Arranged

Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34

A lejandro

“Follow through with adding more security cameras at every location. Just precautionary for now so don’t go hunting Russians.” I laughed, but I could tell by the expressions both Drago and Rocco wore that the idea of picking off the Bratva one by one weighed on their minds.

The Pakhan had attempted to create a coup already, but in doing so had lost at least ten soldiers. He’d yet to address he’d had a few defect to the Cosa Nostra. I certainly didn’t feel sorry for the asshole. He’d earned the loss. The man was a prick, but I knew where he lived, where he worked, and where he played.

He and I would have a face-to-face meeting within the upcoming days.

And he certainly wouldn’t like the outcome.

I sat back in the seat, staring up at the ceiling as I swiveled the chair. I’d spent more time at the corporate offices the last three weeks than I’d intended, but business had to continue.

When news of the internal betrayal had hit the streets, to my surprise, it was as if the DEA had decided to forgo their investigation. Of course, I knew better. With Gio’s death, their operation had been wounded, but they were plotting and planning.

Just like I was.

“We have a new request from some dude in South Africa for a shipment of our finest goods.” Drago was grinning. “How do you want me to respond?”

I thought about the request and smirked. “Have him send his best overture.” Which meant I wanted to see how many hoops the person in charge would jump through to be able to work with us.

“What are you thinking?”

“Let me see.” I rubbed my jaw just as Carmella breezed into the room. As always, every muscle in my body tensed, every appendage stiffening. Especially my cock. She commanded a room by just walking inside.

“South African wines are to die for,” she suggested. “How about four cases to start? Maybe toss in a perfect diamond or two.”

I nodded a few times. “That’s a good appetizer. We’ll go for the meat later,” I added.

Both Drago and Rocco laughed, Drago walking closer. “I gotta say the two of you make a fascinating team.”

Team. A husband and wife running a crime syndicate was still relatively unheard of. Carmella and I looked at each other, the passion ignited as always. She shrugged as if what we were doing was nothing in the scheme of life.

“No biggie. I keep him in line,” she cooed.

“Right.” I wrapped my fingers around her arm, jerking her onto my lap.

“Get a room!” another soldier dared say and Drago growled at him. “No disrespect.”

I lifted a single eyebrow. In the three weeks since almost losing Carmella, I’d changed yet again. Harder, yes. Angrier, maybe. Determined? Absolutely.

What I refused to allow to happen was losing control of any aspect of operations, including on the Lupini side. However, the embers of what I’d learned from my handler lingered.

Sadly, he’d been right. Only two days after our conversation, he’d suddenly stopped breathing. To my knowledge, an autopsy hadn’t been ordered.

By then, I’d found the information he’d hidden in the potting shed under the floorboards. Damning wasn’t the word for what he’d collected over time, some of which had obviously been taken from secure sites. He’d lost his life to try to save mine while maintaining the integrity of the DEA.

I rubbed Carmella’s hand as I once again thought about how I wanted to play the hand I’d been dealt.

“After the camera systems are installed, allow the men to begin rotating time off. They earned it.”

Drago grinned. “Yes, boss. They’ll be happy to hear that.” He motioned to the other two men that it was time to leave. As he’d done several times over the last few weeks, my second in command turned to study the two of us sitting behind the desk.

Had there been some blowback from several of the soldiers upon learning about my former career? Absolutely. I’d been required to stand firm, refusing to take any shit. While I’d made an example of a couple of men, I’d done so in a way that would preserve the integrity of our organization while allowing the soldiers a choice.

Get in line or be expelled.

None of them had challenged me openly again. Did that mean there wouldn’t be subsequent issues, men who refused to buy my loyalty? Of course not. But I would handle them.

After Drago closed the door, Carmella wrapped her arms around my neck.

“You are on fire lately,” she said in her sultry voice.

“Just doing business.”

“Did I read that you’ve already increased the bottom line by fifteen percent?”

“Don’t believe everything you read.”

“You mean like everything I see?” She brushed the tip of her finger down the side of my face, concentrating on the new beard I’d decided to grow. “Or feel? Or hunger for?” When she wiggled on my lap, I shook my head.

“You should know better than to tempt a beast.”

“You’re right. But I learned from someone pretty special that rules were meant to be smashed and rewritten.”

