“Thank you again, but don’t lose sleep waiting up for my call.” Cain stood and offered her hand again.
Seeing that Cain was almost done, Emma started back, only to be stopped by Juan Luis when he stood in her way. He was dressed in black, which made his palms look stark white when he held them up.
“A moment of your time, Emma.”
With Lou so close to her, Emma felt safe enough to not call for Cain. “What can I do for you?”
He laughed and edged closer, and Lou stepped closer too. “I was watching you earlier, and maybe it’s me who should be asking you that.”
Emma cocked her head to the side and locked eyes with Cain for a second before directing her attention back to Juan. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You look like a woman who enjoys certain appetites.” Juan stayed put when Lou looked mad enough to kill. “What I can’t believe is all that hunger can be satisfied by another woman.”
“Not that anything about my life is any of your business, but no part of it lacks anything. Even if it did, I’m sure you’re the last person I’d call.” She ran her eyes from his feet to the top of his head, thinking that what she saw could define the word “lacking.”
“And just for your well-being, might I suggest you never offer me anything at all or speak to me in this manner. Sometimes Cain can be dangerous to your health when she breaks that short leash she keeps her temper on. This might be one time I release it myself.”
She rolled her hips as she walked away, and he laughed again. “This isn’t over, Emma, and nothing about another woman scares me.”
Emma barely heard the comment over the music, and before she got too far away, said, “One more thing. My name, it’s Mrs. Casey. Try and remember that as well.”
This time Lou laughed.
Chapter Thirty
“You’re becoming a fucking disgrace. You know that, right?” Gino slammed the front door, dragging Eris in from the car after he’d collected her from the bar she’d insisted the driver take her to after she left the restaurant. Gino was furious and had screamed at her all the way home. She’d twisted an ankle on the way in but was in no pain since she was so high.
Eris kept walking to their bedroom, not wanting to listen to his ranting any longer. She’d heard more than enough of it in the car, and her neck was starting to tense up from the headache she felt coming on. That wasn’t going to stop him, though, since she could hear the click of his heels on the tile floor right behind her.
“Don’t walk away from me. I’m not finished talking to you.” She lost her balance when he grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “I’m sick of you embarrassing me in front of my father.”
“Then stop insisting I go with you whenever you have to meet with him. I hate sitting there watching that fat pig stuff food in his mouth like—” A hard slap stopped the rest of the insult from pouring out of her mouth. Blood readily replaced the words, and Eris reeled. Their relationship had started to crumble, but Gino had never resorted to violence before.
She peered up at him with a mixture of disbelief and pure hatred. “Do you feel like a man now, you fat son of a bitch?” Her hand came away from her face extremely bloody, but the cocaine in her system masked the pain. “Get the fuck away from me!” she screamed when Gino tried to help her up.
The baby started crying after Eris’s voice rose, and she heard the nanny go in to check on him. Eris had been hooked on Gino’s product when they had met—nothing extreme, just enough to make her days more enjoyable. After they’d gotten serious about one another and decided to marry, she’d cleaned up and given up her little friend, as she called the white powder.
Because she was going to have children, she had made her decision easily. Kids had enough to deal with without being born sick because of her. Now, though, she couldn’t have cared less about herself or her husband, and instead of maternal feelings for her son she had only guilt.
Everything had changed after she’d had Little Gino and gotten pregnant again right away. She’d done everything right and fought off her demons without giving in to the craving for drugs, but she’d lost the second baby anyway. Only the small vials of white powder gave her solace after that nightmare.
“Clean yourself up before that woman you hired to take care of my son thinks you’re a bigger loser than I do. There isn’t any reason for you not to be taking care of him.” He batted her hands away and pulled her to her feet. “Little Gino doesn’t even know you. He fucking thinks that idiot you hired is his mother, but maybe that’s a good thing.”
“You’re right, but what’d be even better is if he didn’t know either one of us. Then he might have a fighting chance.”
This time he walked out and left her on the floor after he’d hit her again, only this time he’d used a closed fist.
Gino started the car and waved off the men standing outside ready to follow him. He didn’t need an entourage outside his mistress’s condo all night. He was firming up thoughts of how to rid himself of Eris when his car phone rang.
“Yeah?”
“Did Papa call you?” Stephano asked.
“I had dinner with him and haven’t heard from him since.” The streets were quiet and free of traffic, so Gino picked up speed. “Why?”
“I got a call from someone in Luis’s organization about problems in Biloxi. Something about thinking we don’t have enough cash flow for both operations.”
“That’s your problem, brother.”
