Chapter 10 Trouble In Town

Rylan's POV

"He's on the balcony."

Thane slightly leaned towards me and whispered, but loud enough for me to hear.

Silent, I started for the elevator.

"Are you sure you want to do this now, Rylan?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Technically, no." He was blunt. "But we could figure something out and-"

"There would be no need for that."

Turning behind me, there was Alessia, who was struggling with her bags. The part of her doing the jobs the staff should do, and telling them not to bother, was baffling.

"This should never repeat itself."

I gave Jackson a grim warning about something that was clearly Alessia's fault.

"My apologies, Don." He said instead, knowing better than to drag his Donna into the conversation or point out her fault in it.

Jackson scurried away and rushed towards my wife in a bid to save the day.

"Thank you, but I can handle myself."

Her soft voice argued with Jackson, and I just waited at the base of the elevator for her.

"Jeez, let me."

Jackson's inaudible pleas were heard as well.

"She's a tough one."

Thane murmured.

"You don't know half of it," I sighed.

Barely a week as her husband, I was already turning into dust from her headache. Now I know why people do background checkups or marry into families they were acquainted with.

Alessia was a sexy package of destruction.

"Can't say you don't deserve her."

I could picture him laughing at me.

"You're too hard-hearted, my friend, I think nature has a way of balancing things out." He finished and strengthened his spine like he never said anything.

"Your thesis is wrong, man. Like pole repels."

"Yours attracted." He chuckled.

"Damn you."

The clinking of Alessia's shoes grew louder as she got closer. It took her forever to meet her supposed husband.

"Ry, why did you have to punish Jackson?"

She quarried, standing beside me like a ladybug.

"Then I'd have to really punish him since he loves to bluff."

"No." She hastily spoke out. "He didn't say anything to me other than rant about him doing his job."

I pressed the buttons on the elevator.

"Exactly why he's being paid, don't you think so?"

I wheeled myself in, and she followed, alongside Thane.

"Hi, Thane."

She waved and flashed a smile.

"Hey, Mrs. Russo."

Ignoring the sarcasm in Thane's voice, I focus on the trouble that awaits me outside.

"I was doing just fine."

"Sure, you were." I scoffed. "Lessi," I reached for her hand and gently squeezed it, trying to figure out my next line.

Left for her, she would argue till we got to our various rooms. Such a walking bag of chaos for her size.

"What do you say about me treating you tonight?"

A half smile crept up the side of my lips.

"Tender massage."

My tone was sultry, knowing the best time to switch and turn on the heat.

"I got the sweet-smelling candles. Bourbon to be precise."

"Oh, I'd prefer vanilla, but chocolate isn't so bad."

She itched the back of her neck and smiled, holding back her breath.

Thane burst into laughter, unable to stop himself, and sealed his lips with his hands.

"Sorry." He waved at us and the place fell silent.

"When he said bourbon, he meant whiskey."

"Oh." Alessia sounded awkward. "My bad."

Our perfect drama was just a comic show to Thane. He knew me too well for his own good.

"No."

I took her soft hand to my lips and planted wet kisses on her knuckles, trailing them up her wrist.

"Lessi is right." I put the joke on him.

"She's a lover of coconut and vanilla and avocado."

I inhaled the sweet scent of her body oil that still lingered on her skin.

Heat radiated through her, and she clutched my fingers, feeling uncomfortable. She sure does hate the spotlight.

"I wanted to throw in something not so different from her taste, but intoxicating and wild."

From the glass of the elevator car, I watched her blush hard.

"Wow. That's weird," Thane retorted. "Who would think Mr. Liquor would settle for something soft."

"People change, people." I added to spite him.

"Thanks, Ry."

"Mr. Mafia." I stopped her. "Call me that. I love it when you call me that."

She pressed her lips firmly and smiled, remembering the awkward night the name was birthed.

The elevator was bigger when we got to the top floor and the reality of my father waiting for me hit harder.

"Stay in your room for now, Lessi, I have a visitor."

I stroked the center of her palm with my thumb.