I wrapped my hand around her throat, pulling her head down so I could capture her mouth. As always, she tasted so sweet, heavenly in fact.

When I thrust my tongue inside, she did her best to try to take control.

Not happening.

I dug my fingers into her neck, making certain she knew without question that she belonged to me. When I finally broke the kiss, she sighed.

“Such a brat,” I told her.

“Always.” She slipped off my lap, pressing her hands on the surface of the desk. “What are you going to do with the information your handler provided?”

I rolled my arms behind my head, pushing the chair back by a few inches. “I’m going to do the right thing. I’m going to leave an anonymous tip.”

“Since when do you do anything anonymously?”

“Since I realized my family is much more important than money, power, influence, or dealing with idiots.” I was allowing them to handle the indiscretions privately instead of going to the press. But that was always subject to change if they didn’t like my conditions.

Her laugh brought another wave of desire. “I like that about you. Direct and to the point. I can’t wait to see the fallout.”

“I can’t either.” I could tell she had something else on her mind. “What?”

“What do you mean what?”

“I know you. What do you have cooking up?”

“Just that it’s time for me to start working again. At my clinic.”

“Hmm… I’ve been thinking about that.”

“Don’t think too hard,” she cooed and backed away, pointing her finger at me. “It will happen, oh husband of mine. I don’t care how powerful you think you are. Remember women run the world.”

I laughed as she almost skipped toward the door. How things could change. How they could improve.

For the first time in so long, I was happy.

And I planned on doing everything in my power to keep it that way.

“I have a surprise for you,” she said.

“You know I hate surprises, Firesong.” I couldn’t help teasing her.

“I think you’ll like this one.” She winked and for some reason, that forced me to stand.

The moment she opened the door, I had to admit I wasn’t expecting to see Dion walking into my office.

“Be good, boys. I’ll be watching,” she said before she left but not before patting me on the arm.

I was shocked to see the man.

We stood in silence for a full minute. Other than losing some weight, he looked good. Damn good.

“It’s great to see you,” I told him.

“I wasn’t certain how I felt about coming here. Carmella convinced me otherwise.” He walked closer. “She said you’ve been very busy.”

“It’s been interesting.”

He chuckled. “I guess so. You know. I never would have thought you DEA. I knew you had some hidden talents, but not that.”

“A long time ago.”

“Yeah, I heard what they did. Pricks. You should have killed more of the motherfuckers.”

Sighing, we caught each other’s gaze and laughed. “I did a little of that. They got the point.”

“I heard that too. Sorry about Gio.”

“Not going to lie, it surprised me.”

Dion grinned. “I guess there’s been a lot of that since I was laid up. Carmella says you’re good to her and the kid.”

“She’s… amazing. She’s the one who’s been good to me.”

“I think you two are good together.” Dion hesitated and I allowed him the time to reflect. “You know, I was pissed. I ain’t gonna lie, but it all worked out.”

I nodded, hating the awkwardness between us. “You healthy?”

“The doctors said I was lucky, but good as new. So, I was thinking. I’d like my job back. The way I look at it, you need another man you can trust and I need a job. What do you think?”

There was such a thing as an innate trust in a person. I had that with Dion. I walked closer, holding out my hand. “You think you can stand working for me?”

“I think I can stomach it.” We shook. “Just so you know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Carmella. That woman loves you.”

“And I love her very much.”

“You hurt her, you die. I don’t care who you are. Got it?”

I grinned. “I got it. Welcome back.”

* * *

Enzo continued to hurt deep inside. He’d been withdrawn, incapable of expressing his feelings. While I’d given him time to adjust to the horrific changes in his life, at some point he needed to take the helm of the family. I’d been made his guardian until he reached the age of eighteen, something I hadn’t been told initially.

He acted as if he needed no one, which was exactly what I’d done after my father had died. It had only been later on in life that I’d realized how lonely I’d been. I wasn’t living in the Santorelli household, but I kept tabs on him and his continued anger.

Something had told me to stop by the house on my way to visit Don Lupini. I wasn’t certain why. Everything appeared in order, Enzo finally heading back to the private school his father had enrolled him in at twelve.

I couldn’t imagine sending either Jessica or Gabriel to school even sixty miles away let alone several states. At least the kid hadn’t been forced to spend his youth overseas.

