Russian Pride (Russian Love Book 4) by Holly Bargo

Author:Holly Bargo [Bargo, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hen House Publishing
Published: 2017-09-29T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Giovanni could not help but find himself distracted all day long as he struggled to get through the daily business of managing multiple corporations and organizations. More than once, his secretary cleared her throat to recapture his wandering attention. More than once he realized he’d let his thoughts drift off and a foolish smile settle upon his face. He took undeserved pride in not assigning the blame of his inattention to his wife, no matter how much the memory of their lovemaking distracted him.

He should have known that finally making love to Inessa would be his undoing. This foolishness could not have been expected with an arranged marriage, a marriage of convenience. But then, he’d seen Vitaly look at his cousin Giancarla with just the same idiotic, sappy, lovesick expression and knew there was no hope for his escape. The cool-hearted, cold-blooded mafia don had vanished… and that was going to be bad for business.

“Sir, I have Shanghai on line one,” his secretary announced.

“Thank you, Mrs. Palatino.” He picked up the receiver and greeted his caller, “This is Giovanni Maglione.”

“Mr. Maglione, I am Li Xiaojiang. I received your message,” came the reply in crisp English accented with a British education.

“Ciao. Thank you for calling.”

And the negotiation began. Giovanni ruthlessly pushed aside all thoughts of his wife’s soft, silky, fragrant body. He argued as tactfully as he could that the arrangement Ruslan Vasliev held with the Triad had nothing to do with his wife. Mr. Li, however, saw the widow’s remarriage to the Italian mafia as an opportunity to recoup their losses with interest.

Finally, Giovanni cut the call short. “Mr. Li, either quit this claim and leave my wife and family alone or I will see to it that every last Triad operative that dares enter my territory dies.”

“We do not take well to threats, Mr. Maglione.”

“Neither do I, Mr. Li. Either send me confirmation that you have called off your thugs or be prepared to lose them.”

“You make a foolish decision, all for a woman.”

“Replacing your people is going to become extremely expensive. Drop this while you can.”

The connection ended without a reply.

Giovanni dialed.

“Maksim.”

“The Chinese won’t bargain.”

“Dermo,” the Bratva chief cursed.

“You have ties with a Central American cartel, yes?”

“Ochobella,” Maxsim replied, glancing at his phone as though wondering how the mafia capo had come by that information.

“Call in your favors. We need cannon fodder.”

“Dermo.” Maksim cursed again and sighed. He loathed to use a favor to assist a rival organization, but his rival was family and married to his daughter. So, he would do it. “Give me three days.”

“Done.”

Giovanni spoke with Seamus O’Brien next.

“Any trade you take from the Triad is yours. I want no part of it.”

O’Brien’s eyebrows rose in surprise at such generosity. “We’ll make sure to beggar them then, won’t we?”

“This is going to get bloody, Seamus.”

“We’re Irish, my boy. We’ve luck on our side.”

“Well, make sure you give luck a good chance with plenty of weapons and ammo.”

“I’ve your word their territory is ours, Giovanni?”

“You have my word, Seamus.

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