Page 15 of Kingpin

“Well, don’t improvise too much. Because when that man suspects something, he doesn’t stop investigating until he finds what he’s looking for.”

“Noted.”

I gazed out the window, and my mind started to race. I mean, yes, I knew our families were at war with one another, but didn’t that come with the territory? What had Israel done to deserve death? And a death that would undoubtedly be unpleasant, to say the least. I couldn't imagine poison would be a slow and quiet march from the world.

I watched my uncle’s eyes pan over to me in the reflection of the window. I should have known better than to even mentally question what the hell I was doing. Because while Israel might have been adroit at digging up information, my uncle was fluent in reading people at the drop of a hat.

“He has it coming to him. Don’t back down now,” he said.

I snickered. “You don’t even know what I was thinking.”

“You wondered what he’s done to deserve this.”

“Should we really be talking about this with the driver up there?”

“You know damn good and well I pay him enough to keep silent.”

I nodded slowly. “Well, now that you've brought the topic up, I am curious as to what happened between you and Israel.”

“He’s a bastard, and that’s all you need to know.”

Well, you’re a bastard. But Aunt Luna hasn’t killed you yet.

“Just remember that your marriage is a sham, Bonnie. It isn’t real. He thinks you’re someone else. So, whatever feelings might come of this on his end, they aren’t for you.”

I slowly turned to face him. “This, coming from the man who told me Israel doesn’t have any feelings.”

“He doesn’t. But the man does take pride in what he does. He simply doesn’t care about people. But even if he did have a soft spot for his wife, he thinks you’re Brianna. He doesn’t love you. Remember that. It’ll keep you focused. You are just pretending.”

My voice fell flat. “Thanks.”

“That’s the nature of our work, Bonnie.” He said it so nonchalantly.

“Your work. Not mine. I don’t work for the family, remember?”

“You do currently. You have a job you’re getting paid to do. Enough money in your account to last you for a while, and a two-month trip to Bora-Bora. Hell of a payday, if you ask me.”

I sighed. “What if I did get him to fall in love with me? I mean, Brianna. You know what I mean.”

He shrugged. “What would that have to do with anything? Legally, he married someone else. What does that matter to the plan?”

“If he falls for me, he’s going to want to be closer to me. Physically. Emotionally. Mentally. I can catch him off guard that way. Right now, Israel’s still on his guard. Hell, he didn’t even sleep in the same bed with me last night!”

My uncle's brow furrowed and he turned toward me. “Wait. He didn’t?”

“No. He didn't. We didn’t sleep together. We didn’t consummate anything. I didn’t even get to do the pouring thing for him. He worked all night, and I’m assuming he slept downstairs on the couch. Or in one of the other bedrooms. I think the reason why he didn’t eat my food is because he’s being careful.”

“Shit.” He turned away and rubbed his chin, shaking his head.

I placed my hand on my uncle’s knee. “Which is why I think the best route to go is to make this man cave to me emotionally. At least a little bit. Getting him to trust me will come with certain other activities. Like eating together and sleeping in the same bed. It’ll be easier to execute something like this if I can actually get him closer to me. But right now? That’s not happening. He’s got his guard up, and rightfully so.”

“Brianna’s counting on this payday, Bonnie. The money from the life insurance. Half of his estate. I promised her that when I shipped her off to Hawaii during all of this… I told her she’d have a life outside of all this to come back to.”

I squeezed his knee. “I won’t let you down. Because I know you won’t let me down.”

“I’ll make sure I provide for you the same kind of payday she gets.”

“I know. This isn’t about money, Uncle. This is about finding the right time and going about it the right way. Just let me do it this way. I know what I’m doing.”

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