Page 53 of One Love

“You’ll have to excuse my husband, he tends to trust no one, especially when it comes to me.” Marco’s jaw clenches as his gray eyes bounce from me to Zavier then back to me.

“I have a meeting in forty minutes.” Well, I guess we’re moving this along, then.

“Right. So, my partner Dmitry and I were able to acquire this land from its previous owner.” Zavier’s not lying but he’s also not being completely transparent. By “acquire” he really means his partner—me—hacked into The Office of the City Register and changed ownership from Harvey Cook to Zavier Galanos.

River snorts as she takes in the view around us, making the corners of my mouth tick up. She’s not stupid and neither is Marco, but sometimes Zavier is too confident. Most times, he underestimates his opponents.

“And did you…acquire…” Marco pauses on the word giving it a weight of its own. “This land before or after our Mr. Wright—”

“Harvey Cook,” River interrupts without even looking at Marco.

“Yes, apologies. Before or after Harvey Cook descended into the deepest, darkest depths of Hell?” Marco’s tone is all business, no fluctuations and not a hint of anger. But I’m not fooled by his calm. A cobra doesn’t get agitated before a deadly strike.

“Hell is too good for him.” On that River and I agree wholeheartedly. I’m guessing the Reapers got them up to date quickly since Eyeballgate was only a few hours ago.

“I won’t lie, I’ve been after this lot for months now and well, I won’t deny myself a good opportunity. Especially since you and I had a deal.” Zavier doesn’t back down from Marco. In different circumstances, Zavier would be Marco’s equal, a mafia prince in his own right.

Except, he gave all of that up for a life of freedom.

“Hmmm, you know, Zavier,” Marco begins, his index finger tapping against his lips as he pauses, making sure our attention is solely on him. “Funny thing about opportunity. It comes and goes. And what I allow to come to you in this city, I can take it away.”

River walks back to Marco’s side and together they are two towers of immovable strength.

“What my husband is trying to say is that we don’t appreciate liars, Zavier. And more than that? We don’t take too kindly to manipulators. If you want something, you come to us. We assess, we decide.” At River’s words, Marco’s head bows in her direction like he’s showing reverence and I see it. It’s right there.

The awe and the love. It’s so fucking clear and I feel it in my gut.

It’s the exact same feeling I get every time Jordyn O’Neill walks into a room. Goddamn, it’s blinding.

“You’re right. You’re absolutely right. You have my word, Mr. and Mrs. Mancini, it won’t happen again.” Smooth, Zavier, very smooth.

“No, it won’t.” Marco ends the conversation with those three words.

“Enjoy your property and make sure you show us the floorplans. Who knows? We may need an apartment one day.” River grins then looks to her husband. “I’m hungry.”

Our goodbyes are swift and not five minutes later, Z and I stand here staring at the slowly descending sun over the skyline.

“This place is going to make us a fortune, Dima.” My chuckle is low but genuine when Z predicts the future.

“Good, you can pay for the plastic surgeon to fix your fuck up.” We both laugh, knowing damn well, I’d rather cut off my limbs than go under the knife to fix my scar. In fact, I’ve got a little soft spot for my scars and I can’t wait to get my new tattoo in the morning.

“Like you ever would.”

“Nah, Jordyn loves me just the way I am.” I grin and he rolls his eyes. I know he had a thing for her but he just wanted to fuck her, I want to build a throne for her and kneel at her feet. Not the fucking same.

“Think you can handle her?” Z turns to fully face me, the banter gone, the big brother vibe fully in place. “She’s…a lot.”

I grin because he doesn’t get it.

“No, Z. She’s everything.”

And just so we’re clear, I may not be used to violence, but for her? I’d fucking slice open my best friend’s neck if he ever laid a hand on her.

Thankfully, I fell in love with a woman who’d do it herself then come to me for a hard fuck.

“Duly noted.” And that’s that. With these few words, Zavier now understands where I stand and I know he’s got my back just like I’ve got his.

For the next hour, Zavier tells me all about his plans for this land, the high-end apartments he wants to erect, the name he wants to build for us. We throw around ideas for a company brand that would be separate from the casinos and people in the business we want to work with.

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