Page 42 of Where the Wind Whispers

“I’m not sure that we do,” Alberto replied. “My daughter will do as she’s told. The rest is rather simple.”

“It’s not simple, Alberto. She’s married. And not through the church or another religious entity, but through a Justice of the Peace. We’re not talking about bribing enough people to get an annulment through but an actual divorce.”

“Be that as it may—”

“How long do you expect Caesar to stay in New York?” Angelo interrupted, his tone thickening with his irritation. “Because I will be leaving soon—I expected my son to be following with the promise of a marriage arrangement soon after.”

“The divorce can be put through without trouble,” Alberto said. “If the Russian wanted to stay married, he would have kept her around.”

“You didn’t answer my question, Alberto.”

“Which one?”

“How long will I need to stay in New York?” Caesar asked, finally joining the conversation again. “Because I’m already bored, you see, and the longer I stay bored—”

“Caesar,” Angelo warned.

“—the more likely I am to find someone to amuse myself with, Don. And we all know how much trouble that leads me into, don’t we? I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“At least, he managed to add the title in there for my benefit,” Alberto muttered.

“He has his good qualities,” Angelo replied absently. “And if he wasn’t my favorite, those occasional qualities would mean nothing. He tends to forget that.”

Caesar scoffed but said nothing else.

“The divorce,” Angelo said pointedly, “is not a simple thing.”

Alberto sighed heavily. “I have contacts—it could be forged, for now.”

Violet’s heart beat so hard in her chest, it was beginning to hurt. She was pretty goddamn sure this was not in Kaz’s plans when he sent her back here to be safe. And now … now, she had no real way of contacting him to tell him what the hell was going on and that it was going south really fast.

“How good of a forgery when the marriage is legal, registered, and recognized by the state government?” Caesar asked.

“State—not Federal. It’s a loophole. It would give me time. I have other … documents for Violet as far as identities go. One of those could be used.”

Oh, this was not good.

Violet cringed, wishing she had stayed in bed. It could be as simple as making a phone call, but she knew good and well that her father had all the lines tapped and his security monitored all calls. Even her cell phone was monitored.

How the hell was she supposed to get out of this one?

“I’ll stay a while,” Caesar said, bringing Violet back to the conversation at hand. “It’s not like my brother couldn’t use the time away from me. And besides, your daughter does have one thing going for her.”

Alberto made a disgruntled sound under his breath. “Should I even ask?”

“She’s interesting. I like interesting women. They’re a challenge.”

Angelo chuckled. “And when does that interest wane? With you, it always seems to wane rather quickly.”

Caesar took a second to answer. “Somewhere between a surname change and babies.”

“He’ll never make a good husband,” Alberto groused.

“You didn’t want a good husband,” Angelo replied as if he was reminding Violet’s father of that fact. “What you wanted, old friend, was a blanket to cover the shame. I’m providing you with that, aren’t I?”

“Actually,” Caesar put in, “that would be me.”

“This or a grave, son.”