Page 35 of Lured By the Cartel

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You didn't really record anything, did you?"

"Nope," I grinned. "But watching you panic about it was worth pretending I did. I just had to do it."

"You..." He started, but was interrupted by Alessandro yawning widely. "We'll discuss your cruel deception later. Right now, I think it's finally bedtime."

We settled the twins back in their cribs, Marco humming something that sounded suspiciously like "The Wheels on the Bus" under his breath. I decided not to comment on it. He'd suffered enough teasing for one night.

"You're getting better at this, you know," I said softly as we watched our sons drift off to sleep.

"The singing or the parenting?"

"Both. Though maybe stick to Italian lullabies instead of English farm songs."

He wrapped his arms around me from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder. "Next time I'll try 'The Godfather' theme. More on-brand."

I elbowed him gently. "Don't you dare."

"No? What about some traditional mob songs?"

"Marco..."

"I'm just saying, they should learn about the family business early..."

I turned in his arms to face him. "If you sing one word of 'That's Amore' to our children, you're sleeping on the couch."

His laugh was soft and warm. "As you wish, amore mio. As you wish."

???

I never thought I'd be standing in Marco's office, twins safely tucked away in their carriers behind his massive desk, while negotiating with one of his lieutenants about a shipment gone wrong. Yet here I was, doing exactly that because Marco was across town dealing with another crisis.

He told me he was going to try to keep the cartel stuff away from me, but there was only so much a single man could do. I didn't blame him, of course, but still wished that things were different.

"With all due respect," Antonio shifted uncomfortably, "maybe we should wait for the boss to return. It would be the wiser choice."

"The Russians won't wait," I replied, keeping my voice steady despite my racing heart. "You said so yourself. They want an answer now." I'd learned enough from watching Marco to know that hesitation showed weakness. I couldn't afford to be weak, not with my babies sleeping peacefully just feet away. For them, I had to be strong.

Antonio glanced at the twins, then back at me. "This isn't exactly... traditional, though, and you know that."

"Neither is Marco having an omega mate and children, but here we are." I leaned forward, channeling every bit of authority I'd absorbed from Marco. He taught me a lot of things too. We learned a lot from each other. "Now, tell me again about the shipment."

He sighed, relenting. "The Russians are claiming we shorted them. They're threatening to break our agreement if we don't make it right by midnight. I don't know what they are thinking. We haven't done anything outside of our agreement."

I checked my phone—no messages from Marco. He was probably still handling the situation with the Colombians. The timing was too perfect to be a coincidence, and that made me nervous. Very nervous. If he were here, I would be feeling so much better.

"Show me the manifests," I demanded, trying to sound confident. One of the babies—Matteo, I was sure, even though I didn't look in his direction—stirred slightly. I resisted the urge to check on him, knowing I needed to maintain my composure. That was the single most important thing right now.

Antonio spread the papers across the desk. Numbers, dates, locations—all the details of a world I'd never wanted to be part of, but now had to understand for my family's sake. I studiedthem carefully, remembering all those late nights watching Marco work, listening to him explain his business. Back then, I hadn't thought that I would, one day, employ his teachings.

"Here," I pointed to a discrepancy. "The numbers don't match. Not because we shorted them, but because they're lying." My finger traced the line items. Criminals lying? What a surprise. "They received exactly what they paid for. They're trying to get extra product for free."

Antonio's eyebrows shot up. "How did you-"

"Marco taught me how to read these," I interrupted, heart pounding harder as Alessandro made a small noise. Please stay asleep, I silently begged. I was also nervous because I kept thinking that I was fucking something up and thus would look like a fool. "The Russians are testing us, aren't they? Maybe even testing me too?"

"Yes," Antonio admitted. "Word got out that the boss has been... preoccupied with family matters."

I felt cold anger settle in my stomach. They still thought Marco was weak because of us. Because of me and our children. They were wrong, and I would prove it.

---