POV: Henry
Maya and I spent three days celebrating our engagement.
Three days, in which we used every inch of our penthouse suite to its full potential.
The couch, the kitchen, the coffee table.
Hell, even the balcony.
Sure, the sight of the city spread out beneath her as I fucked her raw was nice, but not as nice as the sight of my cock buried nine inches deep inside of her perfect body.
But eventually we had to return to Chicago, where I was greeted with enough work to keep me busy for a month. Emails and texts, missed calls and mail, not to mention several messes to clean up courtesy of Cian and his trigger-happy self. It's enough chaos to make one think I'd been gone for weeks, rather than a couple of days.
Which means that instead of fucking my gorgeous fiancé on every available surface, I'm stuck doing damage control.
In this case, that means staring at the two letters resting atop my desk. They're both housed in the same crisp black envelopes unique to the Ironside club. Both inscribed with delicate gold calligraphy. They differ, however, in their contents.
Not one, but two different membership nominations.
And for an organization as old as the Ironside club, that's unheard of.
The last nomination we had was twelve years ago, and it was rejected despite the family's long history with the mafia.
This time, however, I fully expect both nominations to be accepted.
The problem is, only one of those nominations directly benefits me.
And the other?
I slide the second letter from its envelope and scan the carefully phrased message for the millionth time today.
No, not simply a message.
An engagement announcement.
The caveat being, Malik Jones will gain membership to the Ironside Club the moment his marriage to Sofia Vitale is official.
It's the closest thing to cheating the nomination process I've ever seen.
But with Noah Zhang's nomination on the line, I sure as hell won't be speaking out against it.
Besides, Malik and I have gotten along in the past, even if his future lies elsewhere. As far as I can tell, he's a good man—if good men can even exist in our line of work. An honorable man. And with my sponsorship of the Zhang family, I can't blame Vitale for wanting to even the odds. Bringing Jones into the fold means one more player loyal to the Cosa Nostra.
No, it won't just be the Zhang dynasty joining our ranks. It'll be the Jones' empire as well. I'm sure of it.
"Vitale has nominated Jones," I text, sending the message to Aleksander Lis. "We'll be expected to support his nomination."
His response comes quickly.
"Fine."
It's almost insulting, but unfortunately this kind of abrasive dismissal is normal when it comes to Lis. He didn't crawl out of the gutter and wrest control of the Polish syndicate by being kind, after all.
No, I'd say it had far more to do with his bloodthirsty nature and obsession with absolute obedience.
Not that I can complain, given that he and his men have worked seamlessly with the Irish Mob for the past few years.
YOU ARE READING
The Business Arrangement | Mafia Romance 18+
RomanceMATURE CONTENT 18+ "Good girl. Let's see how much you can take." She's a shy bookworm on scholarship, desperate to escape the Mafia. He's Chicago's most infamous Mob Boss, and he's running out of time to find a wife. "Henry Wallace is as handsom...
