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Maybe after our wedding that might happen. We were getting to know each other at a good pace, so we should get a clearer idea in mind. Although, when she became pregnant, it would be back to safety for her. I wasn’t going to put my child’s mother at risk to be shot at on a regular basis.
Sure she’d balk, but my mother would be able to soothe her fears. Maybe we would have a more solid relationship and I would be able to help her. By then we should have worked out what she could do while she carried the next heir of the Romano family.
The car pulled away, and Stefano gave me an appraising look.
“She’s already under your skin, isn’t she?” He grinned.
“Yeah.” I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. “She’s a spitfire and the perfect woman if it weren’t for the fact that she’s a Montrelli.” Deep down that didn’t bother me either. She was the perfect woman for me, period.
“That does pose a problem. They have been a thorn in your side for years. Have you considered that she’s been sent to spy on us?” Stefano posed the one question I didn’t want to think about.
I held back my growl, and decided to give him an answer. He was only acting as a good second in command. “I don’t get the impression that she’s here because she wants to be. She is pretty pissed at Angelo for having her brother killed. To be honest, I would be as well. I didn’t see how she could be in the same room as him. She was too young for revenge then,” I glanced out the window, “and we shouldn’t have done that then.” I turned back and stared Stefano in the eyes. “If we were going to send a message, it should have something a little more destructive and personal to Marco.”
Stefano raised a brow as if he questioned my sanity. “Taking his only son wasn’t personal to him?”
“His son wasn’t as precious to him as most would have assumed. He loves money and his reputation. Not his family. He was going to send the softer sister to us. She would have been dead in hours.” I groaned at the impossibility of the situation. “Instead he sent his underboss. The one person that could have taken over and kept things moving, he sent Bria as a peace offering when she’s anything but.”
“Sounds like you’ve already gotten a lot of information from her in a short amount of time,” Stefano commented. “She impressed you with her torture skills, didn’t she?”
“Yes.” I sighed, sliding down in the seat. “It shouldn’t have, but I got turned on by how easily she took over and made sure that Griffin paid for his sins.” Man, I didn’t think I had ever been so hard in my life, and when I came, I was weaker and in a euphoric afterglow for a while. I couldn’t wait for another torture session together, then maybe after that I would fuck that mouth of hers and force her to swallow every bit of it. My dick stirred at the thought.
“That’s going to make this harder, but just keep in mind she might still be working for the enemy,” he warned.
I both heeded and detested the warning. “I’ll keep that in mind. If you see something, make sure to tell me because I’m going to overlook stuff because I’m falling for her.”
“Already figured that out, huh?” Stefano winked and I just closed my eyes, unable to think properly.
After I saw my men’s loyalty to her so quickly, I knew she was built for this life. She commanded respect. As an alpha, I was bound to fall for a woman like her. It was inevitable.
“Give me the rundown on what we’ve got happening,” I requested quietly, trying to focus on the present problem.
Stefano knew he had to change the topic; I was done with that conversation.
“Some of our shipments have been light. Tonight’s shipment was the worst so far, almost as if someone is getting bolder,” he reported.
“Or they might not care anymore if it’s Marco’s spies.” My attention turned back to the matter at hand.
I hated to think that there were people that still reported on our actions back to one of the other dons, but that was how the game was played. Greed would win out over loyalty and fear. I had to make sure to up the fear, that was why I gained the enjoyment of torture. Not only would it be a release, but it was an important motivator. There would still be scum who continued until I killed them like the rodents they were, but it wasn’t a daily occurrence.
“Eight of our men will be meeting us at the warehouse.” Stefano looked grim. “I’ve already told them to call the distributor to make sure that the correct amount leaves from their end. I warned them what would happen if they were shorting us guns.”
I nodded.
“Each of the last three orders have been missing some,” he continued. “Not many, but enough to cause concern. Ten here, fifteen there, but this time over one hundred weren’t there when they unloaded the order. Riccoli counted three times and double checked the amount of received crates. It was the correct number of crates, but the guns were missing.”
“Very well.” I was thinking hard because I didn’t want to have to deal with this right now. Yet, anytime this wasn’t taken care of immediately, then people thought they could be sloppy. Death was the punishment for what sloppiness could bring to the family.
“He’s reported this each time?”
“Yes, sir.” Stefano stepped into his professional role as my second.
“Hmm, let’s see what is going on with our shipments, shall we?”
Riccoli, the inventory manager of guns and other precious shipments, was eagerly awaiting our arrival. Sweat soaked through his shirt and his face was ruddy. I mentally smiled at the physical reaction I invoked in him. I appreciated that he knew how important this situation was. He wasn’t displaying the actions of a guilty man and I was fairly certain that there had been many others there as the guns were counted.
“Riccoli, sorry to meet like this, but it was necessary.” I opened the conversation quickly.
“Yes, sir. I understand that this is a serious situation. I assure you that we’ve gone through the crates three times and it was the same amount missing each time.” He hurried to reassure me.
