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"You need a safe route through the streets too. If the Russians start shooting, they'll get your men too." Declan’s face is impassive.
"Why the fuck else do you think I'm here? Certainly not for you lot,” Sandro growls. He tips the flask to his lips and takes another drink.
Ugh.
This is what I’m talking about when I say that you can be a criminal and have morals.
Sandro has none.
I step in before it gets out of hand. This is our second meeting discussing the Russians, and I’m ready to come to some more final solutions. They're important, sure, but they’re certainly not the only ones I need to keep a lookout for.
Time to be done with this.
"We'll back you up on this. Split the profits fifty percent down the middle,” I announce.
"Fifty percent? I'm risking my men and my name," Sandro's body nearly bristles with anger suddenly, as though he feels insulted by the very words.
Alec is smiling, as is Declan and Knox. We've got him where we need him.
Sandro is a perfect solution to keep the Russians occupied. Enough to buy me time to deal with them on my own, just after the wedding.
The wedding.
It holds a place in my mind, like a chapter. There’s before the wedding, then there’s after. I don't question why the wedding is suddenly a timeline for all my actions lately, since it’s pretty clear to me where I’m coming from.
The wedding means a woman who has no idea what her insertion into my life is costing.
"As are we. You will, after all, be hoisting your flag in our name. And our authority will pave the way for your men."
Sandro licks his lips greedily. Fifty percent suddenly sounds good. He would be making almost double of his regular gain with an affiliation to the Amory name. It’s a sweet deal on both ends. The money is good, sure. But the endorsement of my name?
That’s even better.
Amory is, after all, synonymous with control and authority. It could keep alive and kill just as easily. It had before. It always would.
"And for how long does this last?" His beady gaze eyes me.
"Until we get rid of the Russians," Alec replies in my stead.
"And you aren't even the Capo. Yet. Can't wait to see what you do with that position." Sandro sucks air between his teeth and shoves his hand through the air towards me. I watch him with a threat in my eyes, then slap my hand into his.
He and his men leave the room, and I pick up my glass finally, hurl the whole drink down my throat, and groan when it burns like fire down my chest.
"You're buying time you don't need," Knox says.
"I'm preventing a war I can't afford," I grunt.
"Is this about Mel?" Declan is watching me with a careful appraisal in his steely grey eyes.
"Why the fuck would this be about her?" But I don't meet his eyes either.
Alec's tone is withering, and he smirks. "You're hedging your bets. Not giving your best. And for once, business wasn't the first on your mind. Fifty-fifty? When have the Amorys ever done that? You're selling Sandro to the Russians for a flat fee."
A twinge of disgust at myself sizzles over me. Scraping my insides raw. I'm back to the man I was while I was with her. Already making her a priority when she's done nothing herself to prove she's worth the trouble.
I have to do something to stabilize. "He's a greedy fucker. And he kept me waiting. He'll survive."
"And after the wedding, how bad will this get?" Knox drags his glass across the table, drawing patterns with his fingers on it.
