Rocco pulled open the back door for her expectantly.
Alessa arched a brow. “That’s supposed to be my job.”
He scowled. “You don’t work for me. I don’t expect you to act like you do.” He laid a hand over the small of her back, tugging her closer to him and closer to the open door of thevehicle with minimal effort. “I won’t get in your way for the job you are here for, but in everything else, you travel asmy woman. Not as just another hired gun.”
She opened her mouth to argue on reflex, but no words followed. She wasn’t sure what argument she even had.
Rocco lowered his lips to her ear. “Get that sweet ass in the car, Alessa.”
Frustrated, mostly with herself, Alessa ducked her head to climb in and found herself choking on theyes, sirthat nearly tumbled from her lips as she moved. That was not a game she wanted to play.
Rocco shut the door once she was seated, walked around, and climbed in on the other side. Only after they were both secured did Emanuele drop into the driver’s seat.
“Did Gwathney show up for work today?” Alessa asked, opting to try for a working conversation in an attempt to focus her mind.
“Our guy on site says he meandered in a few minutes before opening and hasn’t left since,” Rocco replied. “I checked with him while you were washing up.”
Alessa was mid-nod when she felt the insistent buzzing of an incoming call in her pocket. She shifted her weight and dug the device free, an automatic frown bending her lips at the unexpected name on the display. It couldn’t mean anything good if Ryoma was calling.
Rocco cut his eyes across the space between them as Alessa raised the vibrating phone, and something dark twisted inside him at the read-out on the screen.Who the fuck is Ryoma?That was sure as hell no Italian name.
He didn’t even register his own movement as he shot out an arm and snatched the device from her grip before she could answer, not until he heard her hiss his name in displeasure. But it was too late. He’d connected the call. “Alessa’s phone,” he said in the best hard neutral he could muster.
“Rocco!” she whispered on his opposite side, her fingers curled into his sleeve and tugging. “You can’tdothat!”
With her urgent half-hissing in one ear, he almost missed the weighted silence that lingered in the other before the caller finally spoke. The caller, presumably Ryoma, spoke in measured words with a light Asian accent that verified Rocco’s initial assumption. “Who the hell are you? Where is Alessa?”
They were rational questions Rocco had no patience for. “You first.”
“Fuck that,” Ryoma snapped. “No one else should be answering Alessa’s phone. What the hell have you done to her?”
A smirk teased Rocco’s lips. “That’s private.”
Alessa’s voice shot up until it filled the entire cab of the SUV. “Dammit, Rocco! Give me the phone, or at least put it on fucking speaker.”
Rocco met her glare and the thing that had risen in him settled just a little. “In a second, beautiful.” To the suddenly silent caller, he said, “Ryoma, is it? Why are you calling her? What business do you think you have with my woman?”
Alessa made a sound not unlike a suddenly deflated balloon and sank back into her seat.
Ryoma choked, or snorted, and made a poor attempt at coughing to cover it up. “Your what? Fuck.” He drew a breath. “Rocco? As in Rocco Cavallo?”
Rocco’s eyes narrowed. “The second,” he clarified, voice hard.
“Right. Fuck,” Ryoma said again. Then he chuckled, like he thought something was funny. “Well, guess that means I have to apologize for speaking rudely. Name’s Ryoma Sato. I’m with the De Salvo family. Alessa and I work a lot of similar jobs, so sometimes we share information. I just wanted to give her some new intel.”
Rocco hummed. “Is that all?”
The bastard chuckled again. “Yep. I’d say you could ask her yourself, but she sounded pretty pissed. Best of luck with that. I’ll just text over the update.” He disconnected before Rocco could say more.
Rocco ground his teeth and glared down at the phone. He had the fleeting, juvenile urge to delete the man’s contact information and block the number altogether. But that would cause problems for her that he had no desire to put her through.
“You ass,” Alessa snapped. “Whatthe hell was that?”
His lips lifted briefly and Rocco adjusted in his seat to face her, simultaneously handing over her phone. He felt it buzz with the promised incoming text, but resisted the urge to pull it back and read the words himself. Instead, he held her stare captive and said, “What am I supposed to do when I see another man is calling you?”
“You have got to be kidding.” Alessa swept her phone from his hand and folded her arms across her chest. “Do you want me to count the number of men in my life? Even just the ones whooutrankme?” Her voice began to rise again. “Just because someone has a dick doesn’t mean I have any desire to sit on it.”
“I’m not accusing you of that,” Rocco said, keeping his voice cool. “I’m saying you’re a beautiful woman and any man would be stupid not to want you. It needs to be made clear that you areun-fucking-available.”
