Marino tried to do business with me, I never had to with Governor Thomas. I am able to get most of what I need done.
But my dismissal of the Jersey prick ended up costing me.
I misjudged Salvatore.
It never dawned on me that he would connect with an overly ambitious governor from the neighboring state and convince him that he was the better option.
Marino has tied his political aspirations to the wrong man.
Out of principale, I won’t help him.
Not even if he is hanging off the side of a mountain needing a hand.
I’d still walk away.
Now in the car, we make the drive from the private airplane to the governor’s mansion. It’s not a long trip, and as we pull up to the sprawling estate, not unlike the one in Jersey, I can’t help but think of my wife.
Pulling out my phone, I fire off a text.
Me: Are you enjoying your day?
Viviana: Who is this?
That makes me smile. My wife is too feisty for her own good.
Me: Your husband
Viviana: Oh . . . sorry. You never gave me your number. So I didn’t know.
Me: Who did you think it was?
Viviana: I wasn’t sure.
I look down at my phone. Did she think it was an old boyfriend?
The idea of one reaching out to her has my hands clenching into a tight fist.
I won’t share my wife with anyone.
Me: No one better be texting you.
Me: You’re mine and only mine.
I type before I can stop myself, letting my possessiveness show in my words.
I probably shouldn’t have typed it, but it’s true.
Viviana: Does that go the same for you?
And there it is. The question she asked the first night in her apartment. One I wasn’t prepared to answer, but after all these weeks, and knowing now what it feels like to sink inside her, to get lost in her abyss, the answer isn’t so hard.
Me: Yes.
I put my phone back in my pocket. Not wanting to say anything else. It’s at the same time as I do that the car rolls to a stop. We’re here.
We exit the car, and then my man and I go to the front door, where we are greeted by Governor Thomas’s security team. Two of his men search for guns. They know that my security detail has one, my man does have his piece on him, but they all stand close. This isn’t my first time coming here, and it won’t be my last.
Governor Thomas walks over to me, reaches his hand out, and we shake.
He then leads me to the dining room, where we will eat and speak. As soon as I sit down, a poured glass of scotch is already in front of me. His staff knows me well.
“We have a problem.”
“Yes. Marino is always a thorn in my side. However, I thought that by marrying his daughter, you’d’ve crushed the opposition.”
“It would seem not yet. My plan is to take him down—” Governor Thomas holds up his hand.
“I don’t want to hear about it.”
He takes a deep breath. He looks tired and worn, as though this whole thing is too much for him to handle. I know the feeling. Sometimes I wonder why I bother. But then I think of what a monster my uncle was. I think about what a monster Salvatore will become if given the opportunity. Governor Thomas knows this as well, which is why he’s agreed to help me. Doesn’t make it any better. I’m sure he wishes he could throw me out, but it behooves him to have me in his corner and to have me in New York.
“I don’t have a lot of information for you,” he says. “What I can tell you is that you’re on everybody’s radar. Governor Marino, is really out to get you. You can’t use any of the original routes.”
“This I know.”
“My best advice is don’t store anything in the new one either.”
I lift my brow.
“Marino has been speaking one-on-one to everyone at the Port Authority. He’s also been taking meetings with the dockhands, Coast Guard, etcetera.”
“Busy man.”
“He’s determined to take you down.”
“And get in bed with my cousin,” I grit out.
“We can’t allow that to happen, Matteo.”
“I concur. On both matters, actually.”
He knows as well as I do, if that happens, no one is safe.
Salvatore won’t be happy dealing with just pills and blow.
He only has one thing he wants to deal with . . .
A billion-dollar trafficking enterprise left wide open when Cyrus Reed got involved and shut it all down.
No one