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“I don’t need your permission, and frankly, she doesn’t need yours, either.” He smiles at that before standing to load his gun with the single bullet reserved for yours truly.
“I am still a capo, Nico. And you know the rules.” I nod as we move to stand.
“Left or right?” he asks as he carelessly points the gun at each shoulder.
I’m left-handed, so . . .
“Right.”
Before I can get the word out, Cesare aims at my opposite shoulder and shoots.
“Fuck!” I spit, slamming back into my chair. Should’ve said left.
Cesare’s chuckle tells me I’ve said that last part out loud. He rounds his desk, and I slowly stand so I’m level with him. Smiling, he grabs my shoulders on both sides, and I hold back a groan when he squeezes my left shoulder just a little harder.
“We are even. Welcome to the family,” he says before plopping a kiss on each cheek and strutting out the door. “Don’t bleed on the Persian rug.”
* * *
As if he could read my mind, his voice breaks me from my thoughts. “How’s the shoulder?” He chuckles, causing me to roll my shoulder.
I only just finished physical therapy a couple of months ago.
When I don’t answer, he gets to the point. “How much did you know about the Liu’s before you met my daughter?” Cesare asks as he leans back, clasping his fingers.
“Nearly nothing”—now that I think about it—“there was never any news on them. Anything I know is by word of mouth. Rumors.”
Even when Peter was alive.
“Exactly.” I give him a look that tells him to go on. “You know what they want you to know—orwanted, I suppose.” He is, no doubt, thinking about his late wife and Anya, being the onlysurviving member in her family. “The Liu’s were able to live a quiet life for a reason, even when they were at the height of their power.”
Then it dawns on me.
“They paid for it.”
Some old families pull away from any exposure, choosing privacy over notoriety. They have all the big media conglomerates around the world on their payroll to ensure their names arenotincluded in any articles or any form of theWealthiest Peoplelists.
“Think about it. Eight months ago, she was Natalie. In hiding. A law student. Orphan. Call it nature over nurture. Despite the way she grew up, it does not surprise me. She’d want to keep her privacy after everything she has been through.”
She loathes doing press. I know how it was for her growing up, and like the bastard I am, I pushed her anyway.
“I gotta make this right,” I admit, shaking my head.
“Good,” Cesare replies, effectively ending the topic. “Now, tell me how the meeting with Governor Valdez went.”
He, no doubt, wants every detail he can get. The man has each politician in his pocket. No executive order gets passed unless he says so—hell, not even the president will get elected unless Cesare Violante gives it the green light. He’s a man of infinite patience. That’s how he kept Anya hidden for so long. Since before they got into politics, he’s been following politicians’ careers. I pray he doesn’t shoot me again after I tell him he owes Valdez a favor.
“Look what we have here.”
Donna’s voice travels as she struts over to where we’re sitting, her sister not far behind and typing something into her phone. They are quite a pair, with my wife being more than a head shorter.
“What are my girls up to?” Cesare asks as Donna plants a kiss to his cheek before sitting and helping herself to the refreshments on the table.
“Just dropped Maya off at the airport. We saw you out here andthought we’d join,” Donna says, wide-eyed at my wife, as if she had to coax Anya to come over.
My wife greets Cesare before taking the seat next to me but doesn’t say a word, so I pull her chair closer to mine.
“How was your day?” I ask before taking another gulp of coffee.
