Rocco did a quick visual sweep of the club, making sure the soldiers and associates he’d called in were still in place. Mike was out back, and he’d put two men on the front door. With both Mia and Gabrielle in the club, Rocco wanted more security, so he’d brought in another two guys to keep watch, and he marked them standing near the various exits in the club.
Satisfied with his security arrangements, he ordered a glass of bourbon and reached into his pocket for his cigarettes, realizing as he did, that he hadn’t had a smoke in days. Maybe he wasn’t addicted after all. Or maybe he’d lost the desire to prematurely end his life.
Tucking the cigarettes back in his pocket, he checked out the club, looking for potential threats. For the most part, the crowd consisted of couples, a few groups of women, and a few single guys at the bar. There was a skinny guy hovering near the pool table, who was watching Mia, but he had no doubt she would put him in his place if he made a move. Gabrielle was in good form, although her belly kept getting in her way.
Rocco chuckled when she missed an easy shot, but his smile faded when she put her hand on her lower back like she was in pain. He’d never spared much thought for the girlfriends and wives of the Toscani crew until he’d gone on a rescue mission with Gabrielle. She had impressed him with her skill and courage and amused him to no end with her kick-ass attitude. Still, he didn’t go out of his way to talk to the Toscani women, but tonight Grace had invited them to hear her sing, and he’d felt uncharacteristically protective. It made no sense. He wasn’t part of the Toscani crew and he wasn’t responsible for their women.
Longing gripped him hard and it took him a full minute to realize that he’d been heading this way ever since the first day he’d walked into the Toscani crime family clubhouse. He’d done a job for Nico, and then another, and another until the jobs he accepted for Tony’s father, then the boss of the Toscani family, became fewer and fewer. When Tony’s father was whacked in the massacre that led to the current power vacuum, Rocco had cut all ties with that side of the family and made it clear he was working exclusively with Nico—save for the assignments that came directly from Cesare and Don Gamboli.
They were family—albeit bound by crime and not blood—the kind of family he’d thought he was going to have when Cesare had adopted him, the family he had given up wanting when he lost Grace.
Now he’d found her, and she’d opened his eyes to the desires he’d been forced to hide away—family, in every sense of the word.
Fuck Tony and his stupid warning. Now that the underboss was on the mend and Tony had as good as admitted Tom was with him, whether as a guest or prisoner Rocco didn’t know, and Nunzio would be sending guards to watch over Grace, he needed to turn his attention to how to break his ties with Cesare. He had accepted the situation for far too long. Grace had the strength to make a change. She had faith in him. He needed to have faith in them.
He slid off his seat and made his way over to the pool table. The skinny guy had been joined by two cowboy types wearing belts with big buckles and brand-new boots. Rocco would have pegged them as tourists, except they were too tense. Jazz lovers were usually a laid-back bunch. Tourists even more so. They came to shoot a little stick, have a few drinks, and enjoy the music. Those two looked like they were strung up tight.
“You okay, Gaby?”
Gabrielle startled, her eyes going wide like he’d grown a second head, but he wasn’t surprised. He’d never made any effort to check up on her before, or Mia for that matter, but things were changing and they were going to have to keep up.
“Um.” She shared a quizzical glance with Mia, and then shrugged. “Yeah. It’s just … um … backache. From being pregnant. It happens if I bend over too much. I just need to sit down.”
“I’ll get you a chair.”
“Thanks.” She looked over at Mia again and then back to him.
“Something wrong?”
“I’ve just … we’ve just…” She looked over at Mia again. “Never seen you in a jacket and shirt before. You look … nice.”
“I signed the papers this morning.”
“Luca told me,” she said. “Congratulations.”
He nodded. Danny hadn’t been happy when Rocco paid him a visit to tell him about the new ownership, but Rocco was confident the relationship would work out well simply because Danny was never going to forget what would happen if he tried to screw them over again.
He got her a chair and took up a position against a pillar where he could watch both the girls and the hallway where Grace would come out. Gabrielle would have lots of time to rest because it was Mia’s turn and she was so damn good she could clear a table without losing a shot.
Grace joined them a few moments later for a quick visit before the gig. Fuck she was sexy. With that beautiful chestnut hair spilling over her shoulders, the tight jeans that hugged her curves, the flowery feminine top and the kick-ass boots she was something straight out of his deepest fantasies. He’d liked the dress she was going to wear, but he liked her in jeans better.
