Page 54 of Brutal Power

Maggie O’Malley, the hardest woman in local politics I’ve ever met, stares at Elena then she stares at me, and I know what she’s thinking. I’m the head of a moderately powerful crime family, and Elena’s the sister of the head of an extremely powerful crime family, and suddenly we’re shaking her down, or at least cutting a deal. A lesser person might be scared, but not Maggie. She looks annoyed.

“That’s a big ask just to take care of a noise complaint.”

And that’s the crack I’ve been waiting for. It’s the first time Maggie’s ever seemed like she might be amenable to cutting a deal, and it’s like sunshine breaking through a year-long cloud cover.

“Then the Bianco family will owe you another favor.” Elena leans closer and winks conspiratorially. “Blank check.”

“You good with committing your brother to doing something for me?” Maggie sounds dubious.

“Don’t you worry about that. We’re just asking you to take another look, okay? You’ll see that it’s a fantastic project.” Elena throws back her drink and sighs. “Anyway, it’s been great hanging out with you, Maggie. Want to come on the next leg of our bar crawl?”

“No, I think you two should have some alone time.” Maggie laughs like she doesn’t understand what just happened. “I guess I’ll talk to you again when my neighbors finally let me sleep.”

“Night-night then and sweet dreams.” Elena hugs Maggie, who looks flustered, then drags me out of there. I manage to put my glass down on an empty table before I’m manhandled by a little ball of energy into the cool Chicago night.

I stare at Elena as she spreads her hands wide and points her thumbs at herself. “Tell me I’m the best,” she says. “Say it, Brody.”

“What the fuck just happened in there?”

“I got Maggie O’Malley to cut a deal. Tell me I’m the best.” She comes closer, sauntering, swaggering, and she’s the sexiest fucking thing I’ve ever seen in my life. “Tell me I’m the best, Brody Quinn.”

I grab her and pull her against me and bury my mouth on hers. I’m hungry for her lips, not just because she’s goddamn attractive, but because she’s clever and incredible, and I don’t know how I survived before her.

“You’re alright,” I say and she laughs, patting me on the chest.

“You’ll be screaming about how great I am later.” And with that, she pulls away, leaving me dumbstruck and grinning like a maniac. “Now take me to another dive. I was serious about the bar crawl.”

“You sure about that? I’d rather take you back home.”

She jabs a finger in my chest. “You have to work for that first.” Then she grins and jerks her head. “Come on, I know a spot nearby.”

And I follow her because I’m too swept up to do anything else.

Chapter 28

Elena

I’m still glowing with my victory over Maggie the next day. And a little sore from the downright athletic sex I had with Brody the moment we got back from not one more, butthreemore dives. It was a little drunk, a little sloppy, and I have a slight hangover, but my god, that man is very good with his mouth. And better with his dick.

Emily comes over for most of the afternoon and we mostly talk about baby stuff. She’s in the middle of a minor existential crisis, terrified of being a mother and all that good stuff, but really I think she just needs some reassurance, because she’s one of the strongest people I’ve ever met. The girl supported herself and her father working two low-wage jobs before marrying Simon. That’s a huge deal.

“I’ve been waiting for you to tell me about Brody, but you keep letting me blabber on,” she says toward the end of her visit. “Stefania keeps hinting that there’s something going on with you two.”

I shrug a little. I don’t mind that Emily and Stefania are talking about my relationship—they’re probably my closest friends inthe world—but I’m not sure what to tell them. “Can I just say it’s complicated?”

“That’s a massive cop-out.”

“But it’s also sort of true.” I tell her about going to the bars the night before, how it started out as work, but it ended up very much as play. I leave out the sex details, but she clearly gets the idea.

“This is how it starts,” Emily says, looking all smug. “You guys have some angsty, emotional realization that actually you’re perfect together, and then you start having sweaty, incredible sex?—”

“I’m going to stop you right there,” I say, holding up my hands. “I’m pretty sure you’re speaking from experience, and I really don’t want to think about my brother andsweaty sexright now.”

“I’m just saying, you look happy. That’s a good thing, right?”

“It’s a good thing,” I confirm, but I hesitate before throwing my legs over her thighs and sitting back against the arm of the couch like I’m at a therapist’s office. “But Brody’s got this, like, pathological fear of showing emotion. I know he’s got feelings, it’s just that he suppresses them. He thinks letting himself feel will only distract him from running his family.”

Emily laughs quietly. “Sometimes I think Simon’s the same way. The man acts like the world will stop spinning if he slows down. And in some ways it’s true, the Famiglia does rely on him, but he’s got good people working for him.”

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