72. Hostility

What? Take charge? I look at Russo shocked.

My breath caught in my throat as I whipped my head towards Giovanni. His face was unreadable, but I detected no hints of surprise at Russo's proclamation. Because he knew...he knew all along that this was their plan for me.

As if sensing my inner turmoil, Giovanni squeezed my hand hard under the table. A silent warning not to make a scene, not to ruin whatever game they had going here. But I couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Now now, Emily, let's not be rash," he admonished lightly. "This is a family business. You said you wanted to be a part of this.”

"The Colombos, the Gambiners, the Buteris - they all crave the same insatiable power and control over the drug trade's lucrative routes." His eyes glinted with a mixture of greed and ruthless ambition. "But we will be the ones to take territory from them. To expand our reach farther than those bastards could ever dream."

He pierced me with a pointed stare then. "Which is why your direct invol