Chapter 46 Offering Good Deal
Russo
"Okay, listen. There are currently four powerful Mafia families operating in New York. After you took out the Gallos, no one has come to take their place. That leaves the Russos, the D'Angelos, the De Lucas, and the Mincettis. We're the top dogs. Now imagine how great it would be if the two top dogs allied," I explain.
"I know you're already close with D'Angelo, but the Don and his two brothers already have wives. It makes sense for you to join us."
Roman's eyes are darker than ever. But he manages to utter a word.
"And Mincetti?" he asks.
I clench my teeth, very imperceptibly. "We both know they're not suitable partners. Except when they send their daughter to sleep with me and get information.”
It was damn hard to figure out who this blonde was. And it was even harder for me to decide what to do with what she said. But in the end, I decided to follow my intuition. The Mincettis are unpredictable. I know little about them. And despite their offer of an alliance, I choose the De Lucases.
Better the devil you know.
Roman could have killed me when he thought I kidnapped his niece, but he didn't. I admire that. I might have killed him if I thought he had something to do with my child's disappearance. Or maybe he somehow knew I had nothing to do with it.
I came home and found the baby just lying in the dark. I was furious that my uncle had kidnapped the damn kid. I told him he needed to fix it or De Luca would rip his head off, but he lost control. He wanted to be tough, and it cost him his life.
I know my cousins would never understand this and would have preferred me to start a war against De Luca, but they already had my uncle, and bringing him back would have cost us more lives. He had decided to be a jerk, and I wasn't about to endanger the rest of our family.
Because of his bad decisions. In fact, it made it clear that I needed to take Don's place. I stare at him, waiting for his answer. Roman's jaw is practically creaking.
"You want a marriage," he says slowly. "Marriage to whom?"
I smile. "Me, of course. Last I checked, Rose Merry De Luca is completely single."
"You fucking bastard!" Tony screams.
Almost immediately, all hell breaks loose. Tony lunges at me, but I'm up from my chair a few seconds later. Before Jason can move forward, I grab Tony by the back, and his face ends up on the table.
Roman gets to his feet, draws his gun, and points it at me. Michael does too. Without hesitation, I grab a knife from a hidden pocket in my suit.
Tony is using a lot of colorful language.
"Well... things escalated quickly," I mutter, pressing the knife to the pressure point on his neck. I look behind me at Jason, who hasn't moved an inch.
"Want to contribute?" He shakes his head and gives me a thumbs-up.
"Got it, boss," Jason said.
I roll my eyes and look back at Roman. "Come on, let's put the toys down."
He looks furious. A tiny vein is even bulging on his forehead. "You first."
"I didn't attack first, did I?" I protest.
Roman looks at me, then at his brother, who's still struggling with me. Tony's strong, but I have a few more pounds of muscle than him.
"Okay," Roman breaks away, dropping the gun.
Michael follows suit. I remove the knife from Tony's neck and step back. He stares at me, but one glance at Roman makes him stumble back against the wall.
"Can we talk civilly now?" I ask.
"Okay," Roman replies, pulling out his chair and sitting down. "Have a seat."
"No, thank you," I say with a slight smile.
Roman smiles too. He clasps his hands together and rests his chin on them. When his eyes meet mine, I realize he's regained some semblance of control.
"Now tell me, why the hell would I let my sister marry you? In case you haven't figured it out, your family is on a lifeboat. The De Lucases are thriving. We don't need you."
I tilt my head to the side. "Only that's a lie. Isn't it?"
Roman's eyes flash. "What?"
"You will lose your largest source of income when you break your word and refuse to marry Zanetti's daughter. This huge matter you've been trying so hard to hide for the last few months. You have a problem. Am I wrong?”
A muscle twitches in Roman's jaw. "You know, you're a fucking asshole, Russo."
"No. I just know everything. And it pisses you off," I state, shrugging. "Now you want to hear what I have to offer in exchange for Rose's hand and an alliance between our families?"
"I'm not giving you my sister," he manages to say.