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I could go the usual route, the way my family’s always done their business—drug distribution, loan sharing, tax fraud, and extortion—but I want to do this a better way. Property management. I won’t have to get my hands as dirty, and the feds won’t be on my ass like they are now. I want to control the city and make a profit without them even realizing it. I have a feeling that’s what my father wanted, but he never wrote it down. He made sure I would own the city again, but not in the way I figured. He must have known I enjoy management more.
“You could take over more this way.”
“I’m not trying to start a war with the Irish, Lev. They’ve been doing their own thing for years, and I want them to keep it that way. I already have too much going on with Giovanni.”
“I’ve got to hand it to you, man,” Dimitri says, taking a sip from his glass, “I thought this was just about revenge.”
“It is. But I also want what’s best for this family. It’s what my father wanted.”
“And what’s the plan with Sloane?”
I have many reasons for keeping her. Selfishly, I want to because of how my body reacts to her. I like how she always has something smart to say back to me, but if I keep this going, I might snap. I’ve never dealt with anyone like her. When people piss me off, I’m able to handle it—but I need Sloane alive.
There are two other reasons I have to keep in mind. One: if Giovanni takes a property I want, I’ll trade her for it. Two: if everything works out and I claim my section, I’ll use her for a contract. They can have her back if they agree to remain civil.
“It really all depends on how the event goes, doesn’t it?” I say.
“Will Giovanni be there?”
I shrug. “Depends on how badly he wants it and whether people will invest their money in him or me.”
“He has a wife and a daughter on the way. They’ll invest in him because he looks better.”
I’m aware of that. A family man is viewed in a better light than a single man. “That’s what Dimitri was telling me.”
“Sloane,” Lev insists.
I put out the cigarette in the ashtray and fold my arms across my chest. “Yep. Don’t ask me how I’ll get her to agree. She’s a wild horse who refuses to be ridden.”
“Make a deal with her.”
“Like what?” I ask, interested in his idea.
“If she does this for you, you’ll let her go.”
Let her go.
The thought of letting her go pisses me off. I’ll never admit it to her, but I’ve been enjoying her company. She maddens me. She makes me feel things I haven’t felt before. I fucking hate her. She never knows when to shut up and mind her own fucking business.
“She would believe you—you know that,” Lev muses.
“I wouldn’t lie to her. If that’s what I tell her to convince her, then I’ll stick to my end of the deal.”
“A man of honor,” he chuckles.
I toss my head back. “A man of honor.”
It would leave me empty-handed, at risk of the families coming after me.
Grabbing the pool stick, I place it back on the rack. “Max is arriving tomorrow. And there will be no fucking fighting.”
“He’s with Giovanni. Fighting is bound to happen,” Lev says, the veins in his neck standing out.
“He’s with me.”
I end my conversation with Lev and head back to my bedroom, where I take a shower and lie down on the firm mattress. I’d never be able to stay in New York without Sloane. She connects two strong families, and they’d do anything to get to her. But now I have to worry about her. I have to protect her from the people who want to steal her from me.
She doesn’t know the truth about anything, and when she learns, it’ll shatter her precious, fragile heart.
