Page 60 of Dark Breaker

He’s talking about Massimo and Giovanni, who were supposed to be working on brokering an agreement with the Jackal. They would be using proxies, so they wouldn’t know where the Jackal was, either.

“The negotiations are ongoing,” I reply. “The Amatos and Morettis haven’t made much progress though, as far as I know, even with the threat of three families going to war against the Tunisians. I almost think the Jackal actually wants a fight.”

“There’s nothing more dangerous than a man who thinks he has something to prove,” Nicolo states.

“Can’t disagree there,” I tell him.

“All right, let’s hope these negotiations get somewhere, and soon,” Nicolo replies. “I’ll keep you updated if anything changes on my end.”

“Watch your back,” I tell him.

“You too.”

I hang up and head to kitchen. I prepare a bowl of cereal but before I can set the plate down I’m startled by a voice from my past.

“Ciao, Fabio,” the voice says. “How’s the married life treating you?”

Gina’s sitting on the couch in the family room. She’s let herself in.

I forgot: she still has a key.

She looks much the same as she did that night at the fundraiser. She’s wearing a slightly different dress, one that better accentuates her cleavage, and has her blond hair combed straight. She’s also wearing so much make-up that compared to Rosa she looks almost clownish. Still, despite that, she’s fairly hot, and before Rosa I would have been all over her. But today she doesn’t even cause a stirring in my cock.

I’m very aware that I’m only wearing underwear, so I slide behind the main kitchen counter so she can’t undress me as easily with her hungry eyes. Or that’s the idea, anyway.

“I’m going to need you to return my key,” I tell her.

She ignores my comment and says: “I never took you for a shy one. Hiding behind kitchen countertops now? It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”

I tighten my jaw. “Return my key and leave.”

She purses her lips as if what I told her was a request and not a command. “I hear you’ve been having some trouble with the Jackal.” I don’t know how she manages to put such a seductive twist on everything she says.

“That’s not your concern,” I tell her.

“I think it is,” she continues slowly, drawing out each word. “You see, I can arrange a meeting between you and the Jackal.”

“I doubt that. No one knows where he is right now. Especially not the slut who’s fucking Alderman Pietro.”

She forces a smile at that. “This ‘slut’ has the alderman eating out of her hand. He tells me everything. I know, for example, that Pietro isn’t planning to support your mayoral candidate. He has a different candidate in mind entirely.”

“Oh really?” I ask. “And who’s that?”

Her fake smiles deepens. “The Jackal’s candidate.”

I almost laugh. “The Jackal has a candidate?” I narrow my eyes at her. “Tell me who he is so I can assassinate the fucker.”

“You can’t,” she says. “Like the Jackal, his candidate has been keeping a low profile.”

“Then he’ll be the first mayor in history who’ll be assassinated during his swearing-in ceremony,” I state.

“Come now, Fabio, don’t be a sore loser,” she says.

“My candidate hasn’t lost yet,” I retort. “So who is he? Who’s the other candidate?”

“She, you mean,” Gina replies. “Francesca Toretta.”

Gina’s right. I can’t assassinate her. Killing women isn’t my thing. I could hurt her, though… still, she’s too well-known to intimidate without drawing some serious heat. Indeed, Francesca is the biggest threat to my own candidate. She’s almost got the same level of support. It wouldn’t take much for her to come out on top when the voting starts. With the Jackal throwing in his support, that means all the Tunisians will be voting for her, too. With their added numbers, she just might win.