Page 113 of Unholy Union
“You want to know what’s going on?” I ask.
Her gaze doesn’t waver. “Yes.”
I nod slowly, preparing myself for the next move in a game that’s suddenly starting to feel unwinnable.
There’s an old adage that says a half-truth is the deadliest kind of lie.
As I meet Sabrina’s hazel eyes and notice how they gleam a mix of emerald and gold, I’m aware of how I’m about to tell her the sanitized version of events. I’m about to leave out the nastiness. She’ll know nothing of the ugly parts that have taken place.
At least for now she won’t know.
She’ll have no clue about the media sabotage or the shell company we’ve used to buy up stock in Corsini Construction. She’ll be in the dark about the bribes we’ve issued to the Corsini loyalists on the board like Mr. Bonaduce and Mrs. Palazzo, who are prepared to vote her father out in a couple days.
But what shewillbe told is a version of the truth that’s easier to digest.
I take a slow breath and then start off slow.
“You know how our family companies have started to overlap? Now that we’re married. Now that some of the business we do bleeds into each other’s.”
She nods, lips slightly parted but silent.
“There’s a vote coming up,” I say. “I’ve heard from some of the board members at Corsini Construction and other sources I trust. If you check your company email, I’m sure it’ll be there in black and white. The gist is—because of everything that’s happened lately, the board’s losing faith your father can steer the company in the direction it needs to go.”
Her gaze doesn’t falter, but her brows draw closer as if she’s trying to process what she’s hearing.
I press on, ignoring the rare but very real guilt clenching inside my chest. “You’ve said it yourself. He hasn’t been the same. He’s withdrawn. Depressed. You know as well as I do that he’s older now, and this pressure isn’t something he carries the way he used to.
“Especially not after what happened with the housing projects, the cheap materials, the backlash, the stock dip. It’s been one blow after another. He needs peace, not another storm. It’s in his best interest, Sabrina. If you vote with the others to replace him, maybe… maybe he’ll finally find some kind of happiness again. It’ll be less stress for him. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”
Her expression gives nothing away. But her lashes lower as she glances down as if no longer able to meet my gaze.
The silence stretches for so long I’m almost questioning if she heard me. But then she releases a sigh and slowly nods.
“You’re right,” she says. “He’s tired. It’s time someone else takes over.”
Relief slams into me. I cup her chin and draw her mouth to mine for a kiss, letting my fingers sift through the dark, curly silk that’s her hair.
“It’s the right decision,” I tell her, kissing her again. “You’ll come to see.”
When we pull apart, her small smile has returned, though it reads more bittersweet now.
“Yeah,” she murmurs. “I’m sure you’re right.”
“You’re certain she said she would do it?” Papà growls over the phone. “She’s going to vote how we’ve told her to?”
I grit my teeth, this close to hanging up on him. “I’ve told you, she said she would.”
“And yet she has not shown up. Why? Where is she?” he asks. “You’re her husband. Why have you not kept a tight leash on her? If you can’t manage her, how can I expect you to manage the entire family? This isonegirl, Cato—and she walks all over you.”
“I don’t have fucking time for this. I’ve already told you what you want to know,” I snarl, losing my patience. But I don’t give a shit. I’ve had enough lectures from him about this subject. “Either take it or leave it. The meeting is starting.”
I hang up on him, sliding my phone into my pocket.
It’s the morning of the vote and I’m sitting in the executive office of Michael Bonaduce, the first loyalist that we got to flip against Don Corsini.
While I won’t be able to be present in the boardroom for the vote, we’ve rigged the room to have a live feed of the meeting that I can watch from his office at the Corsini Construction Headquarters in Manhattan’s Financial District.
The vote starts in fifteen minutes and so far everybody who will be voting has shown up except for two people.
