AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Jimmy
“Whatarewegoingto do about this, Ray?” my father asked the man sitting across from him as he lounged on one of the large, comfy chairs in my office. His arms were stretched along the back of the soft black leather, one leg crossed over the other in a casual stance. Anyone looking at Marco Morelli would think that he was relaxed, but having known him my whole life, I knew he wasn’t. He was angry, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Not unless he wanted to shoot the higher-up Mafia boss sitting across from him.
But the bodyguards lining the wall might have had a problem with that.
Raymond Segreto sat in the other oversized black leather chair, his feet up on the glass table between him and my father. His hands were folded over his rather large belly, and he was smiling. I wasn’t sure if it was to put my father at ease or if his relaxed stance was genuine, but he seemed pleasant enough. I had met him a few times over the years but, as I wasn’t really involved with that part of my father’s business, I hadn’t seen him often. I knew they worked together, usually very well, and I knew they were close enough to go to bars together and sometimes play golf. But in their world, that didn’t necessarily make them friends.
“We are going to do what we always do. We will figure it out,” Ray said, giving a one-shoulder shrug. My father started rubbing the ring on his index finger, and I looked down at my paperwork. Why they couldn’t have had their meeting somewhere else, I didn’t understand. I had work to do. But, as my father built Morelli Corp and still owned all the property the buildings were on, he could conduct his business wherever he wanted, regardless of my work schedule.
At least he had called me ahead of time, so I could warn the staff not to come up to the seventeenth floor. My PA, Caroline, could run things while they were here, and if there was an emergency, she would text me. But still, I would love to be able to focus on the contract sitting in front of me. We stood to make a good five million dollars on the deal, but instead I was worried about a possible shootout in my office.
“You owe me a significant amount of money, Ray. More than I think you can afford to give me. I told you that you could have the last shipment of guns if you paid me back twice what I could have sold them for. You assured me you could cover it. Now here we are, six months later, and you haven't even made an effort to pay me back,” my father said, shifting his stance to lean on his propped-up knee, his hands folded over it to appear less threatening. It still made the guards behind Ray shift nervously, watching my father like hungry hawks, holding their guns in front of themselves.
“I would have, but the pot market has fallen through! My guys are struggling now that it’s legal. They need to go for the harder stuff—which is considerably more expensive. I need time, Marco. But you’ll get your money, I promise. Just give me another six months and—”
“Six months?” my father hissed, leaning back again—this time, not as relaxed. He was pissed, and I was going to have to step in soon to deflate his anger. Otherwise, we might have a full-on war in my office. “You need a fullyearto pay me back? That’s ridiculous!Youwould never accept a deal like this! And I would never have given you the product had I known it was going to take me a year to get the money back. That’s practically insulting!”
“Oh, don’t be such a stickler, Marco. You know me. You know I’m good for it,” Ray insisted, and my father got to his feet abruptly. Suddenly, every gun in the room was drawn, and my father was glaring down at the larger man who hadn’t even twitched.
“You think you’re getting away with something. I’m never going to see the money, am I? You cheap son of a bitch!”
I stood up and put my hands in the air to show everyone I wasn’t a threat.
“Okay, okay, enough with the guns,” I said, addressing the backup. “We are just having a discussion, and it’s getting a little out of hand, yeah?” After my words, they lowered the guns but didn’t put them away entirely, and my father sat down slowly.
I approached the glass table and stood before it, the wall of windows to the city skyline at my back. I looked at each man and folded my arms over my chest. “Now that we have established that the money is going to take too long, is there anything else that can be offered as payment? Dad, would you be willing to work with Mr. Segreto if he could offer something else of worth?”
“I would be willing, but it would have to be worth what he owes me. I’m not losing out on this deal.”
“Of course not! I don’t want to shortchange you, Marco. That’s not my goal. I can offer whatever you like. I have boats. I have drugs. The guns are being sold, but I can give you half of them. I need the rest to fund everything else I have going,” Ray explained, sitting up finally. I had been wanting to snap at him for putting his feet up on my table but had refrained from doing so.
“Well, perfect. Now you just have to decide on what it is that you want, Dad,” I pointed out.
“I don’t need boats or drugs, and money is a moot point now seeing as you can’t give me the full amount. What I want from you is a guarantee. A guarantee that something like this will never happen again. Collateral,” my father said and mimicked my stance by folding his arms over his chest. Ray ran a hand through his short brown hair.
“I don’t have much for collateral. Other than the businesses I own or the people I’m tied to, but that won’t help. The only thing that is irreplaceable to me…” He stopped speaking, and his face fell. For the first time since the meeting started, Ray no longer looked carefree and happy. He looked from me to my father and shook his head. “No, I can’t give you her.”
“Why not?” Dad asked, a grin forming on his face. He knew he had Raymond Segreto by the balls, and he was going to pull with everything he was worth. I didn’t know exactly what they were talking about, but I had a feeling we were treading in some very dangerous waters. “If we have her, then you won’t dare hinder our ability to take care of her, and I get my guarantee that I have the most valuable thing to you.”
“I won’t. How can I be sure she will be safe? How do I know you won’t just kill her?” Ray asked, and I put my hands in a “T” to signal a time-out.
“Excuse me, what exactly are we talking about? Who would you be giving to my father?” I asked, addressing Ray.
“My daughter, Natalia. My only family left. And I am not going to put her in harm’s way.”
“No, Dad, that’s taking it a bit too far,” I shook my head, but my father shot me a look. I may have been thirty-four years old, but that look could still shut me up in a second.
“Then, I propose a wedding,” Dad announced, and he couldn’t keep the smile off his face. “The moment she takes the Morelli name, she will be my family as well as yours, and we always care of our own. You will be my family too. So, therefore, we will take care of each other like a team. We will let bygones be bygones. I will consider your debt paid, and I can help you with your declining business. You get the guarantee that she is safe, and everyone is happy.”
The silence stretched between us for a long moment before Ray spoke up again. This time his voice was low and cautious.
“And if I refuse?”
“If you refuse, I will destroy you. No one cons a Morelli. There is a reason I am the big boss’s right-hand man. You may be a higher-up, but you don’t have the pull that I have. And you don’t have the funds that I have. I could have your entire operation taken over in a snap of my fingers, Ray. Make the deal or end up six feet under wearing your tongue for a necktie,” he threatened.
Ray looked at me, and I nodded. My father meant it. He was one of the scariest people I knew, and I knew a lot of scary people.
