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She wasn’t upset with me? That would be a first.
In the face of her good will, I pushed my possible advantage. “So, what’s up next? More meetings, or do you have something else in mind?” What big plans did she have in the works?
“For now, I do have one more meeting for you to attend. Tomorrow you’ll be seeing the young man who’s essentially the Storm now to have brunch and get to know each other better.” Mom paused. “You should take some care with your clothes and hair. Make yourself look… appealing.”
My stomach knotted. “Is this a business thing, or are you setting me up on a date?”
Mom laughed lightly. “You can make whatever you want of the opportunity. But it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if that option was on the table, would it?”
Fuck. Not only was she holding my fear for my guys’ safety over my head, she thought she could set up a replacement for them too.
My jaw clenched, but even as every particle of my body balked at the thought of so much as pretending I cared what another man thought of me, I knew I had to agree.
“Sure. I’ll look every bit the mafia princess, Mom.”
“I’m glad to hear that, mija.”
A term of endearment she rarely used. I didn’t know how to take it now.
We ended the call, and I stared blankly at the highway ahead of me. This was my life now.
And if I wanted the men I’d fallen for to have any lives of their own, I had to stick with it until I could find a real way out.
SIX
Luciana
Even in the late morning,tourists were bustling in and out of the colorful entertainment complex in downtown New Orleans. A couple of street musicians played a jazz riff as I walked past them to the restaurant where I was meant to meet the Storm. Or the guy who was practically the Storm now, from the way Mom told it.
I stepped inside to subdued air conditioning and tasteful beiges and whites accentuated with a pop of gold. Another fancy-schmancy place for another wary encounter with one of my mother’s peers.
At least it smelled like the food would be worthwhile. Scents of seafood laced with citrus and herbs tickled my nose and set my mouth watering.
The tables were packed, but the Storm had gotten us a reservation—and showed up very promptly. When I told the hostess there was a reservation under Storm, she flashed a smile and led me over to a table tucked away in a quieter corner, where a blond guy who didn’t look like he could be out of his twenties yet sat waiting.
He stood up at our approach, and I studied him as surreptitiously as I could, re-evaluating my initial assessment of him as being one of Mom’s peers. He was more likemypeer—definitely closer to my age than hers.
He swept back his sandy blond hair and shot me a warm smile that held none of the reserve the March Wind’s representative had shown me. I might not be hoping for an actual date, but I could appreciate the way his tailored dress shirt and slacks fit his toned body. As much as his age might have been surprising for someone already taking the helm of one of the Devil’s Dozen empires, his stance exuded a cool confidence that suggested he’d earned the responsibility.
I couldn’t let his seeming friendliness disarm me. He could still be an enemy. With the constant jockeying for power Mom had told me about over the years, all of the Devil’s Dozen members were potential foes.
As I reached the table, the Storm swept around it to pull out my chair before I could tell him I didn’t need that kind of politeness. “You must be the heir to the Deadly Rose,” he said, still smiling. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
To my chagrin, my mouth took a moment to start working. I definitely wasn’t a natural at this politicking stuff.
“Same,” I said, which sounded suitably neutral, and sank into the chair. I had the sense that the guy’s gaze skimmed over me before he returned to his own seat.
He was sizing me up too. That was what all of these meetings boiled down to in the end, wasn’t it?
I folded my hands on the table in front of me, wishing I had a menu to glance at and peek at him over. I still wasn’t totally sure what Mom expected of me here. If she thought I was going to throw myself at this dude, she could forget it.
But this man, even if he was less than ten years older than me, held just as much power as my mother did. Controlled a criminal empire equally vast.
I had to tread even more carefully with him than I had with the March Hare’s representative or with Sheeran back in Boston.
This was my first time meeting another Devil’s Dozen member face to face. How had Mom even convinced him to go along with the meeting?
Maybehewas hoping he could score with me. A major notch in his bedpost, landing the heir to one of his colleagues.
