Part 4

I was sitting behind my desk in my bedroom a week later when Wilder flung my door open and draped himself over my bed. His head was hanging off one side, making him look at me upside down. “You remain a beautiful man, Saint, no matter which angle I observe you from.”

I snorted. “Are you drunk already?”

“Sadly, no,” he said.

“What’s going through that demented head of yours?”

Wilder sighed and shifted to his stomach, resting his head on his hands. “Are they giving us complete freedom in Briarwood?”

“From what Dominic said, I believe so.”

“Are you looking at houses with basements?”

I chuckled. “Yes. What if we need space for storage?”

“Storage. I like that,” Wilder said, and huffed out a laugh. “Well, I’m just thinking if we’re going there to make our own mark on the world, we don’t need any interference from them. It won’t work if they stick their noses into our business.”

“Then I’ll make that a stipulation when we have further discussions. From what Dominic said, our fathers all think we need to do this to find our own place in this world, but also to branch out for the family.”

“Look, I seriously don’t mind waking up with Hudson hovering over me, but you know I’ll scream like a little bitch if Gage waits for me in my room,” Wilder said.

“Gage was waiting for me in my room last week.” My expression had gone stoic once again, thinking back to it.

Wilder shuddered and then he adjusted himself in his jeans. “Were you naked?”

I barked out a laugh. “Fuck off, Wilder.”

“Fine, but before I go. Why do squirrels swim on their backs?”

“Can squirrels swim?”

He rubbed his fingers against his temples. “Just work with me here.”

“I don’t know, Wilder, why do squirrels swim on their backs?”

“To keep their nuts dry,” he said and sniggered as he walked out of my room.

I shook my head. “Good one, Wilder!”

“I know!”

I turned back to my computer and clicked on the incoming email as the alert popped up. I read through it quickly and clenched my jaw. It was an email from the University, inviting me to a formal dinner the night before classes started. I’d already made a big donation so that Honor and Arya wouldn’t have to live in the dorms like all freshmen had to.

They were seeing a cash cow now and they wanted to rub shoulders with me because of my last name. Our family hadn’t officially been linked to organized crime in over twenty years, but people still speculated from time to time. Lev still imported guns from Russia and Agron still exported some drugs to Mexico, and my father, Dominic, had kept his focus on the more legitimate businesses that laundered our money.

I accepted the invitation, knowing I’d meet all the right people at that dinner. It was a necessary evil to attend events like that, one I couldn’t let slip through my fingers. It was an opportunity to get my foot in the door. I sent a text to Hamil, a man Dominic had been using to gather intelligence for over 25 years. I wasn’t surprised when he replied a few seconds later, promising to send me an updated dossier on every person that would be on that guest list.

I saw an email from the agent I contacted and opened the link in another browser. A grin spread across my face as I looked at the photos of the house listing she’d sent me. It was gorgeous, not too big, but still stately enough to suit a young man building his empire. It had 6 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms and sat on an acre of land not too far from the University, not that Honor or Arya would ever walk there. The bedrooms were spacious and had ample closet space, the master bedroom though had a large walk-in closet and a jacuzzi style sunken tub. The back of the house was flanked by natural woods and it had a 5-car garage. It was private enough to give you that secluded feel, but close enough to the shops and restaurants that you could walk there. It also had a poolhouse with 3 bedrooms and the most important feature, it had a finished basement with one section already converted into a private gym.

I sent a quick reply with my offer to purchase and sent the link to Austin. He would scope out the security risks and make the necessary changes. I knew that Gage would also give his opinion. It was Pennsylvania and the fact that it was a college town, would make it much safer than a big city.

“What are you so busy with?” My father stood in the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest.

“I had to find housing for all of us. By the way, the dean really appreciates your generous donation so the girls don’t have to live in the dorms.”

Dominic chuckled. “I’m sure he does.” I sighed and Dominic stepped into my room, closing the door behind him. He sat down on the edge of my bed and waited.

“Will you give us complete freedom there?”

“You’re a man now, Saint. When I was your age, I was already raising my siblings and caring for them. If I’m hovering, it’s because I love you more than life itself. I want you to succeed and I want you to do it on your own. It’s the only way you’ll ever feel that it’s yours. You will have freedom there, unless I see that you’re drowning. I won’t intervene otherwise.”

“I won’t drown. I’m more than capable of doing this. I just don’t want to wake up with Gage sitting on a chair in my room because you think I might be drowning,” I said.

Dominic smiled and rubbed his thumb over the scar on his eyebrow. “What else is bothering you?”

“I don’t want you to get your hopes up for an arranged marriage. I have a lot to accomplish and not a lot of time to do it. I’ll meet a lot of new people and some of them might like the idea of their daughter marrying someone like me because I’ll be able to offer stability and safety and a dark network of resources—”

Dominic held his hand up. “It’s the Vittori curse. When we love, we love hard and we don’t back off. We do insane things to and for the women we love and we mostly lose our fucking heads while going about it, but it’s not like it used to be, Saint. You’ll have the chance to choose your own wife, one with resources of her own. You do have time though, so choose wisely because your wife should be a prominent woman even before you marry her.”