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“Which is what?”
“Wealth. Family. Businesses that thrive. He wants what we all want, Luka.”
“I want more,” I tell him being truthful. He chuckles and downs his drink before refilling his glass.
“You always have wanted more than we were offering you. That’s just the type of person you are.”
“Meaning what exactly?”
“Nothing. I don’t mean anything by that. I’m just stating this is how you’ve always been. You want what you want, and there is no way around that.”
“Then you realize I’ll never let this wedding happen,” I tell him as I finish my glass and slam it onto his desk. He raises his eyebrows in a challenge, and I take it. I’ll take every challenge he throws if it means I get what I want.
“You will let this wedding happen, Luka. You have no other choice.” I have other choices. “Romano is good for her. He’ll treat her right, and they’ll settle down and have children to grow our empire.” Just the thought of him touching her makes me grind my teeth together. She might hate and loathe me, but she will never belong to him. Ever.
“Good for her? He has plenty of whores who say otherwise,” I remind my father of the facts he already knows.
“People change, Luka. I’m sure your brother can change as well.”
“He won’t, and you know it. We both know it. You’re damning that girl to disastrous marriage. One where she will not only be miserable but also used.”
“She isn’t being used, Luka. My God, son. Where is this coming from? I thought the obsession with this girl was over long ago,” he snaps at me.
“It is. There is nothing between her and me.” No, there isn’t because I ruined that a long time ago. I made sure she looked at me like the monster I was made to be. I made sure she saw every fucking flaw I had. And I broke her in doing so.
“Then why is this such an issue for you?”
“Fine. You want the Costa famiglia to take what you have worked so hard for; that’s your issue. But don’t think they will set foot in here and demand I kill for them. I kill for my famiglia, and that’s it.”
“No one is asking you to bow to them, Luka. I’m asking you to take a chance with me. This could mean big mergers for our famiglia. This could mean so much,” he says, and he believes it too. I can see in his eyes he actually believes what he’s saying. I shake my head because I doubt it all. I doubt any of this is going to work out as planned. Nothing good will come from this merger, and we all know it.
“I don’t like it, but for you, I will.”
“Good. Very good,” he says with a smile you don’t often see on him. He nods his head and offers me another drink which I take. “Onto other business. Have you made your way to the laundry mats lately?”
“Not in a few months,” I tell him.
“Why don’t you do that next week? I know we have men that handle that part of town, but I’ve heard some things,” he says, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his desk.
“What things?”
“That there has been illegal gambling going on in the back. Not just a little change here and there, either. Big money.”
“Big money that we don’t know about? How is that possible?”
“As I said, this was going on behind our backs. I’d like to know who orchestrated it and who has been a part of it,” he says. I nod my head. That won’t be a problem for me. I can get that information easily enough.
“I’ll do what I need to,” I reassure him.
“Good. Let’s do that in a timely manner. Your brother has been running the numbers, and I’ll be honest, it’s a lot of money running through there,” he explains.
“I don’t like where this is going already,” I admit.
“I don’t either. That’s why I’m sending you in. From what we gather, another game will be held on Friday night. I want you there to intervene.”
“Consider it done,” I tell him. He nods and shifts in his seat, letting me know something else is bothering him. “What is it?”
“The wedding, Luka. You have to let it happen.”
