Convenient Mafia Vows (Ruthless Billionaire Mafia Kings)

14. Caleb

14

CALEB

“Word on the street is that Olivia Dragonetti is behind the shooting.” Terry comes straight out with it. No messing around.

Now that her name is in the frame, it makes perfect sense. She followed Victoria to the restroom, made certain that she left the restaurant exactly when she needed her to, and then sat back and watched the scene unfold.

“Victoria was the target.” My jaw clenches.

The woman is even more dangerous than I gave her credit for. But I swear, if Olivia Dragonetti so much as damages a hair on Victoria’s head, I’ll kill her myself.

“Not necessarily.” Terry’s voice is even, steady. The leader of the pack.

We’re in the Rinse’s boardroom, another family meeting, and yet another of which Olivia Dragonetti is the focal point. If she wanted our attention, she has already succeeded. But she has underestimated the Murrays if she thinks this little charade will intimidate us into backing down.

She clearly doesn’t know me at all.

“You and Kyle were there,” Terry continues. “There are no prizes for guessing where the don will be looking to place the blame for the bullet in his shoulder.”

My gaze drifts to the twins. A faint smile is already twitching at the corners of Cash’s lips. Olivia is so hellbent on revenge for my rejection of marriage that she risked her own father’s life to take us down.

“She isn’t that clever,” Cash says. “Precisely how long did it take you to find out that she was behind the shooting? Don Dragonetti will get the same info.”

Terry spreads his hands wide above the table. “The don didn’t get to where he is today by listening to the footmen. They follow his orders. And his orders will be to retaliate.”

“So, we tell him the truth.” Kyle looks at each of us in turn.

Where Terry is the practical family member with his ear to the ground and enough inside knowledge to take down every mafia family in the city, Kyle is the voice of reason. The one who knows how to manipulate the law to keep us just on the right side of legal.

“I think we should hold fire.” I sip my iced water, buying myself some precious moments to assemble my thoughts.

I can still feel Victoria’s mouth wrapped around my dick. I can still taste her, still feel my balls slapping against her ass when I fucked her from behind. I can still smell her on me even though I showered the smell of her sex off me. But I need to focus. I made a promise to protect both her and Abigail, and I aim to keep that promise, no matter what it takes.

“She’s careless.” I’m thinking out loud. “Reckless. She’s learned nothing from her father because she’s too preoccupied with blowing up her ex’s lives. She can’t let anything go, and ultimately, this will be her downfall.”

“What are you thinking?” Terry asks.

“First things first, we ramp up security around Victoria and Abigail. Olivia will be rampaging when she discovers that Victoria is neither wounded nor scared.”

I glance at Terry who nods once. “Goes without saying. We’ll keep them safe.”

“Secondly, we provide Olivia Dragonetti with a distraction. We trace her exes, make it worth their while to make a reappearance, no matter how brief, and when she loses her shit, we make fucking certain that her father is around to see it.”

Everyone is silent for several moments.

Finally, Bash says, “That will never work. How long has it been since you and she were an item? Whatever you did, bro, you did it good because she’s got it firmly fixed inside her pretty little head that you’re the one she wants, and no one else is going to have you.”

“So, we give her a new distraction.” Cash shrugs. “She’ll never buy into you wanting her back. Not with Victoria on the scene.”

My cock twitches inside my pants at the thought of Victoria’s butt in my face. He has a point. I couldn’t even pretend to want Olivia Dragonetti right now, not with my balls already filling up for Victoria.

“Ivan Petrov.” Cash inclines his head. “Just saying.”

“No can do.” Terry sits forward, rests his lower arms on the table, and steeples his fingers. “Olivia approached the Petrovs with her harebrained scheme to shoot her father, and they walked away from it.”

“Sensible.” But I still think this is the only way. “We need to expose her for the loose cannon she is.”

“An alliance with the Petrovs?” Kyle suggests.

I shake my head. “Don Dragonetti is still our best potential alliance. His connections far outweigh his daughter’s irrational behavior.” The glimmer of an idea is taking shape inside my head. “Dragonetti might believe that Cash is behind last night’s incident, but he’ll side with whoever offers him the best deal.”

“So, we offer him a deal that he can’t refuse.” Terry picks up the thread. “Including a way to get his uncontrollable daughter off his hands.”

“Any suggestions?” Kyle arches an eyebrow.

He looks tired. I would trust my older brother with my life—I’d trust him with Victoria and Abigail’s lives too—but his place is behind his desk doing what he does best. Keeping us all in line.

“Whatever we do,” Terry says, “we need to make it look like it was the don’s idea. He’s a proud man. He was born into this way of life, and he’s acutely aware that his legacy will be passed onto his only daughter. Without Caleb in the mix, he can seek an alliance with any of the other families.”

“So, we need to make our offer sing to him.” I rub my jaw with my hand. “Kyle, I need you to let me know how far we can go with casino intake. Terry, what are we talking here? Money?”

“Mostly. Old man Dragonetti is struggling financially. His daughter is bleeding him dry, which is saying something when you consider her father’s wealth.”

“But…” I prompt him.

“But…” Terry inhales deeply. “I think this goes way deeper than zeroes in his bank account. Why do you think he wanted an alliance with us in the first place?”

“Aside from offloading his daughter.” I don’t smile. Nothing about Olivia Dragonetti is humorous. “Because he trusts us.”

