Page 19 of Cassio (Belles & Mobsters 3)

When I remained quiet, he continued, “Áine Evans will never be on the table for anyone in our world or our position.”We’ll see.“But you can have Margaret.”Hard pass.

I returned my gaze to my phone and shrugged my shoulders. “I’ll think about it.”

ChapterFour

CASSIO

Two Years Later

Two fucking years.

It took two years to get everything lined up. Make my father weaker. Set in motion a plan that would ensure Áine became my wife. Not wild Margaret Callahan. It had been two years since I’d touched that fiery red haired woman, and it was enough to drive a saint crazy.

And I was by no means a saint, but Iwasa patient man.

“I’ll depend on you to coordinate the wedding,” I announced through the speaker. I sat in my office, in Nonno’s home in Sicily. My home. It was the only place Luca and I considered home. The villa was wired using the best technology, thanks to Nico. “Keep the knowledge of the arrangement between the two of us to a minimum. Only people that you trust. I don’t need a war with my father to start just yet.”

Except, the war with my father had been brewing for as long as I could remember. I was slowly crumbling his empire, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He attacked Luciano’s wife, but he lost. He attacked our shipments and lost those battles too. But knowing that I aligned with the Irish would have my dear old dad go on a damn murder rampage. And nobody needed the New York City streets running red.

“You can count on my wife,” Jack Callahan announced. “She knows how to do it.”

“Excellent,” I told him. “Nico will be our go-between for now, to ensure this remains under the radar.”

Nico Morrelli had been one of my closest friends for a very long time. While I’ve known Luciano since we were kids, Luca and I often sought refuge in Luciano’s father’s home when my father wanted to beat us black and blue, Nico I met in college. Nico saved my life when my father sent an assassin to end it.

It was ‘don’t ask how I get my information,andI’ll always give you fair warning’with Nico. I took him up on it because I knew right away he’d be a worthy man to keep on my side.

It was only thanks to Nico that Luca’s and my identity had been kept out of any digital footprint. Nico had a tech company that controlled information and images on every possible web database. People might know our names, but they didn’t know our faces. It allowed for easier movement among different social circles.

Luciano and Nico were one of my first formal alliances. Both men were brilliant and trustworthy. Nico’s father wasn’t worth a crap, but Nico knew that already. It was the reason he basically overthrew the old man and took charge of all his father’s territory.

The call ended and I leaned back into the chair, my eyes roaming the scenic tree lines of lemon and orange groves. The mountains stretched in the distance and the scent of the sea and citrus drifted through the air. It was the only place I felt at peace. Right here.

It was the complete opposite of the New York City skyline. Regardless, none of it meant a damn thing, not without having someone by my side. Nonno’s words that he’d uttered so many times before finally made sense.Without a woman to share your happiness and sorrows with, all your sacrifices will be for naught.

I had found the woman to share it all with, except I had to connive and cheat to get her. Seemed to be the legacy of the King family. No matter how much I fought it, my father’s blood was still part of me.

What was Áine Evans doing at this very moment? Getting lost in her architectural drawings? Partying with Margaret? Or my least favorite - hanging out with her boyfriend? I have had her watched and stalked over the past two years. I knew everything there was about her - her favorite store to shop at, her favorite color, her favorite food. Nico dug up information on her from her college years. Imagine our surprise when we learned she actually interned at Nico’s company for a few months. Right in D.C.! But even if our paths crossed, she was too young back then. She also traveled a lot, for business and personal, with Margaret, which was perfect since it kept her away from her boyfriend. Those two didn’t spend much time together. Again perfect. But the idea of anyone else kissing her fucking burned me on the inside. I had to play my cards right or risk losing it all.

Boyfriend, I scoffed to myself. I haven’t had a woman since our nightclub rendezvous. I finally understood Luciano’s obsession over the last three years. Though, I’d like to think I was a lot more rational in my obsession than my best friend.

I often wondered whether it would have just been easier to kidnap and marry Áine, instead of all this. But I couldn’t risk having the Irish as my enemy. Not now, when we were so close to ending my father and Marco.

“There you are,” Luca announced his presence, as he strode towards me from the terrace. “Nonno is looking for you.”

My little brother looked more at peace here too. Less tension, no need to look over our shoulders. My grandfather ran the mafia in Sicily. Right alongside Luciano’s ancestors. Unlike my father, Nonno never got greedy and he was fine staying and ruling right here. Benito wanted the world. The greedy bastard wanted free movement across any territory so he could traffic women and anything else he wanted.

It wouldn’t be for much longer though. Things were wrapping up.

I stood up and rounded the desk. Nonno insisted when I set up this office that my chair faced the French windows. So I could see the light, he said. Of course, he was right. It gave me perspective, reminded me of how fickle life could be. The sun could turn into rain in the blink of an eye; just as life could turn to death.

“Is he in the garden?” I asked him.

“Of course. Where else?”

When I got to Nonno’s garden, I found him seated on the stone bench. It was his favorite spot. He’d watch over his garden and sometimes gaze out into the azure sea, thinking of the good old days. Before he sent his only daughter to New York. His only conflict with those thoughts were Luca and I. If he had never sent her, we wouldn’t be here.

Though sometimes I had to wonder if that wouldn’t have been better. For my mother. For Nonno.

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