“If people look at us and realize you hate my fucking guts then this marriage loses its significance. We need the people with power in this city to understand that my crew and your family are at peace and are going to stay at peace. Otherwise, they might get uncomfortable.”
I sipped the wine and swirled the glass. “We’re here to make rich people comfortable.”
“Exactly. They want to see that the mafias aren’t going to start murdering each other in the street.”
“Are they?”
He chewed on that for a second and sipped his whiskey. “Probably not.”
“That’s not a very good answer.”
“Look, your family’s been a little shady lately. Do you know what’s been happening?”
“I know the family split a few years back. My uncle took a lot of the senior members and moved to Chicago.”
“Yeah, that’s right, and Vincent’s been in charge ever since. He’s a smart guy, but he’s also desperate to prove himself.”
“You think he’s going to start something.”
“I think he’s not happy about my boss Hedeon taking over the Volkov family. Vincent and Hedeon don’t know each other well, and if one thing goes wrong—the whole thing can get fucked up. That’s why we got married, to avoid anyone doing anything stupid. We’re a symbol of peace.”
I smiled and sipped my wine. I hated the idea of being a symbol for anyone, much less of peace. My life hadn’t been peaceful, not when I was a little girl running around with the sons of the other mafia bastards, dealing with their taunts and their aggressions, and not later, when I got older and watched Alex get murdered in a botched drive-by shooting. No, my life’s been nothing but violence and blood and one mistake after the other, and the idea of being someone’s symbol of peace felt like a sick joke.
The worst part was, I knew I signed up for that. I had a vague idea of what we were supposed to be doing when I accepted my cousin’s proposal—but truthfully, I didn’t much care at the time, and only cared about getting paid. One million per year of marriage, up to five million in total if I could last five years. That was a lot of money, so much money that I could move away from Philly and start a whole new life away from the Leone family, away from the horrible memories.
It was more than they paid Alex’s grieving mother.
Now though, sitting across from handsome Reid, I wasn’t sure it was worth it.
“And what happens if this doesn’t work out between us?” I asked. “The city just goes to hell and there’s a big war?”
He shook his head. “Probably not. I mean, if we break up this week, then yeah— that would be a real problem. But no, eventually the new order will get used to the way things are. We need to stay together until things settle down.”
I considered that. “How long, do you think?”
“At least a year. Maybe a couple.”
“I’m not sure I can make it.”
“What about me do you find so repulsive?”
I blinked and shook my head. “You’re not repulsive.”
“You look at me like you want to kill me. You know that, right?”
“It’s not… it’s not you.”
He barked a laugh. “No, it’s you, right?”
“Right.”
“Fine. You can keep your little secrets, if you want.” He looked away as the waitress came out with our salad course.
Conversation was stilted and muted after that. I found myself feeling bad, but then felt angry with myself for feeling that way. After the main course came out, he managed to coax me out of my silence, and from there conversation flowed almost naturally. We talked about safe stuff, like movies and TV and music we liked, and it felt strange that we shared a lot of things in common.
My hair dried and people stopped staring. By the time my steak was finished and I felt stuffed, I almost forgot that I was on a date with my new husband, a man I didn’t know at all, in the middle of an expensive restaurant while rich and powerful people scrutinized everything we did and said.
Maybe it was the wine, but Reid was funny. Handsome and funny and smart. He was still a mafia bastard, but I found that if I pushed that part of him away and focused on the moment in front of me then he wasn’t so bad.
At the end of the night, he paid the bill, left a stupidly generous tip, and walked with me out of the room. I felt more eyes on me again, but instead of making me feel naked and vulnerable, I found I sort of liked the attention. The haze of the wine made things glow, and I even took his arm when he offered it.
Once back in his Lexus, he half turned to me and smiled.
“You were having fun back there.”
“I was not.”
“You were. I saw.”
“Don’t ruin it.”
He smiled, started the engine, and drove us back home.
5
Reid
“I hear you paraded your new wife around town last night.” Hedeon studied me over his glasses and licked his thumb as he turned the page of his newspaper. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs, looking bored and calm, but I could sense the undercurrent in his words.
“Figured I should start the process.” I sipped my tea and watch him carefully, trying not to let anything show on my face.
We hadn’t discussed how he wanted me to roll this out. I figured I had a lot of latitude with my own damn wife, but that might not be the case. Hedeon was a fair man for the most part, but every once in a while he made some decision in his head that he never shared with the rest of the crew—and got pissed when nobody knew about it. It wasn’t a common thing, but it happened enough that I was wary.
He only nodded slightly. “You’re probably right. How are things going with her at home?”
“Not great.” I took a deep breath and let it out as I stared at my tea. Milky brown swirled in a chipped white enamel cup. “She’s got a thing against men in our line of work.”
He lowered his newspaper. “Really now? Seems odd, marrying you then.”
“I suspect her cousin bought her off.”
“Hm.” A stormy look crossed his face. “He didn’t mention that.”
“Probably wouldn’t.”
“Is this going to be a problem?”
I shook my head. “I’ll keep it under control.”
“I hope so.” He lowered his paper and gave me a long look. “You know we need this.”
“I understand what’s at stake.”
He put the paper down and stood. He wore long khaki green pants and a white shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows. He looked like an organic farmer or an associate professor of weed studies, not the head of the second most powerful crime family in the city, but I had a feeling he preferred it that way. Hedeon wanted to skate under the radar, to keep out of the limelight, but now it was impossible to avoid. Ever since we stepped into the Volkov family’s position and took them over, Hedeon was given a lot more notoriety than he ever wanted.
“We need to keep this city from falling apart.” He walked to the sink and poured himself a glass of water. “Change in leadership is difficult.”