Page 41 of Degrees of Power
“Listen to me, Katarina. He distanced himself from all of those business transactions years ago, but you knew the family was still heavily involved. Your grandfather left this legacy to your family making your father executor of his will. Carlos has done nothing but try to balance his father’s wishes and his family’s legacy with the anguish over losing Karissa as a young man. He did not lie to your mother. He delegated all responsibility for that side of the business to the older brothers, and began focusing on the legitimate side of ventures years ago.”
“Then why is he involved in it now?”
His eyes are hooded and controlled. “Tony is gone and with that your father needed to step back in, at least short term in order to protect the empire your grandfather built. Secondly, it’s the only way to draw Alfreita out and cause him to show his hand. He didn’t go back in without a lot of thought and deliberation around this, Katarina.”
“So that was the plan that you and Jay were talking about?” I ask, feeling the anxiety in my throat rise.
“It was, and you said you didn’t want to know, that it wouldn’t make you think any less of him,” he says.
“I know, but God Chase. I didn’t expect this,” I whisper, trying desperately to get a handle on my emotions.
“Breathe, Katarina,” he says, grasping me by the waist and placing me atop him, my legs on either side of him. “Look at me,” he instructs.
He tilts my chin up and it is impossible to look away. “You are mine, and there is nothing that I won’t do to protect what is mine. This was the only way, do you understand?”
I nod. “Yes, I’m just trying to comprehend it all, Chase.”
“Good, because I won’t apologize. We needed to do this. Alfreita has leaders at the highest levels of Interpol in his back pocket and now we have communications intel connecting them to the effort to support Alfreita in taking over the drug trafficking industry.”
“What the hell!”
“Carlos and I need to bring Vicenti up to speed, now that we know for certain Alfreita’s intent was to wipe out not only the Larussio territory, but that of Vicenti’s, as well.”
“When I went to see him, he was concerned about Interpol’s involvement and the relationship they seemed to have with Alfreita, but no one knew the extent of his involvement with Interpol at that time,” I say.
“With the help of your uncle he has been systematically trying to discredit both the Larussio family and Vicenti making them appear to be monsters capable of killing people with poisonous product. We originally thought he knew how close our fathers were and took the opportunity presented when I was aboard his yacht, but it would seem that there was that and other motives at play,” he says.
“Chase,” I say, urging him to continue but afraid of the intensity in his stare.
He kisses my lips gently, pulling me close to him. “Baby, we always knew it had to be about something more than the money. His family is incredibly wealthy,” he says, pausing, his deep green eyes appraising mine, searching.
“Tell me,” I urge.
“We know Alfreita’s original desire was to overtake the Larussio and Vicenti territories. He and Tony had a plan to put your father and Vicenti out of business and control the drug movement across the borders, but once the supply chain was shut down we thought it would slow them down considerably, but they’ve got other manufacturing sites that we’re still trying to find. We believe he’s drawing heavily on his family’s monetary resources and Interpol connections to move the product.”
“How does this connect with Jenny’s disappearance?” I ask.
“I wish to God that I had a better answer for you, Katarina, but we just don’t know if it does or not. We’ve laid a net out over the entire city, scoured every means of transportation that could have been used to get out of the city the night before we realized she was gone. Nothing— It’s like she’s just disappeared into thin air.”
“And no word from Alfreita? He was pretty quick to contact you when they had my mom,” I say, recalling the dreaded phone conversation.
“No, Jay’s had intel monitoring all the communications lines and there’s been no inkling about her, but we certainly can’t rule it out. We’ll know more later once your father and Vicenti meet.”
“Does my mom know about any of this?” I ask.
“That’s why I needed to talk with him before I discussed it with you. She doesn’t and he wants to keep it that way. He intends to do what he has to in order to ensure the family money is secure, reinvested, and that Alfreita is no longer a concern before he removes himself,” Chase says.
“These men have a lot of power, don’t they?” I ask.
“Indeed. The aerial show around all of our homes was Alfreita sending your dad and me a pretty significant message. This is all-out war, I’m afraid.” Chase says.
“I’m surprised he let you tell me, in all honesty,” I say.
“Katarina, I didn’t exactly ask his permission, but I did want to give him the courtesy of letting him know that I was sharing the information with his daughter,” he says.
“I didn’t realize, Chase. I hope it didn’t put you in a bad position with my father,” I say.
“Nothing to worry about in that respect,” he says, and I know he is not intimidated in the slightest by the power my father possesses.
