“Could work,” Doc muses. “He’s coked to the eyeballs most days. I could mix him a bad batch.”

As my brothers hammer out the details of dispatching this useless man, I grow more convinced of my own plan. For almost two decades the four of us have solved problems and respected each other’s opinions. We’ve built something that’s equal to any of the old families. It will not be compromised by one little virgin.

I take my seat at the head of the table. “As soon as we can arrange a passport, the girl goes to Naples. My cousin Gio will find her a place in his house.”

Doc downs half his scotch. “So, you’re gonna let your cousin earn on her after all our hard work?”

“She won’t be whoring. She’s a pretty girl from a rich family and she speaks Italian. She can be married to one of his caporegime.”

Doc’s mouth opens, but Bobby speaks first. “You’ll force January to marry someone else?”

“No. Gio will. But that’s none of your business. You offered her your hand and she didn’t take it.”

Bobby’s eyes go dark. “You—”

“Stop. Roberto, we’re family. Are you going to burn that down for a girl you barely know?”

“You don’t understand.”

“I understand better than you do. You’re in love with her and you want her to be your wife. She doesn’t want to be your wife. So you want to keep her around until she changes her mind. I say she goes to Italy before she completely fucks up your head.”

His hand tightens on his glass. “She’s our responsibility. You can’t just get rid of her because she’s not doing what you wanted.”

Doc raps the table. “I want to say something.”

I glare at him.

“I want to say something to Bobby,” he clarifies, turning to him. “I love you.”

Bobby’s eyes nearly fall out of his head. “What?”

“I love you,” Doc says lightly. “I always have, but you can’t be stupid about January. If she wanted to marry you, she’d have said yes. She’s that kind of girl.”

Bobby’s expression doesn’t change but his shoulders slump. “She’s scared. She just needs time.”

“You’re wrong. More time and Adri’ll kill her.”

Bobby looks at Adriano, who shrugs.

“I might.”

Bobby gives a humourless laugh. “So, we send January to a foreign country to be forced into marriage?”

Doc shakes his head. “You want to marry for love, Bash. You’re never gonna be happy with a wife you backed into it. So let this girl go. She’s not the one.”

Bobby looks to me, his oldest friend. I raise my scotch. “He’s right for once. She’s not the girl you marry.”

He makes a helpless sound somewhere between a laugh and a groan. “All our plans, years of surveillance, and nothing good has come of it. We’re just going to let her go.”

I swirl the liquor around my glass. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that.”

“What do you mean?” Doc says.