Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess (12 page)

Angelo sighed. “Of course, you will be welcome, Anastacia. Carterina needs you, and we all love her, regardless of what you may think.”

Anastacia stared expressionlessly for a moment, and then her countenance softened. “I know, Angelo,” Anastacia said with a sigh. “I know you love her. I know you all do. I’m just …” She ran her hands through her hair again and frowned. “She’s all I have. I …” She seemed to be at a loss for words, or just didn’t want to say what she was thinking. Angelo wasn’t sure. He just stood across the room, looking into her eyes and hoping that eventually they would warm. Wishing that she would show him what she was feeling.

He got his wish.

Sadness flashed through her eyes. If he hadn’t been looking so closely, he would have missed it. Angelo wanted to run across the room and pull her into his arms. He wanted to hold her and kiss her pain away, but he knew he couldn’t. There had been only a few times when Anastacia had allowed herself to be vulnerable around him, plus it had been fourteen years since they had last spoken to one another. He hated the fact that he still loved her. He knew his love for her was still as strong as the day he first confessed it to her, but he didn’t know if she still felt the same. He doubted it. Anastacia could command her heart to become ice cold on demand. But he still wanted to comfort her. Even if a part of him hated her, he was still grateful for her presence. “Ana, you’re right. I fucked up. I should have listened to you about Mitchell. I was blind, and I made a mistake that almost cost us everything. You saved them,
Bella
. And for that, I am forever in your debt,” he said genuinely. Anastacia frowned, but never broke eye contact. She searched his eyes for the truth in his words. Angelo knew it was stupid, but he couldn’t stop himself. He dropped the documents in his hand and began to walk slowly across the living room toward her.

Anastacia tensed and seemed to lose composure, but she didn’t move from where she stood. She shook her head back and forth and held up her hand, signaling him to stop. “Stop, Angelo,” she said softly, a bit of a plea in her voice. “This works better if you stay over there,” she said, still trying to get him to halt. “I’m still upset, Angelo. You won’t change that. So just stop.” Angelo didn’t stop. He continued walking until he stood directly in front of her, her hand firmly against his chest. They stood for a moment, unable to do anything but stare into each other’s eyes. Then Angelo grasped the hand she had placed against his chest. Anastacia frowned and shook her head again. “Angelo,” she whispered.

He lifted her hand to his lips and placed a kiss on her soft skin, and then another, and then another. Anastacia never took her eyes from his as he ran a finger through her long silky hair. “You had a baby, Ana.” He continued running his fingers through her hair, knowing it’d softened her eventually. “You had a smart, funny, sweet, witty, stubborn, spoiled, delightful, pint-sized you,” Angelo said with a smile and with admiration in his eyes. He couldn’t help it— it was easier to hate Anastacia when she wasn’t standing in the same room with him. Angelo saw that what he had said worked.

Warmth and love filled Anastacia’s eyes at the mention of her Carterina. She snatched her hand from Angelo’s and tried to punch him in the chest. Angelo caught her fist and chuckled. “Not fair, Salerno,” she said. “Using my baby to keep me from beating your ass,”— she motioned to Alessandro—”and your brother’s, too.” She turned to look at Alessandro and smirked. “Well, who knows, I might still do that,” she said. Alessandro snorted, and Anastacia rolled her eyes, deeming him unworthy of her time. As she was turning back to Angelo, her eyes locked with Cesare’s. She winked. He shifted in his seat. A devilish smile appeared on her face, and she looked up at Angelo. “Come.” She motioned toward the entrance of the living room. “I’m finished yelling. Now we have to talk. Let them sleep, Angelo, and don’t argue with me about it.” She cleared her throat. “This is important. I have waited long enough to talk to you. I’ll be waiting in the kitchen.” She turned and exited the living room.

After Anastacia had left the room, Angelo released a long breath. “Fuck,” he groaned. He didn’t want to look at the faces of the assholes behind him, so he decided to join Anastacia in the kitchen. “Goodnight,” he said, not even turning as he walked out. He heard Bruno’s chuckle and rolled his eyes as he continued to the kitchen.

