Two Kings

Chapter 8

Dom seems a nice enough man and a loyal employee to the Mancini's, but that doesn't mean I can trust him. And being alone with a strange man late at night is making me uneasy. The saying 'safety in numbers' is ringing true now. I am not sure who to trust with my life.

By the time Dom pulls up out back of the club, it's 11pm. We don't go via the club's main entrance for the grand opening as I expected; Instead, he parks in a car lot out back. I stay in the SUV and wait for Dom's directions as he asked me to do. He paces around the car, puffing on a cigarette with his phone in his other hand. Obviously, he is waiting for a call before he can take me anywhere.

The sound of his ringing phone has my ears pricking up to hear the conversation.

"Yo," he speaks into his phone. "Yeh, man, we're parked out back waiting... Ok. Yep. On our way. Be there in a couple of minutes."

My door opens, and Dom meets my gaze with a nod. "We can go in now. Rico's waiting for you."

I step from the SUV, my heels crunching on pebbles as the chilly night air envelopes me. Goose bumps spread over my arms and across the swell of my breast as they bulge from the fabric. Why didn't I bring a wrap?

"I don't understand this," I whine. "I assumed I was getting dressed up to go through the front door."

"I know. And I'm sorry I wasn't able to do that, but these are Rico's orders, not mine."

I groan as we walk towards the well-lit building, annoyed. After the effort Nonna and I went to, only to end up at the back door like a criminal. I mean, why? Did Rico deliberately do this? My guess was he did it to avoid upsetting Gia. It's hard to fathom that my life now revolves around this man? I'm only Rico's lap dog, here to meet his wants and whims, minus any affection, of course.

Dom bangs on the back door. Within seconds, it opens and a muscular man with shoulders nearly as wide as the door stands before us with a shiny head and bulging biceps. He jerks his chin at Dom and then holds a hand up, stopping us from entering. While he listens to someone through his earpiece, I stand there freezing. It's the middle of winter and I'm wearing a revealing dress. I rub my arms, wondering why he's keeping us waiting.

"Excuse me." I wave my hand to get his attention. "I'm freezing my tits off out here! Do you mind letting us inside?"

The other guy backs away to let us enter. "Of course. Welcome. Rico's in the second room on the left. Knock first."

Dom and I enter the warm building and it smells of booze but it's a pleasant relief from the chilly air. My body shivers as we walk along the hall to the second door. Dom taps one knuckle against the door and then announces our arrival.

The door opens, and another enormous man wearing an earpiece greets us. From under his arm, I take in the well-dressed men around the table. The big guy steps aside and Dom nudges me in the lower back to enter first. So I do.

Four men sit around the table, including Rico. All of them appear to be in their early 30s except for Rico, who looks much younger. Rico stands and pulls out the empty chair beside him. "My new wife, Alexis. Come sit with me, wife. I want you to meet our business associates."

Oh fuck! I knew this was coming, but I didn't expect a rush of nervous to accompany it.

Rico takes his seat and watches me approach. I'm not sure what to make of his sudden attention. Without Gia to keep him in check, he's not bothered about hiding his new interest in me.

I take my seat beside Rico, and my eyes dart to the large bag of white power sitting in the center of the table. I greet the men around the table with a smile. "Good evening."

The man sitting opposite me in the white shirt with the black hair and bright blue eyes leans over the table and offers me his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, Alexis." His grip is firm and his skin soft. "I was told Rico had married. Can't say I believed it, though. But here you are and not wearing a wedding ring. Isn't it customary to wear a band after marriage?"

I shrug. "Not all married people wear them." Especially if they're married to someone they'd rather not be married to.

He grins and sits back in his seat. "You don't find it rude to each other that you've only just married and neither of you show interest in wearing a ring? No disrespect, Rico, but when men see your wife without a ring, they could assume she's available."

Rico shrugs a shoulder. "Harmless looking is one thing, but handling my wife is when it becomes dangerous, especially if my gun goes pop, pop, bitch, fucking pop."

All the men laugh, except Rico and me. I stare at my hands and fiddle with my fingers. I hate that's he's trying to keep me in check. Like I'm belong to him. Well, fuck him. If he has Gia, then I expect the same, and when I reach the point of wanting sex with someone other than Marcus, he won't be able to stop me. But I'll keep that information to myself for now and focus on getting through this meeting.

"You're a lucky man, Rico, to have inherited your brother's legacy."

"Fuck Grey!" Rico's tone is dominate and forceful. "It's my legacy as much as it was his."

The dark-haired man jerks his chin at me. "Is it true your wife was to marry Grey instead of you—right before his death?"

Rico's nostrils flare, and I can see his anger building. Dom's words of this ending bad and a visual of someone being killed, has as me blurting out, "What Rico and I share goes further than what you may have heard. We're committed to each other—committed to making this marriage work... And FYI, Grey may be gone, bless him, but Mancini's business is as strong as ever, and Rico's even more committed to making sure it stays that way. Gentlemen, whatever people are saying is irrelevant to what is happening now."

The dark-haired man sits back in his chair and rubs his chin. "It's a happy marriage. That's what you're telling us?"

"Of course. Rico is an amazing husband," I turn to look at him, and he's already looking at me. I set my hand on his firm thigh to make it look convincing. "He's also a mind-blowing lover who pleases me every single day." I turn back to the other men, rather proud of my blatant lies. "He gives me everything I need. What more could a woman want? Trust me when I say I have no complaints." As I meet Rico's eyes, I give him a gentle squeeze on his thigh. "I hope I didn't speak out of turn. I just want everyone to know how happy we are and how eager we are to make this work, not only our marriage, but Mancini business."

Rico keeps his expression tight, which leaves me unable to gauge his mood. I wait anxiously until he finally responds, "well said, Wife. We are eager to make this happen." He faces the men around the table. "You want Mancini products — that's what you get—nothing has changed. Only that business is with me and not my brother. And for the record, our marital status, as my wife told you, is very real and thriving... not that it's anyone's business. My only interest is how much product you need for the next shipment."

The black-haired man pokes his finger into the bag of white powder and rubs his power coated finger against his teeth. "I'm happy to continue as we've been doing. Same amount next shipment."

Rico stands and reaches across the table and offers him his hand. "Done. Now someone toast our marriage so I can get the fuck out of here and go launder the first bag of cash through this dump."

"I'll do the honors." The black-haired man says as he grabs the decanter from the table and pours himself a shot. He slides the bottle across the table to Rico, who tops up his glass and then pours a nip into mine.

After a moment, we are raising our glasses for the toast. "May you fuck hard every other day and make soft love in between," he grins with a raised brow. "My grandfather said it kept his marriage spicy, tender, and healthy for forty years."

Rico and I hold each other's gaze as we crinkle glasses and then drink, knowing that our loveless, lying marriage will never experience days of hard sex or tender love making. It's a marriage of convenience and nothing more.