Page 135 of Marry Me Not
I bit on my bottom lip. “You haven’t. And honestly, I have no idea what you mean.”
He moved behind me, fitting his body to mine until his warmth surrounded me and every hard line of him pressed against my back. “Then I suppose I’ll have to show you later tonight.”
A smile tugged at my mouth as I sank into him.
It should have been perfect.
It almost was.
Except the marriage that finally felt so right still had an expiration date.
I didn’t want to press him for answers right now. He had the vote coming up and was still negotiating with Dominic. Things seemed to be going well, but there was still the risk that Vita would try something. The woman was capable of anything.
So I told myself to enjoy this.
Our whole relationship had developed during a period of upheaval and turmoil. Once Cosimo was sworn in and the dust finally settled, we would have time to talk about what came next.
Time to find out whether the future I was quietly beginning to imagine was one he wanted too.
CHAPTER 47
COSIMO
There wasa room in one of our Midtown office buildings where many of the important family meetings were held. But none had been as important as this one.
There were no windows, one door, a table long enough to seat eighteen. Soundproof panels lined the walls and the ceiling. At around eight o’clock, the last of the employees at the property management company that occupied the building clocked out. By nine o’clock, the whole place had been swept for bugs, the hallway cameras had been disabled, and two trusted soldiers were stationed at the only door.
The furniture inside the room was well-made but old. The first time Dad brought me here, shortly after I became a capo, I asked him why we made our biggest decisions in such an inconspicuous place.
His answer had stayed with me.
It reminds everyone who comes in here to stay humble. It’s easy to start imagining we’re kings, but that’s not what we are. Weall serve something bigger than ourselves. The men at this table serve me, and I serve the family.
The family.
It was a name for a group of people, but more than that, it was an idea. And ideas outlived every man who served them.
I wondered when Father had realized he’d betrayed that idea by listening to Vita and turning his back on Rena Santoro. The drawing in his journal told me he had understood eventually.
I’d always believed his greatest mistake was loving too deeply.
I’d been wrong.
His mistake was giving all that love to the wrong woman.
At quarter past nine, the capos filed in. Rom and Alessio sat on each side of me, their presence grounding and familiar.
The capos filled the seats around the table, but they left the spot directly across from me open. That empty fucking chair mocked me. They all clearly knew what was about to happen next, which explained why none of them so much as blinked when Mother walked in a few moments later and took that seat.
Vita folded her hands on the table and surveyed the room. “Shall we begin?” she asked, as though her presence here was completely normal.
A cold smile pulled at my mouth. “What are you doing here, Mother? This vote involves the capos, my brothers, and me.” I wanted her to articulate her betrayal plainly so that she’d have nothing to hide behind later.
Her mild expression didn’t change. “As I have already communicated to thecaporegimes, your father did not explicitlyleave the family to you in his will. The succession is therefore unclear. I am putting myself forward as a candidate.”
The nonchalance with which she spoke told me she believed she already had the votes. Several of the capos wore the guarded expressions of men who’d recently been promised something and were now wondering whether those promises would hold. Most of the ones she’d paid refused to meet my eyes.
I leaned back in my chair. “I am his eldest son and his underboss. What you’re proposing is treason.”
