38. Prime
PRIME
Two Weeks Later
“You know I don’t want to do this.” Stellan flicks a lighter open and closed. “But there have to be consequences.”
“I know.” I cross my legs and take a long drink from a glass of bourbon. The good stuff. I love coming here. Stellan’s a lot of things, but he’s not cheap and he never reaches for the bottom-shelf bottles when I’m around, God bless his soul for that. “I can take it.”
“I’m taking half your parking properties and spreading them around to other Capos.
You’ll retain control over your westernmost area.
You’ll owe me higher tribute for the next three years, and once that’s paid, you can start to expand again.
Until then, consider yourself under tight scrutiny.
Anything you do, I want to hear about it first. Understand me, Prime? ”
“Yes, sir.” I raise my glass. “Anything else?”
“You want worse?”
“Not particularly, but I wouldn’t presume.”
“You’re such a dick.” He smiles though, tight and small, like he’s trying to hold it back. “You know you’re getting off easy, right?”
God damn right I am. By rights, I should be dead.
Nobody would blame Stellan for putting a bullet in the back of my head.
The other Capos will grumble that I’m not being dragged over burning coals by my toenails for this, but giving them my property, and I’m guessing a big chunk of my tribute, will go a long way toward keeping them happy.
It’ll hurt financially. Three years is a long time. But I have other investments, I have my savings, and best of all?—
I have my wife.
“All I know is, my life is for the Corsetti and I bleed for the Don.” I bow my head so he can’t see me grinning in return. “Your will is mine to obey.”
“Oh fuck off, Prime.” Stellan slumps behind his desk and raises his glass. “Here’s to starting over. Did I ever tell you how much we got from the Fontana outfit in the end?”
“You never mentioned it.”
“Turns out his Capos aren’t half bad. You’re going to keep an eye on them still, but I’m pleased so far. They’re not loyal, but they could be, given the right incentives.”
“Fontana had incentives until he didn’t.”
“I’m not that old bastard.”
“Damn right you aren’t.”
He turns his glass idly in his right hand. “I hear his house burned a couple weeks back. The police were investigating potential arson and homicide, but there were some whispers, some favors called, and it seems everything checks out clean.”
“That’s very good to hear.”
“His wife’s down in Florida now. She’s got a sister there.”
“I wouldn’t worry about her.”
“I’m not, just mentioning it. I can’t remember the last time you let a witness walk free.”
I turn to the window and stroke my face. “Call me soft, I guess.”
“Prime Spadaro? Going soft? Not in my lifetime.”
We finish our drinks slowly and talk about the old days. It’s good spending time with my friend now that there’s nothing hiding between us. Fontana’s dead; I’ll eat my punishment and savor it; life will go on. He walks me to the door when we’re finished.
“Give my best to Kira and the kid.”
“Will do.” Stellan grips my shoulder. “You sure you’re good?”
“Never been more sure in my life.”
I take the long way home. Deanna’s waiting but I have a few more things to consider before talking to her, but it’s strange, the way I never dread it, even if what I have to say won’t be easy.
Deanna has a way of cutting through the bullshit.
It’s like all my choices get whittled down to what’s right.
I find her in the living room curled up in front of a laptop. She’s squinting at new swimwear. “Hey, Prime, what do you think of this?” She shows me a bikini that will cover about one inch of her ass.
“Absolutely fucking not.”
“Come on, it’s the way they all are these days. Cheeky is hot.”
“My wife’s cheeks are for me and me alone.”
She laughs and clicks the order button. “God, you’re going to lose your mind this summer.”
I clench my jaw, but there’s no turning back now. I kneel down beside her and hold out a sheaf of papers. She glances up, looks back to her screen, but does a double-take as her eyes go wide.
“Deanna, I love you.” I take the top few pages and rip them in half.
“I fell for you the second I hired you.” I rip more papers.
She reaches out to stop me, but I swat her away.
“I knew you’d ruin me sooner or later, only I didn’t know I needed to be ruined.
