King of the Cage: A Dark Irish Mafia Romance (Devil’s Own)
King of the Cage: Chapter 38

The last thing I wanted to do tonight was go out, but apparently, the universe had other plans.

Elio had dropped me off hours ago, saying he’d be busy later, and I’d just sunk into a hot bath when the doorbell rang. I wanted to lie there and mull over every second spent with Bran. Returning over those memories felt like wiggling a sore tooth; painful but addictive.

I checked my phone to see who was at the door.

Aldo Sepriano?

What the hell was he doing here? My brother’s guards were at their positions behind Aldo. Of course, they wouldn’t stop him. Aldo’s father had been a De Sanctis made man for decades. The family had only shifted away from the Cosa Nostra to pursue their political ambitions. I got out of the bath and wrapped myself in the biggest bathrobe I could replace.

The doorbell rang again when I opened the door.

“Giada Santori. You’re a sight for sore eyes.” He smiled widely at me.

“Am I? It’s Aldo Sepriano, right? It’s been a few years,” I murmured. Honestly, I had barely given the aspiring senator a second thought in a decade. His brother, according to Sol’s quick catch-up, had been an ass to her at Renato’s wedding. Aldo had always seemed above the ridiculous antics of his younger brother.

He nodded, giving me a tight smile. “That’s right. It’s been a while, indeed.”

“It’s Giada O’Connor now,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow at me.

“Or so they tell me,” I added.

“That’s right, though I’m sure a divorce is imminent, no?” He leaned in the threshold of the doorway.

“What makes you so sure?”

A frown creased his forehead. “You talked about it constantly a few weeks ago. You couldn’t wait to get out.”

“I couldn’t wait to get out?” I repeated. It felt like a lie.

“Yeah, I was helping you figure it out. No one knew. Not O’Connor, not Elio… it was just between us.”

“Really? That’s — interesting.”

“I mean, I guess you know deep down that it’s over between you two, since you’re not living together.”

I glanced around. “My brother likes to keep an eye on me.”

“I’m sure Elio can keep you safer than O’Connor ever could.”

I shrugged absently.

“Now, you’re probably wondering why I’m here, and I can see by your outfit, which suits you, by the way, that you’ve forgotten about our outing.” His gaze trailed down the V in the bathrobe.

My skin crawled. “Our outing?”

“We had plans. We made them a month ago. I should have called to remind you.”

“Yeah, that would have been smart.”

Aldo narrowed his eyes at me. “Don’t tell me I’m going to be waiting hours while you get ready. We’ll be late.”

“I don’t think I’m going anywhere. I think I’m home for the evening. Sorry.” I flashed him an unapologetic smile.

Aldo nodded and then raised an eyebrow at me again. “Maybe it’s for the best. After all, even if you are getting divorced, I’m sure you still feel something for the man you married.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“The event we were going to is the final round of your husband’s membership to the investment club he’s been trying his hardest to join… I understand they cooked up something very special and specific for him, given his talents. You told me yourself you loved a good underground fight.”

“Bran is fighting somewhere?”

“It’s been arranged for weeks. Of course, you wouldn’t know that. He didn’t mention it to you? I suppose he didn’t want you there. Honestly, he might not look as good as he normally does in the ring. You didn’t hear it from me, but I don’t think it’s going to be a fair fight.”

My chest suddenly tightened. Too tight to breathe. A loud voice murmured in my head, and I couldn’t make out the words.

“What do you mean?” I managed to get out.

Aldo smirked to himself. “You might not need to bother with a divorce, after all. Give it a few hours.”

My heart beat loudly in my ears. I didn’t know what it was between me and Bran, only that there was something. There was something, and I’d forgotten it.

“I’ll get ready quickly. I want to see this,” I said to Aldo.

“You look stunning, which you know,” Aldo said.

He placed a hand on the small of my back when we walked into a hotel Uptown, and I had to resist sinking my stiletto heel into his custom-made patent loafers.

Instead, I stepped to the side, far enough that his hand fell.

“Thanks.”

I’d tried calling my brother but hadn’t gotten through. It felt dangerous to be doing this for some reason, but I wasn’t sure why. All I knew, was that I was going. No one could have stopped me.

We entered the building, and a guard waved us toward the metal detectors.

Aldo puffed out his chest like a self-important rooster. “She’s with me.”

He swept us unchecked past security and toward an elevator at the end of a long hallway. The place was all velvet drapes and dark, ornate antique furniture.

“How many members does your investment club have?” I asked.

“I have no idea. We don’t publicize the membership roll. Things with this group are a little more discreet than that.”

“I’ve never been to this hotel before… I bet it cleans up at Halloween,” I observed, eyeing the old-fashioned metal cage elevator skeptically.

Aldo nodded. “It would, but it’s not exactly open to the public anymore. It gets so many bookings from The Enclave, it’s not worth it.”

“Wow, what kind of bookings could make up for keeping a whole hotel empty?” I mused.

Aldo smiled and ignored my questions. Man, I was really regretting not pushing my brother and Sol to tell me more about what I’d been getting up to lately, other than getting married. Then again, maybe they didn’t really know. The only person I’d been spending a lot of time with, according to everyone, was Bran. I should have researched a little, or something, but I hadn’t felt inclined to even look at my computer. That was a weird feeling for me. I just wasn’t myself. Losing a few months had rendered me a different person, and I didn’t like that at all.

We got into the elevator and started downward.

I glanced around. “The club meets underground, quite literally?”

“Our initiations aren’t always for the faint of heart. Tonight, and any night we hold a match that members gamble on, we take it underground for safety. Discretion, remember?”

“Right.” I tapped my nose and gave him a conspiratorial wink, while stepping slightly farther away.

Aldo took creep to a new level. The lower we went, the more nerves stirred in my belly. My instincts screamed at me that this was dangerous. Maybe I shouldn’t have come here. And leave Bran alone?

I took a deep, steadying breath and pushed my shoulders back. Everything was fine. The members of this club were some of the richest and most influential people in the city. We were in public, at a hotel, right in the middle of the city. I was overreacting and getting spooked.

I tried to make myself believe it, until we got out of the elevator, headed to a coat check, and Aldo handed me a long, black cloak.

“What’s this for? I had no idea this was a dress-up party,” I murmured. A feeling of déjà vu hit me hard.

Aldo chuckled. “We are a traditional bunch. Like barristers in England wearing wigs, it’s just part of our heritage. If we don’t respect the past, we are doomed to repeat it, aren’t we?” he asked.

His smirk clearly communicated that he was making an inside joke, one I wasn’t part of. I nodded and took the cloak. The people around us already had theirs on and had added masks.

“Masks, too? This isn’t a swinger party, is it? I’m not putting my keys in any bowls,” I warned Aldo.

“It sounds like an Eyes Wide Shut scenario!” Sol’s voice echoed in my mind. A memory.

I stopped, my head swimming. Was that real? Had I worn something like this before?

“Are you ready?” Aldo asked, poised in front of a heavy wooden door.

The lower levels of the hotel were nothing like the upper ones. Down here was darker, much darker. Black roses sat in a huge urn on a lacquered console table. Incense drifted from a holder shaped like a skull. The faint strains of strings, a haunting violin, sent goosebumps rippling across my skin. It was like The Tartarus hotel had decided to rent out their basement for a horror movie production.

“Yes, I’m ready,” I told Aldo.

I followed him into the room and stopped dead in the doorway.

Turned out, I lied.