Page 48 of Single Malt Drama
Nico tensed but didn’t pull away.
“Listen to me.” I held her gaze until she nodded. “I can understand why you feel the way you do. I handled things badly, but I wanted to get in and get out. You were in the car. I was worried the Abuzzos would show up, and you’d get caught in the crossfire.”
Her expression softened.
“At work, I’m used to issuing orders and getting things done. It has nothing to do with wanting to stay in the mafia, or taking after my father.” I brushed her hair back from her face.
Nico leaned into my touch. “Tell me how you and your family intend to handle the situation with the Abruzzos.”
I’d planned to kiss her, but she pulled away before I had the chance. “My father is sending me proof of illegal campaign contributions, bribes, and payoffs he’s made to Mayor Carter. Maggie, Gabe’s wife, was a reporter. She’s going to write up a press release with my father’s statement. I’m going to leak the statement and proof to the media.”
Her eyes widened. “That will ruin your family, too.”
“Maybe, maybe not. Pops seems to think a scandal will increase the Marchionni mystique and drive more business to our bars, hotels, and restaurants.” I’d gone along with the plan during the call, but now that I explained it out loud, I saw the million ways it could go wrong.
“You’re planning to make money off your family’s reputation as mobsters.” She pressed her lips into a tight line.
Exactly.“Something like that.”
“The other families won’t approve. It goes against the number one rule of the Cosa Nostra, don’t share our secrets. You’re going to break the Omertá.”
Breaking the goddamned vow of secrecy was punishable by death.We were so focused on stopping Mayor Clark from helping the Abruzzos, we hadn’t thought about the repercussions on the other side of the ocean.
A smile ghosted across Nico’s face. “Although, if it’s spun as a last-ditch effort to save your businesses from a hostile takeover, it could work.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s risky, to say the least, but I doubt the Abruzzos are working alone. They must have the support of at least one other family in Sicily. If Gabe plays this right, he could expose your enemies.” Her voice cracked with her final words.
“You think your father is involved?”
“It’s a possibility.”
I sucked in a breath. “You heard the part about flying Tara to Palermo to testify against the Abruzzos?”
“Yes, but without proof…”
“Enzo’s working on getting the poison Sophia Abruzzo gave Tara. She claims she buried it in her yard.” I hitched a shoulder. “While it’s still one’s word against another’s, it’s going to be hard to explain where a waitress got her hands on enough botulinum toxins to poison three-hundred people.”
Nico furrowed her brow.
I nudged her side. “You were good with Sammy.”
“Thanks, but I don’t have a lot of experience with kids.” She might have played it down, but between the way she’d comforted the baby and the twinkle in her eyes, I could all but hear her biological clock ticking.
“Hang around Gabe and Maggie a while, they have a litter.” I laughed to hide my sudden case of nerves.
She tilted her head. “Do you want that? A houseful of children?”
A warning siren rang in the back of my mind. With any other woman that question would have sent me running for the door, but this was Nic. She had me contemplating all sorts of things I’d sworn I’d never do. “Sure, one day.”
My phone dinged with an incoming email. I glanced at the screen and sighed. “It’s the information from my father. I need to take care of this. It won’t take long.”
“I’ll order some clothes, and a white dress, while you’re working.” She leaned forward and brushed her lips across mine.
I’m supposed to work after she did that?
Nico swayed toward me again, and I took it as an invitation. How could I not? She was the kind of woman who made men break the rules. If she’d lived in another time, kings would have waged war to possess her. She had a body made for sin, and a heart made for white dresses and flowers and forevers.