son, how are you today?” Savio bent down and hugged his father.
“Good, finished taking care of some things.”
He never took his eyes off me as he answered his father. Even though we lived together, we barely crossed each other’s path since the day of the kiss at his parents’ house. Based on my conversations with his father, Savio had always been cold and distant, even when he was younger. He explained that Viviana had been around the family for years, but Savio never took her seriously. Me being brought in caused friction within the Five Families. Gennaro called for a meeting this month, and Savio was sending Sante in his place.
“You speak with Elio?” his father asked.
“Yeah, he told me about going to New York.”
“Will that be a problem?”
He was hesitant in answering, and I didn’t understand why, so I closed my book and stood.
“Leaving so soon?” Mr. Calabresi asked.
“Just to grab a refill from the kitchen,” I said. Picking up the smoothie and turning toward the patio door, I stepped in and saw Marilyn wrap up the plate of sandwiches.
“You’re done for the day?” I said, opened the fridge and grabbed the container that held my premade smoothie. When I stopped fighting Savio on living here, I wanted some of my favorite foods and juicing items stocked up. He ate healthy, but he was more of a coffee drinker; I liked tea and juice in the morning.
“Yes, Miss. Stanton.”
“Please, call me McKayla.”
“McKayla.”
“Great, do you have a family and kids to get back to?”
“Marilyn, can you excuse me and McKayla for a second?” Savio walked in the kitchen.
I rolled my eyes, poured the rest of my drink, and took a sip, pushing my hair to the side.
“Of course, Mr. Calabresi.”
Marilyn walked out of the room, and Enzo stood at the door on watch. We’d gotten along a little better since my two attempts of trying to escape. Savio led against the door entrance and scanned me up and down.
“How was your meeting?”
“It was long as usual.”
“Who was it with?”
He smirked at my question.
“I don’t care, just asking.”
I pushed off the counter and started to walk past him, but he stuck his hand out and blocked me from leaving. He then grabbed the drink out of my hand and took a sip.
“This is gross.”
“It’s healthy.”
“To whom?”
“It’s a green kale smoothie.”
“It’s disgusting.”
“What do you want, Savio? I haven’t tried to escape, and I’ve played nice.”
“We need to discuss marriage.”
I rolled my eyes and ignored him for the rest of the day.
The next day.
Back in my apartment, my normal routine was eating my breakfast, drinking my tea or a smoothie, then turning on yoga videos, and setting my intentions for the day before I started working on a story. Like right now, I was sitting in the living room of Savio’s condo, bent over and counting to ten before letting my mind and body connect to let go of the stress that had come into my life recently. I cracked my neck, took in slow breaths, and laced my hands forward.
“You ever do yoga?”
Marilyn came in from the kitchen and refilled my strawberry smoothie that sat on the table. I stood up straight and crossed my feet in front of the other.
“A few years ago, but not lately.”
“You’re never too old to do yoga.”
“I’ll add that to my list of things I need to do before I die.”
I took a sip of the smoothie. The door slammed, and our heads whipped in that direction. I rolled my eyes at him walking in nonchalantly.
“Morning, Savio, would you like some breakfast?”
I put the smoothie back and put my back to him as he talked with Marilyn.
“What are you doing?” He walked in front of the TV.
“What does it look like?” I stretched my arm out and aligned it with my leg.
His head dipped low.
“Can you move? I’m trying to watch something.”
“My men told me you tried to contact someone in Italy about my father.”
“It was research.”
Savio stepped around the table on my left, bent down, and pressed his hand on my lower back.
“Do you like fucking with me?”
My breath hitched when his hand moved around to my stomach.
“I hear taking slow breaths helps with yoga.”
“I’m not fucking with you.”
“Then why are you making calls to people about my family?”
“Sorry. I thought that since I’m a journalist, it’s a part of the role.”
I turned my head toward him.
He stood up, with his upper lip turned up in a smile.
“Are you coming back from work?” I grabbed the towel and wiped the sweat off my face.
“None of your business.”
“I didn’t get much out of the research in Italy.”
“Make this the last time I have to deal with you overstepping.”
I dropped the towel on the floor and continued with my stretches.
“Marilyn, can you make a salad for lunch today!” I called out, and she nodded.
“So, you’re ignoring me.”
“I refuse to let you tell me how to do my job.”
“If your job compromises me, then yes, I will.”
“You might control your family and friends, but not me.”
Marilyn brought a cup of coffee to him. He sat in the chair, watching me and drinking his coffee.
“What are you doing?”
“Same as you, my job.”
He pulled out his phone and made a call on speaker.
“Vincenzo,” he answered.
“Did you get the waterfront pricing?”
I reached for the remote and turned up the volume.
“Bastard,” I mumbled.
Savio grabbed the remote and turned the volume down.
“It was around a hundred thousand,” Vincenzo informed him.
“Asshole, I'm trying to work out.”
“Not my problem.” He winked at me.