"It's not a prison sentence. It's a business arrangement." I accept the espresso Sal hands me. "One that's going very smoothly, by the way."
"Oh yeah?" Paulie leans forward. "How smooth we talking?"
"She's perfect." I take a sip. "Polite. Beautiful. Knows her place. Last night went exactly as planned."
"Uh huh." Bruno's studying me with that look he gets when he thinks I'm full of shit. "And the heart symbols in her texts?"
I nearly choke on my espresso. "How do you know about that? Did you hack my phone?"
"Didn't have to." Paulie waves his phone. "You left it face-up on the table."
"The hearts are just how she texts. It doesn't mean anything."
"Sure, boss." Tommy doesn't look up from his newspaper. "Hearts never mean anything."
"They don't when you're twenty-eight and grew up with smartphones." I'm defensive now, which is stupid. "It's just punctuation."
"Dangerous punctuation," Sal mutters.
Before I can respond, Paulie's phone chimes. He looks at it, then grins. "Betting pool update. Current odds on you making it to Day Forty without losing your mind over this girl: three to one."
"Who's betting against me?"
"Everyone except Bruno." Paulie scrolls through his screen. "He refused to participate on moral grounds."
I look at Bruno. "Thank you. I appreciate you having my back."
"I'm not participating because I think you'll make it," Bruno clarifies. "I'm not participating because I don't bet on sure things. You're definitely going to lose your mind."
"I am not going to—" I stop. Take a breath. "I am completely in control of this situation."
"If you say so, boss." Paulie's still grinning. "What's tonight? Another formal dinner?"
"Marconi's. Seven o'clock."
"Marconi's?" Sal raises his eyebrows. "That's fancy."
I finish my espresso. "I want to show her what she's getting into. The lifestyle. The quality of life."
"Or you want to impress her," Tommy suggests.
"I don't need to impress her. She's already agreed to the arrangement."
"But you want to, anyway." Bruno's watching me too carefully. "Why?"
"Because that's what you do. You take your fiancée to nice places. It's expected."
"Right." Bruno exchanges a look with Paulie. "Expected."
I ignore them and dive into work. We've got shipments to coordinate, territory disputes to manage, the usual day-to-day operations of running a criminal empire. It keeps me busy until six, when I realize I need to go home and change.
"Good luck tonight, boss," Paulie calls as I'm leaving. "Try not to do anything stupid."
"Like what?"
"Like fall for her."
“Fuck you.” I flip him off and leave.