"If you need anything, Jackson will come to your aid."

She nodded and smiled, with the blush still faint on her cheeks.

"Thanks. Mr. Mafia."

She added after a second thought and reached down to look me directly in the eyes.

Unexpectedly, she brushed her soft lips against mine in a quick kiss, but not so fast because I tasted the red velvet cake and ice cream she had a while ago.

"Be good, I'll be waiting for you, Mr. Mafia."

She wiped her red lipstick stain on my lips and walked away in the direction of her room.

Running the tip of my tongue along my lips and tasting what lingered on her, I wished that she hadn't cleaned her lipstick smudge on my lips.

Thane cleared his throat, pulling me back to my harsh reality.

"Did you really get the candles? Chocolate candles?"

Heading to my room, I kept controlling the wheelchair.

"You should get a wife too. You're a lost cause."

He smirked. "Says a man barely a month in his union. I'll pass."

Now in my room, we got to the balcony.

There he was, built like a stallion, with the hard muscles of his back expanding in the black long-sleeves he wore. His brown hair with streaks of gray tussled about in the wind, and the strong scent of his exotic perfume dominated the area.

He was all looks and power. When we stepped outside, I was always called his younger twin.

"Welcome, Don."

Thane was the first to announce our presence, while I just sat in my chair and gulped in the cool air, knowing what was about to come.

"Leave us."

He dismissed Thane, still keeping his back to us. One hand was dipped in his pocket, and the second hand was in front of him.

"Si."

Thane gave me a brief eye contact as if he warned me before he disappeared.

The clinking sound of an object against a glass, and the familiar scent of his old-century whiskey, made it known that he was holding a glass of whiskey with ice cubes, as ever.

"Padre," I said after Thane walked away. "Last I heard, you were out on a business trip."

"Was that why you did it?" He was blunt to the core. "The rumors I hear, just maybe you thought you had the liberty to act stupid." He drummed his fingernails on the blister. "It ends now."

"They are not rumors, father, she is my wife."

He chuckled and slowly turned to face me.

Rich brown eyes, high cheekbones, and a face shaped like a god. He never aged for a minute.

"Is this some cheap stunt?" He scoffed. "You win, now opt out of the game."

"This is not a game, padre. She is my-"

He snatched the last word off my lips with a heavy blow, busting my lips from the impact.

I groaned, clenching down to hide the pain I felt.

Unbothered, he sipped from his rum glass.

"Resurfacing from retirement, I had to take care of business, only for you to mess around?"

"Padre-"

"Don't." He sighed and flicked the side of his lips with his thumb. "I thought you were out for revenge."

He paused and dangled the ice cubes in the glass.

"Is this the most you could do? Marry the daughter of Lucifer?"

I swallowed my protest. There was no way he'd know that this was some nasty contract marriage, else, he might be petty enough to air it, even though it was for our empire.

"I was trying to protect our legacy."

He scoffed again. "And getting the enemy in was a smart way?"

"I am crippled-"

"And you're Don Rylan freaking Russo!" He growled. "Not some pussy!"

He smashed the glass on the ground, with the strong scent of whiskey diffusing in the air, and the brown fluid messing up the floor as it streamed down recklessly.

"There are a million and one ladies you could have at a whim, but you choose her?"

Valid point, I looked down.

"Look, son."

He adjusted his tight pants and squatted, tilting his head upward to meet my gaze.

"I don't care if this is some sort of nasty revenge plan, it runs in our blood." He affirmed. "But don't be bitten twice to be shy."

He got up and started to walk away, the thick soles of his feet crushed the shards of glass.

"Thane wouldn't be that stupid."

With that, he disappeared.

Now alone, the comparison between me and Thane stung harder than the bruise from the blow. He had never placed me and Thane beside each other and condemned our acts.

For the first time, he did something he had never done, something that made me feel like he was beginning to regret having me as his son or even crowning me the heir to his empire.

The familiar sweet scent of coconut and vanilla wafted into my nostrils, in gentle strokes.

Alessia?!

My heart dropped.