I reach into my inside jacket pocket, which puts Massimo on edge. “Calm it. It’s a document.” I pull the paper out and place it in his hand. “Because as of yesterday, I now control every single medical institution in the state of Illinois.” The merger with Devereaux Pharmaceuticals is in my name and my name alone. “Thiago and Enzo have both been struck off the controlling interests by the board of Estrada Corporation INC, and when I married Eliza, there was a prenup put in place.”
Massimo arches a brow. “Then who inherits if you’re gone?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I also pull the prenup agreement out of my pocket and place it in his hands, allowing him to scan it.
He sighs heavily. “You are clever. I’ll give you that, Volkov.”
“So, can I expect to have my wife returned to me peacefully and our discussion to go ahead as planned?”
His eyes narrow as he stares at me for a few beats, no doubt trying to work out how to worm his way out of this. “I can’t guarantee it, no. You’ll need to make concessions if we are to return her to you.”
“Then, we will leave.” I place a hand on Budimir’s shoulder and go to turn, but Massimo grabs my wrist.
I recoil at the touch of his skin against mine, yanking my hand out of his grasp. “Don’t touch me, Morrone, unless you want me to break your wrist.”
Massimo may be a good few inches taller than me, but he doesn’t scare me. I’ve faced worse. “We’ll have the discussion and you have my word you’ll not be harmed.”
“Is your word really worth a thing? After all, you intended to lure me to my death today, didn’t you?”
His jaw clenches and that’s when I notice my uncle approaching.
“What is going on over here?” he asks.
“Uncle, we were just discussing the fact that you intended to murder me tonight, but that won’t help you in the slightest.” I tilt my head as his eyes narrow. “In fact, it would harm all of you rather badly.”
Massimo sighs. “He has a prenup in place and signed a merger yesterday with Devereaux Pharmaceuticals. Whoever he’s named as his heir will have complete control of medical care in the city and leave us all vulnerable.”
“Who is your heir, Adrik?”
“Now, wouldn’t you love to know that?” I ask, tapping a finger against the side of my nose. “A man far worse than me, I can guarantee that.”
Uncle growls softly. “Andrei Petrov.”
“Good guess,” I say.
“You slimy son of a bitch.”
“It’s pretty simple.” I cross my arms over my chest. “We can either keep throwing meaningless insults at one another, or we can agree to a deal and be done with this war once and for all.” My gaze moves between my uncle and Massimo, who both look defeated. “I’ll remain in control of the cartel here in Chicago, or you’ll bring hell down on yourselves when Andrei inherits.”
“Does Andrei know he’s your heir?” Spartak asks.
I shake my head. “No, I’m not stupid enough to dangle that kind of temptation in front of a lion, but my lawyer does, so there’s no getting around that.”
“Fine, we’ll have a discussion first with the leaders here, as they’ll need to know about the change of plan.” Massimo turns.
I smirk. “You mean the change involving not killing me?”
“Exactly.” He walks away, leaving Budimir and I with Spartak.
“You are a convincing actor, I’ll give you that.” My uncle looks almost impressed. “We all thought you were a worthless waste of space and now look at you, running the cartel as if it’s your birthright.”
“Perhaps it is.”
He shakes his head. “If I weren’t so angry about your betrayal, I’d probably be impressed. After all, you pulled the wool over our eyes for so damn long.”
It’s odd to hear my uncle speak to me in any way other than with distaste. “I may have crossed you, uncle, but I didn’t do it to betray the bratva.”
“You could have fooled us. Blood is blood and you’ve switched over to the cartel’s side now.”