“We need the cocaine market. We cannot pick and choose what we own. We either own everything, or we have nothing. You know that it’s only matter of time before he becomes so powerful that nothing will stand in his way. He has five hundred men on his team now, and that number is growing every day. If he gets even more power, if he takes the reigns, we know what happens next.”
I clench my jaw.
“What happened last time when someone became power hungry, Enrico? What happened when they tried to take the crown?”
I close my eyes.
My father was killed in cold blood.
“I’m not a drug dealer, Sergio. I will never be a lowlife fucking drug dealer,” I whisper angrily.
“Ferrara has fought for thirty fucking years to hold our territory, and now you are going to just let them waltz in and take it without a fight?” he growls.
“We are smarter than that.”
“You are not being smart. You need to fucking level up, Enrico. Our girls are living in fear of him coming into our brothels. We have all but handed him our cocaine racket. What’s next? The gambling? Then what? Then what’s he going to fucking take?”
I clench my jaw as I stare at the wall. “Barr him.”
“What?”
“He and his staff are not to step foot in our brothels or gaming lounges again.”
“He’ll go crazy. His favorite girl is one of our high-end units. He won’t not see her without a fight. You’ll start an all-out war.”
“Then we go to war.”
* * *
I sit in the parking bay outside Olivia’s office.
It’s after 6:00 p.m. now, and she’s finished work for the day. I watch for the moment she sees me. Her eyes light up before she makes her way to the car.
“Hi.” She beams as she bounces in. “You finished work already?” She leans over and kisses me.
“I took the afternoon off.” I pull out into the traffic.
“Oh.” A frown mars her face. “What did you do?”
“Picked up a few things, delivered a few parcels.”
“Well, I hope I’m the only parcel recipient.” She smirks.
I take her hand. “One and only.” I kiss her fingertips.
Her eyes hold mine, and she gets this dreamy smile on her face—the one that makes me want to be a better man.
We drive in comfortable silence for a while as I navigate through the traffic. Olivia eventually begins to chatter and talk about her day. She tells me about her new shoes giving her blisters, and a man at work who annoys her. A movie she wants to watch on Netflix tonight, also. Basically, anything that pops i
nto her head. I smile as I listen to her. She’s so disarmingly normal.
“Have you been back to the apartment yet today?” she asks.
“Yes.” I pull into the underground parking lot. The two security cars pull in behind us. I park the car and take Olivia’s hand. We make our way into to the elevator. “Feels like ages since we came here.”
“Hmm,” I mutter, distracted. “Did you like your present?” I ask, noticing that she hasn’t mentioned it.
“Oh, I love it. I just didn’t open it yet.”