No side-eyes.
Nothing.
Just agreement.
Toni lifts his glass. "To the woman who stopped my house from becoming a battlefield."
Enrico elbows him. "Your house was a battlefield."
Toni winces. "Exactly."
Oksana only smirks. "It was fun."
Fun! Christ. Only she would describe a home invasion like that.
Raf taps the table. "Onto business. We all agree La Famiglia needs a new direction. The old ways have served their time."
He looks at Marcello, who leans forward. "I’ll continue running pharma. But it’s time we expand. I’m starting a legitimate pharmaceutical company. Research, patents, contracts. Clean money. Big money."
"And the other side?" I ask.
A cold smile curls his lips. "Extortion stays. It's tradition."
Enrico snorts. "Of course it does."
Raf gestures toward Toni. "Toni remains head of his helicopter company and money laundering. He’ll add real estate expansion. Violet will support the development side."
Marcello mutters, "God help the contractors."
Toni flicks him off.
"Now arms," Raf continues.
Enrico sits straighter. "I keep it. Gambling stays with me, too. We’ll expand into the suburbs. Bored housewives spend big."
"Just don’t sell them any guns," I chuckle.
"Loan sharking?" Marcello asks.
"Gone," Raf says flatly. "We don’t need nickel-and-dime bullshit."
"And the brothels," Toni adds.
"Gone," Raf confirms. "The Russians can have prostitution and the last of the drug corridors. Consider it a diplomatic offering to Grigori."
I can feel the tension ripple at that name. Grigori Arsenyev. My brother-in-law. My uneasy ally.
A man who smiles like a shark and carries grudges like saints carry crosses. We’re giving him full control of entire markets to keep him appeased. And to soften the blow oflosingOksana.
He’ll take it.
But the fact remains: As long as Alexei Voronin is alive, nothing between our families is fully stable. The map of power between us lies on shifting sand until theheiris dealt with. Grigori needs to find and eliminate him, one way or another. The ball is in Nico's court. Whichever path he chooses, Alexei or Nico. We'll be ready.
Raf continues, "We keep cooperation open through the security firm he and Toni are developing."
Oksana nods approvingly. "He’ll accept that."
The men exchange looks. We're literally negotiating a Bratva king down from going full medieval because he lost his sister to an Italian.
