Brutal Power: An Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance (Bianco Crime Family)

The meeting takes place that evening in Simon’s office. Davide pours everyone a drink while I sit on the couch with Elena. Simon’s sitting in an easy chair instead of behind his desk, with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his top two buttons undone. Once the drinks are distributed, Davide lurks on the edges of the group like he doesn’t want to get involved, but I can practically feel him paying close attention.

I expected more people. This is an extremely consequential discussion and I thought Simon would involve at least a few of his Capos. At the very least, I figured his father would’ve been here, since he’s going to be a part of the operation. I even debated bringing my brothers but decided against it—the fewer voices in the planning stages, the better everything will be.

“We need to agree on a few things,” Simon says and takes a long drink. “What you do moving forward could blow back on me, and I need to make sure we have all our bases covered.”

“That’s fine with me. I figured we were going to have this discussion eventually.” I look at Elena and resist the urge to put my hand on her thigh. I’m still buzzing from earlier in the day. I didn’t know how she’d react to seeing the house—buying the damn thing was a whim and a risk—but it went better than I ever could’ve imagined.

I want to be with her. I want to be her husband. Not for some political reason, but because I want her, and I’m ready to stop holding myself back out of some ill-advised attempt at emulating my father. I can handle having a wife and a family on top of running my organization—and I can do that by letting my brothers take on more of the responsibility, and by leaning on Elena as much as is reasonable.

I’m not in this alone. I should’ve realized that from the start. Maybe my game with Santoro could’ve gone even better if Simon and Davide knew about it from the beginning, but I don’t regret making that decision. There are always a million different ways to look back and wonder how things could be different, but I made my decisions and I took my risks, and now I’m living with how things are shaking out.

We talk about the details of the plan. Simon listens more than he speaks, which I take as a good sign. Davide doesn’t add much, even though he’s clearly soaking everything in. Elena is helpful, if a little quiet.

“The real problem is my father.” Simon exchanges a look with his brother. “He’s retired. And things are complicated with Santoro.”

“That’s an understatement,” Elena murmurs.

“I don’t know what happened between Dad and Uncle Santoro, but I think it messed them both up.” Davide swirls his drink and finishes it. “I’m not sure he’s going to play along.”

“We don’t have to tell him.” Simon looks around at everyone. “We can let him think this is a routine warehouse inspection. The old man still likes running errands for the Famiglia, it makes him feel like he’s useful. He doesn’t need to know the details.”

“I don’t like that,” Elena says right away. Davide seems thoughtful.

“If he doesn’t know, he might panic,” I point out, which doesn’t get a good reaction from Simon. He glares at me as if his old man isn’t capable of having a poor reaction to a stressful situation. “When Santoro shows up, he could do something stupid and fuck up everything.”

“He could,” Simon agrees. “But if we tell him, he could refuse to show.”

“He’ll do it.” Elena’s voice sounds small, but she looks determined. “After the attack, I think he finally realized that Santoro isn’t the man he remembers. I think that was a step too far.”

“You’re right,” Davide agrees. “I vote we tell him.”

Sion shrugs like he wasn’t really married to the idea anyway. “We tell him. Elena, that’s your job.”

“Why me?” Her eyebrows shoot up.

“Because he’ll listen to you.” Davide’s smile is tight but very amused. “We all know you’re his favorite.”

Elena huffs and shifts in her seat, making a show of denying it, but the look on Simon’s face tells me everything. He seems amused, like this is obvious to everyone but her.

“I’ll do it, but I want something in return.” Elena’s spine straightens. “I want to be the one who escorts him to the warehouse. I want to be there when everything goes down.”

“Absolutely not,” I say.

And Simon says at the same time, “No fucking way.”

Only Davide keeps his mouth shut.

Elena glares from me to Simon. “You’re both right, Dad will listen to me, but if I’m not around on the day of, he might do something stupid. I need to be there to keep the temperature low.”

“You’ll be in danger,” I say through my clenched teeth. “There’s no fucking way I’m letting that happen.”

