Cecilia Walton-Barrone is sitting in my office, twirling in my chair as if she’s still the eight-year-old stepsister I never asked for. At thirty-one, she’s one of the most formidable attorneys I’ve ever seen step inside a courtroom. She’s ferocious when necessary and loves the people she cares about fiercely. However, the delight in her eyes as she spins lazily reminds me of a life before becoming Don Barrone or CEO of Barten Security.
‘You’re in the wrong office,’ I tease her as I step inside, taking my jacket off to hang it in the closet beside the bathroom.
‘Oh no I’m not.’ She grins and pushes off the desk to spin around again. ‘You’re the person I need to see, and I knew this was going to be the best place to replace you.’
‘Is there any reason you’re in my seat and not having this conversation over the phone like any other lawyer I deal with?’
She picks up a pen to fling it at me.
I smack the pen away before it can hit me. ‘You would think that a man in my position gets a hell of a lot more respect from his lawyer than you’re giving me right now.’
‘That’s because you didn’t assign me a criminal defense case as the CEO of Barten Security. You gave me a murder case as a favor to some two-bit skank you fucked over the weekend,’ she says with a smile.
My smile drops. ‘Lia isn’t a skank, and how about a thank you? Didn’t you say you wanted to get out of corporate law?’
She stops spinning to pace in circles instead. ‘Getting out of corporate law doesn’t mean I’m ready to swim with the sharks parading around the district attorney’s office. What the hell, Valley? Do you have any idea what the Bonetti family is into?’
I shrug. ‘Bits and pieces, but I’m sure their hand is being forced by Saul. That’s got to be worth something to the DA. Use your contacts and get this thing taken care of for me.’
‘It’s already in the works, but I had to burn through so many favors to make sure none of this shit comes back to you. Dad would be pissed. Speaking of which, he wants to know if you’re working this weekend.’
I growl because my father is supposed to be the retired don of the Barrone family. Yet, he still makes plays in the underworld, which I respect so long as I don’t have to clean up the mess.
‘I don’t know yet.’
‘Call him. Mom says she’s cooking if you want to bring the girl to the house for dinner.’
I nod. ‘Mom’s always cooking. I’ll let you guys know, but Lia is, um, she’s not exactly in the life. I don’t want to scare her off.’
‘Oh, I know. I spoke to her. The girl’s got a brass pair on her.’
‘That’s disgusting, Cee-Cee. Don’t talk about her like that.’
That brings a smile to her face. ‘Oh, so you do like her. Then you should definitely bring her to dinner. Mom and Dad would love to meet the girl who’s captured the heart of Valentino Barrone.’
‘Don’t be dramatic. When you said you burned through a bunch of favors for her family, was it bad? Do I need to throw some money around?’ I ask her.
‘We might need to grease a palm or two because there’s not exactly concrete evidence of Saul doing anything wrong. The money they give him every week can be explained in too many legal ways. If Saul was violent in any way with the family, that would be different.’
‘So what are we looking at, realistically?’
She raises her shoulders, stopping her pacing in front of the window to stare at the view. ‘I can get the dad community service, get it down as self-defense. Maybe a suspended sentence. There’s a problem, Val.’
‘It doesn’t sound like there’s a problem.’
‘I can give you all of the hypothetical scenarios in the world. Realistically, it depends on Mr. and Mrs. Bonetti cooperating with the district attorney. They were okay repeating the story to me, but if they gotta do it under oath? I’m not sure they’re going to do the right thing.’
‘That’s crazy. Why not? Isn’t getting rid of Saul worth exposing themselves?’
Cecilia walks closer to the window, fluffing her bangs and moving hairs out of her face in the limited reflection. ‘That’s what they’re concerned about. Exposing themselves to get rid of Saul doesn’t exactly get rid of him. They’re worried about Saul retaliating.’
‘I’ll put a team on them until Saul’s behind bars.’
‘How charitable of you, Valley, but you’re not Secret Service. Eventually, your employees are going to take paying gigs.’
‘My guys would be paid to watch the Bonetti family.’
She folds her arms across her chest. ‘Great, so the security detail gets their wages, but I have to work for free?’
‘Cecilia,’ I sigh. ‘Need I remind you who’s footing the bill for a six-week European vacation?’
‘That I earned, thank you very much. I’m going to need the break if I’m stepping into criminal law. Are there going to be more cases like this?’ she asks.
‘I have no idea. I’m trying to move the entirety of our family business into the daily operations of this business.’
Cecilia laughs heartily. ‘Yeah right. Dad’s not gonna quit being a loan shark, and I doubt you’re going to stop throwing your weight around in dollar bills. Persuading local businesses to sell you their properties to spite Saul Caputo. How long do you think you’re going to get away with that?’
That makes me grin. ‘I didn’t think anyone was paying attention to my real estate investment portfolio.’
‘Me, lawyer, remember?’ She imitates a caveman, making me laugh. She continues, ‘I look at every contract and document that requires your signature. Curiosity got the better of me and well, I see a pattern. It’s not obvious to anyone, you have to look to see it, but the trail leads to you.’
‘So I’m using a few shell companies to buy up Saul’s potential property interests.’
‘Is this girl you’re seeing an interest of Saul’s as well?’ she asks me.
‘She was.’
‘No.’ Cecilia points a finger at me. ‘She is. Currently, Saul is still interested in her. And the fact that you spent the weekend with her as Saul actively extorts her family, means you’re letting your dick dictate your business moves. Don’t get sloppy now, Valley.’
