20. Matteo
The trouble is definitely considerable,and it’s definitely aimed at me and mine. Clifford looks uneasy as we talk in the living room. “I think we should go to Defcon two,” he says.
I nod.
“What do we do?” I ask him. “What’s your angle on this?”
“I say we get all the help we can. I heard you making that Andretti bitch scream. If you can make her talk to her family, perhaps we can form an alliance. For now. After all, we might hate them, but they’re still Italian, like us. They respect the rules.”
“What did you say?”
“They respect the rules.”
“No before that.”
“An alliance?”
“What did you call my fiancée?”
“Your fucking what? Have you lost your mind?” He’s shouting so loudly two of the men come running.
“What. Did. You. Call. Her?”
I’m aware of a presence behind me. It’s her; I know it is. I don’t need to turn to look. I’m so attuned to her that I can sense when she’s near.
“That Andretti bitch,” he says as he looks past me to where I know Renata is standing.
The punch I aim at him lands on his smug fucking chin.
He stumbles back and then roars, charging at me.
I wrap my arms around him as he takes me down to the ground.
We trade kicks and punches, and I trying to flip us so I can bash his fucking head on the floor when freezing cold hits me, taking my breath away.
“What the fuck?” Clifford jumps up, shaking his shirt out.
Renata smiles at him sweetly. “When dogs are humping, you can get them to stop by throwing ice water over them. It seems you can do the same to men when they’re fighting.”
She sets the ice bucket down, then walks over to me and offers me her hand and then pulls me up.
“I’m going to take a long soak in a hot bath,” she says. “Oh, and, Clifford?”
“Yes,” he says sullenly.
“I’m not a bitch. I’m a grade A cunt, and if you call me a bitch again, I just might put something in your drink one day. Then, when you’re fast asleep, I’ll shave your eyebrows. Trust me, you don’t have the bone structure to carry that look off.”
She smiles at all my men. “Gentlemen. Thank you all for being here and keeping us safe.”
Then she sweeps up the stairs as regal as a queen. “Put the fucking jewels on,” I order her. “After the bath. All of them. Then wait for me in the bed.”
“Jesus fucking Christ on a cracker, you’ve lost your mind.” Clifford shakes his head.
“Never had it to lose.” I smirk at him.
In the end, I call Nico without asking Renata to give me an intro. I use the burner and call on what she said is his business number.
He answers on the third ring. “Just seen the gossip sites. What the fuck are you doing with my sister? Have you kidnapped her?”
He’s eerily calm. “Do you care?” I ask.
“I mean, I suppose I should. This is the part where I threaten to cut your dick off and the rest.”
“Yet you’re not.”
“No.”
“So, can we talk?”
“Maybe.”
“There’s a threat,” I say. “To both of us. They are coming for Renata.”
“Fuck. Who?” He’s instantly all business. So he doesn’t hate her. Not totally.
“Greeks. Long story. Listen, your family sent Renata in here to spy on me.”
He sighs. “Sounds about right.”
“But I kind of set them up to do it.”
“Why?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “It’s a long story. She’s here now, and we’re in love.”
He bursts out laughing. “Tell me another one. You should go on tour. Five-star comedy, my friend.”
“No, really.”
“Fuck you.”
I just put it out there. “I’m going to marry her. I will keep her safe. I’ll also stop her from being a pain in your ass. I just need your blessing and your help with the Greeks if I need it to keep her safe.”
There’s a long beat of silence.
“Don’t you normally ask the father of the bride for permission to marry her?” he asks finally.
“We all know where the power is in your family,” I reply.
“How can you stop her from being a pain in my ass; no one can stop Renata from doing anything.”
“I can,” I say simply.
“How?” he asks, curious.
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“Okay, yeah; keep it to yourself. You’re right, you fucking freak.” I hear the soft tones of a woman, and Nico says something to her I can’t make out. Then he comes back on the line. “You really love her?”
“Yes, I really love her.”
“And you want to marry her?”
“Yes.”
“Can you stop her stupid machinations about trying to get on the board? It’s really not safe for her to be involved. I’ve almost wavered a few times because between you and me, she’d be good at it, but there is a threat there.”
“I can stop her from trying to get on the board. She won’t even want to.”
