And she would, because Valerie had a way of getting the truth every single time she dug for it. My mother loved her, Franny tolerated her, and she was a constant in Diamond circles. That alone gave her way too much access to me.
Valerie had been convenient for a time, but she wasn’t anymore. I only fucked around with women who didn’t cause me problems.
Except for Mia.
“You used us as cockblockers? Interesting.” Bane tilted his head and smirked.
“She wasn’t getting the hint.”
“Oh, she gets the hint, she just doesn’t want to take it.” Hades leaned against my desk and pet Malek. The dog looked dejected, like he missed a certain someone, and it made me realize he was starting to follow Mia around more than he did Franny or me now. “Valerie told Rosy she’d fuck you until you saw the light and it didn’t matter who else you dabbled with in between.”
“Probably because she dabbled as much as I did when we were screwing around.” I shrugged.
“Were? She know that’s past tense?” My brother wiggled his eyebrows like I wasn’t getting off the hook that easily. I would,though. Our relationship had been one of only convenience, but not anymore. Not when I couldn’t see anyone else in my mind but Mia. “Supposedly she hasn’t looked twice at another guy for a while, according to Ma. Even heard she cut that dumbass, Trent, off too.”
“As she should. Trent’s going nowhere fast. He’s been flipping loyalties, right?” Bane added.
I nodded, but didn’t waste time going over it. Trent wasn’t high enough up that I’d have to worry. He’d be taken care of over time for leaking information to O’Connor’s men. “Either way, it doesn’t matter who Val sleeps with or doesn’t. She’s lost sight of the big picture. She’s been around my daughter far too long, and she got comfortable giving her unsolicited advice.” It hadn’t been the first time either. Tonight, though, was a violation that was way the hell out of line, an overstep that Mia pointed out. I wouldn’t tolerate it any longer even if Franny had known her a long time.
“Isn’t her job to give you and Franny advice?”
“Do you have to question everything I do, Cal?” I threw back at him. “How about you worry about you and Paolo’s niece.”
“Niece?” Bane frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re getting mixed up with Jasmina.”
Cal was quick to respond. “If we’re discussing our sex lives … Jameson can tell us about the nanny instead. You with her officially, or can I take a shot at her?”
“You better shut the fuck up.” I took a step toward him, and he held up his hands as Bane stepped between us.
“I flew in for updates. Not to watch you two bloody your knuckles.”
“He’d deserve it,” I grumbled but spun away from them and grabbed cigars from my drawer. We each took one and sat to discuss the business Bane was talking about.
We pulled up figures on a drop-down screen and discussednew numbers and legislation. When the topic of our pharm partnerships came up, I told them, “I’m not opening any warehouses to Paolo. Not ever going to be an option when we work as closely as we do with the Stonewoods.”
“Agreed,” Bane confirmed in a measured tone.
Cal was the one to speak on what everyone wanted to, though. “We’re not making friends on the East Coast by dumping O’Connor’s body and passing on this partnership with Paolo.”
“Do we need more friends, Cal?”
“No.” He paused. “Our casinos there give us enough pull, but that’s just stating the obvious.”
“Well, youobviouslyhave some connections over there.” I hinted at him and Jasmina’s spat. “So, you can go make more friends if need be.”
The room was charged with tension and anxiety. Could have been from what we were discussing, could have been that things were too quiet after what I’d done to the Irish. Could have been a lot of things, but I knew that Dimitri, Hades, Bane, and I all felt the same thing. Something I shouldn’t have felt considering I wasn’t even attached to Mia in the way the other men were attached to their partners.
Yet, it wasn’t long after Archer alerted us that Rosy, Mia, Pink, and Olive arrived at the dance club that we all decided we needed to switch from business on the screen to security in case something went wrong.
“In case something goes wrong?” My brother laughed. “Who the fuck do you think you’re kidding? You all look ready to call in every one of our made men to guard that place for no other reason than because they’re in there.”
“This isn’t real time,” Bane told us as he ignored Cal. He glared at the screens before pulling his phone out to call someone.
I swore while Dimitri asked, “How far behind?”
“At least a minute. Pink just texted me that she was in the bathroom.” And then we watched her on the monitor whisper to the ladies before heading off to the bathroom.
“Fuck.” Dimitri looked concerned suddenly.
