“What I always wear when I’m working,” I reply, a little confused.
Stacey dissolves into peals of laughter. “Working? No, Tori, the women in the Maricuso family don’t work. We stay home and tend the house and look after the children. I can’t wait to have Tristan’s baby. I want to have one right away.” She simpers at him, and I feel my fingers tighten around my coffee mug.
“I pity the poor child who has to have you as a mother,” Vienna mutters under her breath, but Stacey hears it and sneers at her.
“At least my child will know who their father is, unlike yours, you whore.”
Vienna looks at her and smirks, sitting up straight and pushing out her chest. All the men at the table stare at her, and I don’t blame them—she looks gorgeous this morning. Her red her is shiny and smooth, and the dark green dress she has on displays her breasts nicely, which have a pendant sitting between them, dragging everyone’s attention to them. “Jealous?” She smiles. “You couldn’t get any of them to touch you voluntarily, so instead, you had to force one of them to.” She nods at Tristan. “But all of them beg me to let them touch me.”
Stacey stares at Vienna with hatred, but she isn’t finished. “Tori too. They would happily put their hands all over her as well, but I think they would rather cut their hands off before they have to be intimate with you. Poor Tristan is probably going toneed help, but then you’re good at encouraging them to let their guard down, aren’t you?” Vienna says viciously.
It’s Stacey’s turn to chuckle. “Tori can attest to that.” She winks at me, but instead of getting angry, I just picture her head exploding from one of my bullets, and I smile. Her face pales, and I know she sees the violence in my eyes. She fidgets a little bit and opens her mouth to say something else, but Mario cuts her off.
“Enough of this shit. I won’t have my family fighting.”
“Good luck with that,” Penny mumbles, taking a sip of champagne. She looks terrible, not put together like she usually is. She’s wearing a long-sleeved knitted cardigan, and her hand trembles as she brings the flute to her mouth. I’m going to guess this isn’t her first glass, going by the two bottles in front of her.
Mario ignores her and returns his attention to me. “Stacey is right, you won’t be going to the office. You can stay here with the women and find something to do.”
“Oh, okay. I thought you wanted to get into the safe in Dad’s office at the casino, but we can do that another time,” I reply as I reach for a chocolate pastry on a plate in the middle of the table. Penny, Stacey, and Vienna all have plates of fruit in front of them, even though the guys all have bacon, eggs, toast, and hashbrowns on theirs, but I am not a fruit for breakfast kind of person. I need carbs or sugar or both, preferably both, and I am not changing my diet for anyone. If what Addison implied when I spent time with her is true, then I’m sure Mario will be controlling that before too long, so I’m going to make the most of it while I can.
His eyes light up, and he leans forward eagerly. “You can get in?”
“Yeah, of course I can. I can get into all the safes in all the Lucky Diamonds we own, and every other property and holding.”
“You can program them to my hand then?” he asks, looking excited, and I frown.
“Actually, no, I can’t do that. That requires both my and Gio’s authorization. It was put in place as a safeguard so neither of us could add anyone else without the other’s permission, but that doesn’t matter if my hand is always available to you.” I flutter my eyelashes. “Especially since we’re family now, Dad.” I just about choke out that last word, but I manage to keep up the act. Last night while I was thinking, I decided to give Mario exactly what he wanted—the good, quiet, obedient woman. He isn’t a particularly intelligent man, and if I show him I’m complying, he may get sloppy and let his guard down. It seems to be working, because he beams at me.
“It makes me very happy to have you coming around to my way of thinking, Tori. Maybe everything I heard about you in the past were lies made up by those who weren’t happy with the plan.” He glares at his adoptive children but misses the skeptical looks Penelope, Gregor, and Stacey are giving me. They are not as dumb as Mario, unfortunately, so I have to be careful.
“I’ll be very happy to accompany my husband to work and open the safe for him, as well as facilitate the smooth transition of his takeover. What about the rest of our holdings? Would you like to hold a Zoom meeting with all the managers and introduce your teams to them?” I’m fishing for information. I know that the Maricusos are not as big of an organization as the Russos, and I wonder if he has the capacity to take over all our holdings throughout the West Coast, but I highly doubt it.
He looks uncomfortable for a moment, and he fidgets with his napkin, wiping his mouth before placing it back on the table. “We’re going to concentrate on one state at a time. You can leave your management in place everywhere else for the time being. We’re focused on the Suncity Lucky Diamond for now, the Kitty Cat Club, and Intimate Indulgence.”
Intimate Indulgence is our exclusive spa that is a front for our brothels, but the fact that he’s focusing on those three businesses only tells me so much. Wrestling my empire back from this asshole isn’t going to be too difficult once we’ve located my father. He bit off more than he can chew, and he’s going to figure that out the hard way.
“Okay, that’s smart. I would do the same thing,” I tell him, and he looks reassured. I roll my eyes internally. “Well, that makes things easier. I can introduce everyone today and get the ball rolling on the transition of leadership. I can’t wait to introduce everyone to my hubby.” I turn to Xavier and pucker up. There’s a huff of amusement from him, but he leans down and kisses me. I expected it to be quick, but he grabs me, hauls me into his lap, and thrusts his tongue into my mouth, moving my head to get a better angle. I moan at the slight bite of pain and sink into him, then we proceed to make out like actual newlyweds.
A clearing throat has him pulling away reluctantly. I brush a finger over my bruised lips and feel a little dazed when I look into his amused but heated eyes.
“And I can’t wait to show off my beautiful wife,” he replies, giving me a wink and returning his attention to his breakfast as I clamber off his lap and try to pull myself together.
“Aww, isn’t that sweet, Stacey? They are going to be such a power couple.” Vienna’s eyes twinkle with amusement, but her focus is on the other woman who is glaring at me with intense hatred. Stacey finally realized that I pretty much secured my position by letting them know there is no other way into the safes in every single one of our businesses other than my hand. Even if my plan fails, and I can’t wrestle my empire back, Mario can’t dispose of me anytime soon.
Stacey’s expression suddenly turns calculating, and she shifts her attention to Mario. “I bet Stefano and Tori could change the combinations together.”
My heart starts to race, and I feel a rush of panic. If he can force us to do that, then he won’t need either of us. Xavier’s hand slides onto my knee and gives it a squeeze, and I glance around the table. Colton gives me a barely perceptible nod. Hmm, I wonder if that could be a way to force Mario to bring my father out of hiding. We wouldn’t need to find where he is hidden, since Mario would bring him straight to me.
“Actually, it would take three of us to add another person’s biometrics to the system,” I explain, and Mario scowls. “But both Carla and Mickey were authorized as well. That way, there was always three of us around in case we needed to change anything for whatever reason.” I don’t know if that is true or not. Dad never shared all the logistics with me. It only takes two people, but none of them know that, and this way, he has to bring Carla when he brings my father. “It’s probably a good idea to add all of you just in case.”
Mario shakes his head. “No, you only need to add me. I want sole access. Nobody else needs them.”
“What? No,” Gregor argues. “You said we would be partners, especially once my daughter marries your son. I demand access to the safes as well.”
Mario’s eyes turn icy and calculating. “Well, maybe your daughter doesn’t need to marry my son then,” he retorts, and Gregor blanches when she shrieks.
“No, you promised me. Everything is organized. We are getting married next week. You can’t embarrass me like that.”
