Page 50 of Owning Nicci

I have another meeting today, one with Dimitri Yashkov and Padraigh Gallagher. Padraigh’s right-hand man reached out to me two days ago to arrange it. It’s the first contact I’ve had with any of them since Padraigh suggested that my only option was to marry Estella Gallo, and I’m hopeful that he’s reconsidered his stance.

Still, I can’t ignore the possibility that it might be a trap. I opt to leave two of the four security guards at the penthouse for Nicci’s protection, one outside the front door and one inside the apartment, and take two of them with me. Two bodyguards likely won’t be much of a help if I am walking into a trap, but it’s better than nothing. And a slight show of force might give Dimitri and Padraigh a clearer idea that I’m serious.

The meeting is arranged at the same pub where I met Padraigh before. Two guards are stationed outside, and they eye my men as I walk up, but nod and let us through. Dimitri and Padraigh are sitting at a table near the back of the pub, and it’s pointedly empty, despite the afternoon hour. It’s clear that Padraigh closed and cleared the pub for this meeting.

“Savio.” Padraigh greets me with a smile, motioning me over to the table. “I’m glad you came.”

“It remains to be seen whether or not I’ll be glad I came.” I gesture to my men to hang back and take a seat. “What’s this about? Have you rethought what we talked about at our last meeting?”

Dimitri and Padraigh share a glance. “Have you thought about my suggestion that you marry the Gallo’s daughter?” Padraigh asks. “I’m sure that with the proper encouragement, he’d be open to the idea. Even with the past…bad blood with your family.”

“I did think about it.” That’s the truth, although I didn’t think for long. “I’ve put years of planning into this, Gallagher. My accomplishments should be enough to convince you, and you, Yashkov,” I add, looking at Dimitri. “Marriage should not be necessary. I’m not looking to become Gallo’s heir.”

“No, you’re looking to usurp him,” Dimitri says sharply. “And we won’t let that stand.”

Padraigh lets out a heavy sigh. “If you’re not open to marriage, Valenti, then there’s no way forward for you. Yashkov and I won’t back your play. And we’ve called you here today to warn you—because you approached us respectfully.”

I narrow my eyes. “Warn me?”

“Get out of the city, Valenti,” Dimitri says flatly. “We’ll give you a week to tie up your affairs. Two, at the most. But if you make any move against Gallo, or if you linger too long, we’ll be forced to do something about this situation.”

A sharp anger burns through me at that, but I stay calm. “And what is it that you’ll do, exactly?”

Padraigh gives me a long-suffering look. “I think you know the answer to that. Do we need to spell it out for you?”

“No.” I shake my head abruptly. “No, you don’t.”

“Good.” Padraigh sits back, satisfied. “It was a pleasure, Valenti. Safe travels.”

It’s my cue to leave. The meeting was abrupt, to the point, and didn’t go in the way I’d hoped in the slightest. My jaw tenses as I rise to leave. There’s no point in continuing to negotiate with the two of them; all of my efforts so far have fallen flat. The only way forward, as far as they’re concerned, is the bloodless and traditional way—which I find especially hypocritical in Dimitri’s case. He refused the marriage that his father arranged but sits idly by while Padraigh attempts to strong-arm me into the same thing.

I’m not going to do it. I’ll find some other way, though I’m not sure how. Assassinating Gallo might be a possibility—if I can hire someone good enough to do it quickly and quietly. But what then? Yashkov and Gallagher have made it clear that they don’t intend to back me. Would they still stick to that if Gallo was dead and I’d made my move to take his seat? Or would they have me killed and let Estella take over his empire?

I run a hand through my hair in frustration as I walk back to the car. It seems, after all of my work and careful planning, that I’m in the same position that my father and brother were—of needing to stage a coup if I want to take Gallo’s place. In the end, it’s come full circle, and I’m right back where we started.

I’ve taken the lives of two of Barca’s former men. I’ve taken the woman he claimed for his. But I feel hollow. There’s been no satisfaction in it, only a steadily growing feeling that I’m sinking into the same mire that took both him and my father. That I’ve tried to become something different, somethingmore, and failed.

What if I just left?I consider it as I slide into the car and direct the driver to take me back to the penthouse. The stubborn, rebellious part of me wants to refuse the idea altogether. It’s what Dimitri just ordered me to do. I want to refuse, to dig my heels in and not be cowed by the demands of these men who believe that they’re owed their place in life purely by virtue of their name. But then what? Am I just as foolish as my father and Barca were?

I clench my jaw, rubbing my hand over my mouth. I don’t know. I don’t know what I should do. But I do know that Nicci and I have another hit tonight, that we’re supposed to be going after Vince. I know where he lives, in a shitty neighborhood in a bad part of Harlem, and it should be easy enough to nail him there. We’ll need plenty of firepower—Vince is a former enforcer, which means he’ll be no slouch to kill, and I feela flicker of worry at the thought of bringing Nicci into that situation.

But it’s what she wants. It’s what I’ve put her through all the endless training for. And at the end of the day, I shouldn’t care. What does it matter to me if she’s hurt or killed on this job? The only reason it should bother me is if I haven’t gotten my fill of her. And while it doesn’t feel as if I have, maybe I should. It might be better for me not to touch her again. I’ve enjoyed her, I’ve played with her, I’ve fucked her. What else is there, really?

I resolve not to go and talk to her or see her once I get back to the penthouse. The guards are capable of bringing her meals, and I have other things to focus on. She’s consumed too much of my thoughts, and I’ll see her tonight, when we go after the Crow.

And it won’t go the way it did last time.I won’t lose control.

The last thing I need to be thinking about is Nicci. What Ineedto be focused on is how I’m going to keep years' worth of planning and ambition from going up in smoke.

That resolve lasts just as long as it takes me to get into the penthouse and up the stairs to the second floor.

The first thing I notice is that the second guard is nowhere to be seen. The man I left stationed at the front door was still there, and I left one of the two men I took with me to join him just now, ordering the other to stay downstairs and keep an eye on things. But I don’t see the other guard that I left to watch the interior of the penthouse while I was gone.

I stalk up the stairs, thinking maybe he’s doing his rounds up there. And then I hear Nicci’s voice, high and breathy, coming from her bedroom. It sounds like a panicked whimper, and my mind goes blank, my entire body operating on pure instinct as I grab the doorknob and twist it.

It’s unlocked. None of the guards have a key—I only give them one if they’re taking Nicci her meals, and then I take itback. Which means someone went into my bedroom and stole the key from there.

I can hear my heartbeat roaring in my ears as I throw the door open. It slams into the opposite wall, and I hear Nicci cry out, at the same moment that I see what’s happening inside the room.

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