Page 22 of Professional Liar
“Is it the kind that can get me arrested, or the kind that will make me money? Because we know which of those I prefer.”
Gerry bobbed his head back and forth considering. “The kind that will get you in trouble with the sh…I mean…the lady of the house, but you also don’t want anyone else to take this.”
I sipped the hot espresso carefully and considered. I’d known for a while Kat’s nickname amongst our people was The Shrew. If this meeting could get me in trouble with Kat, then I was already screwed. She’d hear whatever the rumor mill spat out this week and assume I already did anyway. I was sure there should be more logic to this marriage thing, but for now, I would wing it.
“When do they want to meet?”
Gerry rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his eyes. “Now.”
“Right now?”
“They showed up a half hour ago. I was just waiting for Ms. Katherine to leave before I came down to talk to you. I don’t think she should speak to them.”
“Let me get changed and set them up here in the dining room. I want two of my guys in here as well.”
He nodded and made a quick retreat out the patio door with his mug. I went into the bedroom and changed into my usual uniform of black pants, black button down. It took me a few minutes to brush my teeth and shave. Once presentable, I exited the bedroom and headed straight for the dining room table.
A young man about twenty-three sat across the granite, peering around carefully. I’d never seen him before, but his dark eyes and hair made me think he belonged to the Italians. Which explained why I was about to be in trouble with Kat.
I held my hand out as I approached, and he shook it firmly.
“You know who I am. Who are you?” I asked.
He met my eyes squarely. No fear, something I couldn’t say about many men who sat at my table. “I am Lucien Cambio. Heir to the Cambio family.”
I sat and stared at him long enough to see if he’d fidget.
He did.
“If you have business concerning the five families, you should be talking to my wife.”
“As the man…”
I held my hand up to stop him. “I advise you not to say that in front of her. She might rip your balls off and carry them on a keychain.”
His forehead scrunched up, making him appear younger. “I thought— “
“You thought what? I’m not giving you anything or agreeing to anything, but I want to know why you came to my side of town.”
“I would like to put in a formal bid to marry Bianca.”
The laugh bubbled out of my mouth before I could stop it. “You came here to ask me to marry Bianca Minola?”
“As…”
The boy stopped and considered his words. A trainable pup then.
“As the husband to Katherine Minola— “
“St. James now…go on.”
“I assumed you’d be the one to ask.”
I pushed off the table and stood. “You severely miscalculated. And if the five families think I’m the one to come to for Italian business now, you all have it wrong. Katherine intends to take her father’s place. This meeting is over.”
Gerry who’d been standing in the kitchen scrolling through his phone the entire time came out and hauled the boy out of the chair by his thousand-dollar suit collar. I smiled when he jerked free and preceded Gerry outside. Fox, the other guard who’d been lounging on the living room couch, crossed the room to stand next to me.
“Too bad. He was kinda pretty.”
