Page 50 of The Boss's Temptation

“I hope I am not… interrupting,” Sal says slyly.

“Not at all, Don Salvestro,” I say with a smile. “Just talking with my wife.”

He chuckles. “Si, si, talking.” He laughs louder. “To be young again so I could do more ‘just talking,’” he grins. Katrina blushes deeply next to me. I just smile.

“Well, I was just leaving,” Katrina manages to mumble out. She smiles at Salvestro. “Nice to see you again, Don—”

“Please,” he interrupts. “Stay. This concerns you too.”

I frown. “What’s this about, Sal?”

He smiles. “It is all good, Micheal.Per fevore, siediti. Sit, please.”

I glance at Katrina. But then I sit into my office chair. Katrina starts to walk around the desk to the other guest chair. But Salvestro holds up a hand, stopping her. “Oh, please. Just sit in his lap. I don’t care.”

She blushes. But she does as he asks. I’m not complaining at all.

“I need to confess something,” Salvestro sighs. He taps his fingers together. He looks at both of us. “I pushed for your marriage. Not just because I thought it would settle this matter with the Korolyov family.”

He sighs and sits back in his chair. “And I lied to you, Micheal. Bernardo? Bored of his wife?” He chuckles. “My cousin is a not very handsome eight-four-year-old man sharing a bed with a twenty-five-year-old lingerie model.” His laughter turns wheezing. “Bored? The man praises God every hour for his good fortune.”

I roll my eyes. But then I frown. “Why, then?”

He smiles. “Per amore.”

I chuckle. “I didn’t take you for a romantic, Don Salvestro.”

“I’m not,” he sighs. “Micheal, the reason is because you were under investigation.”

I freeze. “Excuse me?”

“I did not know until right before our meeting with Anton. I have a, how do you say, a friend working for the FBI. He intimated that your house and phones were being monitored. Not well, it would seem. Which is why they were trying to use Pavel to put more devices into the house.”

I stare at him. “Hold on, what?” I grip the desk tightly. “Am I being investigated?”

“Were. Only briefly. But that is why I pushed so hard for the marriage, Micheal. I apologize for bullying you.” He turns his eyes to Katrina. “Signora, my apologies to you as well.”

“There is no apology needed,” Katrina says softly. She takes my hand in hers. Salvestro grins.

“I am happy for you both, truly.”

Katrina frowns. “Wait, so why push the marriage?”

“Federal Common Law,” I growl. I shake my head and smile. “That’s why.”

“Si,” Salvestro smiles. “Si, Micheal. And I would have told you, but I did not know which phones or which walls had ears.”

“Common Law?”

I turn and smile at Katrina. “If we’re married, they couldn’t compel either of us to testify against the other. It also creates a lot of problems for what they can even use that they recorded. If they’re listening and things get too personal or intimate, or if we’re talking about us and not my business, they need to hang up.” I turn to Salvestro and smile. “That was smart, Don Salvestro.”

“Grazie, Micheal.” He smiles. He looks at both of us. “And I would sayprego, you’re welcome, to both of you.” He grins wider. “I should match-make more often, no?”

Katrina giggles. “If I had any friends, I would recommend your services, Don Salvestro.”

He chuckles. Christ, I’ve barely seen the man crack a smile in decades. But Katrina’s got him giggling away like a schoolboy.

“Bene, signora!” He laughs. “Very good, si.” He sighs. “But now, I must go. I have a plane back to Sicily, where I can finally find some good wine to drink.” He smirks at me. “Your cellar aside, that is.”

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