AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t think we can get within two feet of her,” Constantine said as he nodded across the crowd.
“Yeah, don’t look now but it appears your lieutenant had dibs on your sister.”
Jonas had been by her side, taking a leave of absence with my permission to return her winery to the status it had had before the police raid. “With my blessing.”
“Wow. You’ve really come into the new century,” Brogan teased, his comment directed at Gabriel who’d been under pressure to marry off his sister to the Don of another crime syndicate.
I realized as each one of them had told stories how much we actually knew about each other. Maybe we had developed a real friendship.
Maybe having a kid had made me too soft.
I laughed to myself.
Whether we continued to stay close, I was thankful for the assistance I’d received during what my father only referred to as the crisis. Sadly, Nico’s betrayal had pushed him further into dementia, the heartache too much for him to bear. But not today. On this glorious afternoon, he beamed because he had his first grandchild.
“Here, Daddy,” Savannah said to Maxim as she handed off their daughter to him. “Time for Mommy to have a glass of wine. You boys can’t have all the fun.” She winked, blew Maxim a kiss then skipped away.
“Are you fucking blushing?” Constantine threw at him.
“Fuck, no,” Maxim said then winced, grumbling in Russian under his breath. “Do not tell my lady I cursed in front of Rebecca, or she’ll have my hide.”
“I’d like to see that,” I told him.
“Yeah, me too. I’ll go get her,” Dante mused until Maxim grabbed his arm.
We all took a couple of minutes to indulge in peace, something that was rare in our industry. Then Constantine cleared his throat, a call to action.
“Time for business,” he said to the group.
“It’s a fucking party. Screw business.” Brogan shook his head. “Time for another drink.”
“Wait. This won’t take long,” Constantine insisted. “I wanted to show you a copy of the financial statement from our account.”
We all had direct access to the account, all seven making regular contributions, but I had to admit I hadn’t paid any attention to the amount in months.
I’d had far too much on my mind. While the seven of us were experiencing the sanctity of peace in our operations, the nagging would always be in the back of my mind.
Another enemy would engage, determined to overthrow one or another. We’d have each other’s backs.
No matter the difficult task.
When he held up his phone, shifting it from one to the other, every man whistled.
“Not bad,” Diego said first.
I was shocked by the amount, impressed with the earnings. Constantine was a consummate businessman.
“I think that deserves another toast,” Dante offered. “To the lords of our legacy.”
“To the Lords of Corruption. May they learn from our mistakes, accept those they make, and hope that they learn what’s most important.” As I offered the toast, I could tell every man was trying to decide what the one most important thing was.
Then without hesitation, everyone but Diego searched the crowd for the women they’d fallen in love with.
I was no exception.
“You’ll find her,” I told Diego, trying to keep from grinning.
“Are you kidding me? No one could tolerate my brother,” Dante huffed.