A wave of possessiveness slammed over him. No one knew Grace like he did. He’d had her for eight years, watched her change from a girl to a young woman, shared her hopes and dreams, held her when she cried, listened when she sang and encouraged her to follow her gift. He’d been the first man to touch her, the first man to kiss her, the first man to introduce her to the world of sexual pleasure. He wanted to share more firsts with her in a future free of threats or obligations. He wanted her to belong to him in every damn sense of the word and to know in his heart that no one could tear them apart.
“Nice jacket.” She stopped only a foot away and he breathed in the floral scent of her perfume.
“Very restricting.” He shrugged his shoulders, trying to find a comfortable place for the jacket to sit.
Her lips quivered with a smile. “The band is all ready. We’re on in half an hour.”
“They’d better provide an adequate accompaniment to your beautiful voice.”
She laughed out loud, and Christ he loved that sound.
He cupped the side of her neck with his hand and drew her close. “You don’t need them, cara mia. Everyone will be listening to you.”
“I’m nervous.” She pressed her body up against him. “But it will make all the difference to see you there, especially in this jacket. Where did you get it?”
“Borrowed it from Ethan.”
Her breath was warm in his ear as she leaned in to whisper. “If you give it back to him in one piece, I’ll make it worth your while.”
Leaning down, he took her lips in a possessive kiss, one hand around her neck, the other holding her tight against him where he liked her best. He didn’t fucking care if Gabrielle and Mia told every damn person in the family that they were together, or if everyone in the bar was watching. His girl was in his arms and there was nowhere else he would rather be.
“Do you have time to help me take on Mia in a new game?” Gabrielle asked Grace, interrupting. “She just cleared the table again so we’re starting over.”
“Your game is over, honey,” the taller of the two cowboys said. “It’s our turn.”
“We paid for three games.” Mia pointed to the tokens hanging on the wall.
“Your chubby friend scratched halfway through. That’s one game. You playing fancy tricks and clearing the table is games two and three. Now move the fuck out of the way, and let a real man show you how to play.”
“Seriously?” Gabrielle pushed herself to stand and grabbed the rack. “Chubby?”
“I’ll handle this.” Rocco gently unwound himself from Grace’s warm arms.
The tall cowboy grabbed the rack from Gabrielle’s hands, pulling her off balance, and only Mia’s quick reflexes saved her from falling.
The tension that had been simmering beneath Rocco’s skin ever since his conversation with Tony erupted in a bark. “What the fuck? She’s pregnant. You don’t shove pregnant women around. And the girls have another game to play so I suggest you get the fuck out of here before I rearrange your face.”
Clearly too stupid to heed the warning, the cowboy spat on Rocco’s new jacket. “What the hell? She yours? I thought you were with the ugly one.”
He didn’t need to look at Grace to feel her pain, and he didn’t feel the need to explain to the cowboy that Mia and Gabrielle were under his protection. They were family and although he’d never felt like part of the family before, he did tonight.
He drew back his fist, only to feel Grace’s hand on his arm, her voice an urgent whisper in his ear. “You start something in here, the police will show up.”
Rocco felt no small amount of satisfaction that she hadn’t asked him not to pulverize the stupid fucker who had dared insult her, because there was no way the dude was going home tonight with all his limbs attached.
“She’s right,” the stupid-as-fuck cowboy said. “Let’s take it outside.”
“Outside.” He yanked the dude away from the wall and shoved him toward the back entrance.
The cowboy looked back at his friend and smirked. “This’ll be quick.”
“Stay here.” Rocco fixed each of the girls with a look that said he meant business and motioned for the guards to stay put and watch the girls. Then he followed the cowboy and his friend down the hallway and into the alley. He felt no fear. Instead he felt a curious sense of calm. This was his fight. He had picked it. It wasn’t a contract. No one had sent him on this job. He could do what he wanted with them, the way he wanted to do it, and the cowboys deserved what they were about to get.
Something niggled at the back of Rocco’s mind as they stepped out into the alley. Who threw around loaded insults at women for no reason? Gabrielle was clearly pregnant, and Grace was beautiful despite the scar. The dudes hadn’t been in the bar long so it wasn’t as if they’d been waiting all night for the table, and the girls had three tags on the wall showing they’d paid for three games. Even if the cowboys were drunk, it was all too convenient. Too predictable. But with adrenaline pumping through his veins and an unprecedented sense of righteousness in his heart, Rocco ignored the warning.