‘Only you and Armande get away with calling me that,’ I huff, wanting to change the subject. I can’t stand the fact that she’s right. This morning’s blowup at Lia’s cousin’s apartment is evidence of that.
‘If you actually like her, Val, then do it right. Don’t string her along just to piss Saul off. You’ll egg Saul on to get him to act out and do something that warrants you starting a war.’
‘I don’t want a war. I want Saul dead, out of the way, or buried in solitary confinement in some prison cell.’
‘That’s not what you’re going to get if you keep letting your emotions dick-tate what you do. Again, if you like the girl, fine. I won’t call her a skank and you should actually date her. Treat her like a woman, not some pawn to piss off Saul. We know who behaves that way and you don’t want to be like her, right?’
‘I’m nothing like my mother,’ I tell her adamantly.
‘I know that. Everyone who knows you knows that. Doing shit to piss off Caputo is one thing. Stringing along some girl and helping her family to piss him off is dangerous, Val. They’ll be collateral damage in a war they are ill-equipped to fight in. Don’t make them soldiers or casualties in this fight. I gotta go. I just wanted to stop by and bitch about you dumping this case in my lap.’
‘As long as you help Lia and her family, you can bitch and moan as much as you want to me. Tell Mom and Dad I’ll try to swing by for Sunday dinner.’
‘Bring your girlfriend.’ Cecilia chuckles as she walks out of my office. I want to shout at her that Lia isn’t my girlfriend or anything serious, but I’d be lying to myself.
Cecilia’s one of the few people who know the depths of lies and treachery dealt to our family at the hands of Hera Fasano, the woman who gave birth to me. The woman who decided that raising a family with a gangster wasn’t the best choice, so she left. It doesn’t matter that she lied to my father, to me, to her other family for years. She grew tired of splitting time and decided my father and I were better off without her. In a way, Hera was right.
My father’s a happy man with his wife, the woman I call Mom. It hurt like hell when our family imploded, but Cecilia and her mother, Shayla, were the best gifts the Barrone family ever received. Being married forced my father into retirement and put me as head of our other family.
There’s no way I want to be anything like Hera. It makes me consider Cecilia’s words. I have to take my feelings for Lia seriously if I want things to continue between us. I don’t want Lia looking at me like some obsessed lunatic. There’s so much going on, I feel my brain stretching in too many directions.
When I hear a firm knock on my door, I look up to see Armande waiting with a file open in his hand and eyes glued to it. It’s just what I need to stop letting this personal development in my love life distract me from the work ahead.
‘Are you coming in?’ I ask him.
‘No,’ he says, refusing to look up from whatever report he’s reading. ‘We have a two o’clock meeting in the conference room. Don’t tell me you forgot about the Wellingtons.’
I did forget. It’s been a busy couple of days for me.
‘Who are they and why do they need to see me?’ I ask him for a refresher.
Armande groans, closing the file and glaring at me. ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of this meeting, too. Val, listen, I know I gave you a hard time earlier today, but don’t let new pussy get to you. We still have a company to run and a few hundred people depending on things running like clockwork.’
‘Relax, Armande. I’ve put in enough hours and time building this company. If I’m not present one fucking Monday morning, we’re not going to file for Chapter 11.’
‘I’m just pointing it out before one fucking Monday turns into a month of Mondays. Pussy has been the downfall of actual empires—’
I stop him. ‘No, the pursuit of it has been the downfall. I’m not pursuing something that I’ve already conquered.’
‘Great, then that means you’ll be ready for that video conference this evening? We have two teams in the middle of a Southeast Asian rainforest. Things seem to be getting complicated securing travel out of there for them. We assured our client safe passage by river. The canal’s under attack by pirates, or something.’
I nod and understand. ‘Fine. I’ll reach out to some of my embassy contacts to see what we can do. Maybe we can get a private plane out there or something.’
‘Unless it’s a stealth bomber, no fly zone. You know that, Val. Get your shit together. You dropping the ball here is actually life and death. We secure people. Not objects, not properties, people. I’ll check in with you at the end of the day. You can let me know if I’m handling the Southeast Asian transport crisis or if you can actually pull your weight on that today.’
Armande walks out of my office and I know he’s upset, pissed even. He and Cecilia are right. I’m too distracted. This is only one reason why I can’t be bothered with Lia. Still, I can’t see myself just walking away from her. Perhaps one more night to get her out of my system will do the trick.
I pull out my phone and dial Lia’s number. It only rings for a second before she answers.
‘Good afternoon, Mr. Barrone.’
‘Are you busy right now?’ I ask her.
‘Just having a late lunch with my parents. Can I give you a call back?’
‘No. Actually, I want to take you out to dinner tomorrow night if possible.’
‘Dinner?’ She lets the word linger in the air as if there’s anything to think about. Why wouldn’t she want to have dinner with me? I literally ate her pussy until she came down my chin.
I reply with sarcasm. ‘Yes, you know that meal most of us like to eat after a long day. I want, no, I need to see you again.’
She sighs. ‘I told you that I don’t think that’s a good idea and I told you why.’
‘I don’t care about what Saul wants you to do or what he told your family about this weekend. All of that’s being taken care of. I just need to see you, Lia. Are you going to make me beg?’
‘No, you don’t have to beg because my answer is no, Valentino. Please, uh, respect that.’ Her voice is shaky, as if something’s wrong. I can hear voices in the background encouraging her to take me up on my offer, but Lia’s adamant. I know why she’s saying no, but the problem?
I rarely take no for an answer.
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