“How do you know?”
I laugh. “Because I’ll set her up in a company of her own.”
“I tried that.”
“Not handbags. Big shit. Construction. Finance. Whatever the fuck she wants.”
“She’ll bankrupt you,” he sneers.
“No. She’s more capable than any of you ever realized.”
He scoffs, “Okay, whatever. Well, your misguided belief in my sister’s abilities is entirely your issue. So far as I’m concerned, if you keep her out of my hair and keep her safe, you can have her. I’ll let my parents know. I imagine Babbo will be uninterested, and Mamma will be delighted.” He pauses. “Now that you’re all legitimate and shit.”
The words are so sarcastic I can taste it.
“Now that we are in charge and the old guard are out to pasture, can we have a truce?” I ask. “There might be new threats, and it makes sense for us Italians to stick together.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he says. “I have to go. If you find yourself in any real and imminent danger, call me. If my sister is in any real and imminent danger and you don’t call me, I’ll kill you. I’ll message you James, my right-hand man’s, number. Call him, and set up a meet. He can go over logistics for whatever we need to send these Greeks running. I’d say don’t bother with an invite to the wedding, but Cindy would kill me, so send an invite for the happy day.”
“Yes, okay.”
“And, I should say congratulations, but really I only have commiserations, you poor fucker.” He hangs up, still chuckling to himself.
Jesus Christ, he’s an asshole. How Renata turned out so well adjusted is beyond me. She might seem crazy to some, but the crazy of her family is way worse. She’s the sane one of the bunch.
My phone pings, and it’s a text with James’ number. I call him as I go to find Clifford.
After a long talk with Clifford, James, Vlad, and Silvio, I’m feeling much better. Tired, but better.
My mind wanders to the woman on the bed upstairs, hopefully naked and draped in the family jewels. All I want to do is put this all behind me for a while and enjoy her.
My phone buzzes and I glance at it, annoyed. The annoyance ramps up when I see Nico’s number. I answer. “You’re on speaker; I’m sitting with Clifford now.”
“You owe me one. I’ve had a guy who can hack anyone, even presidents and kings, look into all of this. He found some dark web chatter, easily found who the guys are who hit your shipments, and guess what, fucker?”
“What?”
“They haven’t just hit you, but they have really fucked up.”
“Oh, why?”
“You heard of Nikolai Volkov?”
I scoff, “Of course.”
That guy and his family are people me and mine have always been very careful not to cross. Not only is he a big player, but he has senior members of the government either on his payroll or allegedly blackmailed.
“Well, these idiots killed one of his delivery crew. My contact has sent me the intel, and it’s verifiable.”
“How? I mean, how can it be verifiable and so quick?”
“It’s in their own words. These people are not geniuses. They are vicious little fuckers; I’ll give them that. He will send you all the intel. Name’s Reece, and he works with the men who provide my Cinders with security. Send me an email. He’s also called the Volkovs, and their response means you and I don’t have to worry about these fuckers.”
I glance at Clifford. “Think we’ll stay at alert for some time,” he says. “Plus, I’d really like to get my hands on them. It doesn’t sit well with me not paying them back for what they’ve done to some of our men.”
“Fine. Call him. Nikolai Volkov; I’ll send you his number. I don’t think he’d mind the help on this.”
“He might simply shoot me,” Clifford drawls. “We are competitors, after all. Russians and Italians working together? Not really heard of.”
“He’s not Russian,” Nico snaps. “Plus, he’s worked with me on a variety of projects.”
The glance I shoot at Clifford is incredulous. “He has?” I ask.
“Yes. Look, you and I don’t deal in anything that crosses over into what he deals, right?”
“True.”
“Let’s be honest, as much power and money as we have, if someone like the Volkovs wanted us gone, they could damn well do it, I am sure.”
“Maybe,” I say.
“Definitely not,” Clifford grouses.
“Either way, if he had issues with you, trust me, you’d have known.” Nico sighs. “He’s a very astute businessman, and he has half the fucking government in his pockets. He doesn’t give a shit if we move metals, or you move jewels. If you started mass shipment of rocket launchers, you might have yourself a problem; until then, we have very different income streams.”
“The problem is new kids on the block always want it all,” Clifford says.
