Page 32

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CASPIAN

M y phone vibrating on the nightstand drew me from a warm and contented sleep. Leona’s head rested on my chest, my arm wrapped around her. Her shallow hot breaths tickled my bare skin. I drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, eyes closed, already drifting back to sleep.

Leona. In my arms.

My wife .

My eyes flew open.

No, not my wife.

My phone vibrated again. Gently, so I didn’t wake her, I detangled our limbs so I could reach over and grab it. Three messages from Giulio.

Call me.

I have updates.

We need to talk.

I gripped the phone tighter and glanced down at Leona’s sleeping form. Her gentle, peaceful face. She was curled in on herself. That wrinkle that always furrowed between her eyes when she was in thought was smoothed out and relaxed.

I didn’t want to wake her. She needed rest.

I slipped from of the covers and pulled on some clothes. Just to be safe, I grabbed my gun, and tucked it into the back of my waistband.

The morning light already illuminated the penthouse kitchen, where Obi sat reading three different newspapers and drinking a cup of coffee.

I paused, phone in hand. I needed to call Giulio, but I didn’t want any of them to overhear.

“Caspian,” Obi said in greeting.

“Morning.” I glanced toward the front door. I could go downstairs for a few minutes. Or take the call in the hallway. I could be back up before Leona even noticed I was missing.

Obi glanced at the phone in my hand. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah.” I stepped backward. “I’ll be right back.”

He gave me a pointed look I couldn’t read. “Do what you need to do, Caspian.”

I rubbed the back of my neck as I turned and headed for the front door. Something had happened between him, Ryuji, and Leona in Los Angeles, and I knew it had something to do with Kofler’s death. I should have asked Leona about the trip, but I got too caught up in my own shit.

Whatever it was, Obi’s calculating eyes were no less intense.

I opened and shut the penthouse door as quietly as I could before I rang Giulio back.

“Caspian, sir,” he answered on the third ring.

“Giulio. Update me.” I kept my voice low and level.

“The meeting is still on, but I’m going to be honest. Everyone I’m talking to is asking if you’re going to announce an engagement.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We talked about this. There is no engagement.”

“I know, and I’m telling you, they’re asking. They know Max got engaged to the Tommaso daughter. The Tommaso men won’t shut up about it.”

“So? That has nothing to do with us.”

“It’s a show of strength,” he replied. “The Tommaso men are annoying as fuck, don’t get me wrong, but to have two Families tied together…it’s a fucking powerful message. Men do not want to turn away from that.”

It was a powerful message. The Tommaso Family and the Vero Family had long held the titles of the two most powerful Families in the Italian mafia. To unite forces under such circumstances was unprecedented. A foot soldier would be reluctant to risk betraying Max, especially now that he had so much power under his belt.

“Are you telling me they don’t want to hear us out?” I grumbled. What if nobody even showed? What if we tried to arrange all of this for Leona, but none of them even cared to listen? I promised her I’d get the men on our side. I’d already fucked up once by not killing Max when I had the chance. I couldn’t fuck this up. “What about that stack of money? Do you need more?”

“The money is helping to get them to even consider showing up, but no, they do not want to hear you out unless they know who the Family rightfully belongs to.”

“It belongs to Leona.”

“If you want to prove to them that it does, get engaged.” He exhaled heavily. I heard the smack of his cigarette box against his palm, followed by the click of his lighter. “I don’t understand why this isn’t an easy fix, sir. Everybody knows how you feel about her.”

My blood went cold in my veins. “What?”

“It was obvious, Cas. Ever since she took you in, everybody has known. It’s not a secret. That’s why the Family expects it.”

Was it really that obvious that I’d loved her all this time?

“I…” I swallowed while I paced the hallway. I didn’t care that people had known or thought I was stupid for loving her for so long, or whatever fucking reason. I wasn’t embarrassed . But I would be livid if the whole reason the men were demanding she be married was because they knew how I felt about her.

If the men didn’t know how much I loved her, would they even be asking this question? Would they be listening at all?

“How many men have said they’ll come to the meeting?”

His breath puffed when he blew out a drag. “If I could at least start telling them it’s on the table, I know I could get more men to show up. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee more than probably ten.”

Fuck.

Ten fucking men. That was it?

“And what if we were engaged?”

He paused, considering. “Maybe fifty. I’m not sure. I can’t talk to too many men without risking Max finding out.”

Fifty. Five times the men would come if we were engaged.

I dragged my hand down my face. I knew what I had to tell him.

“I’m going to propose.”

“You are?” Giulio’s voice raised in surprise. “That’s a huge relief.”

“Just get the men to that meeting, Giulio,” I said through gritted teeth. “We’ll go from there.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll keep you posted.”

I hung up and slipped back inside, avoiding Obi, who was still sitting in the kitchen.

If I could just get Leona in front of them, they’d see her, and they’d be blown away by how much she’s changed. They’ll see all of us standing behind her, and they’ll know she’s serious, as long as they showed up.

We were a better choice than Max. We needed to show that we had the power to take him down, and if they wanted to survive, they needed to be on our side.

Right now, telling Giulio that I would propose was the only thing I could say or do that would even get us the opportunity to turn the men to our side.

Without the men, this entire plan was dead in the water.

I’d figure out what to do about a proposal before the meeting.