“You will marry the Russo woman!” Armani’s tone was resolute. No more discussion tonight would sway him from that decision.
Rodrigo decided to let the conversation end there…for now. He needed time to think, to come up with a rational reason why the wedding should not take place.
“As you wish, Papá.” His conciliatory tone had the desired effect. “The engagement party is soon?”
“You and Giada will meet the weekend after next at a gala she and her uncle have planned. The heads of all the families will be there, along with well-placed, well-paid politicians and businessmen. Every power player in Italy will be in attendance, honoring our family and this match. We will make the trip to the Grand Hotel Tremezzo a week from Friday and the party will take place that Saturday evening.”
He had less than two weeks to find a way out of this engagement.
His father smiled, clearly pleased with the idea of holding court at the gala. On a normal person, the expression might look pleasant. On Armani Capello, it was terrifying.
Rodrigo decided to capitalize on his father’s good mood. “I look forward to it. As you said, we have suffered many losses of late. Perhaps we should pull back on some of our current ventures until we’ve managed to rebuild. Our resources are stretched too thin. I have mentioned it before but I think we should revisit the idea of closing the recruitment centers.”
“Rodrigo,” Armani interjected, though Rodrigo sensed less adamancy. This was not the first time Rodrigo had voiced his opinion, however, it was the first time his father seemed more inclined to listen, to consider the suggestion.
Rodrigo had remained with his father even after Talya had been rescued because he had learned there were many more women still to save. He was determined to put his time undercover to good use, to see the human trafficking closed once and for all.
He decided to forge on. “We make more money from the weapons and the drugs, and at a fraction of the cost. The resources required, and the risk of moving women, are too great. If we focus our efforts and our money on expanding the drug distribution and finding new clients for our hardware, our power will increase to the point where none of our enemies will dare to rise against us. It’s time to step away from it.”
Rodrigo made certain to use the terms he knew were triggers. His father responded to a very specific set of vocabulary. Words like power, money, and empires held great sway.
Armani stared at him, expression cold. Rodrigo knew more about his father’s, his family’s, operation than he’d ever imagined, but the human trafficking was the one area he still didn’t have full access to. The one soul-sucking crime he didn’t have logistical and financial details for. His father was keeping him away from it, and no amount of pushing, asking, or manipulating had gotten him closer.
“Or,” Rodrigo forged on, “perhaps I could handle that part of the operation. I could find a way to lower the risk and spend less money.”
Armani sighed heavily. “Very well. We will halt that operation…for now. I will see that it is done.”
Rodrigo nodded, taking the win, though he wondered if he should be worried that his father seemed more willing to close the operation than give him access. Still, his father was going to stop participating in this modern iteration of slavery. He left feeling for the first time since he’d taken a sledgehammer to his old life and moved in with the Camorra that he might actually be able to make a difference.
As soon as they developed tech that would allow him to reach through the computer screen and strangle people, Eric was going to be a much happier meeting participant. The inability to knock Antonio and Vicente’s heads together was seriously irritating. He bent, letting his head thunk onto the desk as they continued to fight.
The sound must have been loud enough to carry—he had a hard head—and abruptly the arguing ceased.
Eric looked up. “Done?”
Santiago, who’d mostly stayed out of it, was the one who replied, clearing his throat before speaking. “Fleet Admiral, the issue of Rodrigo’s loyalty is not something we can simply…let go.”
“Of course not. I’m just wondering if we’re done arguing about what we think is going on, and if we are ready to get to the part where we actually do something.”
Vicente’s tight features relaxed. “Yes, Fleet Admiral. And I have a proposal.”
“Let’s hear it.”
From the look on Antonio’s face, the admiral of Rome wasn’t in a cooperative problem-solving mood. If he had to, Eric would escalate and call Antonio’s boss…his sister Sophia. She might not actually be his boss, but Sophia Starabba was a force to be reckoned with, and her track record of controlling the admirals was a hell of a lot better than Eric’s.
“Casson Serrano,” Vicente said.
Antonio blinked, leaning back as his expression morphed from closed and combative to contemplative. That was unexpected.
“Who’s Casson Serrano?” Eric asked.
He should know. If Nikolett was the fleet admiral, she’d know the name of every member, their backstories, their loyalties, and probably their greatest weaknesses. Nikolett Varda, admiral of Hungary, was terrifying and brilliant and gorgeous and so fucking sexy that…
That he’d fucked up. He’d been hurting and he’d gone to her because he knew with her, he’d be safe. Safe to be himself. Safe to reveal how fucking broken he was inside.
He’d taken the comfort she offered, and more. He’d touched her, his mouth on her bare skin, and it had been a goddamn revelation. And a cruel mistake.
“Casson Serrano is a legacy.” Santiago’s words jerked Eric’s attention back to the present. “One father from Germany, the other from Castile, and his mother from Rome. He grew up mostly in Portugal, and is a member of Castile, but he’s done work for other territories.”
“Wet work?” Eric asked, but then answered his own question. “No, you wouldn’t propose we have Rodrigo taken out.” Antonio might propose that. Leila’s presence in the meeting was probably a silent offer to have her take care of him from a distance.
“Undercover,” Vicente said. “He’s a brilliant undercover operative. He speaks four languages like a native, and as my admiral said, has worked for multiple territories.”
“Huh.” Eric sat back, thinking. “That’s unusual.” The lack of cooperation between the territories was a serious problem. He’d been working on ways to foster better relationships, but situations like this, which pitted Rome against Castile, didn’t help.
“It is, but he is simply that good,” Santiago said.
“You want to send Casson in to find out what’s going on with Rodrigo?” Antonio asked.
“No,” Vicente countered. “I want to send him in to extract Rodrigo. One way or another, Rodrigo is one of us. We pull him out.”
Antonio looked like he was going to argue, so Eric cut him off.
“Agreed. Rodrigo is one of us. And if he’s lost his mind and defected, he’s a security risk to our society. If he’s loyal, but staying under to try to stop some horrible mafia bullshit, we pull him out because this has gone too far, since apparently he’s getting married.”