With Enzo nowhere in sight, I was about to leave when Dion walked into Don Santorelli’s old office.

“You might not believe this, boss, but Enzo is asking for you.”

I lifted my head, almost amused at the prospect. “Where is he?”

“In the conservatory.”

The location was a glorified gazebo turned into a music room for Enzo years prior. At least that’s what I’d been told. I’d never seen the young man sitting behind a piano or had heard any music, but then again, I hadn’t been able to pay but so much attention.

“We’re leaving as soon as I’m finished,” I told him.

“I’ll be waiting. Boss.”

I took a few seconds before heading to the French doors leading to the stone patio directly outside. The conservatory was only fifty yards away. I could see the building from where I was standing.

After another minute had passed, I walked outside. Spring had arrived in New York, flowers and buds just beginning to pop out on certain trees. I didn’t take three steps before I heard music. Piano music.

With slow steps, I made my way to the building, remaining quiet as I slipped in.

Other than the outburst I’d experienced weeks before, Enzo had displayed few emotions. But the way he was playing, the raw power of his long fingers and the powerful sound of the chords he played was awe inspiring.

I remained in the back, refusing to disturb him. When he was finished, he lowered his head, his fingers remaining on the keys.

“That was amazing,” I finally said.

He didn’t stiffen as usual around me, but took his time rising from the piano bench. When he turned, I realized how guarded his expressions were.

“My father hated when I played piano. I was forced to hide it from him. I don’t know why he bothered to turn my mother’s old greenhouse into this place. He never came to listen to me play.”

“Did you ever think that him not coming here was more about the sadness your father felt in losing your mother?”

“How would I know? He never talked about her.”

I moved closer, trying to find the right words. “I lost my first wife to ALS, a horrible disease that I watched consume every inch of her. There was nothing I could do. Not a damn thing. In the end, Carrie did her best to comfort me instead of the other way around. When she died, I shut down. I was nothing but a shell of a human being if that. I think your father was incapable of shoving aside the sadness and depression. Maybe providing this space for you was the only way he could show you how much he loved you.”

Enzo snorted at first, but shook his head. “I never thought of it that way.”

“You were too busy hating him. I get that. I felt the same about my mother when my father died. She shut down and I didn’t understand for many years.”

“You’re a cop.”

“I was a drug enforcement agent, but no longer.”

“Why?” His old defiance was still just under the surface.

“Because they betrayed me.”

“Like you did my father.”

I took a few seconds to answer. “You’re right.”

“Why should I trust you?”

“Maybe you shouldn’t, Enzo, but I’m not here to hurt or destroy your family. Your father befriended me and yes, I’m certain you felt like he treated me more like a son than his own flesh and blood. I’m sorry if you did feel that way. I never wanted to come between you and your father. Just the opposite.”

“He trusted you.”

“Yes.”

“You lied to him.”

“Yes,” I admitted, uncertain of where this was going.

He wasn’t certain either. I could tell by the look on his face. “The men trust you. They respect you even after learning what you really are.”

“What I was.”

He was clearly debating what I was telling him.

“Then I’ll trust you,” he said so quietly I strained to hear him. “That doesn’t mean we’ll be friends.”

“I accept that.”

“I have one request since you’re my guardian and all.”

I found myself walking closer. “Okay. Shoot.”

“I want to remain here in New York. Against my father’s wishes, I applied to Julliard. I was accepted. I’d like to finish high school here so I can become involved with their internship program.”

Nothing could have surprised me more.

“Wow. That is… amazing. Yes, you can stay here. I’ll make arrangements.”

He seemed relieved. “Are you selling my father’s house?”

“No, Enzo. This is your home. Your father left it to you.”

For the first time since I’d known the young man, he smiled. “Really?”

“Really. I will check on you from time to time. You will need to abide by the rules your father established and you’ll have security at all times. At least for now. No wild parties and there will be no overnight female guests. Do you understand?”

I thought for certain he would shut down just like before, but he chuckled. “You sound like a father.”

I thought about his statement and was able to answer with pride.

“I am a father.” Of all the things I’d done or experienced in my life, of that I was most proud.

Well, along with being married to the most intelligent, sinful, beautiful, and opinionated woman in the world.

And she was all mine.