Page 28 of Convenient Mafia Vows

I smile. Terry might not be as hands-on as he used to be, but he has his finger on the pulse of every mafia movement of every family in the city.

Cash shrugs and pours himself another drink. Kyle eyes him up, no doubt wondering how much booze it would take to floor his little brother. I could save him the bother and tell him that I’ve never seen it happen yet.

“So, you’re down with the whole fake-marriage scheme?” Cash asks Terry.

“It wouldn’t have been my game plan, which makes it as good as anything I’d have come up with.” Terry winks at me. “If we can pull it off.”

Not pulling it off isn’t an option. He knows this. We all do.

“Which brings me back to making sure this is authentic.” Kyle straightens an already immaculate folder on the polished table in front of him. “I’ve drawn up a marriage contract and prenup. We don’t want Victoria taking the Murrays to the cleaners when her best friend suggests she can make a few extra bucks out of us.”

“Fuck, Caleb,” Bash says, wincing dramatically. “Victoria who? I mean, how well do you know this gal? Is she out there now flexing her talons and chatting to the press? Or?—”

“Or is she locked up in your office, cuffed and gagged, with Ingram on guard duty?” Cash butts in.

An infectious chuckle passes between the twins. At least they have the same sense of humor.

“She won’t talk.” I sip my brandy.

The marriage isn’t up for debate—they knew this before they were called in for the meeting—but I value their opinions. Every single one of them. It’s why we’ve almost cleared up on the New York City casino scene—we each play to our relevant strengths, and as a team, we’re pretty fucking formidable.

With Don Dragonetti on our side, no one would touch us. Without him… Cash will be indicted for a list of organized crimes as long as my arm, and it’ll take some major palm-crossing to keep him out of jail.

“How can you be so sure?” Bash asks. “How long have you known her?”

“Twenty-four hours give or take.”

“Jeez.” Cash rubs his jaw with the palm of his hand. “What did you do, pull her in off the street?”

“Something like that.” I swallow a mouthful of brandy. It’s hitting the sides now, just like I needed it to because I haven’t dealt them the punchline yet. “She won’t talk because there’s a kid involved.”

“What the fuck?” Cash puffs up his cheeks and releases his breath slowly.

Bash wrinkles his nose.

Kyle is already manipulating the prenup to include a kid who might come back to demand a share of the family fortune in ten years’ time.

“Her kid?” Terry asks.

“Her brother’s kid. But Victoria is basically bringing her up.”

Terry sniffs, his tell when he’s trying to keep three steps ahead of the game. “Father on the scene?”

“AWOL. I’ve tasked Lauren with finding him.”

“You worried he might blow things up?” Terry asks.

“He’s a low-life loser so I wouldn’t put it past him.”

“Leave it with me.” Terry nods at Kyle whose fingers are flying across his laptop keyboard. “I’ll make sure he keeps schtum.” He unlocks his phone, locates the number he’s looking for, and fires out a message.

“And if he doesn’t, he’ll soon wish he had.” Cash laughs.

“Okay, we need a fallback plan.” Kyle peers at each of us in turn.

“I still vote Ivan Petrov,” Cash says.

“Meanwhile, we need to keep Victoria and the child safe.” I’m trying to keep the meeting on track.

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