Page 24 of The Forbidden Husband

Alonzo had vastly different ideas.

“The source thinks something has changed. He’s done something to put his plans into action, and he has reason to believe the wedding was a distraction from whatever he is actually doing. Has there been any talk of what could be happening?”

We all looked toward Owl, but he shook his head. “All my chatter has been related to the Russians, and assessing that threat, I’ll turn some of my eyes and ears toward the Bianchi estate to see if there’s anything they can find.”

“Keep looking at the Russians too,” I told him. “If I find any important information there, we’ll have a leg up on that conflict.”

Owl nodded. “What threat takes priority right now.”

Uncle Giovanni had a lot to consider. The Russians haven’t made another move on us, and we haven’t launched any strikes, either. There seemed to be a commodity between their attacks and the Bianchi attacks. They never used to attack without some provocation, but since the death of the former mob boss, there had been relatively consistent strikes against us.

Did they feel we were even now that my mother and father had been killed?

“Alonzo has been talking a lot about his endgame, according to all reports. I will not escalate the issue until there are definitive signs of his regression.”

“If we wait too long, he could be successful. We don’t know what he has on us. This marriage was a showboat, and everyone knows it. He suggested it to keep us pacified and docile. We need to strike and strike hard to prevent future injury,” I told him.

Matthew chimed in, “Maybe a more tactical approach would be appropriate first. Confronting Alonzo and figuring out what his demands are. It’s possible we can meet them and keep everyone happy.”

“His demand is capo dei capi, and he won’t stop there. He’s a greedy motherfucker,” Bartolo grumbled, cracking his knuckles. “Is there enough intel to be sure he plans on doing anything? If there’s enough information, we’ll have the right to stop him. If there’s not—”

“We could be starting another conflict that rages for generations,” I interjected.

We had just emerged from a feud a few years ago when the mafia's prevalent Italian families convened into the two most powerful—the Rissis and the Bianchis. Many of our subordinates still used their family names and worked beneath us, but nobody was interested in challenging us. Not anymore.

But by convening into two families, the “boss of bosses” title had been forfeited.

Uncle Giovanni thought it was for the best. Alonzo had never liked it.

“Is he really willing to risk a fallout like this by coming after us?” Matthew asked.

Alonzo was a lot of things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. Alonzo had strategies that spanned for years, and people played into them. If he was talking about an endgame, it meant he was really fucking close to seeing through one of those strategies.

“The marriage has to be phony,” I said, bouncing my leg as I considered. “It’s the only thing that makes sense—the onlyreason he would be interested in mending relations that he hasn’t been interested in maintaining for a long time.”

Uncle Giovanni nodded. “I agree.”

“Has Aria been properly vetted? Is she a mole?”

“We’ve kept an eye on all of his daughters for years. The only problematic one was the sister colluding with Anton Petrov for months before going rogue. Livia has a lot of friendships with different types of people, some who might prove problematic in the future, but she’s a child. Evelina and Aria Bianchi are both clean. Either of them would have been suitable.”

I snarled my response. “She’s probably good at hiding her involvement then. She can’t be trusted.”

Uncle Giovanni didn’t so much as break his calm demeanor. “Your temper and quickness in jumping to conclusions will be the end of you one day, Enzo. Not every woman is your mother.”

The words stung, and I knew he intended them to do just that.

“She’s aBianchi.”

“Do you think I chose her for no reason? If you treat her well, she has the potential to be very valuable to us in the future. Aria seems to be more interested in doing things legally and morally than anyone else in this industry, and her career choice shows that. As far as we know, she’s never been involved in any mob business. She can be trusted.”

As far as you know.

You would have said the same thing about the woman who gave birth to me too.

But something he said sank into my chest. “Career choice?” I asked. “What does she do?”

Uncle Giovanni gave me a knowing smile. “Instead of distancing yourself from your wife, why don’t you try giving her the benefit of the doubt and talk to her.”

---