Page 101 of Choices

Afterdinner I excuse myself to the bathroom, smiling as Santiago trails behind me. He's never stopped being my bodyguard, even though I begged the boys to hire us all bodyguards, so Santiago could just be. Santi refused, saying no one will do more to protect me than him. He has the bullet scars to prove that's true.

The kids go to school with a private detail, though. The principal pushed back against it but Matty charmed him and convinced him having high-profile children enrolled would elevate the school's reputation when we could afford private school with better security if we wanted to.

That man could sell ice to an Eskimo.

I take care of business and am washing my hands when a young woman I hadn't noticed before slides up next to me. She washes her hands, but I can tell her attention is on me and the hair on the back of my neck stands up. I briefly consider getting Santiago.

"Miss Greenwich," she says, still not turning to me.

"It's Calahan now."

"Right, Miss Calahan, can I have a word?"

We both dry our hands silently, considering each other. She's young, petite, with ivory skin and shiny black hair that has highlights of auburn. She's stunning. But it's her face that has me second guessing things. She's early twenties, maybe? But her eyes are dark, haunted, like she's decades older than the rest of her suggests.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm Nicoletta Ricci. I'm sure you've heard of the Riccis?" She asks, an apologetic look on her face.

Myhackles are back up. The head of the Ricci family is notoriously vicious and is rumored to have been working with Vitale in the skin trade.

I simply nod. It wouldn't take much for me to push her aside and get to Santi.

"My...um...Father might be meeting...an untimely end." She whispers, leaning closer to me.

"Untimely?"

"He has some...lifestyle habits that tend to shorten a person's life span."

Like pissing off the wrong people.

"I understand," I say with a small smile. "What does that have to do with me?"

"I just want to ask a favor...or maybe understand where Rico's priorities lay. When my father meets his untimely end...I want to negotiate that we keep our territory while the crown changes heads, if that makes sense."

"I'm not involved in Rico's business," I say, dismissing her and turning back to the mirror to reapply my lipstick.

"No offense, ma'am, but you and I both know that's not true. You may not be directly involved, but it would take a blind person to miss that you're in charge. At least of him."

I check my teeth before smiling at her. I like her.

She's planning on offing her father and replacing him.

I frown. "Is your father involved in trafficking? Because I can't condone that. And Rico won't allow it if there's an opportunity to stop it."

"I believe he is. But it doesn'tinterest me or my brother." She gives me a look of desperation. "I just want to be free."

Ah, so she'll put her brother in instead.

I nod. "If you can promise an end to the skin trade, I can promise we won't make a move. In fact, I'll talk to Rico about supporting your transition any way we can."

She sighs in relief, her tension and posturing relaxing.

"I think the women should be in charge. A five-minute conversation in a bathroom and we've ended decades of war." I laugh, loudly, the sound echoing off the marble walls.

"I tend to agree."

We exchange numbers and I return to our table, Santi in tow.

It's not until a moment later when we're sat back at our table and my Rico and Santi are laughing at something Matty said, and I think about my children, tucked in safe, warm home, surrounded by love, that I realize just how glad I am for making a different choice a year ago.

The End

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