But now here I am, a better man for it. Free from shit I should’ve left behind a long time ago.
Happy to look forward to whatever we have coming ahead of us. And now I want to free you too.”
I finish ripping up our marriage contract.
“What the hell, Prime?”
“Relax, it’s symbolic. I have an actual contractual change getting drafted right now.”
“But why?” She puts the laptop aside and sits up straight. “Did I do something wrong? Are you upset with me? I know I’ve been lazy these last few days. I left work early?—“
“Deanna, baby, you think I’m ripping up our fucking marriage contract because you took off at four instead of five? I didn’t even know.”
“It was two-thirty,” she whispers, looking down at her lap. “I know. I’m ashamed.”
“Baby.” I take her hands in mine, struggling not to laugh. “You can leave whenever you damn well please. You’re fucking the boss, remember?”
“Then what’s happening?”
I lift her hands to my mouth and kiss her knuckles. “I want to do this right. I want to do it all right. I want you to be my wife, no strings, no clauses, nothing between us. If you want that, tell me now. We do this for real.”
“Prime…” She trails off. My heart beats faster than it ever has, faster even than when I shot Fontana’s face off. I shouldn’t be so nervous. I know she loves me. She knows I adore her more than the damn sky and I’d do anything for her.
And yet this is all I care about. This is my future, right here on my knees with this woman. She’s been the center of my world for long enough I don’t know how I could ever live without her now.
She leans forward and kisses me. Her lips part and her taste floods me, sweet and honey, light and airy, heaven right here on earth, more than I ever thought I’d have and sure as hell more than I deserve. I hold her tight thinking, yeah, that’s a good enough answer.
But she pulls back, flushed. “I love you, idiot.”
“Love you too.”
“But you better still take care of my parents.”
“Wouldn’t dream of changing a thing.”
“Good.” Another kiss. “Maybe we can keep that in writing?”
“Deanna,” I snarl and she laughs at me.
“Kidding.” A harder kiss.
“I got more news before we celebrate too much.” And by how hard I’m getting, that celebration’s coming soon.
I gently move her back and look her in the eyes.
“The company’s going to downsize a bit. Stellan levied some big fines and took some property, which means we’ll have to be lean for the next few years. ”
“That’s fine. I have a list of people we can axe, starting with Jason from sales. Seriously, that guy sucks.”
“Consider him fired and murdered.”
“No, not killed!”
“But baby, listen to me.” I tilt her chin so she has to look into my eyes. “I have to fire you too.”
Her mouth drops open. Surprise and panic hits her. She pulls away, waving her hands in the air. “Wait a second, hold on, I like my job. I mean, my boss is a prick, but?—“
“I can’t afford a personal assistant anymore, but I was thinking, I really do need a partner. A real partner, with her own name on all the documents, with an actual stake in the company and the ability to make decisions.”
She goes deadly still. Her face drains of color. “Hold on a second. Prime, I didn’t even go to college.”
“I didn’t either.”
“Still, you can’t just… make me a partner in your company. That’s insane!”
“I actually already did.” I show her the second set of documents. “What do you think?”
She thumbs through them and stops, gagging when she spots her salary. “What the fuck, Prime?!”
“Not enough?” I frown, peering down at the number. “We could probably add a five right here?—“
“No! I mean, yes, obviously, but no! That’s not what I mean.”
“Tell me you’ll do it. You’ve been running the office since I brought you on. We both know you’re the brains behind the operation.” I touch her cheek, stroking slow. “You’ll be the legit half. I’ll be the dark half. We’ll run our empire together.”
She breathes deep. “This is nuts.”
“You’ll do it?”
She exhales. “Do I get to fire Jason?”
“Fuck yes, you do.”
She wraps her arms around me and I fall into another kiss, and this one isn’t ending for a while, because I’ve been patient but a man has need, and my only real need is my wife’s legs wrapped around my waist with her moans in my ears and her sweat-slick skin pressed to mine.