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No explanation? He was just gone?
What a major, major jerk.
So much for sticking it out. So much through thick and thin. So much for in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, for richer or for poorer.
Gia knew Uncle G could be maddening to the extreme, she knew he liked to play hardball and she knew her uncle could be …well…plainly speaking… a real prick to deal with.
And that’s exactly why Gia had needed to get Riker to marry her.
With all that badass attitude, black leather, and band of brothers who had his back, Gia figured Riker was one of the few men who could go up against Uncle G and win. Gia thought with a man like Riker in her corner she would finally be free. She would not have to worry that a son of hers would grow up to be a capo, or a consiglieri, or a mob boss. No daughter of hers was ever going to have to live down the insulting termMafia Princess. Gia had thought Riker would be strong enough to cut through that lineage—to break that destructive cycle.
Now, it seems she had bet on the wrong horse.
Because with one brief damn phone call, Riker showed her different. He had let Uncle G’s air of superiority and dominance hit its target.
Gia had been doing battle with Uncle Gianni all her life, and that’s all it took for Riker to bail was one conversation where Uncle G showed his typical intractable self. And really, to Uncle Gianni’s defense, he had only been trying to do the right thing
Riker had been furious when he left, raging mad at the thought of being what he considered bested by Gianni Abruzzi.
Mad enough to kick a chair across a room, and then race off.
Gia’s heart almost stopped beating when she considered that this stupid dowry thing could be the deal breaker for Riker. She hated, hated the insecurity that this whole arrangement wrought within her, because her first thought in even the smallest disagreement with Riker is that he would use it as an excuse to leave her. After all the promises he had made to her, would he do that? Would he actually bail on her?
A small sad voice inside of Gia said softly,isn’t that what he just did?
Gia went down to the kitchen, made herself a nice hot cup of tea and forced herself to calm down and think. After about fifteen good long minutes (five spent on throwing herself a total pity party) Gia had formed the perfect plan.
He couldn’t end the marriage if he couldn’t find the wife.
Riker upbraided himself as he roared down the highway at killing speed.
Way to fucking handle your first serious argument, asshole. Why did you let Gianni get under your skin like that? What a goddamn moron you are. And the way you fired up the bike and slammed out of there like a little bitch. What the fuck is wrong with you? You’re lucky if you’re woman doesn’t leave your sorry ass in the dust. When the back of the bike almost fishtailed out of control, Riker slowed down to street legal speed.
Shit. The phone in his back pocket vibrated again.
He was late.
Great. Just fucking great. Because the day wasn’t going bad enough, let’s add in the hundred dollar mandatory late- for- the- meeting fine to the mix. Riker twisted the throttle and started to increase speed again with a vengeance. As Riker went zooming down the highway he felt sick with regret. He couldn’t get the stricken look on Gia’s face out of his mind.
Pussy whipped?
Maybe.
But still, Riker didn’t feel good about the way he left things with her.
So, as it now stood, he had already pissed off his president by showing up late for an emergency meeting and pissed off his wife because he had left for that meeting. He probably should have taken a minute to explain to Gia where he was going, but instead he had kicked a chair clear across the room.
Riker snorted in self-disgust. The marriage had barely begun and already he was fucking it all up.
Reno had just finished up taking roll when Riker walked into the room. Riker threw a hundred-dollar bill into the half-full fish bowl in the center of the table. Looks like he wasn’t the only one late. These emergency meetings were killers, especially on a work day.
Prosper nodded to Riker, waited for him to sit down then began to talk. “Okay boys, we’ve got some changes coming our way and some decisions to make. What I’m about to say next is gonna impact everyone in the club, and it’s gonna hit us where we live.”
“Our dicks?” Someone in the corner of the room yelled out and the room broke out in laughter. Even Prosper had a good chuckle before his tone turned serious again. “Nah, it’s gonna hit something even closer to our hearts than our dicks, and that would be our damn wallets. The change I’m gonna propose is gonna move things in a different direction and not just a little bit.”
There was a low muttering around the room, and the boys leaned with all eyes on Prosper. “It’s no secret that law enforcement has been turning up the heat and cracking down on organized criminal activities. And the reason it’s no secret is because the feds don’t want it to be. They’re sending out a very clear, very loud,don’t fuck with memessage to the home boys and drug trafficking is at the top of that list.”
“I thought word was they were going after the Cartels—the Colombians.” Someone called out.
