“Tell him the cop here wants in. Gavino knows, says it’s up to Arlo, but I haven’t been able to set a meet with him.”
Nodding, I lift my eyes to meet his. “He just had another baby. I don’t think he’s been working much,” I explain to him.
Massimo’s eyes narrow. “I know he did,” he hisses. “Work still needs to be handled. If it needs to be while I’m in here, then it needs to be when his wife shoots a kid from her pussy.”
“Massimo,” I gasp.
“What?”
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to say,” I murmur.
He tilts his head to the side, his eyes finding mine as his lips curl into a cruel-looking smile. “Not a nice man, dolcezza,” he snarls.
I want to stand, turn around and run from him, but I don’t. He would be angry if I did, and right now he’s angry enough, I don’t need to add to his ire.
“Yes, you are, Massimo. You’re just in a bad place right now. When you get home, things will be better. You’ll see,” I whisper.
He shakes his head with a snort as he pushes his chair back and stands to his feet. I watch as he leans over the table, placing his fists on the top as he looks down at me.
“I was never a nice man. I wanted to own you from the time you were seventeen and I did. I do. You’re my property, Pippa. The only thing that will change when I get home is I’ll be able to get my dick wet inside my property.”
Without saying another word, he turns from me and walks away. I stare at him slack-jawed. Before tears fall from my eyes, I clear my throat and rise to my feet. Turning my back to him, I decide that Massimo Ferrucci can go and fuck himself—forever.
* * *
Arlo’s brows rise as he looks across the table at me. “You want to what?”
“I want to work for you,” I say.
It’s been six months since I’ve seen Massimo. He hasn’t called, hasn’t asked me to come and see him… nothing. At first, I didn’t go because he pissed me off, the way he called me his property. He’s right, of course, but it still made me mad.
Then, I stopped going to see him because he hadn’t called me and I was stubborn, along with angry. Now, it’s because I’m fairly certain he doesn’t want me there. Why be around someone who doesn’t want you there?
If he wants me to be his whore, whatever, that’s fine, but I’m going to put money away for me, for my own security and the only way I know how to do that is by getting a job.
When Massimo comes back, if he doesn’t want a wife, he doesn’t have to have one. He can have the divorce he was so insistent on having four years ago.
“Rosana is off to college. I need to earn an income.”
“You do?”
Pressing my lips together, I look down at my lap, then lift my gaze back up to meet his. “Yeah, Arlo. I do.”
“Best I can do is waitress, but Massimo won’t allow it.”
“And you have to tell him?”
Arlo arches a brow, the look on his face saying everything. Frowning, I lean back and cross my arms over my chest. I shake my head a couple of times, my gaze focused on his, never wavering. It doesn’t matter, he is not budging.
“What can I do, then?”
“Fuck,” he grunts. “Women, all of you are being brought into business and it’s fucking dangerous,” he snaps.
“Are we?” I ask.
He stands as he shakes his head a couple of times. “First it was Mia, then Nicola, now you. Don’t even get me started on how many hours my wife works down at the shop,” he grumbles.
“Arlo?”
“Fine,” he snaps. “You can help me here in the office. Mia hates paperwork and I fucking refuse to touch the shit. You’ll have to sign an NDA though.”
Jerking my chin up, I look down my nose at him. “I’ll sign it.”
“You won’t like everything you see,” he warns.
“I think I know exactly what my sister did for you, so I’m sure I’ll be okay.”
He chuckles as he shakes his head a couple of times. “Okay, cara. The position is yours.”
“Without talking to Massimo?” I ask.
Arlo lets out a deep sigh. “I’ll handle him, yeah?”
“Okay.”
MASSIMO
“You did what?” I growl.
Arlo grins over at me. I asked him to get his ass here six months ago when my wife refused to pass along my message, but he didn’t and she hasn’t come back. I didn’t ask her to visit me, knowing my last words were pretty harsh.
She doesn’t need to keep coming to see me, spending an hour every two weeks with me is not a marriage. It would be easier if she just hated me, filed for divorce and moved far away. That would make all of this a hell of a lot easier.
“Gave Pippa a job.” He grins.
“Doing what exactly?” I ask, the warning tone clear in my voice.
He tilts his head to the side, his tongue peeking out along his bottom lip as he fucking taunts me. “Would it matter?”
Leaning forward, my eyes find his. He holds my gaze, never moving or shifting. He’s fucking serious with this shit. I grind my teeth together, waiting for his answer, wondering how much more time I’d get added to my sentence if I killed him right here and now.
“She’s my secretary, kind of. More like my file clerk,” he says with a chuckle.
“What the fuck?”
“She wanted a job. She thinks she needs a separate savings account in case you want a divorce when you get out.”
I snort. “Not fucking likely.”
Arlo nods his head, his eyes finding mine. “You’ve changed, she’s probably a bit unnerved by the
