When he was done, Rome said, “Thank you,” in a soft voice before getting up and walking to the door. Rome took his suit jacket and shoulder holster from the hook then opened the door. He stopped in the doorway and turned to Juno.
“You say a word about this to anyone—”
Juno waved him off. “I’m not an idiot.”
As he watched Rome walk out the door, he thought to himself that maybe he really was an idiot, because the only thing he wanted right then was for Rome to turn around and come back.
Chapter Three
Juno
WHEN HE walked into work the next day, Scar and Bones were already there and when Scar saw him, a teasing smile found her lips for a second before she hid it. He made his way to them, preparing himself for whatever Scar was no doubt gonna throw his way.
“You’re alive,” Scar mock-gasped, a hand on her chest. “I don’t believe it.”
Juno flipped her off.
“I take it you didn’t offer to blow him, then?”
Juno shook his head. It wasn’t technically a lie. He hadn’t asked to suck Rome’s cock.
“Blow who?” Bones asked.
“The mafia guy you tattoo,” Scar told him.
Bones jerked his head toward Juno. “Don’t even fucking think about it.”
Juno shrugged. “I didn’t offer to blow him, all right? Did I want to? Fuck, yeah. Did I offer? No. I’m not suicidal.”
Well. Only a little. Or a lot, where Rome was concerned.
Bones snorted, then said, “You’re a little suicidal.”
“Aren’t we all?” Stiletto said from behind Juno.
Juno and Scar chuckled while Bones rolled his eyes. Stiletto walked up next to Juno, her gaze on Bones as she said, “Oh, come on. We wouldn’t be in an MC if we weren’t.”
“I prefer the term ‘adrenaline junkie,’” Bones mumbled.
“That why you’re with Em?” Scar asked with a raised brow.
Bones flipped her off but didn’t answer her, which Juno figured was answer enough in itself.
“How is your girl doing?” Stiletto asked. “Her and Auggie have been so busy lately I’ve barely seen any of them.”
“Yeah. They’re working hard on their newest products. Please don’t ask me about it because I don’t understand a word those two say when they talk about it.”
Emery had quit her job at the Senate to move home and be with Bones, but she and Auggie had been working on a security system before she’d moved to DC and now, they were back at it. Well, they’d been back at it for over seven months, their new company Save ‘n’ IT turning out to be a big success. Not surprising really. Those two were geniuses.
“They gonna add bodyguards, or what?” Juno asked Bones.
“Probably,” Bones said while nodding. “It would make sense to move the company in that direction.”
Scar looked like she was about to say something but was cut off by Stiletto saying, “All right, enough chitchat. Let’s get working.”
Juno gave Stiletto a sloppy salute. “Yes, sir.”
Stiletto narrowed her eyes at him, so he hurried away, knowing better than to piss her off for real. He sat down behind one of the desks and pulled out a design that needed some tweaking before he turned it into a stencil for his first client. It was gonna be a long day but he was looking forward to it. Always did.
Rome
He walked up the pathway, watching everything around him as he neared the house. When he reached the front door, he lifted the doormat, unsurprised to find a key there. Antonio wasn’t the smartest guy as it were. For someone who worked for the Cosa Nostra, you would at least expect them to be smart enough not to try and fuck over someone as dangerous as Marco Serrano.
Cosimo, like Antonio, had been an associate. A civilian working for the Mafia. Cosimo had been the accountant Marco used for local whitewashing while Antonio was a street dealer. The money wasn’t adding up compared to sale of products and Cosimo should’ve been the first to notice, except he’d clearly been in on it along with Antonio. But there was no way the two had come up with that scheme on their own. Someone had put them up to it. He was sure of that.
Antonio wasn’t home yet, but Rome knew he would be soon. He sat down on the couch where he had a nice view of Antonio’s driveway. It only took a few minutes before Antonio’s brand-new Mercedes rolled up. Guess he knew what the price of Antonio’s loyalty was.
Rome stood and walked to stand in the opposite doorway to the one Antonio would enter through and waited for Antonio to come inside. He heard the front door open, then footsteps heading into the living room. When the light flickered on, Rome stepped out from his hiding spot, gun raised.
Antonio froze when he saw Rome, the look on his face almost comical. But only almost because Rome didn’t find any of it fucking funny.
“What the fuck made you think it was a good idea to fuck over Serrano? Did you really think you’d get away with it?”
“No, I didn’t do… I didn’t,” Antonio blabbered.
Rome motioned for Antonio to get on his knees. Once he was there, Rome threw zip ties on the floor in front of him.
“Put them on.”
Once they were around Antonio’s wrists, Rome holstered his gun and pulled Antonio to his feet. He checked the zip ties to make sure they were tight enough before turning the man and pushing him toward the front door.
“We’re gonna go for a little drive,” Rome said.
“No. Please, no.”
Antonio didn’t fight him as he dragged the man outside, he just whimpered and begged for his life the whole way. The streetlamp by Rome’s car was
