“We nearly got robbed and you’re thinking of spending the money? I’m going to ask your uncle to put it in his safe along with this coat. I nearly died when that mugger made me bleed and I thought I might get blood on Stefano’s favorite overcoat.”

Joanna burst out laughing. “That’s scary crazy and so are you, Francesca. Held at knifepoint and even cut, but you aren’t worried about being robbed, just a coat.”

“Not just a coat,” Francesca denied, with a small grin, finally finding humor in the situation. “Stefano Ferraro’s favorite coat. And after that I was worried about them taking his money and trying to figure out how I’d pay that back. I was considering stripping for a living.”

Joanna’s laughter went from forced to genuine. “Stripping?”

“I had four years of pole dancing for exercise in college. I believe you did as well. We were pretty good.”

“You were pretty good,” Joanna corrected. “You’re great at dancing, too. You can move your body in a million different ways all at once. I forgot how envious I always got when you were on a dance floor.”

“Muscle control and core strength. If you hadn’t cut half the classes for a date, you would have managed the advanced classes.”

Joanna shrugged. “I was studying anatomy. What can I say? I got pretty good at that.” She took Francesca’s arm. “So what do you think? Should we go spend money at the mall? Get a killer dress and go out to the club this weekend?”

“No way. I’m not spending one more penny. In fact, if I make enough money to pay the rent before he comes looking for his coat, I’ll pay him back for the shoes and he’ll never know I used any of his money.”

Joanna’s eyebrows nearly shot into her hairline. “You are so stubborn, Francesca. If I had an opportunity like you have, protection from the Ferraro family, and a thousand dollars to spend, believe me, I’d be counting myself lucky, not resenting it.”

Francesca sighed. “I guess I do sound resentful instead of thankful. It’s just that . . .” She trailed off, looking around her. They were back in Ferraro territory. Whatever Stefano and his brothers were, the neighborhood felt different. Safe. She couldn’t imagine the attack happening on their ground. She couldn’t deny that she could feel that difference. She hadn’t felt safe in a very long time. Without thinking too much about the why, she snuggled deeper into Stefano’s warm coat. “He’s so wealthy. Not a little bit well-off, everything about him screams money. I don’t like that type. They live so differently than mere mortals like us.”

Joanna flashed a grin. “You got that right. Jetting off around the world at a moment’s notice. It’s no wonder they forget what it’s like to live from paycheck to paycheck.”

“They don’t forget,” Francesca corrected. “They’ve just never had to do it.”

CHAPTER THREE

The moment the wheels touched down on the runway in Los Angeles, Stefano unbuckled his seat belt and looked across the narrow aisle at his two brothers. “Is everything set?”

Ricco nodded. “The Lacey twins are meeting us and bringing a couple of friends. We’ll party with them at the local hot spot and be very visible.”

Stefano shook his head. “The Lacey twins? Again? Seriously, Ricco?”

“They’re hot right now. The roles they get are prime and the paparazzi follow them everywhere. They’re perfect. We’ll be splashed all over every gossip rag there is. By tomorrow morning, the Internet will blow up with pictures and speculation.”

“You want me to believe you chose them because they’ll give you a lot of exposure?” Stefano pinned him with a glare. “You like fucking them both.”

“Well.” Ricco grinned at him. “There’s that. It also gives me a chance to practice the art of Shibari. I like to keep my skills sharp.”

“You like to fuck them after you tie them up, and that’s going to come back to bite you in the ass,” Stefano declared, his voice mild, but there was nothing mild about the look he gave his brother. “It isn’t like the gossip is going to go away when the pictures and articles are everywhere. You can’t exactly deny it. You find your woman and how are you going to convince her one woman will be enough for you when you’re always with two?”

The smile faded from Ricco’s face, leaving it bleak, a stone mask. “The chances of that happening are like one in a million. This woman coming into our territory is a fluke, Stefano. We all know that. More, you have a long road ahead of you. Nothing guarantees that she stays.”