Page 107 of Vicious Kingdom

Dread knotted in my stomach.

“He knows,” I repeated. “How?”

My friend looked down the hall and then back at me. “Someone told him.”

“My dad,” I guessed.

She shrugged. “Possibly.”

“I swear to you—”

“Just come along,” Penelope urged, leading the way to the don’s office.

I pushed through the door. “I never told my father—or anyone else in my family—that you were organized crime.”

Twin pairs of obsidian eyes turned to me.

I couldn’t look into the one, so I focused on the other. With Alessandro, it was purely business. Things were tumultuous enough with Leo as it was, and this was too huge of a setback.

“How did he know to come to the club right after you came to town?” Alessandro countered.

The knot cinched tighter. I felt sick.

“Dad never talked to me about that,” I insisted.

Leo stood from behind the desk, his movements deliberate and controlled in a way that made my skin prickle with apprehension. The dim lighting cast shadows across his face, highlighting the hard angles of his jaw clenched in silent fury.

Why didn’t you trust me with this?“Leo, you have to believe me.”

But my husband’s dark expression didn’t soften. The granite mask stayed firmly in place, his jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle jumping beneath his skin.

“Who else knew about the Coliseum?” Alessandro pressed, his voice deceptively calm.

I shook my head. “I just learned about the gambling ring this week when Penny invited me.”

“It’s true!” Penelope leapt to my aid. “I believe her; she was eager to go.”

Leo finally spoke, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade. “Voss has been targeting my businesses for months. First the investigation, now this. The timing is too convenient.”

“It wasn’t me!” I argued.

Leo’s words were a whip, cracking through the room. “How did he know to look there?”

“I don’t know—”

“How, Anna!”

“I don’t know,” I wailed. “He had to be tipped off.”

“And who better to tip him off than his little girl?” Leo’s tone was scathing.

“Yes,” I growled. “That’s how it fucking looks, doesn’t it?”

The stern voice of authority broke through the heated tension. “You’ve never told your father anything about Leo?”

I faltered.

It was the smallest misstep, a stilted breath, the tickle from my conscience, knowing I couldn’t answer that with absolute finality.