"I'm not seeking any retribution for Romina's death. I think that should be proof enough."
He regards me silently for a moment.
"Then I'll take you on your offer, kiddo. But know that the moment I feel that you might be playing me…" he lights a match, holding the fire in front of his face before lighting his cigar again, "it won't be you I'm going after," he lets the threat hang. It won't be me; it will be Allegra.
"I'd never play with her life," I assure him, and we start discussing business.
"We'll have to do a seamless transition so your father doesn't realize what's happening under his nose," Jimenez comments, and we soon hashed out a plan.
Everything would be under the guise of a partnership with the Boston Irish mob. Jimenez has a big stake in their underground fighting rings and is very close with the Gallagher family. Given the ongoing conflict with Lastra, we'd be looking elsewhere for resources, at which point the Gallaghers would step in.
They'd offer their services in exchange for using some of our locations as fighting arenas—thus bringing the underground rings to New York and setting up the groundwork for Jimenez's transition. When my father least expects it, he'd be hit by betrayal from all sides, and all of his businesses would shift ownership to Jimenez. He would be helpless as he'd watch his life's work go to waste. I can only imagine his expression when he realizes that it was his beloved son who put everything in motion and played him for so long.
"Get Martin Ashby to invest. He's a greedy fool, and if the offer is appealing, he will be the first to dive in. Besides, he's on my naughty list," Jimenez chuckles and proceeds to tell me histumultuous past with Martin, as well as the reasons he wants him dead—just not yet.
"His time will come, obviously. But like you, I take my time with revenge."
The most interesting bit of information has to be the identity of Theodore Hastings, the NYPD Chief Commissioner, and Jimenez's features morph immediately as he talks about him, his expression filled with pride.
"He's my heir, but he's too set in his righteous ways. I need to give him a little push so he can take his rightful place when the time comes."
"So you want me to blackmail him," I say, ashing my cigarette as I try to understand Jimenez's endgame.
"Yes, there's plenty on him. His previous identity as Adrian Barnett, for one, or the real identity of his wife," Jimenez slides a folder toward me.
"His wife?" I raise an eyebrow, opening the file to peruse its contents. It has detailed information on Bianca Ashby, also known as Artemis. "This is too rich," I laugh at the irony. "And he doesn't know he lives with an assassin?"
Jimenez shakes his head, a smile playing at his lips.
"I don't think my son would suspect if you were to throw it in his face. That's how enamored he is of her. But because of that, it's all the incentive he'll need to come to the dark side."
"I see," I reply.
The Gallaghers would insinuate themselves into the Agosti business until they could steal it from under Rocco's nose. Then Jimenez would swoop in and take over the empire, and Father would see his life's work destroyed. He'll either die from a coronary, or I'll do the honors.
"Now for the Marchesi," I start, and we plan a couple more years in advance.
Funny how now I haveallthe time in the world.
"Papa, who's this?"I look down at my four-year-old as he wiggles his eyebrows in confusion.
"This is Papa's friend, and she's very sick," I explain, feeling a pang of sadness at the fact that he doesn't recognize his own mother.
As he'd grown, I'd stopped bringing him with me to visit Allegra, afraid he might tell someone about the woman who looks just like hismother.
While Luca thinks Chiara is his mother, I'd tried to keep their interactions extremely short—just long enough so that Allegra wouldn't be a stranger to him when she wakes up but also brief enough to avoid Chiara's bad attitude. It's even better that Chiara doesn't seem to have any interest in being a mother. In the last few years, she's become the center of New York social life. More often than not, she's not even home, preferring to spend her time partying or fucking who knows who.
Observing her behavior for so long, I'd realized that she suffers from multiple addictions—alcohol, sex, and cocaine. Add in a bad personality and you have a winning combination. The stories I'd heard about her had given me such a headache, mostly because when Allegra wakes up, it will be her reputation Chiara has ruined.
But I can't do anything about it and still keep my act.
And even that worries me. What will my little tigress think when she wakes up only to see numerous tabloid articles with me and different women? I dread the day I'll have to see the sadness on her face as I attempt to prove to her there's never been anyone else.
Taking Luca in my arms, I grab a seat next to Allegra. Over the years, her health has improved a little, and now she's able to breathe on her own. Still, there's no guarantee when she's going to wake up.
"Why is she sick?"
"She had an accident, and now she's sleeping." Luca nods at me, his gaze lingering on Allegra's form. There's absolutely no sign of recognition in his gaze. Not when Allegra looks so frail and so pale—completely different from the glamorous Chiara Luca is familiar with.
