Marco extended his legs and rested his head on the back of his chair. He was clearly growing irritated. “The Americans have their own agenda. Keeping them at bay is a full-time job—one I have no interest in taking,” Marco demanded.
That would explain why Marco was here. Since the Callahan brothers were playing the political game, Marco had to deal with them.
Liam leaned forward. “Marco’s right. The Callahan brothers aren’t like us. They’ve got their hands in every political pie, pulling strings we can’t even see.”
Sean sat on the edge of the desk with his arms crossed. “We’ll just keep Cillian in Chicago then. He’s good at keeping them in line.”
“I need him here, now the Romanos and the Stepanovs are stirring things up.”
“What are they stirring up?” Sean asked.
The question was fast forgotten when the creak of the door filled the room. A sliver of golden light sliced through the haze of Liam’s smoke.
Cillian strode in. He wore a black suit that hung off his broad frame. A faint scar claimed the edge of his brow. He didn’t have many fans. Cillian was a controlling micromanager who occasionally came in handy. While his methods could be ruthless, they were undeniably effective.
“Took your damn time,” Liam complained. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the armrest of the plush leather chair.
Cillian, with a face that rarely portrayed emotion, simply grunted in response, his gaze flickering to me for a moment. His glare was cool—the kind that seemed to analyze and assess in asingle glance. He handled everything for Liam in Chicago, kept the Americans at bay, which took a lot of work off my own back, so I couldn’t complain.
“Get on with it,” Marco demanded. He was the kind of man who minced his words.
Liam took a slow sip of his scotch. “There are talks of an alliance with the Romanos.”
I didn’t bat an eye, continuing to act as if I wasn’t a Romano myself.
“Nothing concrete yet, but enough to warrant caution.”
Giovanni Genovese was already engaged to my sister, Nina, which made this nothing but a waiting game on my part. Caution meant stalling, and stalling meant I had to put my plans on hold while Liam played his own game.
The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on me. Liam had no idea who I was. I was risking a lot showing up here, putting my nose in places I shouldn’t. I was living on borrowed time, never sure if he’d catch on to my lies, but I was doing it anyway.
“Did Kirill have any intel on them?” Cillian asked, his voice a harsh rasp.
Liam shook his head. “The Russian was a dead end. Fool got himself clipped before I could get anything out of him.”
Right. As if I didn’t know exactly who was responsible for that. Giovanni, with his hair-trigger temper.
Cillian stiffened. “Dead end? Damn idiots. If you’d listened to me the first time, you’d have leverage. Like I told you last time, there’s that girl.”
What girl?
Liam wasn’t obligated to tell Cillian anything since he was the one in charge, but he did. “I know about the girl. Do you take me for a damn fool?”
“What’s your plan then?” Cillian asked.
“Mikhail is young, and he’s got a ton of power. If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll continue to look for Sloane like Kirill did. I’ll make a deal with Mikhail in the future that will work for us. If Mikhail strikes a deal with the Romanos to get Sloane back, then we’re safe under Mikhail’s contract.”
Cillian furrowed his brow. “You said no more Romano deals. They never hold true to them.”
“I won’t be making deals with them,” Liam said. “Mikhail will. We just gotta give him a little nudge in the right direction. Giovanni will have to swallow his pride and come beggin’ to Mikhail. And that, my friend, is a beautiful thing.”
“Strategically, this doesn’t make any sense. It’ll only work if Mikhail strikes a deal with you.”
“I’m hopeful,” Liam replied calmly. “Mikhail’s ambitious, but he’s not stupid. He knows aligning with us would strengthen his position. And Giovanni? He’ll be desperate enough, and desperation makes people predictable.”
Cillian shook his head, still unconvinced. “‘Hopeful’ isn’t a strategy, Liam. You’re gambling on too many variables.”
It wasn’t a gamble; it was actually really smart. He was using the marina when both families were distracted. It was like a perfectly constructed spiderweb, luring Mikhail in with the promise of Sloane, while simultaneously keeping my family at bay. It would be interesting to watch this explode. In fact, I might think about giving Mikhail a little visit.