“Santoro won’t suspect anything if I’m the one with Dad,” Elena insists. “If it’s Simon or Davide, he’ll be suspicious.”

“I don’t care. Send a Capo, send a guard, whatever, but not you.” I look at Simon for backup. “I’ll walk if she’s anywhere near that warehouse. I’ll call it all off.”

Simon’s mouth pinches together. He leans back and knuckles his forehead. “Fuck you both,” he mutters and shakes his head. “Elena’s right. God, that sucks, but she’s right.”

“No kidding,” she says, sounding smug.

I stand up, shaking my head. “Not happening. No fucking way. I’d rather fight a bloody, grinding war with Santoro than let her anywhere near the action.”

“Sit back down,” Elena commands. I remain standing, defiant. “There won’t be any shooting. Santoro will show up, he’ll think he’s ambushing Dad, they’ll talk a little and hopefully get Santoro to say something incriminating, and I’ll have a wire on. Then Captain Kennedy will show up, arrest Santoro, we’ll pin everything on him, and we all go home.” Elena wipes her hands together like it’ll be easy-peasy.

I look around the room. Davide seems thoughtful. Simon looks like he’s already grudgingly accepting this. And I feel control beginning to slip between my fingers.

This is what I wanted to avoid: the moment other people are involved is the moment when more risk piles up until I’m no longer running the show. It’s bad enough relying on Simon’s father, but putting Elena inside that warehouse when everything goes down, it’s unacceptable.

“I’m done.” I get up and ignore Elena when she tries to catch my wrist. “This isn’t happening. I’m sorry, but if my wife is going to be anywhere near that warehouse, I’m calling it off.”

“Brody,” Simon says, standing. He tries to follow but I leave his office. “Fuck, Elena, talk to him.”

She chases after me and catches up when I’m outside. She grabs at my arm and holds on tight, and I want to throw her off, but I also want to pull her against me and hold her tight. I want to hold her like I held her earlier when we fucked in front of that fireplace in the house that’ll be our home one day.

“You have to know what this is doing to me,” I whisper as she curls into my chest. “You can’t be there, baby. You just can’t.”

“I have to be.” She’s fighting back tears and chewing on her lip. “Dad won’t go otherwise. But if I’m there, they’ll keep the temperature low, at least long enough for Captain Kennedy to show up. This is going to work, but you have to trust me.”

I take a deep, shuddering breath—but I can’t do it. “I’m sorry.” I step away from her. “But I fell in love with you and I can’t risk losing you already.”

“And if you turn around and walk away, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing.” The sharp tone of her voice makes me pause. I don’t look at her, but I don’t keep moving, either. “I don’t want a relationship where you’re the one taking all the risks. That’s not who I am, Brody. I help people, right? I’ve been helping my family for as long as I can remember, and now I’m going to help you. It’s time for you to accept that you aren’t alone.”

“That’s exactly the problem. I’m not alone anymore, baby, and I don’t want to go back to that, either.”

“Then let me help.” She comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my middle. Her cheek presses to my back and I can feel her heart beating. “I can do this, Brody. You have to trust me.”

“Fuck.” I close my eyes. “I don’t want to. I can’t.”

“I know you don’t, but you can. This is going to work.”

My hands turn to fists. “If I lose you⁠—”

“You won’t. I promise.”

I slowly turn and pull her into a tight hug. And I know I’m finished. Because it’s either accept this or end the plan, and it’s the closest we’ll ever get to taking down Santoro without burning the whole city to the ground. If this works, I’ll solve all my problems in one afternoon. All I have to do is trust Elena. All I have to do is step back and let her help.

I don’t want it. But I need her in ways I’m only starting to understand.

“We’ll go over every detail,” I whisper, already hating myself. “You’ll stick to the plan, and your dad will swear to make sure you don’t get hurt. Otherwise, I’m done.”

“Okay, I promise. That’s how we’ll do it.”

“I hate this.” I breathe in the smell of her hair. “I really fucking hate it.”

“I know you do, Brody, but I love you, and I promise, this is going to be okay.”