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“I don’t need his money. I have enough of my own.”
“True,” Matteo says as he uses his thumb to rub his chin. He’s got a bit of scruff growing there now and it makes him look older than he is. “But it wasn’t the money I was thinking of—it was the power. You could control his distribution channels.”
That idea does have some merit. “Fine, but if he so much as blinks in hesitation, I’m killing him on the spot.”
Matteo laughs and then I head straight to Valentino’s apartment. But when I get there, I’m approached by none other than the Giotticapowho is waiting outside. “Malacoda,” I say as I walk up to him. “What are you doing here?”
I half-expect him to say he’s been waiting for me to show up, although I’m not sure why. But instead, he tells me the last thing I expect to hear. “Lara is here,” he says.
I instantly bristle. “Impossible. I left her with someone in a safe place.”
“Loreto brought her to me, and I’ve given her what you might call a mission,” he says.
“What kind of mission?” I’m not opposed to going up against anothercapo, even one as honorable and powerful as Malacoda Giotti, if he’s threatened Lara’s safety. This is the last place in the world she should be right now, and there’s no reason for her to be here.
“I’ve sent her back to her father to try and bring Valentino down from the inside.”
“Youwhat?” I snarl at him as I clench my fists at my side.
“Take it easy,” Malacoda warns. “Hear me out before you do something foolish you’ll regret.” At the moment, I’m regretting being on amicable terms with the Giottis. “Before you decide to storm in there and grab your girl, there’s something you don’t know about the Ricci crime family that you should. Valentino and the other senior members of the Ricci family aren’t just drug trafficking kingpins. They also control the cops who investigate the drug trafficking. You run the risk of losing all your restaurants in the city if you’re responsible for the collapse of that whole ecosystem of kickbacks and payoffs.”
“I don’t care who I piss off,” I say.
“That’s readily apparent. But you might want to. Especially if you plan to stay in Manhattan and keep your wealth and your woman alive.”
I hear what Malacoda is saying loud and clear, and even though I’d like to pretend I’m untouchable, I’m not. He’s right about my enemies being able to get to my money and businesses, and to Lara too if I’m not careful. But having her back around her father is a bad idea and I decide in that instant that this will be the last alliance I make with Malacoda Giotti, since he put Lara in danger so carelessly.
“There’s only one way to untangle yourself from this mess,” he continues. “And that’s to let Lara try to take her father down from the inside without implicating any of the other crime families, yours or mine.”
“I despise that idea. Lara putting herself back into her father’s hands is dangerous.”
“It is. But she’s already agreed to it and gone in,” Malacoda says. He doesn’t look at all regretful about having used her as a means to an end. “She’s stronger than you think she is. I’m a good judge of character. Let’s let her try her hand at this and see what she can do, and I’ll pledge my support and alliance with you, Christian.”
I stand there without giving him a response and remind myself to give Sabine a lecture for letting Lara slip out of her hands. I know how slippery she can be, but I thought at least the gunshot wound in her shoulder would slow her down a bit. Apparently not.
Malacoda gets ready to leave, not wanting to get caught lingering outside of Valentino’s place and drawing attention to our conversation here, I’m sure. “Sit back and wait,” he says as he gets to his car and opens the door. “Let this play out before you make a move.”
I stand there and watch as he drives off, then I look up at Valentino’s building, the same building I rescued Lara from before. I know without a doubt that there’s no way in hell I’m going to just sit by and let her fend for herself within her father’s dominion. I may not have done the best job protecting Lara before, but I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to her again.
17
LARA
Crawling back to my father is the literal last thing on earth I want to do. And it’s also the last thing I ever thought I would be doing. Getting away from that man was my life’s mission for years.But now, here I am walking back into my father’s apartment with my head held low.
“Well, well, look what the alley cat dragged in,” my father grins smugly as one of his men escorts me inside. I’m kind of amazed I wasn’t shot on sight, but I guess that would look a little too blatant, even for my father. “To what do I owe this surprise visit from my wayward daughter?”
“I’d like to reconsider,” I say, swallowing my pride and nearly choking on my lie.
“Reconsider what, exactly?”
“I think I would like to stay in the city with my family.” Yeah, that last word definitely felt like bile crawling back up my throat. Valentino is no family to me—he’s a heartless, cruel shell of a man who isn’t worthy of the air he breathes.
“Do you now?” he mocks. “And why the sudden change of heart? Did Christian Greco not live up to your standards? I have to admit, he’s a bit weaker than the stories made him out to be. I was a bit disappointed in how easily I heard he bruised.”
I can feel my chest fill with rage. I’d like nothing more than to claw his eyes out with my own fingernails, but I restrain myself. Unfortunately, my father can already see he’s capable of getting a reaction out of me, even when I try to hide it. From the corner of my eye, I can see one of his men closing the door behind us and standing in front of it as if to block the way out. Suddenly, I get a strong feeling this was all a very bad idea.
“I’m guessing you didn’t really come here because you’re sick of thecapoyou were arranged to marry, but rather that you’re trying to negotiate on his behalf. The only problem is, I think you may have made a miscalculation.”
