His eyes turned dark once again. “I think you know that answer.”
Footsteps suddenly interrupted our conversation.
“Mr. Prince,” one of his housekeepers said while standing in the door. “You have a rather insistent visitor.”
He lifted his head, studying the man behind her. “It’s fine, Maggie. Let him in.” He stood, moving toward the visitor, holding out his arm for a handshake.
Immediately, the man’s gaze moved toward me, his breath hitching. “Alexander. We need to have a conversation.”
“One that should have occurred days ago.”
“We should do this in private.”
Alexander’s sigh was one of annoyance. “What we discuss, we do so in front of Ms. Devereaux. Catherine, this is Jacques Cornwell. My father’s Consigliere and former friend.”
His emphasis on ‘former’ was caught by Jacques, a hint of fear in his eyes fading quickly.
“As you wish.” Jacques was as irritated as Alexander had become. In his hand was a manila file and I had every reason to believe whatever he was holding had everything to do with my past.
And my future.
“Have a seat,” Alexander directed. He remained standing.
Jacques did as ordered, obviously uncomfortable.
“Let’s cut to the chase, Jacques. As you know, I’m a very busy man. More so now that my family is facing a crisis.”
“I wouldn’t call it a crisis, Alex.”
Alexander glared at him, the look shutting the man up. “My father made a deal with the devil. Didn’t he? He entered a sordid contract with Vitelli Russo to seal my sister’s fate in an unwanted marriage, one that the entire family objected to years ago. Onethat almost cost my father his freedom and subsequently his life. How am I doing?”
Before the Consigliere had an opportunity to interject, Alexander continued.
“I’ve been trying to determine why in the hell my father would go against his own family’s wishes to help someone he once called his enemy. Other than taking a portion of Russo’s territory I’m still drawing a blank. What I do know is that Russo has an enemy outside of our family and whoever they are, Russo has experienced difficulty defeating them. Somehow, the proposed deal the two men agreed to leaked to this unknown party, which is why both men were gunned down and Lorenzo Russo was killed. They wanted Russo to suffer for defying them.”
He hesitated, his eyes pinned on Jacques, who was nervous. “You’re correct in that Russo had an enemy. He came to your father for help over a month ago.”
“You knew about this all along.”
“I knew enough, although he kept many of the details from me. I was sent a copy of the final deal just before the final lunch.” He continued to glance in my direction, just as uncomfortable with me being in the room as in dealing with the awkward situation.
“What does this have to do with me?” I asked, now sitting on the edge of the seat.
When Jacques didn’t answer right away, Alexander growled. “She knows who she is, Jacques. We simply need a few blanks filled and you’re going to do it for me. What was the incentive used for my father to sell his soul?”
“It’s not that simple, Alexander!” The Consigliere’s harsh snap brought the same look of contempt and fury in Alexander’s eyes that I’d seen too often.
“Then tell me what the fuck is going on. Why was Catherine so important other than the obvious in that she’s Russo’s daughter?”
Jacques was still hesitant. The fury exploded in Alexander. With two long strides, he yanked the Consigliere to his feet, tossing him against the wall, his hand firmly placed around the man’s throat. The file he was holding fluttered to the floor, several papers floating free.
Moving quickly, I grabbed the stack, pushing them back into the folder. “Alexander. Don’t. You’re not going to accomplish anything this way.”
While my words were soothing, the tone subdued, I had my doubts as to whether I could stop him from flying off the handle. But he turned his head toward me, taking several deep breaths.
I was shocked he let the man go.
While Jacques coughed, he tried to move past Alexander to jerk the file from my hand.
