Indebted to the Mafia King
Rubbing Elbows

Dante

Monday morning after Mama arrives, I move her into the apartment in the city with El and Gianna.

"Are you certain you can carry this?" She furrows her brow at the three suitcases in my hands.

I nod, trying to turn a grimace into a pained smile. I'm so happy she's here. I'm so happy El's happy. She has so much goddamn stuff.

With another frown, she waves me ahead of her, and I stumble into the lobby of the building.

***

Tuesday afternoon, I tap my foot on the floor of the elevator. I managed to sneak out between meetings just in time to meet Eleni when she comes home from classes and steal a few minutes. Usually, my Tuesdays are jam-packed, so I'm hoping to surprise her. I fidget with the bouquet of flowers I picked up on a whim.

Ding. The elevator doors open, and the first sound that greets my ears is high, feminine laughter. I frown. I checked her schedule. El shouldn't be back yet.

"Hello?" I call.

The laughter cuts off.

"We're in here!" Gianna yells from what sounds like the living room. If I'm not misreading things, she also sounds a little guilty.

I rush through the apartment and replace her and Mama on one of the couches, surrounded by old pictures. I peer closer. Old pictures of Gianna and I's shared childhood.

"Your baby will be beautiful." Mama holds up one of me in the bathtub at about two, grinning and visibly naked.

"Why are these out?" I ask, holding onto shreds of my calm.

The elevator dings again, and my stomach drops. That's El. Gianna calls her in immediately, and she disappears into the pile of pictures. Her smile warms my heart, but I have to leave before I can do more than kiss her on the forehead. The flowers end up in a vase decorated with my baby pictures by the time I get home again.

***

Wednesday, I set Gianna up with a late interview with a friend of mine who owns a club. She's been dancing on a circuit since Piacere burnt down in between classes, but I know she's looking for something more stable. Eleni arranges a call between Mama and her sister late enough that it's morning in Greece. When I step off the elevator with a bag of fragrant takeout from several different locations, Eleni is there with a tired smile on her face. I lean in for a kiss. She cups my cheek. "I love you, but I'm starving. Food first?"

I agree with a laugh. We settle at the dining room table, and she lights a candle. The food spreads out like a banquet before us, and we eat, laugh, talk. I hold her hand for what feels like the first time in ages. Classes are going well. Her morning sickness is going strong. She combines stir fry and chicken parm in a nauseating combination that makes her sigh with happiness. I lean in to kiss her, and—

"Zouzouni!" Mama calls.

I wince back. El smiles apologetically.

"Theia Adriani has some advice on the first trimester." Mama barges into the dining room, pulls up a chair, and sits between us.

***

I take Thursday off, by some miracle. Thursday morning, Gianna can't work the blender. Thursday afternoon, she and Mama insist Eleni needs to go shopping for maternity clothes right then. Thursday evening, Eleni has homework, Gianna has a date emergency, and Mama needs to talk to me about "my plans." Thursday night, El and I fall into bed next to each other, exhausted.

***

Friday afternoon, I have business setting up the undercover agent Henry so unwittingly suggested, and I'm tired of leaving things to chance. I schedule my meeting for later than I usually would and park my car in front of Tandon to wait for her. Right on time, she emerges from the building with Amando next to her and the other two guards a safe distance away. When she spots me leaning against the car, her face lights up, and she charges the remaining distance for a hug. I wrap my arms around her and inhale her scent.

"This is going to really complicate the rumors that I'm dating Amando." She laughs and presses kisses to my mouth. "What are you doing here?"

I grin. "I thought you might need to get out of the apartment."

Her smile widens. "You're a genius. Where are we going? I'm not exactly wearing date clothes."

I look at the T-shirt and jeans she's started wearing to class, a compromise between her preference and her classmates' sweatpants. "I brought a change of clothes, don't worry. And while I'd love to take you out, I am very busy after Thursday."

She laughs ruefully. "What, that wasn't your perfect day off?"

I glance at Amando over her shoulder and lean in to whisper in her ears, "You know damn well my perfect day off involves you never leaving my bed."

El shivers, and I nip her earlobe behind the curtain of her hair. Fuck, I wish I could take her home and ruin her. Take her anywhere. But I really can't skip this.

"No, I thought you might want to do a little work with me. You are queen of the Saints, aren't you?"

She grins. I open the door to the town car I drove over here, hoping for at least a moment of quiet in the back. Amando takes the driver's seat without a word.

On the drive, I help her change into the leather pants, camisole, and blazer she wears for business, dragging kisses over exposed slivers of her skin. Between the darkened windows and the privacy divider, it feels like we're alone for the first time since Mama arrived. The button on her pants barely fastens, and I focus my attention on the slowly rounding bump of her belly, the heartbeat of our child echoing in my ears.

Amando pulls to a stop, and I open the door to show her the dingy alley that leads to Benny's, the ex-Coppola headquarters in the city. Eleni looks at me questioningly.

"I had an interesting conversation with my least-favorite friend the other day." This has become our euphemism for Henry. I know most of the men assume it means Cal. "And he mentioned the usefulness of eyes behind the Iron Curtain." Eleni lets me help her out with a nod. "I thought your least-favorite friend already had those. What about Yagdash?"

"He went blind." We walk down the alley arm-in-arm. Amando stays in the car. "And anyway, those were his eyes. We're here to set up our own."

Eleni smiles. "Let me guess, my job is the trail."

"I knew you got into Tandon for a reason."

She snorts, and I open the door to allow her into the dingy dive. A new bartender mans the front, and the place is dead. Teo alone sits at the bar.

El frowns. "Teo? He's your undercover?"

"Hey!" He stands as he spots us. "Long time, no see!" He opens his arms for a hug.

Eleni, ever careful, hugs him with her pelvis angled away so he couldn't possibly feel the bump, then kisses him on both cheeks. I shake his hand, and all three of us sit.

“I didn't know I'd be meeting the whole royal family." Teo grins. "So are we a go?"

El still looks worried. I nod.

"Teo was my first choice. Only choice, really. He's not well-established with any organization, but he's been around the life for ages. And he has the look," I say.

Teo turns his face this way and that, showing off his fair hair and high cheekbones. "I even have a Russian great-grandmother, Lenora Valentinovna. I've been building up my collection of tattoos and putting out feelers, but they're starting to look into me, to see if I'm legit."

"That's where you come in," I say to her. "We need to set up a trail for him, Veniamin Valentinovich, from here."

Eleni looks from me to Teo and back again. "That's not enough. Do you have any idea how dangerous what you're talking about is? Do you know what they do to snitches?"

Teo nods. "Pretty much what they do to snitches everywhere else. And it'll be a lot more dangerous if you don't help. I'm tired of seeing the sons of bitches run my city." She sucks her lip between her teeth. "What's your goal?"

"Just replace Fyodor's home location," he answers. "Come on, it's no more dangerous than marrying the boss."

Eleni smiles slowly. "I guess we all take risks in war."

She launches into a list of details she needs to make this foolproof, and I smile. God, she's hot like this.