Page 20 of Casino King

My blood boils. “Don’t ever refer to her like that again,” I tell him low, my implications clear.

“You know who you’re talking to, right?”

“Yes, my older brother, not my boss.”

Leo let’s out a sigh that’s barely audible through the phone and I know he’s rubbing the bridge of his nose like he always did when we were younger and Luca and I did something he didn’t approve of.

“Alec, you know getting involved with a woman in any serious capacity isn’t going to end well, right?”

“Who said anything about it being serious?” I counter, not wanting him to know how serious I already am about her.

“Because you walked out of our meeting last night. If I didn’t hear you say something about her being hurt, then I never would have let you leave.”

Let me leave?

My fist clenches on top of the conference table and I force myself to not say something I’ll regret later. Leo is the head of the family but he’s also my brother, and that fact seems to slip his mind more and more lately. He’s started detaching himself from the rest of us these past couple of years, and I don’t know how to reel him back towards us before we lose him.

“I had to.” I don’t want to explain myself further.

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, I dealt with it.”

“Is there something I should know?”

“No. The guy who hit her has been taken care of.”

“Jesus,” Leo breathes, but I don’t want to talk about this over the phone. Our lines are clean, but I still don’t like it.

“Did I miss anything after I left?”

“We discussed some shit going on in Miami and the club being challenged by the Cubans. Saverio and Matteo have it covered though, and a meeting is in place with them down there to clear up a few misunderstandings.”

“Good. Why anyone thinks they can try and come in and push us out of our cities just shows how little they value their lives.”

“Exactly. And Alec, we need to talk about Katarina.”

“What’s wrong?” I ask quickly, my blood running like ice at the thought of something being wrong with our little sister.

“She’s fine. She’s just driving me up a fucking wall with her talk about needing her freedom.”

“She’s just being dramatic. It’ll pass.”

“No, it won’t. She tells me every chance she gets that she needs more from life than what we allow her to have.”

“Leo, brother, I know the thought of loosening the reigns on her will result in something bad happening, but–”

“No fucking buts, she needs protection. This city is full of men ready to take advantage of her, and I won’t let that happen.”

“You think any of us want that?” I fire back. Katarina is only 21, and she’s too beautiful and naive to know the world will chew her up and spit her out before she even realizes what hit her. “Look, her birthday is coming up, so why don’t we throw her a party at The Aces? She can have a little fun and feel like she has the illusion of freedom for the night.”

Leo is quiet for a moment, thinking it over. “Fine. I think that’ll keep her at bay for a while, then.”

“You know she’s getting older, right? And what that means for you?” It’s Leo’s job now since our father is gone to make sure she’s married off to a man who will be a good match, but also benefit our family.

“Yes,” he hisses. “It means I’ll be sharpening my knives.”

“Sounds about right,” I say, taking the slightest pleasure in his discomfort.

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