It won't stand. Not for long.
"You look like you're planning murders." Marcello enters without knocking, closing the door behind him. "Are you?"
"Should I be?"
Marcello's brothers have left, but he decided to stay to see the vote through. I expected him to take over, but it looks like I'll be staying in power.
"Probably not a good look for a Don trying to prove he's stable." He pours himself a drink and sits across from me like we're equals now. Maybe we are. Who the fuck knows these days. "Though I understand the impulse."
"You voted to keep me." It's not a question. I know he did. Without his vote, I'd be out. It's the only thing keeping him alive. I wonder if he knows that.
"I told you, you're better at this than I'd be," he shrugs. "I've got very little interest in being Don. If you were unable, I'd take over, but I prefer not to have all those old dicks in my business."
I roll my eyes. "I'm aware. Any chance I can get you to cut that shit out?" I ask. Marcello knows what I'm referencing, and he snorts.
"I shouldn't be surprised you know." He sits down. "Did Dad know?"
I shake my head. "He would have flipped his shit if he knew you were running a fucking gambling ring off your inheritance," I say. "You know how he felt about shit like that."
Marcello doesn't look contrite. I didn't expect him to. He started running games in college, taking rich boys' family money, and now, he's stealing from lawyers and finance bros. I wouldn't give that shit up either. He's probably doubled or tripled his inheritance, and he's done it all outside of the family.
Good for him.
"Speaking of family, any news about your wife?"
My chest tightens as I think of Gemma. I haven't seen her since the pregnancy scare three days ago. I'd been doing my best to avoid her, which hasn't been hard considering she hasn't left our room.
"I'm taking care of her transgressions."
He sips his Scotch. "How?"
"I'm going to Adrian. Tonight. I'm telling him everything." I press my fingertips to my temple, trying to alleviate the tension that has formed.
Marcello goes very still. "Everything…meaning?"
"That Gemma was feeding me intel on the Neros. That we used it to hit his operations. That she went to Alexei when I ended our partnership." I lean back. "All of it."
"That's..." He stops. Thinks. "That's actually brilliant. Or suicidal. I haven't decided which."
"You fucking suggested it, and you were right. It's necessary. Alexei knows. He's holding it over us like a fucking sword, and I can't lead with that threat hanging." I meet Marcello's eyes. "Adrian finding out eventually is guaranteed. Me telling him first gives me control of the narrative."
"And what narrative is that?"
"That I discovered what she was doing, and I kept it contained. That we only did a little low-level shit, for fun. That I'm being transparent with our ally. That I'm putting the alliance first, over my marriage." I keep my voice flat. Unemotional. "That I'm willing to let him handle his sister as he sees fit."
Marcello is quiet for a long moment. "You're giving her up."
"I'm protecting the family."
"By sacrificing your wife?"
I can't tell if he agrees with me or not. It doesn't matter. I've been thinking about this since the pregnancy scare. Now that I am firmly voted in as Don, I'm ready to pull the trigger on the plan. I don't have a choice.
Marcello was right. If Alexei goes to Adrian, I am fucked. We all are.
"I'm neutralizing a threat before it destroys us." I stand, move to the window. "The marriage contract has a clause. If Gemma's betrayal is proven and I knew about it, Adrian gets sixty percent of our territory. If I reveal it myself, show I'macting in good faith, I can negotiate better terms. He's primed to negotiate with us. After all, Alexei is on his neck. Whatever truce the two of them had a year ago, is obviously null."
"Alexei hit them using Gemma's intel."
