Page 33 of Ruthless Touch
“Gideon, sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. I was busy with Lila helping one of the guests. Your father and brother have arrived,” she says, practically stumbling over her words.
As I stand from behind my desk and button my suit coat, I smile. “I see. Thank you, Sasha.”
My father makes a beeline to where I am and wraps his arms around me in a big hug. “Good to see you, Gideon. The hotel looks stunning, as always. I like what you’re doing with the hanging baskets of flowers out on the terrace. Nice touch.”
Helix Rule never fails to say something nice to me right before he asks for something next to impossible. It’s his version of the compliment sandwich, except he doesn’t bother with the second compliment once he announces what he wants that invariably means my day has gone to hell.
“Hi, Dad. It’s good to see you too.”
I scan his face and can’t fathom how he still looks so goddamned young. It must be the island because my mother doesn’t look anywhere close to her age either.
Turning to look at my brother as he touches a piece of that black Etruscan pottery Aria so likes that I recently relocated to the cabinet in my office, I force a smile and say flatly, “Alex. Nice to see you.”
He grins like I’ve said something funny before abandoning the art he didn’t care about anyway. “Nice to see you too, little brother. Nice gig you have here. I’d love it if we could switch. You go manage the club while I hang out here in paradise with that gorgeous assistant. Where did you find her? Because I want one just like her.”
Suddenly feeling protective of Sasha, I say, “She’s one of a kind. You’ll have to find your own assistant.”
The mere thought of changing positions with Alex and leaving this hotel for his club makes my stomach twist into a tight knot. I have no interest in living my life in darkness like he does. I actually like seeing the sun more than once or twice a year.
“I’m surprised you came. Don’t you usually sleep at this time?” I ask dismissively.
My brother isn’t offended by my remark, though, and as he sits down in one of the chairs in front of my desk, he says, “Usually, but when Dad said he was coming to see you and asked me if I wanted to join in, I couldn’t say no.”
“He jumped at the chance,” my father says, clarifying my brother’s remark, as if it needed it.
With a grin I suspect means nothing good, my brother says, “Yeah, of course I did. I love to see how the other half lives. Now that I think of it, I don’t think we could trade jobs. You couldn’t handle the gritty life I have to lead.”
This might be a record for Alex. He’s been here for almost two minutes before he insulted me. Give that man a gold star.
“I’m sure.” Turning my attention from him, I look at my father as he sits down next to Alex. “So why are you here, Dad?”
“Well, I initially was coming to clean up a business deal that had gone sideways, but since you told me about the threat from the Angelonis, I thought I should look into that issue.”
Great. Another county heard from. I don’t need my father butting into this delicate matter. Nobody needs to get killed over this. Not yet, anyway.
“I’m handling this, Dad. You don’t have to worry. If it becomes a bigger problem that I don’t think I can solve, I’ll let you know. Until then, trust me. I got this.”
My father listens, nodding his head, and I can see in his expression he’s willing to let me deal with the Marcello Angeloni issue. He may be a man who doesn’t shy away from violence, but Helix Rule knows how to delegate.
And then my brother has to give his two cents.
“Fuck that. We need to start busting some heads and right now,” Alex says in his usual over the top way. “Let them see what the name Rule means, motherfuckers.”
That’s all it takes for my father to go from zero to one hundred. Turning to look at my older brother, my father smiles and points at him like he just said the magic words.
“You’re right, Alex. These motherfuckers don’t know who they’re dealing with. The name Rule means something around the world, and that asshole Angeloni needs to be reminded of that.”
While the two of them look like they’re about to start frothing at the mouth, I calmly try to interject some sanity into a meeting that’s quickly going off the rails. “Can I remind you two of something equally as important? I have to live here. That means just killing anyone who dares to utter a threat against me or anyone in our family isn’t a good idea. It’s particularly bad if you want to keep getting intel on the families here and what they’re up to. Who’s going to do that if you get me killed?”
Alex throws his head back and laughs. “Me, of course. I’d run this hotel too. How hard could it be? I’ll tell you one thing. Nobody would be cocking off about our family if I was here. That’s for sure.”
As much as I want to tell my brother to fuck off about his ludicrous ideas concerning replacing me, I try to keep my cool and focus on my father. “Let me handle this, Dad. Marcello Angeloni hasn’t tried anything yet. I think he’s angry about his brother’s death and wants to put the blame on someone, but he’s not actively sending anyone to do the job. I think he’s just trying assert his power on this coast. As the youngest Angeloni, he probably feels like he has to in order to gain respect.”
“Youngest sons are always the worst. Talk about insecure,” Alex mumbles and then elbows our father.
Fuck, this meeting isn’t ten minutes old and my brother has already pissed me off enough to make me want to beat the hell out of him. Why does my father bring him along? His solution to everything is to pull out his gun and shoot everyone. The son of a bitch doesn’t possess an ounce of finesse in his entire body.
My father seems unsure who to listen to, which is never a good position for me to be in. That means he’s leaning toward doing what Alex wants since he never fails to side with him over me.