Sold to the Capo-Chapter 115: A MEETING

ADRIANA’S POV

A shiver went down my spine at his words and I looked at the door long after he had gone.

"You okay?" Vincenzo’s reassuring voice came through, breaking through the haze.

I shrugged, unsure of what to say. "He took that way better than I expected" I pointed out.

"You’d be surprised by his reaction when we were in private" Vincenzo scoffed. "Anyways, he doesn’t matter much. He’s just helping in the plan anyways, I’m the one taking the brunt of it"

Something suddenly occured to me. "You told the other families, yeah?"

The hesitation told me everything I needed to know.

"You didn’t?!" I asked, my tone surprised and filled with shock.

He shrugged like it was nothing major and he placed his hands on my shoulder. "Do you think I’d tell them that a ledger that could cause the downfall of so many families is now in the enemies hands?" He asked, his brow arched.

Uh...isn’t that the main point?

"Well yeah, we need more hands anyways, right?" I asked, watching how a small smile curved his lips.

"Oh, Adriana..." He let out a deep chuckle that made me shiver in all the right places.

I loved him calling me Tesoro but hearing him calling me by my name? It was a whole different world.

He gently led me to the couch, pulling me to sit with him while he stared at me, making sure I was comfortable before he smiled softly at me. "You’re really pretty..." He whispered, leaning forward to gently push a stray strand of hair behind my ears, his touch featherlight and lingering on my cheek in a tender gesture.

A smile threatened to curl my lips but I held back, refusing to go astray from what we were discussing earlier. "Do you really want to talk about that right now or are you going to tell me why the other families are still oblivious to this?" I asked, my tone lacking any form of bite.

He fell forward, his face buried in my neck and his hands gently wrapping around my waist as he groaned into my neck. "I’d rather do both, I’m great at multitasking anyways" He whispered, giving a small bite to my neck, the action making me gasp as it was totally unexpected.

"You sure?" I rasped, unable to find my voice when he started kissing my neck slowly, his hands wrapped around my waist respectfully, not touching me anywhere inappropriate. Just there.

Like him.

Just there.

Comforting. Warm. Nice.

He pulled away from my neck to look me in the eye, his gaze dark yet so pleading. "We still have a few hours till sunrise..." he reminded, his gaze softening. "The question is can you multitask?" He asked, his tone suggestive.

I stared long at him, my heart pounding wildly in my ribcage. "Yeah, I’m pretty sure I can multitask" I whispered finally.

He let out a groan and then his hands slid under my shirt, fingers tracing featherlight patterns against my skin as he pressed his lips onto mine. His kisses were slow, deliberate, teasing. Each brush of his lips against mine made my breath hitch, made my heart race.

I pulled back just enough to whisper, "You said you could multitask, remember?"

He groaned, his forehead resting against mine as his grip on my waist tightened. "You’re really not gonna let this go, huh?"

I smirked. "Nope."

He sighed dramatically, lifting me effortlessly into his arms. "Fine, Tesoro. If you insist."

I wrapped my arms around his neck as he carried me upstairs, his lips ghosting over my jaw, my neck, my collarbone between words.

"If the other families find out—" He kissed slightly under my jaw "—that we have a ledger and the ledger is gone—" another kiss, this time lingering just above my pulse "—they’ll go into full panic mode."

"Panic mode?" I echoed breathlessly as he kicked the bedroom door open.

He laid me down on the bed, hovering over me, his weight pressed just enough to make me feel caged in without actually trapping me. "They won’t work together, Adriana. They’ll start blaming each other, fighting. They’ll want control so they can use it against one another. It won’t end well"

His lips brushed against mine again, stealing whatever question I was about to ask next.

I gasped as his hands skimmed under my shirt, pushing it higher. "Vincenzo—"

Another kiss.

I huffed. "Will you—"

He ignored me and instead kissed me again, shutting me up effectively.

I narrowed my eyes. "You’re doing this on purpose."

He chuckled, his breath warm against my skin as he unbuttoned my shirt. "Maybe. Too many distractions and I just want some time with my woman"

My shirt hit the floor.

