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“Primo didn't have a cyber operation?” Damianasked.
She shook her head. “Not like the one you’re talking about. He had people — people who did background checks, ran financials, that kind of stuff — but it was hardly a well-oiledmachine.”
“He’s been working the old model,” Damian said. “A lot of the organized crime world is still working that model, which is why they’re becoming obsolete. Nico Vitale was the first one to really have his finger on the pulse of the business’s future. It almost got himkilled.”
She looked up with interest. She felt like she’d been sleeping for years and years. Now she felt awake. Alert. Interested in something besides her own survival and Primo’s stateofmind.
“How so?” sheasked.
Damian shrugged. “I don’t know all the details, but Raneiro Donati tried to have Nico killed in response to his vision for the future of the Syndicate. He was ahead of his time, but the old school members didn’tappreciateit.”
She wondered how Angel fit into the puzzle. She had a feeling it was another story foranothertime.
“Whathappened?”
“Nico banded together with Farrell and Christophe and killed Raneiro, took over what was left of his operation, and excised the ones who weren’t willing to adopt his model,”Damiansaid.
“That’s what was happening when Primo gained ground in New York,” shemurmured.
Damian nodded, wiped his mouth on one of the linen napkins, took another drink of coffee. “It took awhile. The Syndicate was a multinational organization. Sorting out the loyalists who wouldn’t get behind new leadership from the ones who were willing to embrace the new vision took time. They’ve only recently gained enough stability to start retaking territories likeNewYork.”
Now she was starting to understand. “I take it that’s where youcamein?”
“They approached me to take back New York,” he said. “Gave me permission to offer Primo a fair price for theterritory.”
She remembered the meeting between Primo and Damian at Velvet, the beginning of the end of heroldlife.
The beginning of her love forDamian.
“And if he’d taken it?” sheasked.
“If he’d taken it, I would have had a choice to walk away with a similar offer or take over the territory as part of the new Syndicate,”hesaid.
“What would you have done?” sheasked.
“Back then?” He seemed to think about it. “I’m not sure. I might have taken the money and gone underground with another kind of operation. I’ve never been much of ajoiner.”
“Andnow?”
But she already knew the answer. He would join the Syndicate — was already part of it — becauseofher.
“Things are different now,” he said, pushing back from thetable.
She looked up at him. “Becauseofme?”
She hated the thought of Damian being trapped in a life he didn’t want because of her, because he’d had to call in a favor with the Syndicate to get her out ofGreece.
He walked to her side of the table and looked down at her with his dark eyes. “Because of you. Because of a lot ofthings.”
“Did you join them becauseofme?”
He lowered himself next to her so they were at eye level. “Let’s just say I’ve come around to the idea of being a teamplayer.”
She slid her hand to the back of his neck. “I just want you to be happy when this is all over,Damian.”
“Will you be with me?” he asked. “When this is all over,Imean?”
She nodded. “Always.”
