"Too much too fast. I know. Forget I said anything." I forced myself to step back, give him space. "Go work. I'll see you tonight."
He stared at me for a long moment. "We'll talk about it. Later. Okay?"
"Okay."
He gathered his laptop and notes, kissed me goodbye, and left. I stood in my too-empty penthouse and wondered if I'd just pushed too hard again.
***
The partners meeting started at eleven sharp in a conference room in one of the legitimate holdings.
I arrived to find Sandro, Matteo, and Elio already seated, coffees in hand, looking over documents Stefan and Julian had prepared. The two of them stood at the front of the room with a presentation ready to go.
"Luca." Sandro gestured to the empty chair. "You're almost late. That's unlike you."
"Got held up." I poured myself coffee and sat. "What are we looking at?"
"Progress." Stefan clicked to the first slide. "Significant progress, actually."
For the next hour, Stefan and Julian walked us through the restructuring. Property acquisitions were ahead of schedule. Shell companies were being dissolved or legitimized. Money was being moved into legal investments. Everything was proceeding faster than expected.
"We can be fully legitimate within six months," Julian said, pulling up financial projections. "Maybe less if we accelerate the timeline."
"That's good news," Elio said. "Especially with the FBI breathing down our necks."
"It also leaves us vulnerable during the transition," Matteo pointed out. "Less flexibility. Less protection."
"But cleaner. Defensible." Stefan flipped to the next slide. "Once we're legitimate, there's nothing for them to find."
"Except the past," I said quietly. "Our history doesn't disappear just because we go legal."
"No. But it becomes harder to prosecute if current operations are clean." Stefan looked at me. "This is the right move, Luca. You know it is."
I did know. Had known for months. Going legitimate was the smart play. The only sustainable play. But it also meant giving up the safety nets and grey-area operations that had protected us for years.
"I agree," I said. "Let's accelerate the timeline. Get us clean as fast as possible."
The meeting continued for another hour, discussing logistics and timelines and contingencies. But my mind kept drifting to Valentino. To the fact that he was probably at his apartment right now, working on journalism that had nothing to do with me, proving his independence.
To the fact that I'd asked him to move in—again—and he'd deflected. Again.
"Luca."
I looked up to find everyone staring at me. The meeting had apparently ended while I was lost in thought.
"Sorry. What?"
Sandro raised an eyebrow. "I asked if you had anything else to add. But clearly your head is somewhere else."
"I'm fine."
"You're distracted," Matteo said. "Have been all meeting. Where's your head?"
"Nowhere. Just thinking."
"About Valentino," Elio guessed. "About the FBI meeting. About the fact that Reeves is building a case."
"All of the above." I stood. "But I'm handling it."