He knew his stupid ass brother was right. Anastacia still had a tight grip on his balls. But Angelo was smart enough to know that Anastacia being close and yet so far away was the best thing for him. It was a fact then, and it still remained a fact now. Anastacia Stone was his guardian angel— a warrior— and Angelo had lost count of the numerous times Anastacia had saved his ass. Now she’d added saving his son and future daughter-in-law to the list.

***

“I’m feeling a little unappreciated, Angelo,” Anastacia said with a smile in her eyes. She sat across from Angelo, sipping on a cup of coffee and loving the way the hot liquid felt sliding down her throat.

Angelo chuckled and took another sip of his coffee. His voice sounded deeper to Anastacia, and he had strands of gray throughout his gorgeous, silky black hair. He was just as handsome as Anastacia had remembered— perfect and tall with a gorgeous, muscular body. Anastacia hated that she had never been able to truly let go of Angelo Salerno— he had some kind of hold on her that she just hadn’t been able to shake to this day. Staying away from him for the last fourteen years had been hard at first, but doable. She’d kept herself busy— and Carterina had been her number one priority anyway— so there had been times when she didn’t even think about him. And then Robert made her forget about him completely. Well, almost completely. Okay, never completely— and that pissed her off…

“I do appreciate you, Ana. You know that,” he said, flashing a smile.

If Anastacia had been the type of woman that swooned, she would have. But she wasn’t about to do that shit. She settled for a wink.

“You do, but you still hate me,” she said, knowing it was bullshit. He didn’t hate her. He wanted to, but he couldn’t. He and Cesare liked to play the victims, which was okay with Anastacia. She knew she was a bitch. She wondered if he’d forgive her for the last fourteen years if she let him spank her. She knew he’d wanted to ever since she brought it up in the living room. Anastacia bit back a smile. This was no time to be evil. She needed to focus, not play— even though she wanted to.

Angelo rolled his sexy gray eyes. “Doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate you, Ana. You saved the kids’ lives. Now they’ll live to wed, have children, be happy.” He looked into her eyes. “That’s all thanks to you,
Bella
. I know they are both grateful.”

Anastacia nodded. “I know they are, but I wish they would stop thanking me,” she said with a frown. “I couldn’t get Carterina to stop saying thank you the entire time we spoke today. She doesn’t understand that it’s my job to protect her. I’m her mother, for Christ’s sake. I’ve spent her entire life— up until five years ago— protecting her.” Anastacia didn’t like Carterina feeling as if she owed her something. She just wanted her daughter’s love, just wanted to be her mother, but she knew that would take time. She would just have to do something she really hated doing— be patient. But she could do it, she would do anything for her child, absolutely anything. The hours they had spent talking and getting to know each other were precious to Anastacia. Today had been the best day of her entire life. Carterina, her sweet Carterina, had cried in her arms. They’d talked for hours until she had complained of a headache and had fallen asleep cuddled up next to her. Her poor baby had told her she hadn’t slept the night before. Anastacia was glad that she could help Carterina get some rest. It almost made her forget the idiots out there who wanted to hurt her baby. She knew she could handle the majority of them, especially since Carterina could scare some off herself, but there was one— one motherfucker— hell bent on taking her baby, and Anastacia had no idea where he was.

God, she missed Robert. She wished he was still alive for many, many reasons, the most important being she couldn’t do this shit alone. She and Robert had been partners in this. Their life had been
Operation: Protect Our Baby from That Monster
.

Anastacia sighed. It was so much easier to protect her when it wasn’t just her trying to do it alone. There was always Angelo, but she hated involving him in this shit. She had to, though. She needed him, and she knew how much he loved Carterina. Now all she had to do was tell him.

“Well, this is a first.”

Anastacia looked up from the table where she had been staring, lost in thought. Angelo watched her with a curious smile on his face. Anastacia frowned. “What?” she asked.

Angelo’s eye brow raised. “You know she does that, too, don’t you?” he asked, grinning.

Anastacia let out an exasperated sigh, “What the hell are you talking about, Angelo?” She had no idea.

Angelo chuckled. “Your daughter. She does what you did just now. I don’t know where you two go, but you just go, and every single emotion you feel when you’re in your little world flashes through those eyes. If you don’t look close enough, you’ll miss it. Good thing I was looking.”

Anastacia sat back in her seat and crossed her arms. “And what exactly did you see, Salerno?”

“Don’t do that.”

“Do what?”

