The driver blinks. "Sir?"
"Give me the keys."
The driver hands them over without a word. Alessandro gets in the driver’s seat. I get in the passenger side.
It feels strange. Being in the front seat of a Falcone car. Usually, I’d be in the back, or in the trunk.
Alessandro drives with the same precision he does everything else. Hands at ten and two. Smooth acceleration. He navigates the wet streets of the city, heading toward the docks.
"The warehouse is on Pier 7," he says. "It's technically neutral ground now, since the murder."
"Neutral ground," I scoff. "Like the church."
"Like the church."
We drive in silence for a few minutes. The rain lashes against the windshield.
"Why did you agree to the marriage?" I ask. The question slips out.
Alessandro glances at me. "Because it was logical."
"Logical."
"A war on two fronts is unsustainable. Unifying our resources against the Russians maximizes our probability of survival."
"That's it? Probability?"
"That's enough."
I look at him. His profile is sharp against the passing streetlights.
"You didn't do it to save your family?" I ask. "To protect Rocco?"
He tightens his grip on the wheel. "Rocco is a blunt instrument. He would have started a war he couldn't finish. I did it to ensure there was someone left to run the empire when the dust settles."
"And what about me?" I ask. "Am I just an asset to be managed?"
"You were," he says. He turns onto the pier road. The warehouse looms ahead, dark and foreboding. "Until this morning."
"And now?"
He stops the car. He kills the engine. The silence rushes back in.
"Now," he says, turning to face me, "you are the only person who has as much to lose as I do."
He opens the door and gets out.
I watch him for a second. The rain soaks his jacket instantly. He doesn't flinch.
I get out.
The warehouse door is taped off with yellow crime scene tape. Two of Rocco’s men are standing guard. They straighten when they see Alessandro, but their hands drop to their weapons when they see me.
"Stand down," Alessandro orders.
"But boss?—"
"I said stand down. He's with me."
