“You shouldn’t have come here again. You have to report to Luca first, especially before seeing Marcella.”
I chuckled. “I’m not one of Luca’s men. I can do whatever the fuck I want.” My eyes kept returning to Marcella. She squatted in front of the fence and talked to a Rottweiler that sat right before her. I wasn’t sure which made it harder to look away, the way her jeans accentuated her round ass or the soft expression on her face whenever she talked to the dog.
“Women like her don’t take bullshit from anyone and they deserve the best,” Growl rasped, following my gaze.
“You don’t have to tell me that she deserves better. Everyone in the Famiglia thinks that.”
“My wife deserved better when we first met, but I worked until I was worthy of her.”
“That’s my plan,” I said. “I’ll help her and the Famiglia.”
Growl regarded me with stoic calm. “You must report to Luca before coming here. If you want to be accepted, you have to follow the rules.”
“Funny you say that, considering that some people within the Famiglia don’t seem to follow the rules either since information about Earl is making the rounds.”
Growl’s expression didn’t change. If he was surprised by the news, he hid it well. Or maybe he just didn’t give a shit. He seemed like a man who only cared for his dogs and his wife that he kept mentioning.
“I’ll go back to Marcella now. Report to Luca if you want.” He didn’t stop me but his gaze followed me as I went over to Marcella. Growl’s watchful eyes made me want to scratch my skin. Marcella briefly looked up and seeing her on her knees in front of me gave me a flood of images I definitely didn’t need right now.
I got down on my haunches beside her. “Is that Satan?”
The dog had familiar scars and watched me with intense brown eyes.
“She has a new name,” Marcella mused. “I hated calling her Satan.”
“Dogs get used to their names.”
Marcella shrugged. “She likes her new name. I chose Santana for her because it sounds similar to her old name but makes sure everyone knows she’s a girl.”
I chuckled. Of course. I doubted the dog cared if her name was for a boy or girl. Still, I was amazed by Marcella’s care for the beast. She met my gaze. “Why are you watching me like that?”
I could tell she was slowly warming up to me again, but she was still pissed and maybe confused because of her brother.
“Because I missed you, your beautiful face and even the pissed look in your eyes, but most of all, your lips on mine.”
I gave her a teasing grin but she cocked an eyebrow, blowing me off without blinking an eye. Damn it. This girl could be an ice queen.
“I’m thinking about adopting her. But Dad would never allow me to bring a dog home. That’s out of the question.”
I glanced between Marcella and the Rottweiler. I’d grown up with these dogs, but I didn’t really have much experience handling them. “You really want a dog like that?”
“Growl knows how to socialize them. I can’t explain it but I feel a strange connection to her. She was locked in that cage too, and at first we both really didn’t like the other.”
“Sounds like our love story.”
Marcella tossed me an indignant look, but at least she didn’t deny the love story part. For a long time, we only looked at each other. “It’s going to be strange, being out in the world together…”
I nodded, because it was exactly what I’d been thinking. I motioned at Santana. “If you really want to adopt her, I could take her in once I have a place to live. You could come visit us or even move in.”
I startled at my own words. I couldn’t believe I’d suggested for us to live together.
Marcella stifled a smile but then she became thoughtful. “That sounds great, about you taking her in. I think we should wait with the moving in part and all, give my family time to get used to you and us, and us time to get used to us as well.” She paused. “We still have a long way to go. What happened… I worry it might affect a relationship. We don’t trust each other fully yet, and there are still so many obstacles to overcome.” She released a small breath, looking almost scared.
I cupped her face, leaning in. “I want to be with you, Marcella. I want nothing more. Fuck, I think about you every fucking second of the day. If you want to take things slow, then we’ll do that. No matter what lies ahead of us, we’ll handle it. Even your brother wanting to have me killed.”
Marcella took a deep breath. “I hope you’re wrong about him. Maybe your biker buddies lied to you to drive a wedge between us.”
“They don’t play around. If they had a problem with me, they would have handled it directly, probably with a bullet to the head. The people who have reason to get me killed through others are in your family, because they promised you to keep me alive.”
Marcella narrowed her eyes. “Now it’s not just Amo but my whole family wanting you dead?”
Growl appeared by our side. “Luca wants to talk to you in his office in the Sphere.”
I wasn’t surprised Growl had talked to Luca yet again and not about Luca wanting to see me either. I really didn’t want to talk to Luca yet, especially not before I knew if he was involved with the information leak as well. “Do you have a place for this dog yet?” I asked, pointing at Santana.
Growl shook his head. “Too many dogs with too many issues. They never lived outside a kennel. They aren’t broken in and aren’t used to a family life.”
“But she’s still young, only two, she can learn, right?”
“With patience and time, she’ll learn.”
“Then I want to adopt her once I have a place to live…”
Marcella patted the dog through the fence with a small smile. Her hair had shifted to the side and the horrible tattoo Earl had given her peeked through the material of her white shirt. Last night after talking to Gray, I’d very briefly felt an ounce of guilt over having killed my uncle, but now the feeling vanished into thin air and was replaced by the same disappointment and anger I’d felt before his death.
My eyes darted to her ear that had been covered by her hair until now. It was covered by a Band-Aid. Marcella caught my gaze and her expression tightened before she focused on the dog once more.
Growl interrupted the tense silence. “There’s a great furnished apartment in the building I lived before.”
“Famiglia owned, I suppose?”
“One of Luca’s.”
“I’ll see if I can find a place of my own.”
Marcella rose to her feet. “I’m coming with you to the meeting with my father.”
“Luca asked me to bring you home,” Growl said.
“I’m going to the office,” Marcella said firmly.
It was obvious that Growl didn’t like it. “I’ll come with you.”
“All right,” Marcella said graciously. “But I’m driving with Maddox.”