“Try and hide from me now. You do that, and I’ll go to bed. I won’t speak to you. I can play your ‘not talking’ game, too.” He sat back, crossed his arms over his chest, and shrugged.

Anastacia rolled her eyes and sighed. Now she remembered how annoying it had been to be in a relationship with this man. He had constantly asked her why she was always so guarded emotionally, wanting her to open up to him. It was exhausting being in a relationship with someone who wanted you to … feel. Anastacia had put up with it because she loved him, and that’s the same reason she was putting up with it now. “I’m not hiding, Angelo. I’m just … I’m just trying to figure out how to tell you something.”

“Mm-hmm,” He nodded his head. “Where have you been the last fourteen years, Anastacia?” he asked, gazing into her eyes.

Anastacia shrugged. “Everywhere … nowhere,” she replied.

Angelo chuckled. “That’s what Carter said, when I asked her where she’d been the last five years.” He ran his hand down his face. “Jesus Christ she’s just like you.”

Anastacia shrugged again. “She’s my daughter.”

“What did you do when you found out what had happened to Robert?”

“I came to America … to retrieve Robert and Carterina’s bodies,” she said softly.

Angelo sat up. “You took Spook’s body? I thought the papers said there were six bodies in the house …”

Anastacia nodded. “There were. The bodies of the four hit men that Robert and my baby girl killed, Christina’s body— but the body of the black man they found was not Robert’s.”

Angelo sighed sadly. “So he did get a proper burial? Did you take his body and replace it with someone else’s? I have to say, I don’t agree with your method— killing someone for no reason— but I guess it was—”

“Angelo, I didn’t replace Robert’s body— and it wasn’t me that took him,” Anastacia said softly. She looked in his eyes to gauge his reaction.

Angelo sat silent for a moment. “Okay, so … Wait, what?” he asked with furrowed brows. “Are you saying— ?”

“That someone either took Robert’s body and replaced it with another, or he got up and walked out of there on his own, replacing his body before he left.” Anastacia felt a little uneasy about both possibilities, but she knew one had to be true. “I believe it’s the first possibility. Robert would never be alive and not have contacted our daughter.”

“Who could have gotten there quickly enough to take Robert’s body?” Angelo asked.

Anastacia could see the shock on his face. She thought about lying, but why the hell would she do that when she needed his help? “The only person watching Robert closer than I was that night— he must have been in the States— that’s the only explanation I can come up with. I just thank God Carterina got away before he showed up,” she muttered, talking to herself.

“Who was watching Robert, Ana? You say a man was watching him, but you do not say name,” he said. His accent was getting thicker, Anastacia noted. He was feeling as uneasy as she was.

Anastacia swallowed and shook her head. They were getting too far ahead. She had too much to tell him for it to be going this fast. “Too fast, Angelo. Slow down … I need to get everything in order if I’m going to tell you all you need to know,” she said, beginning to get frustrated with herself. She knew he could tell because he put the topic of their conversation in reverse.

With a nod of understanding, he asked. “Where were you when you found out about Robert and Carterina?”

“I was in Italy.”

“With Luchini?” he asked, obvious jealousy in his tone.

Anastacia ignored it. “Was Paolo there? Yes. Was I with him? No.” Anastacia never broke eye contact with him.

“Bullshit!” he snapped. Anastacia had known he would. He hated Paolo. “Are you still with him Anastacia?”

“Why the hell should I tell you?” she asked coolly.

“Are you?” he said, his teeth clenched.

“If by ‘with him’, you mean fucking him, then no. As I’ve told you many times before, I have never been intimate with Paolo, and I never will be,” she said, maintaining her calm.

“Well, when exactly did you start fucking Spook Steele?”

Anastacia laughed, not because it was funny, but because she knew that it had been coming. She should tell him it was none of his damn business, but she had something better in mind. She shrugged her shoulders and settled back in her seat. “First of all, his name is Robert, you know that, so call him that. Second, my daughter was conceived while you were in America, at home, with your
wife
,” she spat.

Angelo shook his head back and forth. “Not fair, Anastacia.”

Anastacia glared at him. “It is fair, Angelo. I was free to do whatever the fuck I wanted to, so kiss my ass.”

Angelo returned her glare. “And then you come back to me? After you have his baby?”