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“Sartori,” Emil replied, his tone cocky with the premature feeling of victory.
“I heard that you’re interested in making some sort of dealwith me,” Nero said, his voice betraying nothing.
“We have your wife,” Emil told him. “Your life for hers. No fuss, no muss, nothing complicated.”
“Now, while I can see where you mightthink that you have the upper hand, you can’t honestly believe that I’m going to agree to such a thing, Schulz,” Nero replied calmly, and I could feel bile churning in the pit of my stomach.
“We’ll kill her if you don’t,” Emil saidseriously. “Don’t think that we won’t, Sartori.”
“Then kill her.”
The entire room froze atthose three little words. Even the air around us seemed to stop. It was impossibly quiet, no one knowing what to do or say next. As I glanced around, every man in the room had a look of surprise on their faces, not quite believing what they were hearing.
“What did you say?” Emil finally asked.
“I said to go ahead and kill her.”
Franzglanced my way, and I almost laughed at how he actually looked like he felt sorry for me.
“I’m not fucking bluffing, Sartori,” Emil snapped. “I will kill the bitch. Of course, not until after I let my men have a bit of fun with her, but she will end up dead eventually.”
“You really should do your homework before you kick off a war, Schulz,” Nero replied, his voice as smooth as silk. “My marriage to Kasen Milano was a business arrangement between our fathers. So, by killing her, you’re actually doing me a favor.”
“What are you talking about?” Emil hissed, his plans unraveling, making him unpredictable.
“Killing her rids me of a wife that I never wanted,” Nero answered, and I had no idea how I was not retching with every word out of his mouth. “You will have made it to where I have honored my commitment but am still free to be able to marry someone else of my choosing. Since Kasen isn’t pregnant, then she’s not anything that can’t be replaced.”
“You…you…can’t mean that,” Emil stammered, his face turning red with fury.
“I’ve been married to the woman for all of two weeks, Schulz,”Nero pointed out, his voice sounding patronizing and bored. “You really should have done your homework better.”
“I don’t believe you,” Emilseethed.
After a heartbeat of silence, Nero said, “Okay, let’s say that I do hold some sort of affection for her. Hell, let’s even say that I love her.No matter how I feel about my wife, there’s one thing that will always be the number one love of my life, and that’s my position as the Underboss of the most powerful syndicate in the state. If you think that I would willingly hand over my position of power for a woman, then you really don’t know who the fuck you’re dealing with, Schulz.”
I watched Emil Schulz pull out his gun, then stick it underneath Franz’s chin. Franz had miscalculated, and he’d miscalculated badly.
“Also, there’s another thing to consider,” Nero went on.
“What’s that?” Emil hissed, ready to gun down everyonein the room.
“If you kill her, then you give the Irish and the Russians the green light to approve me taking you and your entire family out for killing an Underboss’ wife,” Nero told him, and it was funny how my only thoughts were of my father right now. While I wasn’t afraid to die, it would have been nice to be able to tell my father that I loved him one last time. “More than happy to divide your territory at no risk to them, your entire legacy will be wiped off the face of the earth, and you’d better believe that even your pets won’t be safe from me.”
Choosing his mortality over his pride, Emil asked, “And what would you askfor if I don’t kill her?”
“You wanted a trade, then I’ll give you one,” Nero answered. “We still have your lackey with us. Since it’s my understanding that he owes you money, we’ll give him back to you, so that you can collect it. In return, I’ll send a couple of my soldiers to collect my wife.”
“I thought you didn’t care if we killed her,” Emil sneered, defeat making him act nasty.
“Oh, make no mistake, Schulz,”Nero chuckled darkly. “I don’t care what you do with her. However, she’s still Renzo Milano’s daughter. If you think that Renzo won’t defy me to avenge his favorite child, then you haven’t done your homework on him, either. So, my suggestion is that you return her unharmed, then do what you want with the idiot that you used as a messenger.”
“I’ll call you back,” Emil told him before hanging up.
“Boss, I-”
“You told me that he loved her,” Emil spat as he shoved his gun deeper into Franz’s chin. “You told me that this would fucking work.”
“Tha…that’s what Ry…Ryan said,” Franz sputtered. “He said-”
