Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 71200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71200 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 356(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
He hesitates, peering at me. “Can I ask you something?”
I glance over my shoulder. Alisa’s waiting nearby, watching curiously, but out of earshot. “Go ahead.”
“The girl. Are you sure she’s a good idea? I did a background check, and her family—”
“I’m aware of her unsavory connections.” I turn my back on Eugene. He’s overstepping his bounds, but sometimes that’s useful. In this instance, it’s only worthless. “That’s why I married her.”
He doesn’t argue. Eugene knows my business, and he knows I sometimes make decisions that don’t make sense on the face of them.
There are always multiple levels at every action. I’ve been so successful over the years because I don’t focus on what’s obvious. Too many men in my business can only see one step, maybe two ahead, but I strive to work as deeply into the game as I can.
Alisa is one such strategy.
I stride off and join my wife, offering her my arm. She hesitates, clearly wondering if she can blow me off, but accepts after a moment. The girl is still getting used to the idea of being mine, but she’s starting to make better decisions. Besides, I like the way she challenges me. “Good choice,” I murmur, leading her inside.
“I guess it’s starting now,” she says, looking around. The private terminal at Logan’s decent enough, but still plain. “You know, the whole marriage thing.”
“Considering the paperwork we did on the plane, yes, that’s the idea. Now that we’re in my home city, you need to start playing the role.”
“When do I meet your family? I mean, are they here spying on us or something?”
“I think you overestimate my brother’s competence.” We take the stairs down to the street level. A car’s waiting nearby, a black sedan with two loyal Crowley soldiers up front.
“That’s the second time you’ve made a comment about your brother. He’s the leader of your family, right?”
“Yes, he took over for my father.” I glance at her, eyes narrowed. She doesn’t understand the significance of that and the turmoil his leadership caused the organization, but it’s not relevant now. Things have settled and the soldiers have all fallen in line. Those that resisted are either retired or dead. Which is the same thing in our line of work.
“You don’t trust him?”
“It’s not that.” I pause at the car door, holding the handle. “We have different visions for the future.”
“What’s your vision? You want to be the weed king of the West Coast?”
I press my lips together in a tight smile. She has no clue the extent of my ambitions. “If I could have my wildest dream, I’d be the king of everything, my sweet princess.” I open the door and usher her inside. “But for now, all you need to understand is how we’re going to play this.”
“I thought we were telling everyone we’re happily married.”
“Which we are.” I put a hand on top of hers. “But I’m also going to tell my family a version of the truth.”
Her eyebrows raise. “Which version?” She moves her hand away.
“I’m telling them that we married for political reasons. We aren’t in love. You aren’t fawning over me. I figure you won’t be able to pull that off anyway.”
“Damn right.”
“Which leaves us with a half-truth. We’re married for convenience. What we’re going to leave out is the duration of that marriage.” She chews her lip, glancing at the two soldiers up front, but I wave off her unspoken concern. “They’re loyal to me.”
She nods, taking a breath, and blows it out. “Right, so we’re telling them we’re together forever, when that’s not the case.”
“Yes, more or less. Though if the subject of how long our relationship will last is never broached, that would be ideal.”
“Understood.”
“If you’re ever unsure, say nothing and leave it to me. Keep things vague if pressed alone. Try not to outright lie.”
She turns away, looking uncomfortable, and I let the subject drop.
We ride in silence. I stare out the window at my city flashing past. Back in Boston, back in the place I was born, the streets where I was molded, the city that I escaped.
It’s been a couple years. Aside from sporadic, short-lived visits, I’ve been traveling the country. Texas, Florida, California, Oregon. Searching for new business opportunities, taking any that I found, growing the organization and spreading our power. Carson hasn’t always been happy with my decisions, but in the long-term, everyone’s been better off.
Alisa’s another one of those long-term gambles.
But as we get closer to the Crowley mansion, something’s nagging at me. In all my time making deals, some of them at the end of the barrel of a gun, I’ve always been emotionally distant from the methods I used to achieve my victory. So long as I won, the ends always justified the means.
Now I find myself caught in a strange position.