She’d thought the five million she’d found in her late husband’s stash room had been a fortune. But this was twice that. And it was all clean. Unlike the cash Joe had squirreled away, which she’d come to find out had been given to him by the Russian mob for a deal she knew nothing about.
This was legit. A salary.
“Wow,” she whispered.
“You’ll earn it, I’m sure,” Pierce said. “And I’m glad for you. You won’t have anything to worry about this way, which is probably the point of that money. Artemis doesn’t want you to struggle. She wants you to focus on being governor.”
“I don’t think I’ll earn ten million. I mean, how many meetings would you have to take to even come close to them being worth that amount? It’s crazy. But amazing. I’ll be set for life. Or immortality, as the case may be.” She shook her head. “This just isn’t sinking in. I’m sure it will. But wow.”
“You’ll be able to buy yourself a place in Florida and a second place nearby.”
“I will. You’re right.” She took a breath. “For that kind of money, moving in full-time seems like the right thing to do. The only thing to do. I can’t be part-time and accept a salary like that. Not with any kind of clear conscience.”
“I agree.” He glanced at her quickly before looking back at the road. “Are you sure you want me in the same apartment as you?”
“I think you should be. Sure, there might be occasions when I need some alone time, but we’ll work that out.”
“Maybe we could set up a schedule with a day off for me each week. That would build in some alone time.”
“Maybe.” She appreciated how concerned he was with her well-being. “Let’s figure out a routine, see how busy I’m actually going to be, and then we’ll tackle that. Not that you can’t have time off when you need it. I know you still have to take care of your own place.”
“I do, but in light of this, I might sublet it.”
They rode in silence for a few more minutes, giving Donna time to think. Living with Pierce wouldn’t be hard. She’d had a few days of that already since he’d stayed with her to help her prepare for the trial. They’d been together constantly, too, and he’d been very easy to be around.
But keeping her secret about being immune to the sun might get tricky. She didn’t necessarily want to have to hide it. Not in the place she was going to call home. “Do I have attorney-client privilege with you?”
He made a funny face. “Yes, but why are you asking?”
“I’m thinking about telling you something, but it’s the kind of secret that vitally needs to remain that way.” They were nearly back to her house. “It could be a life-or-death thing for me.”
“Belladonna. I am willing to protect you with my life. You are my queen. I would never reveal to anyone something you told me in confidence, but a secret of such magnitude? I’ll take it to my grave.”
“You swear?”
“On my life.” He turned onto her long, winding driveway and headed for the house.
“Okay. So here’s the thing—” She leaned forward. “Hang on. There’s a strange car parked on the curve in front of the house.”
He slowed. “Any idea who it might be? Rico?”
“No, he would have told me he was coming by. And that Chevy Tahoe?” She shook her head. “That’s a lunk car. Could be the Russians again. Or worse.” It was difficult to see through the vehicle’s heavily tinted windows. Even vampire eyes had limitations.
The Tahoe’s brake lights came on, then it peeled away in the opposite direction down the other side of Donna’s horseshoe drive.
The driver was wearing a hat and sunglasses and had his hand on the side of his face. Donna whipped around in her seat to follow the vehicle with her eyes as it sped off. The light above the license plate was out, making the numbers impossible to read. Probably on purpose.
“Anyone you know?” Pierce asked.
“No. But definitely a man. And he clearly didn’t want to be recognized. Kind of firms up my decision to move into the governor’s crib.”
Pierce pulled into the driveway. “Who do you think it was?”
“My best guess is another Russian. They have to be curious since the lunk they sent never came back. And I’m sure Boris wants his money.”
“Boris is the equivalent to Big Tony, right?”
“He is. Boris Reznikov. And he and Tony aren’t what you’d call best friends, which makes the fact that Joe was dealing with the Russians so odd. The idea that Joe, and possibly his sister Lucinda, would work a deal with the Russians behind Big Tony’s back is crazy. Although that’s the first word that comes to mind when I think about Lucinda.” Donna sighed. “I really don’t want anything to do with all that.”
Pierce turned the car off and looked at her. “So why don’t you just return the money? With your new salary, you can afford to.”
She thought about that for a moment. “True. It would take a little time. I don’t have it all anymore. I donated a significant amount of it, so I’d have to come up with a million to replace that.” There was enough cash on hand to cover the shopping spree she’d been on, but it would leave her with very little. Except she now had the governor’s credit card.
“Maybe you could broker a deal. Not that I want you dealing with the Russian Mafia, but you’re a lot less vulnerable as a vampire than you were as a human. If you could get them to agree to, say, half the money in exchange for leaving you alone…” He shrugged. “That would be worth it.”
“It would be. Except I’d still like to know why they gave my husband the money in the first place. And what my ex-sister-in-law, Lucinda, had to do with the deal. Whatever it was.”
“I bet if you offered them the money, they’d pony up some information.”
“I don’t know. If they still think they can work something out with Lucinda, they aren’t going to tell me what was going on.” She sighed. “I never thought I’d say this, but I guess I need to meet with the Russians.”
“I could probably take care of setting up the meeting. But you need to bring backup with you. At least me and Temo. Because you know Boris isn’t going to come alone.”
“You’re right about that.” She pondered the idea and who else she might bring. “Backup is a necessity.”
“Are you thinking about Charlie or the First Fangs Club women?”
“Neither, but that’s not a bad idea about reaching out to the girls. A little more vampire backup couldn’t hurt. Although of that crew, I think Neo would be the best choice. I can’t see rolling into a meeting with Francine and Bunni.” Although her new friends from the therapy group would probably love to meet the Russian Mafia. They were crazy like that.
“If not them, then who are you considering?”
“Rico.”
Rico Medina was the FBI agent she’d been working with to bring down the Villachi family. He’d been a pretty important part of her plan to safely escape the mob life. That plan had changed a bit after Joe was killed in a car accident, but the end goal of taking the Villachis down remained the same. And Rico was the key to that.