Page 63 of Captivated By Him

“I’m fine,” he says with a pointed finger before I can voice my concern.

“You sound like it.” I look at my watch. “They’re late.”

The three of us are waiting for Piotr Kaczmarek to show. We’ve called a meeting, on neutral territory, to question him about his move with the unions. He’s stepping on our toes, and before it gets out of hand, we’re going to have to put a stop to it.

“They’ll be here.” Dominik rolls his shoulders back. He yawns, but quickly covers it with his fist.

Neither of them look ready to combat Piotr.

“Are you two going to be able to handle this? Because they’re not just fucking with Staszek business. Letting Henry stay here in Chicago is a way to fuck with my wife.”

Dominik arches an eyebrow. “What’s your problem? We’ll have this handled.”

“Really?” I walk to the single window in the room. The café where we’ve taken over their back office is situated in the middle of a long line of shops. The window looks out into the alley; across the way is another row of shops.

“Jakub. Don’t worry,” my father says from his chair. He seems winded, but I won’t bring it up again. A dark sedan pulls up in the alley, parking in front of the door. Piotr climbs out of the back seat, along with two other men. Henry isn’t with them.

Shame. I wouldn’t mind having a word with the fucking prick.

“They’re here.” I move across the room just as the door opens.

“Gentlemen,” Piotr says with a wily grin. He goes straight to my father, offering his hand and a bend of his head.

After the pleasantries are finished, we all sit at the round table in the middle of the room. It’s no coincidence there isn’t a long table being used. Here, we’re neutral. No family has priority and there is no higher-ranking member.

“I understand you have some issue with my business dealings?” Piotr places his hands on the table, relaxed, as though he’s here for a social gathering.

“It’s come to our attention you’ve offered to undercut our deal with some of the unions we’ve made relationships with.” Joseph’s voice is flat, devoid of any and all emotion. He’s in boss mode right now, much different than his father voice.

“Undercut what? I offer a better deal. It’s business, Joseph. Feel free to offer better than me.” Piotr shrugs. His hair is slicked back away from his face, making him look older than he is. Since the death of his uncle two years ago, he’s taken complete control of his family dealings in Chicago. Sharing power with his cousin, Christian, who has power over the New York families, is probably the only thing keeping the stress from killing him.

“You want the unions to take over the Willis project; we’ve put a great deal of work into keeping them out. The Willis project is off limits to you. You know this.”

Piotr mulls this statement over, running his tongue beneath his lip and over his top teeth.

“I don’t recall that part of the city being in your territory.” He lifts a shoulder.

“It’s neutral territory, you know that. But they’re our projects; your uncle agreed to stay out of construction. And we stay out of the gas stations.”

Piotr leans forward, bracing his weight on his forearms on the edge of the table.

“My uncle agreed to things, but that was years ago. He did agree to stay out of construction, and last year you agreed to stay out of the sex trade. Yet your family got in the way, took our avenues from us.”

“Micah Ivanov was not acting on behalf of the Staszek family,” Dominik interrupts. “And we’ve already dealt with this issue. You were compensated.”

Piotr grimaces. “We were, yes. But, you see, we’ve since found out two things.” He holds up two fingers. “One, your wife runs a halfway house for lost whores. Several of our girls are being hidden away there.” He drops one finger and brings his dark eyes to mine. “And your wife disrespected our family by running away the way she did. My family helped her when her father died. She was to marry one of my men. Instead of holding up to her responsibilities, she ran.”

My back straightens. “She was not promised to anyone.” I keep my voice flat, but I’m not as schooled in my volume. “And again, we addressed that already. You promised that prick, Henry, would leave Chicago. But he’s still here. He’s still harassing my wife.”

Surprise flickers in Piotr’s eyes.

“Henry was given direct orders to stay away from Nicole.”

“Well, maybe your men don’t listen to your orders as well as you think they do,” Dominik adds before I can open my mouth again.

“The point remains. Your family continues to get in my way. I’ve made a bid, nothing wrong with that.”

“You will stay away from the Willis project,” Joseph demands, his hand fisting on the table. “We will draw new lines if needed, but the Willis project is not negotiable.”

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