Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 83814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Such as?”
“Business arrangements. Like that big job you have going with your Canadian friends.”
I’m not remotely surprised. This has been about our business from the start. That’s why the Marinos were amenable to a marriage alliance in the first place—they know that once the Canadian pipeline is up and running smoothly, we’ll have enough product to flood the whole east coast. Sooner or later, we’ll drown them out.
Adriano’s smart. But his father’s old school. To a mafioso like that, respect is everything.
I suspect Adriano’s more concerned with money and power.
“What if you and I came to an agreement? What if we found a way to pull out of this mess?”
“Like I said, I’m open to it.”
“A piece of the Canadian job. Product at cut rates.”
“We were getting a better deal when I was going to marry your wife.”
“I don’t think I can get you anything else at this point. You did nearly kill Lev.”
He gestures like that’s a fair point. “What do you get in all this?”
“I get an end to the war and I get to keep my wife and our child without worrying some Italian cocksucker is going to try to murder us.”
“Seems like a decent reason to me.”
“But that won’t be enough. My boss will want something. Your arrangement to Natalya fell apart, but that doesn’t mean a marriage is off the table.”
“You want me to marry a different Russian girl?” He says it like that’s the most distasteful thing in the world.
“I want you to make a good business decision. Who knows what the world will look like in the future? If you’re in the family now, you might see a bigger piece of the profits later.”
He drums his fingers on the bar. “I’m not interested in going through with another one of those shams.”
“Then we’re going to have a problem. I need something to bring back to my bosses. I can’t just give you some of the Canada job with nothing to show for it.”
He tilts his head. “The problem is, your wife was acceptable because she’s Federov’s daughter. That makes her close to Valentin Zeitsev himself. But without her—“ He shrugs as if there’s nothing he can do.
“You have women on your side, and Natalya has a brother.” I shouldn’t have said that, but it just rolls off my tongue, because it’s the obvious solution. Natalya’s married now, but Lev isn’t. He could take an Italian bride and we could start all over again.
Except there’s no way Lev will go for that.
“I’m interested,” Adriano confesses. “But it won’t be easy to convince my father, and you’ll have to get your side on board.”
“But this is a start.”
“It’s a start,” he agrees.
I lower my gun and shove it back into its holster. He smiles and his arm up in the air like he’s gesturing at someone.
I follow his gaze—and spot a man standing in the second-floor VIP lounge with a sniper rifle aimed at my head.
Mother fucker.
Adriano stands up and extends a hand. “My apologies for shooting you before.”
“And my apologies for killing your associates.”
“These things happen.”
We shake, and I get the sense that Adriano’s playing his own game, apart from his father’s goals, but I don’t really care what he’s after.
So long as this war never turns into an outright slaughter and I fulfill my promise to Valentin, nothing else matters.
I just have to figure out how the fuck I’m going to convince Lev to marry an Italian.
Chapter 32
Natalya
I’m sitting on the couch with my legs on the ottoman when the house talks to me. “What do you think you’re doing right now?”
I stare around the room, heart racing. “Alex? What the hell was that?” I grab a pillow and pull it against my chest like that’s going to protect me from a ghost intruder. But there’s nothing in the kitchen, nothing in the hallway, no spirits floating up near the ceiling.
“Up here, darling wife.”
The mechanical whirr of the motor that moves the camera in the top corner. The red light blinks to life.
“How are you talking to me right now? And do you actually hear me?”
“I see all and I hear all.”
I hold up my middle finger. “Fuck you, creep. Do you hear and see that?” The camera stares at me, the red light unblinking. I hesitate, feeling a little stupid, and slowly lower my hand. “Alex? You still there?”
“I’m still here.”
“Seriously, what’s going on right now?”
“I installed an intercom system.”
“I guess that makes more sense than ghosts.”
“No, darling, I’m not haunting you. But you can pretend I’m a vengeful spirit if you want.”
“I’m not roleplaying.”
“Good, because I’m not playing. You’ve been mouthy, my darling, and you haven’t gotten up off that couch since I left earlier.”
“Are you seriously calling your pregnant wife lazy right now?”
“Lazy, filthy, and selfish.”
My mouth falls opens in outrage. “Selfish? How dare you.”