Before we took over from Terry, and he stepped back from the business side of the family name, he instilled in us the need for authenticity. He prided himself on his word being worth its weight in gold and insisted that if we ever let him down in that respect, he would take us down himself. He wasn’t wielding fear like a baton, he was simply protecting the family. And we would all rather cut off our right hand than destroy the family honor.

“Don Dragonetti needs people around him that he can trust.” Terry shrugs, “Sure, he hoped that you would deal with Olivia.”

“Probably wanted you to impregnate her,” Cash adds, “and give her a mansion in which to play happy families.”

He’s probably not far from the truth.

“But more than that,” Terry continues, “he knew that an alliance with the Murrays would strengthen his own position in the community.”

“Which would work both ways.” I’m still not sure where Terry is leading with this one.

“We need to make him an offer he can’t refuse, so that when we present him with his daughter on a plate, he trusts that we’re doing the right thing for both families.”

Bash scratches his head and lets out a low whistle. “Not much of an ask.”

Now Terry smiles. “Olivia is the gun just waiting to go off. We find a way to control her, and everything else will slot into place.”

“She’s so self-absorbed she’ll eventually shoot herself in her own foot.” I think of the graze on Victoria’s arm. “But I’m not risking Victoria or Abigail to get her to slip up.”

“No one’s asking you to.” Terry’s tone is firm, in control. “We need to steer her away from you and Victoria.”

“You’re planning a wedding reception, right?” Bash asks. “You know that’ll tip Olivia over the edge. She might just be crazy enough to attempt another incident that night.”

A glance around the table, and I know that my brothers and Terry agree.

“Too risky.” I shake my head.

“We need to go ahead with it though,” Terry says. “Fan her jealousy. We just make sure the distraction is in place first. It’ll bolster her ego, convince her that she’s invincible.”

“Especially if we keep the alliance quiet.” It could work. I’m already imagining the amount of security we’ll need to ensure Victoria and Abigail’s safety. “We’ll hold it in the Titan’s ballroom.”

“What about the distraction?” Kyle has been quiet until now, following the conversation, his mind one step ahead of the game.

“I’m up for it,” Cash says. “I’ll show her what a real man is made of.”

Bash snickers. “Best leave it to me then. I’ll take one for the team.”

Terry shakes his head. “The don sees you, Cash, as collateral damage. You’ll still be on his radar for getting him shot, don’t forget.”

“Hey, I’m still here,” Bash says. “Unattached. A hottie even if I do say so myself. A real catch some might say.”

I don’t like where this is going. “There must be another way. Not palming her off onto one of my brothers is the reason I married Victoria in the first place.”

“You’re not legally married in the eyes of the church,” Kyle says coolly.

I ignore him. “I still don’t think this is the way forward.”

“I agree that Cash and Bash are risky.” Terry raises his steepled fingers to his lips. “She had her sights on you, Caleb, because you’re not quite so … volatile.”

Cash laughs. “He’s too soft, you mean.”

“I’ll do it.” Kyle’s voice breaks through the jesting and brings me down to earth with a jolt.

“No.” I think of all the therapy Kyle has been through since the accident. He’ll never be able to handle Olivia Dragonetti, and I don’t want to see him dragged back down into the black spiral he fought so hard to climb out of. “She’ll never buy it.”

“Why?” Kyle narrows his eyes. “Because I’m not you?”

“No, because you’re the sensible one.” I mean it as a compliment even if it sounds derogatory once the word is hanging in the air.

“He’s most like you,” Terry says.

“You can’t possibly think this is a good idea.”

Terry shrugs. “Why not? If anyone can pull this off it’s Kyle. No offence lads,” he addresses the twins.

“She’ll do it to make you jealous,” Kyle says.

“Can you handle that?”

Kyle grins. “Sure, I can. This is only temporary, right?”

I have to smile. “Only until the wedding reception. We catch her out on the night and let her father take over. Agreed?”

Everyone around the table murmurs their agreement. My gut doesn’t like it, but we need to take Olivia out of the equation somehow if the alliance is to succeed, and I’ve already wasted too much time trying to think of a better option.

“Any sign of Callahan?” I ask Terry.

He sucks in a deep breath. “Not a whisper.”

“Someone else has flown off the radar.” I tell him about Brailand Voth. “Can you see what you can find out for me?”

I can tell by the distant look in his eyes that he’s already mentally searching for the connection.

“Where is Dragonetti now?” I ask as an afterthought as we all stand to leave.

“Where do you think?” Terry smiles. “He’s holed up in my best guest room.”

My heart skips erratically when I think of Victoria and Abigail. I left them at Moira and Terry’s mansion to keep them safe, not so they could play Monopoly with the head of the Italian mafia.

“Why? Why didn’t his men relocate him to his own safe house?” What am I missing here?

“He had his reasons.” Terry’s expression is neutral. He knows what they are, but he isn’t letting on. “His men treated his injury in our safe house. It was my idea to move him into the mansion.”

My brothers and I have never questioned Terry’s decisions, and I’m not about to start now, but mentally I’m en route to Staten Island to collect Victoria and Abigail and take them out of the equation.

“Where better to hide a mafia boss than in plain sight at a rival family’s home?” Terry is gauging my reaction.

“You said he suspects Cash.”

Terry shakes his head. “I said he’d be looking to direct the blame Cash’s way. Look…” He inhales, puffing up his chest. “I know he’ll try to find out if we played a part in last night’s shenanigans, but it doesn’t mean that he won’t be looking elsewhere.”

Mateo Dragonetti suspects an inside job; it’s the only reason I can think of that would keep him at Terry’s mansion instead of his own safe house.

But where does that leave Victoria and Abigail?