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Nero was in my face before I knewit, his hold on my arm painful, and I could only be grateful that he hadn’t grabbed my left arm. “I will kill you before I see you with another man,” he seethed down at me. “I swear to God, Kasen.” He shook me a little and pain radiated inside my skull, confirming Dr. Chapman’s diagnosis of a mild head concussion. “I will see you dead before ever allowing you to fall in love with another man.”
Not giving a fuck, I wrenched my arm from his hold. “I’m tired,” I told him. “I’m also done with this conversation.”
“The fuck you are-”
“What?” I scoffed, my head throbbing. “You’re going to keep me up all night to fight?”
That seemed to remind himthat I wasn’t well. “My apologies-”
“I’ll also pay you back the money,” I told him, and the man looked like he was two seconds away from pitching me over the balcony rail. “My father told me that you paid Emil.”
“You arenotpaying me back-”
“Then Emil Schulz will have three-hundred-thousand dollars to spend, because I’m paying that money, no matter what you say,” I insisted. “I refuse to oweanyone.”
“I’m not anyone,” he snapped. “I’m your fucking husband.”
“Yeah, I know,” I replied, exhaustion hitting me with enough force to make me turn from him, then head to bed. After all, as of right now, I still had to go to work on Monday, and I could only hope that Nero didn’t take that away from me also.
Chapter 31
Nero~
Normally, meetings like this one were held at my father’s house with all the Capos in attendance. However, because what we were doing requiredabsolute secrecy until we put our plan into action, we were at my house with only a few of us here, in on what was happening.
We were all in my office, but instead of me sitting behind my desk like a dick, I was leaning up against it, Marco, Renzo, Elio, and Aurelio all in here with me. Elio’s guard, Costas, and Marco’s consigliere, Victor, were also here.While I wasn’t sure if Elio and Costas were as close as Aurelio and I were, I knew that he was trustworthy and that my brother thought very highly of him.
“Now that we have the green light, what’s next?” Elio asked, and as much as I wanted to go in therewith all guns blazing, I knew that we couldn’t. While we’d just been given the green light to take out Emil Schulz, if we did it like savages, then the Russians and Irish might rethink their position on all this. After all, no one wanted to deal with a feral animal, and I was still feeling very fucking feral.
Nevertheless, money did talk, and whenwe presented our business deal with the other two families, they had eagerly agreed. Sure, we’d gotten their ‘sympathies’ and a bunch of talk about how they didn’t blame me after hearing what happened, but that’d all been bullshit. No one cared about my wife, least of all the Irish Mob or the Russian Bratva. Emil Schulz had presented them each with gifts worth millions and it wasn’t even Christmas.
We had agreed tosplit Emil’s territory evenly, giving Declan O’Brien a leg up over the Russians because we had offered him the northern border, which gave them access to a nearby airport across state lines. Emil’s territory had always been boxed in between us and the Irish, so it was easier for O’Brien to take over the northern section, leaving the Russians with the rest. Offering Declan the opportunity first had ensured that Avgust Kotov would agree to take what was offered to him. We already outnumbered the Russians by a few hundred, but with the Irish on our side, Avgust didn’t stand a chance if he’d wanted to fight for more.
However, the agreement didn’t make us all friends. Even though our numbers were a lot stronger now that I was married to Kasen and the Milanos hadjoined us, I knew that Declan and Avgust were hoping for a bloodbath. If the Germans managed to put a dent into our resources, then both Declan and Avgust would come for us, hoping to take ownership of the ports. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if one or both of them gave Emil a heads up about us coming for them. Of course, Emil Schulz already knew that we were coming for him. No matter what, he knew that there was no way that his actions would go unpunished. Besides, it was all about semantics. I had agreed to the trade if he returned my wife unharmed, and the bullet wound in her arm and her mild concussion was not unharmed.
“Schulz will be expecting us,” Aurelio answered. “So, whatever we do, we need to plan it carefully, and we need to bring Morocco inon the planning. We need a surprise attack if we can.” He let out a humorless laugh. “I wouldn’t be surprised if O’Brien or Kotov haven’t already tipped him off.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I agreed.
“Schulz will definitely be expecting me, so I canact as the diversion,” Renzo suggested, and while it sounded like a good start, all I could think about was how Kasen would never forgive me if I got her father killed. “If he kills me, then even better. He’ll think it’s over, maybe let his guard down.”
“I am not sending you in there to get killed,” I bit out. “I still have to be able to look my wife in the eyes, Renzo.”
“Because you can now?” he challenged, making me step away from my desk.
“Oh, hey,” Marco said, stepping in front of me. “Now is not the time.”
I stared at my father-in-law. “I’ve given you a lot of leeway because I know how close you and Kasen are, but if you keep testing me, I’ll show you exactly why I’m the youngest Underboss in Sartori history. I mean it, Renzo. Keep fucking around and find out.”
“Why can’t we just go in shooting?” Elio asked. “We outnumber them, don’t we?”
Marco let outa frustrating sigh. “And that is why you’re always getting into trouble, Elio. You’re constantly acting before thinking things through.”
“I want this done tonight,” I announced. “I want Morocco on this, then after he’s gotten us everything that we need, I want to hit them tonight. Schulz is going to think that we’ll need a few days to form a plan and bring everyone up to speed, so while he might be expecting us, he won’t be expecting us tonight.”
“Plus, it’ll give O’Brien and Kotov lesstime to form an alliance with Schulz,” Aurelio added.
I looked over at my brother. “I guess this is the one time when Elio might be right.”