“Exactly.” Nico agrees. “They want everything. Fingers in all the pies. Drugs, which means they’re going to come up against the Albanians. Weapons, putting them in the Volkovs’ crosshairs. They came after your shipment. I doubt they’d come after what we move because you need an ecosystem to move metals easily, but they might try.”
“People are stealing copper from trains, so I don’t think the lack of easy movement is stopping them,” Clifford points out.
“True,” Nico replies. “It’s such a fucking headache. Demand is through the roof, and people think they can make a quick buck on it. Of course, when they try to sell it on, they’re having to use rogue, small-level scrap dealers, and they’re all likely to end up getting caught. Still, it puts a dent in the profits. It’s why we’re moving out of it as quickly as we can.”
“Going legitimate,” Clifford says with a soft, mocking laugh.
“Yes, to a degree.” There’s a pause. “I hope you fuckers check your house regularly, and scrub your communications.”
“Absolutely,” I say. “We checked for devices the other day. We’re all good, and this phone will be gone in a week, and I’ll have a new number.”
“I’ll send you Nikolai’s number,” he says. “Call him, Clifford. It seems we don’t need to form an alliance, though because the Volkovs will be helping you solve your problem.”
“So, we go back to fucking with one another,” Clifford says with relish.
“No,” I interject. “I’m going to be marrying an Andretti. We need to stop the fucking idiocy. This with the Greeks should have taught us. The mistakes of the past don’t need to be repeated by us.”
“You’re not marrying her,” Clifford explodes.
“I am. I have Nico’s permission.”
“You had my permission when I thought some goons were going to cut her up. If the Volkovs nullify the threat, then she’s not in danger.” Nico laughs.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Nico.”
“Yes?”
“I love your sister.”
Clifford makes a retching sound.
I ignore him and carry on. I prepare myself for Nico to explode. “I realized I loved her the very day you found me at you family estate.”
Instead of the anger I expect Nico to lash at me, all I get is a low chuckle. “I probably should have put you out of your misery then.”
“And I’m thankful you didn’t.”
“Listen. I don’t give a fuck who Renata’s with as long as it doesn’t make our family a laughingstock. She thinks I hate her, but I don’t. Not anymore, but she’s a loose cannon. Good luck taming her. She’s a seeker, Matteo. She’s been searching for something her entire life.”
I suck in a breath because he’s not wrong, and his assessment of her is scarily accurate.
“My parents would have had a shit fit at her marrying you back in the day. They are painful snobs. They saw your family as richer than ours, but trashier. Now, these days? They think you’ve detoxified the Mancini brand. They think you’re all nice and legitimate. I know that’s not true. I don’t give a fuck, though. On the surface, you’re respectable. Underneath? Well, you’re no better or worse than us. So why would I be against Renata marrying you?”
“Well, when you put it like that.”
“If you can keep her from doing something to shame our family, I owe you one. I had honestly become worried she was going to join Cindy’s Godmother and live in Italy, which would have been disastrous. All I could see was the headlines she’d generate. So take her off my hands, gladly.”
“Christ, I didn’t think it would be this easy.”
“Come on. You think I’d prefer her ricocheting around out there from one hairbrained venture to the next, dallying with fucking idiots and attracting media attention to marrying into a solid Italian family?”
“Maybe, to be honest. I don’t know.”
“You have my permission, and I’ll ensure my parents don’t get in the way. You have to persuade her to say yes. And my sister has an uncanny habit of always making the worst decisions and fucking her life up.”
I laugh. “She’ll say yes.”
“Good. Send me an invite to the wedding. And I say again, good luck; you’re going to fucking need it.”
He hangs up and I stare at the phone for a long beat.
In some ways everything should seem brighter and lighter, but in others, it isn’t because when I tell Renata that in a few days or weeks, the danger to her should be dealt with, she might decide she doesn’t need or want me.
I head into the library and move the Jane Austen collection and open the safe behind it. Inside is a box, which I take out. I open it and look inside. The belle epoque diamond and emerald ring sitting on the dark blue velvet shines like a star in the midnight sky.
I grin and snap the box shut.
The ring is worth around one hundred thousand pounds, and I never thought it would be used, but now it will be.
I’m going to propose to Renata, and I’m going to do it right.