Prime doesn’t even hesitate. “Now you see why I married her.”
“She should have been your first choice.”
“Now that—“ Prime leans over and kisses my cheek chastely. “I can fully agree with.”
Carbone grunts but the waitress comes into the room then. She brings a full meal, family style: several plates of pasta, a large bowl of salad, small cups of soup for everyone. Prime strokes my fingers while she serves, apparently unbothered that I decided to go with something closer to the truth.
And it makes more sense. Everyone knows I was swapped in last second. Why try to pretend like we’re madly in love?
Play it like it is. A convenient arrangement for everyone.
“It’s refreshing, you know, to hear you speak so plainly of your marriage.” Carbone picks at his plate. “So often men in our position take a wife out of family obligation but tries to pretend like she’s the love of his life.”
“It does happen though.” Prime surprises me by pushing back. “I meant it when I said love can show up almost anywhere.”
“True, true, but love isn’t necessary when there’s a contract in place. For example, I don’t love you, Prime Spadaro. If I can continue this trend of plain speak, I find you boorish and difficult, an example of what’s wrong with the freshly moneyed underclass.”
Prime pours himself more wine. “I’ll win you over if you give me a chance.”
“I suppose you will true. You are rather charming. However, I’m not interested in a friend. I’m interested in a stable, reliable partner.” Carbone gestures at me with his fork. “Like your wife here. She’s a model we should all follow, isn’t that so? But like I said, love can be a problem, and I wouldn’t want to see your heart get broken if our business venture didn’t pan out. Do you follow me, Prime?”
The room goes cold. Prime tenses, eyes fixed on Carbone, who acts as though he didn’t just openly threaten me. I can hardly believe it, but I play through his short speech twice in my head, and there’s no other way to interpret what he’s saying.Fuck up and we hurt the girl.
That desire to scream bubbles up and I smother it by taking a long drink.
“I don’t like entering business arrangements with anyone who thinks they are in a position of power over me, Mr. Carbone.” Prime speaks slowly and carefully, but I can see the rage shining through him. There’s anger simmering under his surface. He’s good at hiding it, but I know him well enough by now to see the signs. The twitch of his nose, the way his fingers curl as if desperate to make a fist.
Carbone pulls on his cigar. “I want to ensure we’re all clear on how this will work. While you’ve managed to convince my peers that you’re coming around to our way of seeing the world—“ He leans back, face wreathed in smoke. “I remain unconvinced and trust that you will endeavor to change my mind.”
“If there’s no business here?—“
“There will be, in time, there will be.” Carbone leans forward and stabs out his cigar. “Next week is a meeting among peers. It’s a discussion of the coming year’s business. I plan on taking our proposal to the board of directors. You and your wife will be welcome to attend, of course.” His smile is thin and empty. “But only if you understand the consequences.”
Prime seethes. I put my hand on his knee under the table, trying to calm him down. He doesn’t like this, but isn’t it what he wanted? Carbone’s being a bastard, but he’s also offering to draw Prime in deeper to his world. It’s a good thing, but he’s acting like it’s not.
“We’d be happy to attend your meeting,” Prime says finally, not sounding like he’s excited about it at all. “I only hope we will be there as equals.”
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” Carbone lets that linger for a few seconds before clapping his hands. “Come, let’s eat and leave business aside for now. Mrs. Spadaro, what do you think of the wine? It’s nice, isn’t it?”
“Very nice,” I murmur, doing my best to mask my total terror as Carbone smiles at me like a snake.
CHAPTER 22
PRIME
It takes a lot of effort to get through that meal.
Carbone doesn’t mention business again but his threat keeps ringing through my mind. He didn’t say it straight, but the meaning was clear?—
Fuck this up and we’ll hurt your wife.
The fact that he said itin front of heris like a slap to the face.
I’m going to kill him.
The certainty is like a fire in my heart.
The names on my list are two now: Marco Carbone and Augustus Fontana. I don’t care what it takes, how much blood is spilled, those two men are going to suffer.
