Family Treed Read Free

time to see an ornate wall out in the hallway turn into an elevator door. Inside was a shriveled figure in a wheel chair, a creepy crowish shape that had to be the wise geezer, Aleksi Afoniki. He rolled forward like a small but deadly storm cloud.
    She’d met the other two wise geezers, so a comparison was possible. St. Cyr had papered over creepy with some charm the one time she’d met him. Her other grandfather, Antonio Calvino, had tried to be the hearty hail-granddaughter-well-met bad guy, which had been a different kind of creepy.
    This man made no effort to be anything but evil.
    Dimitri came out from behind the bar, but stopped next to Nell, waiting as his uncle rolled toward them, their gazes clashing. No lightning flashes, but there should have been. It was that intense. It not only stripped away the charm of the younger man, it exposed his dark heart, showing what he was eager to have, what he was willing to become to get it.
    Instead of angry at this challenge from the young cub, Afoniki smiled grimly at his nephew before his gaze tracked to Nell. The smile changed to something harder to parse. Nell’s chin lifted again. She might not have grown up “wise,” but she was her father’s daughter. And her mom’s. She knew what he saw when he looked at her. She’d been told often enough that she looked like her mom, had learned she also looked like her grandmother, Ellie Calvino—a woman the three wise geezers had apparently vied for way back when. A woman who had chosen someone else. Afoniki didn’t look like the type to hold a grudge. Why waste time on grudges when you could hire a hit man? Is that what he’d done?
    Ellie Calvino was missing, presumed dead, and had been for a very long time.
    His skeletal hands clenched the arms of his wheelchair drawing her attention to the huge, emerald stone of his ring—the ring of his wise guy power. All three wise geezers had had one, though with different gem stones. She’d seen St. Cyr’s. Because he’d managed to dump it on Nell just before he died. Did Afoniki wear it all the time or had he brought it out for her to see?
    The crash of thunder that came next was disturbingly apt.

    A lex’s dad had raised him to respect old dudes, but this was one bad, old dude.
    All he felt was a strong desire to punch the guy out.
    It was gonna to be a long night. And that was if things went well.
    The air was so thick with something, his gut was ready to light the bat signal.
    His sibs had been vocal about this dinner and about the wisdom of dating Nell. They all agreed she seemed okay, but—fill in the blank with twelve varieties of this is bad for your career. And you could end up dead or missing like Uncle Charlie. Uncle Charlie who had made the mistake of falling for Ellie Calvino. Had Afoniki played a part in removing him from the competition for Ellie’s hand?
    Only his dad hadn’t said much about Nell. Alex had thought that was good. Now he wasn’t so sure. His family had long experience with bad dudes. He got it. They were worried. Only they didn’t know Nell.
    Neither do you.
    Okay, so he didn’t know her know her, but she’d grown up in Wyoming, not a Mafia princess. And they weren’t engaged or anything. He liked her. Liked spending time with her. Liked kissing her. Wasn’t ready for more.
    What if she wants more?
    He mentally shrugged that question away.
    What if you want more?
    That was harder to shrug away. The way she attracted kids was a bit crazy, but seeing each other was a long way from having kids together, something he’d managed to avoid with his first wife. No question her relatives were a big tick in the negative column, but other than trying to kill her a couple of times, they’d not seemed that interested. Was this dinner a sign that change was coming? And if it was, why? Curiosity or something more? He glanced over at Nell, wondering how she felt about it.