Chapter 157
Chapter 157
Lucky
Well pregnancy is giving me a weird brain that’s for sure. “Did you file the report with Nico?” I ask Alex as I stroke my little bump. In my third month I have gone through so much already it would seem. Morning sickness was an absolute killer and I suffered. Alex assured me it would pass, God it couldn’t pass soon enough. Yet, I still get it sometimes.
“Yes, he has it Lucky. And you have your meeting with the stakeholders in ten. Do you need me to put them off?” Today she is wearing a smart olive-green pants suit with a cream blouse, she looks elegant and smart.
Dario is loitering outside. Nico didn’t take him off the project in the end. But he did give Dario a warning. So far so good. Listen, we’re not best buddies or anything like that. Far from it. However, at least now he is civil and is keeping me informed of his side of the project. Things have been running smoother and the building work has begun. And yes, the mall is also being started.
“Tell him he can come in, he’s doing my head in pacing up and down like that. God, he’s going to wear my marble out at this rate.” Alex gives a chuckle. Secretly, I think Dario has a thing for Alex but he isn’t giving anything away. The giveaway – every time they are close, he goes all tongue tied and twisted.
“Sure thing. I’ll go and get some of your favorite pastries from the coffee shop,” she tells me as she gets up from her desk that is close to mine in the office. I did offer her a separate office but Alex decided she wanted to work closer to me to make things easier. I kind of like it since she has become a good friend to me now and a brilliant ally. She always manages to smooth matters over.
Alex opens the door for Dario, he blushes. It’s kind of cute to see a grown man blush. “You can come in now; Lucky is ready to see you. But do not keep her long. The stakeholder meeting is in a few minutes. And we all know how much she hates those.” Alex leaves with her large Prada bag slung over her shoulder.
He nods and enters the office. “Do what do I owe this honor?” I ask him as I fix him with my best direct glare. The whole labor strike business still sits in my gut. It cost me over fifty thousand dollars to get additional crews on site to make up for the loss of time on the build at the last minute.
“Just checking in with you as we move to phase two of the project. The constructors for the mall are on site, they need to know if you want to meet with them.”
He takes a seat as I indicate for him to do so. “No, you can handle them, Dario. In fact, I need to lighten my load some as I have to take care of the casino and hotel. The mall will be overseen by you with me breathing down your neck, make no mistake about that.” My voice is business like; I’ve been perfecting it.
“Me?”
“Is there a problem, Dario? I need to learn to trust you. After all it is Nico’s money and strictly speaking yours too. So, if you fuck it up, on your head be it. Alex has reached out to the likes of Gucci, Dior, Chanel and Lauren. They’ve all come back to us to say they want to have stores in our new mall.”
He gives a smile, an actual smile. “That’s good news. What about Rolex and Tiffanys?”
“On the list for Alex that she is working through. Some other brands have contacted us now that the press release has gone out. Everyone it seems wants a piece of Nico Santangelo’s new venture. Who’d have thought it, right?”
It’s true, all these big impressive brands wanting to be part of the Santangelo venture when they know that deep down, Nico is a mobster. Money talks and all that bullshit.
“Are you attending the stakeholders meeting?” I ask him knowing he will defer. He doesn’t like to get in with the old guys who have way too much to say and always put obstructions in my way.
“Nah, I’ll let you handle them. You’re more than capable, Lucky. How’s that niece or nephew of mine doing in there?” Wow a personal question. What has gotten into Dario this morning?
“All well. We’re excited as hell for the arrival in six months’ time.”
“Good, glad to hear it, Lucky. Listen, I know we haven’t got on exactly too well,” he says. No shit Sherlock. He noticed.
“I want to let you know that I’ve got your back, Lucky. I don’t want bad blood between us. You are Nico’s Queen and you’re having his baby. New blood into the Santangelo line. We’re all excited about this. So, I want to bury the hatchet.”
My, what a speech. Truth be told, I’d like us to get along and I do want our baby to have the love of both its uncles and Dario would be amazing with the baby.
“I think that would be for the best. Thanks, Dario. I appreciate that you want to make things different between us. You know I’m not the enemy. I’ve worked my ass off with fourteen, sometimes sixteen-hour days to get this project up and off the ground. I want it to be the biggest and best hotel and casino around. Your support would mean a lot to me.”
He extends his hand as he stands. “Shake on it then, sister?”
My heart squeezes. Finally, we are going to be friends. “You got it.” I stand and shake hands with him. He gives me a boyish grin and I can see why the ladies like him, although he does nothing about it. Dario keeps pretty much to himself.
We both walk out of my office together. I head for the main boardroom that overlooks the city and he takes a left to head back to his office. He bumps into Alex coming round the corner and blushes furiously. Yeah, he likes her. Hopefully over time something will develop there.
When I reach the boardroom, the stakeholders are already seated talking amongst themselves. Some of them are the old school mobsters who’ve been with the Santangelo family for years. And of course, they still believe that a woman has no place heading up the board.
Well, I am the Queen and they’re going to have to suck it up!