“Just don’t take too long,” Adrian said. “You take too long, and you’ll forget what you actually set out to accomplish.”
That, I could not disagree with. It was our biggest mistake as young professionals, letting tasks run so long we forgot the original mission. It was not a mistake we made in our professional lives.
It was not a mistake I would make with Sarah. I would not forget my true intent with her.
“And don’t forget to raise the stakes,” Dante said. “She’s getting comfortable with these arts shows and exhibits. It’s in her wheelhouse. You want to punish her? Make her dependent on you. Make her enjoy a lifestyle only you can lavish.”
Curious.
I had not thought of it in terms like that. I’d wanted to keep a distance from her, a distance I was admittedly struggling to keep, but enough of a distance so I could make the eventual shattering that much more decisive. Maybe the solution was to actually bring hercloser.
But what risks might that entail?
“If we’ve talked long enough about Cassius’ love life,” Lucas said, “I’d like to bring up a different kind of issue. We are not the only family in town trying to build a new casino empire.”
I would not forget what Dante had suggested. Sarah was like a gnawing piece of food stuck in my teeth I could not easily pick out. I would have to take steps beyond my intuition to resolve it.
But I also welcomed Lucas’ interjection, if for no other reason than it gave me something else to think about—something I was a fucking king at. Crushing the hearts, hopes, and dreams of business rivals.
“That is to be expected,” I said, though Lucas knew I was not shutting the door on his concern. “People are copycats by nature. They see money being made in one area, and they chase it with unhealthy vigor. Who is this new family you speak of?”
“The Morrils,” Lucas said. “And I would not underestimate them. Apparently, their grandparents were oil barons of some kind. Their parents lived off their inheritances, but they’re hungry to make a name for themselves. Everything I’ve uncovered suggests they are ruthless and, shall we say, unafraid to break social norms to get what they need. Both the legal and implied kind.”
So.
A challenge that might not just be settled beyond the court of law. Interesting.
“And how far along are they?”
“They bought some off-Strip property recently, nothing that directly competes with us but a clear sign they are stepping their feet in our world,” Lucas said. “I would expect at some point attempts to smear us in the press or to plant ill-acting customers. We do what we must; they do whatever is possible.”
I looked at Adrian and Dante. Lucas appeared to have informed them before they came up here of the concern.
“I would be more than happy to reach out once more to Crush and Prince,” Dante said. “Shit. Let me reach out to any of the Reapers, and?—”
I cut off Dante with a simple raised hand.
“If we ran to the bikers after every possible threat, we would be in their debt,” I said. “And let me remind you, we are in no one’s fucking debt.”
But,I thought,we will keep them in mind as a means to fight dirty if we must.
“So be it,” Dante said, almost sounding disappointed. Part of me wanted to tell the man to go take boxing lessons if he was so desperate to let off some steam, but he was better than that. Just because he had a higher tolerance for violence and aggression did not always mean it manifested in violence; if anything, it was to our business’ benefit that it manifested as the “bad cop” in our business deals.
Conversation continued forth from there, with the topic moving to New Year’s plans. The possibility of spending it at theRubywas broached, but Adrian preferred something more private and glitzier. The topic, frankly, bored me, and my mind wandered back to what Dante had suggested about Sarah.
I didn’t need to keep her at arm’s length, only very gradually letting her in. No, I needed to keep her as close as possible. Let her feel like she was as much a part of my life as I was. What was the phrase? Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer? Maybe there should be an add-on at the end, something like “your enemies closer, and your targets closest of all.”
I smiled at the thought. Fortunately, my brothers thought I was smiling at something they said about going to Hawaii for New Year’s Eve. Whatever kept them talking and allowed me to think in my own world.
What was the next best step, then?
Well, come to think of it, in a week’s time, I had another gala to go to in New York City. I’d be flying private, of course.
What if Sarah were to join me for that? It would just be me, her, a flight attendant, and a pilot on the plane. The latter two would have to let us do whatever we wanted. I could do whatever I wanted to make her feel close to me.
Thinking like that, the risk was obvious.
If I got so close to Sarah that I actually forgot to destroy her, then…
