Page 9 of Because I Need You
“My point exactly. The minute Natasha had to fly to Paris, you had a replacement waiting for you in the lobby.”
“It’s not my fault women want me,” I said, eyes narrowed. “You act like I had someone flown in or something. How’d you find out about that anyway?”
“I have eyes and ears everywhere.”
I let out a laugh. Of course, one of my men went and gossiped about this. My money was on Joey Z. Across from me, Loren chuckled, shaking his head.
“You better not do that to my sister.” I pointed at him. “I’m not married to Natasha.”
“I would never do that to your sister.” He said seriously, then grinned. “And I know you’re not married to Natasha. You’re married to Isabel Bonetti.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
“And you need her for the warehouse locations, and potentially the seat, if you choose to go that route,” Nadia added.
I sighed. “What I’m hearing is that I can’t get a divorce from a woman I’ve never even met?”
“Only until I get I access to the warehouses,” Loren said.
“Jesus Christ, Lorenzo, again with the fucking warehouses?” I threw my hands up.
“Those warehouses are currently costing me two-hundred-thousand a week, so yes, again with the fucking warehouses,” he said, and I knew that again, he was just seconds from losing his cool. Midas loved making money, that was for damn sure. It was good for me, too, so I couldn’t complain.
“Why not break into the warehouses?” I asked. It seemed like the logical thing to do.
“Break in?” he repeated back to me, as if I asked the dumbest question.
“Yes. Have one of your guys break in. Hell, have one of mine break in.”
“Charles has warehouses everywhere, and he never told me where the exact locations were, you know, for plausible deniability.”
“Some of them are on Russian territory,” Nadia said, “According to Tony.”
“There you go. We know Russians. Call one of them.”
Nadia laughed. “We know a few Russians, and they all work against the Russians. They have no pull.”
“I’m going to kill my father for this.” I sat back in my chair. “Maybe Loren’s right. Maybe she won’t find out about this marriage, and we can just keep it a secret until we figure out a way to gain access.”
“Uh, if Charles left this for you, he definitely left the same thing for her. She knows,” Nadia said.
“Or here’s an idea,” Lorenzo began, and I already knew I wasn’t going to like where this was going. “Maybe you should meet your wife and tell her straight up you need to see the documents.”
“Or,” Nadia started; I shot her a look, but she continued, “maybe you stay married until the big meeting. The one with the other four families. If Angelo Costello finds out about this, and he will find out about this—”
“If he doesn’t already know,” Loren interrupted.
“He’s your father. Why don’t you find out if he knows?” I asked.
“Eh. Not a good idea.”
“Maybe Vinny gets the seat, as next of kin?”
“Hell no. Fuck Vinny,” I said. “He gets that seat over my dead body.”
“What if Silvio Costello finds out and wants Vinny back in?” She looked between the two of us. “Frankie used to say Silvio always had a soft spot for him.”
I looked at Loren. “Is that possible?”
Loren shrugged, sighing.
“Would you allow it?” I asked, because that was more important.
“You think I can go over my father and uncle, two of the top bosses?” Lorenzo’s brows rose. “I’m crazy, but not that crazy. I actually have something to lose now. Nadia’s right. We need that seat.”
“I already told you that you can have the damn seat,” I said, even though, I really fucking wanted it. I wanted all of the damn seats so I could plant the exact people I wanted in the exact places I wanted them. I was dying to get rid of these geezers, but Loren having a seat was a good alternative. He was my brother-in-law, and it would mean we were almost halfway there.
“I already speak on behalf of my father. I practically have a seat. I don’t want it. Besides, Catalina—”
“Will kill you. I know.” I sighed. “I guess I’m going to New York. And here I was hoping for a boring workday.”
“Boring?” Loren stood with me. “You launder money through a bunch of nightclubs.”
“Exactly.” I stood and looked for my jacket while they stood and started walking out of my office.
Truth was, I actually enjoyed my nightclubs, and sure, the laundering. I’d tried to go one-hundred-percent legit with the nightclubs in the beginning, but in this life, that can only last so long. I tried to go to each one, frequently, but the one I went to the most was Devil’s Lair, since it was the newest one. Natasha hated the nightclubs with a passion. If it were up to her, I’d sell them all. Leave it to me to find the one runway model who hated the night life. It was just one more thing I liked about her, though. She wasn’t needy or clingy and she was always traveling abroad for a job, which meant I was the perfect boyfriend when she was in town (barely ever). The only downside was that my sisters didn’t care for her, and unfortunately, that was a big downside. Neither of them could tell me what it was they had against her. They just said, “it’s just a feeling” or “her vibes are off” as if that meant anything. The only thing I knew was, in my bed, her vibes were definitely on.
