Page 20 of Mafia Obsession

“You want to move my business to Elizabeth,New Jersey?” he crows, as though he hasn’t gotten to that part of the contract.

I knew the damn thing was too wordy. “Correct.”

He considers this with a harsh exhale. “When? How soon do you want an answer?”

“I’d like an answer right now. And you can start moving today.”

“What?”

Raising a hand to calm him down, I came prepared with some visuals to change his mind.

I remove my phone from the inner pocket of my charcoal suit jacket and place it on his desk, turning the screen toward him.

“I’ve already located and secured a newly constructedindustrial building a mile from the port.”

I see Nathan’s eyes light up, taking in the glass frontage and reinforced steel trusses.

“The office interior is modern with state-of-the-art infrastructure,” I add. “I have IT specialists standing by, prepared to transfer your network, and I can have a moving truck here tonight.”

Nathan studies the image again, then looks up at me, face flushed. “I have people working for me. I need my staff.”

I hide my smile. He will not be taking hisentirestaff. Because I know one employee who cannot move.

“And they will continue to work for you,” I reply. “Allowances will be made for relocation. Housing stipends. Send the expense reports to my office. They will be taken care of.”

Nathan is quiet for a long moment, weighing loyalty against opportunity. Perhaps he knows Lourdes’s husband would never let her move.

“There is even a luxury waterfront apartment set aside for your mistress.” I wink at him, appealing to his unrelenting desires as if I approve, which I don’t. “Quite comfortable for afternoon trysts.”

Nathan’s jaw drops open, but he doesn’t argue with me or tell me to fuck off. If I crawled up his ass enough to know all his business dealings, figuring out he was fucking his assistant wasn’t buried like a military secret.

“And you won’t interfere with how I run my business or my team?”

“I’ll interfere only if you give me reason to.”

A corner of his mouth twitches into something resembling a smile. Nathan slowly stands at last, smoothing a palm over the front of his jacket before extending his hand across the desk.

“Then we have a deal, Mr. Zervas.” His grip is weak and his skin dry.

“Good man.” I shake his hand, then remove a card from my breast pocket. “This is your contact at Zervas & Company who will walk you through all the logistics.”

He signs the contract, and I slide it into my briefcase. Iwon’t miss the five million dollars I’m paying for a company that earns less than three hundred thousand a year. Who knows? Maybe it will make more money in Elizabeth, and I’ll make a profit.

This isn’t about money.

As I pass through the main office, my eyes snag on an empty desk near the windows. I timed my meeting with Craig to happen during Lourdes’s predictable afternoon coffee run.

Outside, I descend the steps and take a breath of the fresh air, glad to be free of lead paint fumes in that dingy office.

My Bentley and my security detail, made up of two black SUVs in their usual formation, idle out front of the office building, ready to motor out of here.

I fold myself into my car, but say, “Wait.”

Then I see her.

Lourdes crosses the street, carefully dodging moving vehicles carrying two designer coffee cups balanced in a cardboard tray. Beneath a gray trench, she wears a pale green blouse tucked into a dark skirt that brushes past her knees.

All the air is knocked from my lungs as I watch her walk. A potent desire charges through my veins. My greedy gaze locks on her champagne-blonde hair pulled back in a low bun that reveals the elegant line of her neck.