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“You do?” He asks, confusion in his.
I nod and sniff, pulling away from him now.
“Yes. Because I don’t trust you either. I don’t think I ever could,” I admit, my head hung as my eyes go to the bathroom floor.
He lets out a grunt of acknowledgement, his feet moving away.
“I see,” he says quietly, distantly. Our blissful bubble now popped completely. “I should go. I’ll have my mother bring you food later. Remember, the guard is still outside of your door,” he says, confirming his lack of trust right then.
I watch him walk away without another word, the sound of the bedroom door echoing in my ears as I lean back against the sink, trying not to think about the circus that is now my life. I try not to dwell.
CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE
Marco
I step in Diego’s Escalade and straighten my jacket. Unlike what I told Lori earlier, I did change my clothes. As much as I wanted to stare at the delicious fucking stains that she left on the crotch of my pants all day, I don’t think it’s the best for this meeting with Nereo Merlini.
“We’re meeting at Biscaro’s. In the basement,” Diego says, speeding away from the mansion as soon as I slammed the door shut.
I take out my Glock and load it in the front seat, tucking it back into my pants as my men load their guns in the back of the car. Although we’re meeting in the basement of a five-star restaurant, The Merlini Family can never be trusted. When I was young, all my father did was warn me about the Saracinos since the Merlinis have always been in his back pocket. Until he died that is. Now, I don’t trust a single fucking soul in this business.
See, the thing about the Merlinis, is that they own a very large territory of New York, as well as Jersey. While the Saracinos and my family own much larger portions, I’m willing to discuss a bargain with them. I’m willing to propose a new merger between my family and theirs, taking over majority of the territory in hopes that the Saracinos can no longer flourish.
“Did you speak with Nereo himself or his son?” I ask Diego, staring out of the window as we merge onto the freeway.
“Dante,” Diego says, staring straight ahead with rapt attention as I look back and nod at my men.
“Of course, Nereo never likes to get his hands dirty. He’d rather use his pawns. Remember men, if the slightest threat poses itself, you draw,” I grumble, rubbing my eyes.
I don’t wear my glasses when it comes to meetings, so I opted for contacts and they only flare my irritation. I don’t have a good feeling about this evening. Quite honestly, I’d rather still be in that tub with Lori. And that want alone has me reaching max fucking irritation for the remainder of the forty-minute car ride.
When we reach Biscaro’s, all of my men step in front of me, Diego at my side as we walk to the basement of one of the many restaurants that Nereo owns. His guard lets us in with narrowed eyes, the air around us already charged with apprehension. I don’t like meeting with other families, and since my father died, I haven’t really had to, but with this growing war with the Saracinos, desperate times call for desperate measures.
We walk into the updated basement of the restaurant, the room full of cigar smoke. There’s a stripper pole with two active dancers clad in pasties and barely there panties, as well as topless women with fake breasts sitting on the laps of his men that sit on the red, leather couches. Dante, his twenty-five-year-old son steps forward, his boyish energy radiating all around him regardless of how menacing he tries to make his face look. My men disperse and look around the room, my eyes freezing when I spot Nereo at his desk, a blond woman with overly tan skin palming his cock as she smiles from her position above him, her body sliding all over his.
“Marco, my boy! How good it is to see you,” Nereo says, his old eyes lifting up to look at mine before he pats the woman’s ass and pushes her away.
“Enough for now, sweetheart. Duty calls,” he says, smashing his cigar out in his ashtray before he stands and adjusts his dick in his pants, walking over to me with open arms and a tight, emotionless smile.
“I hope the world has been treating you and your family well,” Nereo stands beside his young son and claps me on the shoulder.
I give him a tight nod. “Not particularly, Nereo. Surely, you know why I am here,” I say, glancing between him and his son as Diego grunts beside me, his hand near his concealed gun resting on his hip under his shirt.
Nereo sighs, grabbing a glass of liquor from a waitress who offers us drinks from her tray, her tits also on full display. Her massive, fake tits. None of these women could hold a candle to Lori.
“I do, yes. The Saracino’s have been giving you trouble. I hear you’ve taken their daughter for collateral,” he laughs, sipping his drink as my eyes narrow on him.
I don’t know how he heard this. Her family doesn’t necessarily know that I even have her. They just know that she’s missing. So how in the fuck does Nereo Merlini know this?
“Who told you that?” I ask, tilting my head at him before I glance at his son, reading him like an open fucking book.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Dante Merlini himself has done his own bit of digging and relayed a message that I wasn’t ready to be relayed. I can see it in his eyes. The boy is known for being a snoop and one look at his youth tells me he’s probably in tight with the youngest Saracino brother.
Shit. I need to convey this to Diego. However, when I look over at him, I can see that he’s already gathering the same information that I am just from one look at Nereo’s asshole son.
“How is the girl, Marco? A decent lay I hope,” Dante chuckles, sipping from his own glass now as he winks at me.
I start to see red. I don’t have time for confusion to fill me, to wonder how the Merlinis have all of this information because now, I want to clock this son of a bitch for speaking about Lori in that manner. Now, I’m starting to realize that this is not a merger, this is a fucking trap. The Merlinis are working with the Saracino’s and they now know that I have her.
