Page 14 of Queen’s Gambit

Pacing the foyer of my home, I rehearsed what to say to him and, of course, Ana. I didn’t know why I was so nervous. No, that was a lie. Our home was more than anyone ever needed, and I loved it, but it resembled a quaint beachside villa compared to the Mikhailov mansion.

Yes, it was prime land. Yes, we had hundreds of acres of vineyards. And yes, I was proud. But…men like Mr. Mikhailov didn’t do quaint.

“Son, what is the matter?”

I turned at the sound of my mama’s voice. There were few things more calming than my mother’s smile. She grabbed my shoulders, and I took a deep breath.

“I just want everything to be perfect for Mr. Mikhailov. Whenever we go there, he always makes us feel like royalty.”

“Are you sure that is the only reason?”

“What other reason would there be,” I asked, chuckling, but I knew that I was doing a terrible job of lying.

The arch in my mama’s eyebrow confirmed my suspicions.

“Fine, I may have another reason,” I whispered.

“Do you think I don’t know how you feel about the young Ms. Mikhailov? Every time you come home from a trip, you practically glow, caro mio.”

“Please, don’t tell Papa.”

She waved her hand at me like she did when I was little and being ridiculous.

“I won’t tell your father. But Edmundo, you must know that….”

“Mama…please. I need to make this work, and for now, I don’t want him to know. Making a statement on my own is the only way for him to take me seriously. For any of them to take me seriously.”

“Fine. Are you willing to take a small piece of friendly advice from your old mama?”

“Always,” I said, smiling.

“To impress your father and the Mikhailov family, you need to do more than work hard. You need to work smart.”

Her eyes were filled with a deviousness that I’d never seen in my mama.

“You have my full attention.”

“I have it on good authority that Mr. Bernardi is selling his business and all of his property. But it’s not on the market yet.”

“That’s a massive piece of land with a private airplane runway, storage facilities…it’s perfect for us to expand. But I don’t understand. I thought his son Carlos would inherit everything?”

“There is a rift in the family. He wants to sell now and not give a dime to his son,” she said.

“Wouldn’t that be taking advantage of the situation?”

Mama’s eyes softened as she grabbed my hand and led me to one of the stairs. We sat down, and she cupped my cheek, just like she had when I was young.

“My sweet boy. You have a kind heart, but if you’re serious about becoming a Don of Dons, there will be many things required that you will not like. Getting to the top is difficult and not always pretty, but staying there is even harder. There is a reason your father has never pushed for the position. He never had the stomach for the bloodshed and backstabbing.”

I looked away from her and down at my hands. Could I be ruthless? Could I kill for Ana? For us to be together? I swore to myself that I would do whatever it took, but murdering my way to the top wasn’t me either.

“Are you serious about this girl?”

“Yes, Mama.”

“Then use the information and show your father that you’re ready to take the next step,” she said.

“But it feels so dirty. I like Carlos.”