Ruthless Monarch

My footsteps stop.

I’m not sure why, but it is like I’m frozen in place.

I know why he supported me in the office, but now that it’s just us alone in the hallway, it doesn’t make sense.

“Everything okay?”

“Yes, sorry. I was lost in thought.”

Not wanting to say more, I continue to walk. His hand remains on the small of my back.

It feels like the longest walk of my life.

Each second an eternity stretches out.

It feels good, though.

Exactly what I need to get out of this hellhole.

As we approach the door, one of the members of my parents’ staff opens it. I can’t remember his name; he must be new here. Is he the inside man? I’m about to introduce myself when Matteo pulls me through the doorway.

Neither of us speaks, and when we get into the car and wait for Roberto to start the ignition, we still don’t.

Any of the emotions or support he showed before are long gone. For a second, I was actually stupid enough to think maybe he wasn’t such an asshole, but as he taps on his phone and doesn’t acknowledge my presence at all, I know he really is.

It’s fine.

I don’t know why I thought otherwise.

“Now that I did what you asked, can I have my phone back?”

“I’ll consider it.”

I roll my eyes. He doesn’t see it as I’m positioned looking at the window, but it still makes me feel better.

I’ll take anything right now to do that.

Even if it means I’m acting like a petulant child.

11

Matteo

* * *

I avoid my wife the next day. Not for any other reason than until I find out what when down in that office, I have no reason to talk to her.

I’m sure Marino asked her to betray me. Knowing how he works, what makes him tick, it is almost unthinkable to consider he wouldn’t try to take advantage of the situation.

I want to know what she said.

If she said yes, I can spoon feed her false information.

If she said no . . .

Well, I’ll cross that bridge when we get there.

The plan will be easier if she said yes. Then I can seduce my wife with no feelings and feed her to the sharks.

After I get what I want, I could show her what being disloyal means. I don’t revel in killing a woman, but I’ll do what I have to do to keep my kingdom. I’m not sure what she’s doing. I know that Giana went to visit her, and depending on what I hear, I’ll give Giana better instructions on how to handle Viviana.

I find my men where I always find them, in the surveillance room.

It’s their favorite place to hang out.

It is state-of-the art, and if you aren’t watching the monitors, it’s basically a man cave.

“Okay, what do you have for me?”

“I have the audio.” He smiles.

“Is it clear?”

“As a fucking fresh fallen snow. We got both of them.”

“Good.”

Plot twist: What Viviana didn’t know last night was that I bugged her.

Not only was I not worried about Marino doing anything to me since I have a man in his house but I also got the benefit of hearing their convo.

That was a nice treat that I hadn’t anticipated. Sometimes good things do happen to bad people. In this case, spying on my wife and her dad is a good thing.

“Talk to me. Did you listen?”

“Not yet. So far, the only person who listened was Eddie, but seeing as we haven’t spoken to him, he hasn’t told us what was said.”

That makes sense.

Eddie was my man inside.

He’s newer to the outfit, so he makes an easy fit. He’s invaluable. He gives me the insight I need about what goes on behind closed doors. Nothing goes on inside the governor’s mansion without me hearing about it from Eddie. That includes and is not limited to the impending marriage of Viviana Marino to my dear cousin, Salvatore Amante.

We don’t speak to him often, not unless something big is going down.

“What are you waiting for? Fire it up.”

In the surveillance room, we have a state-of-the-art sound system, so as soon as my men activated the wire I had planted on Viviana, the room goes quiet to listen.

Her father’s angry voice booms through the space. Hers seems softer, yet she’s holding her own. Hearing her this strong has me smiling to myself.

They keep talking, and he does just as I expected him to do. He asks her to be his spy. Her answer isn’t as obvious in the recording. She argues, she objects, she even says no, but it’s the lack of words at the end that has my brow arching.

When the recording finishes and turns off, my men look at me.

“Did she agree?” Lorenzo asks.

“It sure did sound like it,” I respond. Without eyes in the room, I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but the audio evidence is pointing that way.