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“Morelli.” He turned toward me when I shouted his name. “Get away from her.”
When I approached them, he released her hand. I looked at Emmie to make sure she was okay. Physically she was fine, but judging from the way she fidgeted with her hands, she was in distress.
“Jude.” She got up from the chair where I had left her vulnerable and unprotected, but she was supposed to be safe here.What the fuck?“He said he was a friend of yours.”
I didn’t like the way Morelli eyed Emmie up. He didn’t even try to hide his disrespect over his obvious interest in my woman.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I thought it was time we met.” He held out his hand. “Officially, Mr. Cordero.”
“It’s customary to set up an appointment.” I ignored his request to shake his hand. “I know who you are, Mr. Morelli, and I’m not interested in working with you.”
“My associate told me. So, I thought it was time to come and see you for myself.”
“Myers?”Of course.“I don’t do business with anyone who doesn’t respect the boundaries and rules set in place.”
“Boundaries move and rules change.” He winked at Emmie. “You haven’t even heard me out. How do you know you don’t want to work with me?”
“I have good instincts.”
Emmie inched closer to me, standing slightly behind my shoulder. She was close enough that I could feel her erratic breaths on my neck.
“Hmm, you might want to reevaluate.” He glanced at his watch. “You stand here and talk about rules, but you know what’s interesting about what you preach?”
“Enlighten me.” I’d had enough of this wanna-be mafia man. If he really wanted in, he would have gone through the proper channels and approached me in a respectful manner.
“I could have been the one celebrating Emmie’s birthday with her tonight if you had followed the rules.” He smirked. “If you hadn’t sabotaged all of the bidders who were scheduled to be at her auction, she would be on my arm.”
Emmie let out a small gasp.
“Trust me, beautiful, I would have paid triple what anyone else was bidding to have you.”
“Fuck you.” As I stepped toward him, his men came into the room, followed by mine. “Call them off.”
“Relax.” Morelli held up his hand. “Mr. Cordero isn’t going to come at me. He knows how that will look. He doesn’t want any problems with all those important people down the hall.”
I stood in front of Emmie, blocking her from his sight. Morelli was right. I couldn’t afford to have gunfire or bloodshed in a club where I worked so hard to maintain a legitimate front.
“I don’t want you to look at her, speak her name, or even think about her.” I clenched my fist, controlling my urge to knock his teeth out, because if I hit him, there would be an all-out battle. That would be bad for business. “You and your men are going to leave tonight and you won’t be coming back.”
“Don’t be so sure.”
“Is that a threat? Because I don’t respond well to those and neither will my associates.”
“It’s more of a fact.” He straightened his tie. “I’m here to stay, so that means you’re going to have to work with me. If you’re not working with me, that’s going to be a problem for you and your associates.”
“Get out.”
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Emmie.” He looked over my shoulder and met her stare as she took my hand, then he returned his gaze to me. “I wish I could say the same for you, Mr. Cordero. It’s a good thing I forgive first impressions.”
“I don’t.”
Luke joined us, bringing three more of our men with him.
Morelli looked around the room and then glanced out the window where my shipments were imported and exported. His subtle meaning was not lost on me as he and his men left, but not before getting off one last message.
“The funny thing about empires is they tend to fall.”
