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38
Michael
"I hear your wife’s throwing a Christmas party?" JJ Kane, the head ofThe Kane Company, tilts his head, "That’s the thing with women. They have to make their presence felt, don’t they?"
I curl my fingers into fists at my sides. How dare he talk about her? And how the hell does he know about the Christmas Party? Invitations had only been extended to my brothers, my father and my Nonna. And yeah, Beauty had insisted that Cassandra and Aurora be included.
Initially, I had refused her and she had pleaded with me. She had batted those big, green eyes at me and I had been a goner. Of course, I had agreed. Cassandra is loyal, no question. And Aurora? She knows better than to open her mouth about anything she sees and hears. There’s no way either of them would have spoken to anyone about the event. My brothers wouldn’t have breathed a word to anyone… Nor would Nonna. As for the Don... Well, much as I don’t trust him, given he knows that Karma is pregnant with his grandchild, not even he would endanger her life…
I hadn’t wanted to invite him but Nonna had insisted. He’s family. And family sticks together. We look out for each other, no matter what. Within the four walls of our home, we may turn on each other… Like my father had on my mother. Nonna’s reasoning is flawed, and yet, it makes sense. It helps us put up a unified front against our enemies. Like the Kane Company, the leader of whom graces my dinner table. I had invited him and Nikolai Solonik, the head of the Bratva for a three-way talk.
If you had asked me a few weeks ago if I’d ever think of negotiating a truce with my rival clans I'd have laughed. Yet that's exactly what I am doing. That’s what having a baby on the way does to you, apparently. You have to try to make the world he or she is arriving into a better place. It’s the least you can do, really. If I manage to take away any possible motives for my most dangerous enemies to come after my family, I reason, I am, at least, buying us some peace…some level of safety, during which time I can devote myself to being a husband and father, spend time with my wife and child, and bond with my new family as we find ourselves?
Besides, if, indeed, it was JJ who was behind her kidnapping, that’s all the more reason to keep him close, until I find a way to kill him... Without drawing attention to myself. I'd sworn to hunt down whoever was behind the kidnapping and kill him... But the fact that I am going to be a father has put things in perspective. Don’t get me wrong; I still want my revenge. Only, I want it in a way that it doesn't leave my child without a father.
"Michael?" JJ’s voice interrupts my thoughts, "are you inviting us to this Christmas party too?"
"It’s family only," I train my gaze on him. Besides, I don't trust the guy. The only reason I have him here is because it's easier to keep an eye on him when I know what he's up to. It's why I am proposing an alliance with JJ and Nikolai... On the face of it, at least, it's a business deal, but really, it's so I can understand JJ's...and Nikolai's weaknesses. The only way a man survives in my cutthroat world is to keep one step ahead of his rivals.
"And here I thought you consider us to be as close as your blood relations?" Nikolai drawls. "Not that I’d want to be there. It’s bad enough that I have to spend Christmas with my entire extended family, of which there are way too many people."
I turn to him, accepting the diversion in the conversation. I owe Nikolai for getting the bastard JJ’s attention away from the topic of the Christmas party.My wife’sChristmas party. If he thinks I am going to invite him to be anywhere within a mile of her, he has another think coming.
"Are you returning to Russia for Christmas?" I ask Nikolai.
"I’m going home," he nods.
"To Russia?"
"To Los Angeles," He scowls at me.
I raise my hands. "Apologies, when you said home, I just assumed—"
"Yeah," he snorts, "of course, the man with the foreign sounding surname has to be from an exotic land, eh?"
I redden. "An honest mistake," I murmur.
"You can make up for it by giving me control of the gun smuggling routes through Latin America."
"No chance," I smirk. "I am sorry, but not that sorry."
"What about the cybercrime syndicate you control?" JJ growls. "That’s something we are—"
"Nope."
JJ frowns, "So, what’s in it for me? Why should I agree to any kind of peace treaty?"
"Because it’s the only way for you to grow your reach in the rest of Europe. I am the key to your expanding outside the UK, and you know it."
JJ’s features harden, but he doesn’t deny what I said outright. He can’t, because I have pointed out his weakness. The reason that has brought him here to the negotiating table, in the back office of Paolo’s restaurant. We, each of us, have left our men and teams behind. It’s just the three of us at this table, and the talks so far have been interesting, to say the least.
"So," JJ leans back in his chair, "I repeat, what’s in it for me?"
"Money, power—"
"What are you specifically offering me, Michael?"
I raise an eyebrow at his usage of my name. He’s testing me by not using my title, calling me by my name and implying a familiarity which we don’t share currently, nor at any point in the future, if I have my way.
