Page 64 of Captivated By Him

To give over now will give the Kaczmareks a taste of our blood. They won’t stop until they overtake everything we have gained over the years.

Piotr frowns. “I don’t take orders from you, old man.”

“If you aren’t going to keep the agreements between our family, then all agreements are called into question.” Joseph’s voice catches at the end of his statement and he pulls his handkerchief out again, falling into a short coughing fit. When he’s finished, his face is red, and he’s struggling to catch his breath. Dominik glances at him, but otherwise makes no move to help.

“We’ll give you time to decide if you want to continue making money in this city, or if you want competition at every turn,” Dominik says, giving our father time to catch his breath.

“Not too much time, mind you,” I add. “And put Henry on a leash before I do.”

Piotr narrows his eyes. He doesn’t like taking orders, I get that, but the Kaczmarek family doesn’t have the reach we do in Chicago.

“I’m sure we can come to some sort of an agreement.” Piotr pushes out of his chair, gesturing to his goons who quickly scramble to the door. For all his chest beating, there’s hesitation in his eyes. If he wants to fight over territory, he’ll lose. It will cost us men and be a big fucking headache, but we will not cave to him.

Joseph gets to his feet and offers his hand. Piotr looks at it, then to Dominik and me before he takes it. It’s a short handshake, but one that means there won’t be a declaration of war today.

Piotr nods his goodbyes to me and Dominik before heading out the back door. We all watch the door until the car doors close, the engine fires up, and the car pulls away. Only then do I let out a breath. If Piotr is willing to break long-standing agreements without a word, he’s not above making a deadly move on neutral territory.

“That could have gone better.” Joseph plops down in his chair, wiping his handkerchief across his mouth before stashing it away again.

“It’s not the end. We’ll pin him down again. But we stay on the Willis project. I’ll get another meeting with the project manager and be sure they understand the deal is with us. Any discussions with the Kaczmareks will void everything and they can expect to have two of the most expensive unions to march in on the project.”

Joseph nods. “He’s going to try to undercut us.”

“I’ll make it clear that’s not an option.” Dominik pulls his phone out and starts tapping away on the screen.

I put my hands on my father’s shoulders. “You’ve been fighting that cough for months. What has your doctor said?”

He cranes his head to the side to glare up at me. “Who has time for doctors. I’m fine. It’s a chest cold.” He waves his hand in the air. “Just a little cold.”

“Stubborn man,” I mutter.

“You just take care of your wife.” He jabs at me. “I hear she’s doing good work at the club.”

“You’re checking up on me?” I ask, only half irritated.

“Kasia tells him anything if he asks nicely enough,” Dominik says while still typing away on his phone. “She’s got a soft spot for the stubborn goat.”

“Don’t be mad at me because your wife likes me better than you,” Joseph teases.

“Don’t be so proud. Anyone is better than Dominik.” I pat his shoulder.

He laughs, which causes another coughing fit, but it’s short lived.

“You’re both hilarious.” Dominik puts his phone away. “We better get out of here.” He looks to me. “The grand opening is this weekend?”

“Friday night,” I tell him.

“We’ll all be there,” my father promises.

“I would hope so,” I say. “I know it’s not as exciting as all the work you two do, but it’s still part of the Staszek family business.” I jerk the door of the office that leads into the café open.

My father pinches his lips together as he passes me, like he wants to say something but knows he shouldn’t.

“You still have men on Nicole? I don’t trust Piotr when it comes to her. He could use her against us, especially if Henry is still in town causing trouble. The other families may buy into his bullshit that she owes him and we took her,” Dominik says quietly as we head out to our car.

“I have men protecting her, yes. She’s been working from home, but she’ll need to be in the club the next few days to oversee the opening,” I say. “We don’t need the other families to go against the Kaczmareks.”

“No. But we don’t need them to go against us, either.”

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