Cordoza nods in confirmation. “This is bigger than you or me, Ms. Solomon. It’s bigger than all of us, and bigger than all the founding families combined. There willalwaysbe a demand for the things I do, and if I fumble my next steps, someone else will step forward and take over. If that happens, life will become extremely dangerous for all of you. Quickly. New York will scramble, and entrepreneurial swine will fight for their place at the trough. Whatever happens on the East Coast will certainly ripple throughout the rest of the country. I assure you, theremustbe a table, and not having a seat at that table, not sitting at the head of that table, would be a misstep of grave proportions.” He drops his eyes to Ellie’s. “If I’m gone, and newmanagement is not an ally of yours, you are at risk.” He places his hand on her belly. “Your baby is at risk.” He brings his focus back around. “The Malones are at risk, and by extension, the Malone wives. Your opinion of me might’ve eroded this week, Chief, but it was important for me to know just how loyal you are to that family, and how loyal that family is to you.”
“It was a test?” I snarl. “All that shit with me and Archer was about loyalty?”
“It was necessary.”
“So you’re handing it all over to Felix?” Soph bites out. “Because he’s an ally to us all?”
I close Cordoza’s file and twine my fingers together, placing both hands on top. “He’s the most logical successor, I suppose. He’s a good, decent man, and despite his immature shortcomings, he isn’t likely to run the city into the ground for his own sick satisfaction. His moral compass is…”
Skewed.
Laughable.
“Honorable. He stepped up when Timothy the Third walked away, for much the same reasons you’re presenting us today. If there were no Malone at the table, he feared his family would become hunted.”
“I tend to agree.” Cordoza’s stare warms my face. “And now that he’s a married man, to a good, intelligent woman, and together, they have a child, I expect he’ll make wise decisions.”
“So it’s Felix, then?” Sniffling, Ellie pushes up straight, bracing her elbow on the back of her chair and bringing a single leg up, so she can face Estefan, but Soph, too. As well as me and Aubree. “The city will belong to the Malones?”
“No.”
“But…” I blink, blink, blink. “You just said?—”
“Felix will sit at the head of the table,” he concedes. “Because this is what we’ve been preparing for, and he’s a strong enough leader to keep the city at peace.”
“That’s what I?—”
“But hedoeshave shortcomings. The man is impulsive at the best of times and possesses a flair for the dramatic. He’s still young, and heisTimothy’s son, after all. I’m impressed by the man Felix has become, by all five brothers, in fact, but if cancer had not killed their father when it did, I would’ve been forced to step in and take care of the situation myself. Timothy concerned himself only with the things he could gain, with no care for the backs he stomped on his way up. Cruelty was his favorite flavor, and deception was his preferred tool. His sons are not the same, I know, but there may come a time when Felix’s objectivity is hampered. Where his decisions may err on the side of his own benefit, and not the benefit of the entire city.”
“So what are you suggesting?” Sophia demands. “There’s only one seat at the head of the table; it’s either his ass sitting in it, or it’s not, and from where I’m standing, I don’t see a suitable alternative.”
“There are always alternatives.” He takes Ellie’s hand in his, squeezing her palm. “I asked you a long time ago, didn’t I?”
Her cheeks pale. “No, I?—”
“I suggested the city’s first female leader. You had the breeding,or so the record asserts, you had the experience inside Mancino’s house, and most important of all, you have your heart and brain. You would’ve been the perfect candidate.”
“I-I don’t want it.” She shakes her head, tugging on her hand,though the old man doesn’t release her. “I’m not Michelle anymore. I don’t want to be her. I don’t want New York, and I sure as hell don’t wish to reprise my role as the gilded princess.”
“She has a new life now,” Soph presses. “She’s married and expecting a child. She’s finally dancing again. She’s with her family, Estefan, and she won’t trade all that for a seat in a city she already escaped.”
Smiling, he looks down at their joined hands, his lashes kissing his cheeks with every blink. He takes his time to consider his next words, his breathing slow, mildly labored, and if I look closely enough, it’s easy to see the weakness in his shoulder on the right side.
He’s been hiding his disease in plain sight for more than a year already.
“Estefan…” Ellie sniffles. “I don’t want what you’re offering. Give the job to Felix. What he doesn’t know, he’ll figure out. Whatever future decisions he struggles to make?—”
“I’ll step in and make damn sure he chooses right,” Soph growls. “He won’t trade innocents for income. We wouldn’t let him.”
“Which delivers us neatly to the point of this meeting.” Grinning, Estefan pulls back and studies each of us. Aubree. Me. Soph. “Felix will succeed me, but he will do soonlywith a board of advisors. Silent partners, if you will.” His eyes come to mine. “The four of you. Together.”
I choke on my breath, my elbow slipping off my knee until I slump forward. “What?”
“All of you,” he demands. “I’m not asking. Be involved as much or as little as you wish to be, but youwillbecome hisadvisors, and in times of conflict where Felix’s decision does not align with yours, the board’s word becomes final.”
“But… but…” Shock steals the words clear out of my head. “But…”
“What if we agree purely to appease you,” Soph wonders, “only to disband the moment you’re in the ground?”