I let out a shaky breath as his hands trailed down my waist, thumbs grazing my hips. "So you think they’ll turn on each other?"

He nodded, lips trailing down my throat. "It’s inevitable."

"And that’s...bad?"

His hands stilled for a moment before he pulled back just enough to look at me. "It’s catastrophic, Tesoro." His voice was lower now, more serious. "A war between the families means chaos. And in chaos, the Bratva wins."

His words should have sent a chill down my spine, but all I could focus on was the way he was looking at me—like I was something fragile yet untouchable. Like I was something he was afraid of losing.

I swallowed hard, suddenly overwhelmed. "Then what do we do?"

His lips curved into a small, knowing smile. "We do what we do best."

"Which is?"

He leaned down, lips brushing my ear. "We survive. Win. Like always. You have a foolproof plan that either fails or works, no in betweens"

And then he kissed me again, this time deeper, needier, pulling me completely under in the covers.

***********

When I woke up the next morning, the first thing I saw was him.

Vincenzo was lying beside me, propped up on one elbow, just staring.

I blinked the sleep out of my eyes. "Were you watching me sleep?"

He smirked. "Maybe."

I groaned, pulling the blanket over my head. "Creepy."

He chuckled, tugging the blanket down just enough to see my face. "I didn’t want to leave you."

My breath caught for a second, but I covered it up with a teasing smile. "So, what? You just sat here like a lovesick idiot all night?"

His smirk widened. "Who said I was sitting?"

Heat rushed to my cheeks as I shoved him. "You’re impossible."

He laughed, rolling out of bed. "Come downstairs. Breakfast is ready."

I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "You cooked?"

He was already heading for the door. "Try not to be too impressed."

And then, just as he was stepping out, he threw me a smirk over his shoulder. "Oh, and put some clothes on before you come down. I know it’s hard to resist me, but control yourself, Tesoro."

I grabbed the nearest pillow and hurled it at him. He dodged easily, his laughter echoing down the hall.

By the time I made it downstairs, dressed in something decent, the smell of freshly made breakfast filled the kitchen. Vincenzo was already sitting at the table, coffee in hand, looking way too satisfied with himself.

Before I could comment on it, the front doors burst open.

"Adriana!"

A familiar body crashed into me, arms wrapping around me in a tight hug.

"Valentina?" I gasped, barely managing to stay on my feet as she squeezed the life out of me.

"I missed you!" she said, pulling back just enough to look at me. "I just heard about your arrival this morning! Are you okay?!"

I hesitated, glancing at Vincenzo, who just shrugged as if to say this is your problem now.

"I’m perfectly fine"

"I fucking missed you..." She paused then looked over my shoulder at Vincenzo who was staring at her then she looked back at me. "You’re not just here to...stay right? You came for something?"

"Yeah actually, I’ll brief you later on, yeah?" I asked.

"You can do that whenever, there’s no imminent threat right now so take your time and take care of yourself. Your husband looks like he’s one step away from driving me out of the house if I don’t let you come for breakfast" She joked.

I softened, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "I’ll see you later."

She gave Vincenzo a pointed look before turning back to me. "I’m definitely coming back later"

With that, she left as quickly as she arrived.

I let out a breath, turning to Vincenzo. "That went well."

He snorted. "If by ’well’ you mean she was seconds away from dragging you out of here, then sure."

I rolled my eyes, taking a seat at the table. "Shut up and pass me the coffee."

He did, but not before smirking. "So demanding."

I stuck my tongue out at him before taking a sip. "So, what’s the plan for today?"

His smirk faded slightly, replaced by something more serious. "I have a meeting with the other families this morning."

I frowned. "I thought you weren’t telling them?"

He sighed. "I am not. They just need a few reassurances and they want to make sure their empires are safe and all that shit."

I stared at him, heart sinking. "So it’s really that bad?"

His jaw tightened. "Yeah, Tesoro. It’s really that bad."

All of a sudden, I remembered that I was missing someone. "Where’s Henry?"