“Is that queen enough for you, father dearest?” I mocked.
“Why not Mendez?” he asked.
I studied my father’s suddenly tensed features. What the fuck are you hiding? “Like you said, I need to prove my worth, right?” At his nod, I added. “What better way than to take down Mendez myself.”
“Mendez won’t be easy for you to handle, Gianna.”
My lips widened in a slow smile. “I live by one rule now, Cassius.” I glanced down at Joey’s blood on my hand and rolled my thumb and forefinger together. Not as sticky as the rats. “Don’t fuck with a bitch if you don’t know how to play the game.” His brow shot up and I could’ve sworn, I saw fear swim in his eyes. “You and I will play, father dearest, just not today.” I walked off, leaving him dumbfounded, no doubt.
Yet, I couldn’t help wondering if Cassius wasn’t my father, who was, and what had he done to Salvatore to earn his wrath enough to punish me. Like he said. All in good time. For now, I had a kingdom to run.
47
Gianna (20 years)
“What do you think, Julian?” I asked, descending the stairs into the foyer.
His blue gaze ran over my red power suit, matching heels, light make-up, and chic bun, in a lengthy inspection. “If that doesn’t scream, don’t mess with me, then my name isn’t Julian.” He chuckled.
Smiling, I gestured to the door. “Shall we get this party started then? Not every day a twenty-year-old woman who’s never worked a day in her life takes over the criminal world with nothing but a power suit and her favorite bodyguard.”
“Then let’s go make history.” He winked as we climbed into the Black Mercedes that Marco had already brought around to the front.
Three weeks ago, I’d killed my husband, and no one was any wiser. I returned from Japan expecting to be confronted by a mass of people demanding knowledge about his whereabouts and the quiet surprised me. Perhaps it was the calm before the storm and I was heading down shit street of gigantic proportions, without me even knowing, perhaps not. Whatever the case, I planned on going in guns blazing.
Calling a roundtable this soon after Salvatore’s demise was what I considered a strategy to lay down the changes to the hierarchy, one I hoped didn’t backfire because I had no clue how the fucking roundtable worked. While Salvatore’s chief of staff, Wentzel, had given me everything, he possibly could, I considered my entrance a blind venture. Then again, I’d been doing that ever since I entered into the marriage agreement with Salvatore.
“You ready?” Julian asked me as we rode the elevator to the top floor of Salvatore Holdings, twenty minutes later. Like all his assets I’d to learn about, the investment company occupied fifty floors of chrome, glass, and beautiful night views. Given who made up the roundtable, I wasn’t surprised that the meeting was set for ten at night as opposed to normal business hours.
Salvatore’s chief of staff, a tall good-looking twenty-something, having already set up the meeting for me, was waiting when I stepped off the elevator. “Mrs. Salvatore, we finally meet face to face.” He extended his hand which I accepted in a quick shake, having dealt with him via calls and emails before tonight. “All of the members should be here by now. I haven’t been in to check. They’re not expecting you as you requested. Please shout if you need anything,” he rushed on as he walked me toward what I assumed would be the meeting place.
Instead, we stepped into another elevator where he swiped an access card over a console before we began moving. Three floors up or down, I couldn’t tell from the smoothness of the cubicle and there was no keypad, we stopped.
“This is yours, Mrs. Salvatore.” Wentzel handed me a keycard. “And this.” He held out an envelope. “It contains the proxy we discussed just until the attorneys have transferred Mr. Salvatore’s estate to you.” Apart from Julian, Wentzel was the only other person who knew of Salvatore’s death and my promise that he would stay on as my chief of staff with a fifty percent increase, bought his silence and his knowledge.
I accepted it just as the doors opened into a room that took my breath away for a second. It was designed almost like a glass box to protrude out of the building, giving the effect of also having glass floors that looked down into the city. Definitely not for the fainthearted.
