“I’ll see what I can do,” I drawled, just as I heard footsteps approaching down the hallway. “Now, get the hell out of here.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
Achilles
“We needto take Sangue Blu and his first-rankers out.” I set my glass of whiskey down on the table. “This has been going for too long. Our business is suffering.”
“This time, we’re shutting down his entire operation.” Enzo tossed his knife in the air, catching it with his fingertips. “I ain’t hauling ass in and out of Naples weekly to deal with the Coppola clan. I’ve got important shit to do.”
“Oh? Like what?” Luca folded his legs, the sharp crease in his trousers immaculate. “Hitting the gym twice a day and living off protein shakes and brussels sprouts?”
“For instance?” Enzo brushed off the dig.
My baby brother was an interesting creature. He’d die before making someone he cared for disappointed or sad but had no trouble taking down eighty men in the span of twenty-four hours.
“Enzo’s right.” I ran a hand over my tie. “We’re going around in circles with them, and we have more pressing issues here in the States. The Bratva’s getting bolder.”
“The union between Enzo and Katya is supposed to fix that,” Luca grumbled.
“That’s not happening for at least four months,” Enzo pointed out. “Katya has requested to finish her freshman year at college. A lot can happen in that time.”
Luca ran a hand over his mouth. “You wanna wipe them out? Fine. We will. But if we want to keep shit in order in Naples, one of us will have to move there.”
“I’ll do it,” I said without missing a beat.
“You’ll move to Naples?” Enzo cocked his head sideways.
“Yeah.”
“And Tierney?”
“She’ll move with me.”
She wanted to get away from all the hustle and bustle of New York, and this was a good opportunity to offer her that. Plus, I was tired of having to share her with all the clingy-ass people in our lives—Lila, Sofia, Tiernan, and the rest.
“All right, Achilles’s in.” Luca threaded his fingers together. “We need to be quick about finishing Coppola’s clan, though. Our eyeballs should be on the Midwest. Alex has taken over Des Moines, I hear.”
“Or we could wait until Alex is power-drunk and tries conquering Chicago. That’d pull the Outfit into our war.” Enzo ran his knife shallowly along his palm. “The Bandinis won’t let that happen, right?” Enzo searched Luca’s face. They were his in-laws, after all.
“Hard to tell. President Keaton is breathing down their necks, wanting to take them down before his first term is over.” Luca’s tongue skated over his lower lip. “They’re trying to keep their heads down at all costs.”
“Fuck,” Enzo muttered.
“There’s another way around the Bratva.” I pressed my fingers together. “It’ll delay them, not stop them, but it could give us a couple years.”
Luca curved a skeptic brow. “I’m listening.”
Time to figure out just how much of a cold fish you are, Brother.
“Lyosha sent an offer through Jeremie. He’s willing to give us everything east of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and the Dakotas.”
“That means they’ll have to pull out of the newly conquered parts.” Enzo shifted forward in his seat, lighting up.
I nodded. “They’ll hand over some weapons, too.”
“What’s the tradeoff?” Luca drawled.
“Jeremie wants to stay in New York,” I said tonelessly. “As your wife’s bodyguard.”
