Adopting my resting bitch face, I follow Mario who has approached the front desk and is currently harassing the person who has the shift today.
I feel all eyes on us as we follow him, Mario’s men at our backs. Jennifer’s panicked eyes seem to drift over the group before reaching me. She scowls, and I roll my eyes. Jenniferalways did have an inappropriate crush on Sage, but he never did anything to dissuade her, the incorrigible flirt.
Mario’s voice is getting louder, and we are drawing even more attention from guests, so I clear my throat and step up to the counter. He scowls at me, but when I gesture around the room, he frowns and steps back, letting me take the lead. Optics are everything, and he isn’t presenting good ones at the moment.
“Good morning, Jennifer. How are you this morning?”
“Fine,” she replies disrespectfully. Jesus, what is with all the people surrounding me growing some balls?
“Fine, Ms. Russo, thanks for asking,” I prompt flatly, and she blanches, because she must see the annoyance on my face.
“Sorry, I’m still recovering from Sage’s death. You’ll have to excuse my abruptness,” she says snippily. I saw her at the funeral, weeping like a widow. Stupid bitch. I wave my hand, gesturing for Xavier to step forward.
“This is my husband, Xavier Maricuso, and he is taking over the role of CEO for the Lucky Diamond. That is his family. They will be afforded all the same privileges the Russo family have. We are merging our empires, and I am taking a step back, but I am sure you received the system wide email I sent out, didn’t you?” I hold her gaze, and she fidgets a little before giving me a quick nod. “Good, then I expect you to treat them like you treated any of my family.”
“Is it true that Mr. Russo has passed?” she asks boldly, looking at me directly, and I have a moment of pure rage before adopting a look of devastation.
“Yes, he was in a fatal accident yesterday, but unfortunately, business will not allow me to grieve,” I explain, and her eyes narrow. Jennifer is an idiot if she thinks I’m going to allow any of this to go unpunished. She’s going to be called into a meeting with Bryce and learn she’s suddenly fired. It’s the least shedeserves. Before she can respond, I continue, ignoring the tears welling in her eyes at the news.
“Please have Bryce and the heads of housekeeping, reception, catering, entertainment, guest relations, security, and the pit bosses all called to an urgent, in-house meeting in the conference room in half an hour. We would like to make this transition as smooth as possible.”
I don’t wait for her response, turning my attention to Xavier. “I’ll show you to your office,” I tell him, leading the way to the elevator without a backward glance.
It opens when we get there, and he and I step in, followed by Tristan, Colton, and Gregor. When the doors close, Mario grabs Xavier’s arm. “Be careful, boy. You are CEO in name only.”
“Remove your hand before I remove it for you,” Xavier growls at his adoptive father, and Mario flinches. “You made me CEO because you wanted to pull strings from the shadows. We can’t do that if you start to throw your weight around. We will draw too much attention to ourselves, and you do not want that. We only just got the FBI off our tails after Lorenzo’s huge fuck up.”
Mario looks disgruntled but does as requested. “I demand the same kind of respect they give him,” he snarls at me, and I give him a demure smile.
“I’ll be sure to let everyone know.”
“Good, because what I give, I can also take away.” Mario is livid, and I feel a little smug. I knew my staff wasn’t going to react to the takeover well, but unlike Jennifer, most of them are smart and will keep their heads down.
I acknowledge the threat with a small nod, which seems to placate him.
Colton clears his throat. “I’ll skip the meetings. I have some Maricuso business I need to go over,” he tells everyone, gesturing to the laptop bag under his arm. “I also need to headto the warehouse and look over the drug inventory. Now that we don’t have a chemist, we need to make sure we are still producing the product we need.”
“Where are the weed farms, Tori?” Tristan asks, and I scowl at him. I was hoping they forgot that we are the major supplier to the legitimate business here in Suncity and throughout the West Coast.
“That was Sage’s department, and he and Gio dealt with all of that. I guess someone in the organization may know, but I would have to ask around. I never bothered with that because they had it well in hand and have for years,” I lie, and Tristan wrinkles his nose in annoyance. He knows I’m lying but won’t call me out. “After all, it’s not a woman’s place to question a man,” I remark, and Mario nods his agreement, picking up what I’m putting down, but none of the others do. Gregor scoffs, and the other three just smirk.
“Indeed, exactly how it should be. No need to get your hands dirty,” Mario says pleasantly, and Tristan gapes at him incredulously.
“You know who we’re talking about, don’t you?” he asks his adoptive father, gesturing to me. “The angel of death definitely gets her hands dirty.”
Now it’s Mario’s turn to scoff. “Please, the angel of death is the Russo’s enforcer and, according to rumors, one scary motherfucker who doesn’t often leave anyone alive to tell tales. There’s no way Tori is their enforcer. She’s just a pretty face who had her father and brother wrapped around her finger, so they gave her more responsibility than she deserved. In the Maricuso family, you earn your stripes.” He scowls at me like I offended him, but I just bat my eyelashes.
“My father knew the importance of presenting a pretty picture,” I say demurely, and his scowl turns to sleazy approval.
“Hmm, and what a pretty picture it is. Maybe I should have a taste of what I so kindly gifted my son.” He takes a step toward me, and I ball my hands into fists, because I have no gun to reach for. Even the knife tucked into my bra isn’t going to be very helpful at the moment. Before I can lash out, though, Xavier steps between us.
“I’m not done with her yet. Remember, we need a Maricuso baby, and you can’t do that.” Mario pauses and glares at Xavier, but before he can respond, Gregor pipes up.
“No, but I can, then it would be pure Maricuso, not your defective junkie DNA.” Gregor runs his gaze down my body and back up, smirking. “I’ll take one for the team just to get my hands on that piece of ass. Why should you have all the fun?”
“Like fuck!” Xavier spins and steps toward Gregor, who blanches and backs up against the wall of the elevator. “You keep those hands and eyes to yourself if you want to continue to function.”
“Mario, call off your dog,” Gregor snaps. “Who the fuck does he think he is? He’s some dirty peasant blood you found in an orphanage and gave our name to. Put him in his place.”
