One of his hands slips from my shoulder to rest protectively on my hip. Carina catches it. Eyeing his hand curiously before she blinks it away. “Don’t mention it again.”
Carina raises a cool brow. “Are you ordering me, Rico? Do I need to remind you where you stand?”
His fingers flex on my hip. “I know my place very well, Donna Carina. Though, I expected more of you. You were once the believed daughter of an enemy. You, of everyone, know the cruelty women face in this world. Don’t subject her to it.”
The warmth I was seeking spreads in my chest and unfurls in my stomach. Something hums beneath my skin, coming alive only for him.
“It seems as if I was wrong,” she muses while crossing her arms over her chest.“Cosa significa per te?”She asks in their native tongue. For once I wish I would have studied their language.
“Lei è mia. Questo è tutto ciò che devi sapere.”
“Very dangerous, Rico.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he says, his tone final. “Now, can we stop wasting time and proceed with the meeting?”
Carina laughs lightly. “Always to the point. Constantine is already in our office.” She gives her attention to me. “You’re abright girl, Imogen, I want you to remember that when this war comes to a head.”
“Are you suggesting I betray my family? Unlike you I could never kill my own.” Rico’s fingers bite into my skin as a warning. It will surely leave a mark but I don’t care.
“If you are trying to insult me you will have to try much harder than that. I carry no remorse or regret for their deaths. But you, you have much to learn.”
“I’m not a traitor,” I argue, my stance firm.
She chuckles darkly. Her eyes dart to Rico’s hands on my hip and shoulder. How I’m flush against him. How I have not once removed him from me or even tried to. No, I damn melted into him like butter. Finding solace in the arms of the enemy. “I used to lie to myself, too. Trust me, you’ll loathe the taste on your tongue soon enough. The truth really will set you free.”
Her heels click against the marbled floor as she elegantly walks away.
But her words echo in my head. Because the truth that she believes will set me free will only destroy me. God, it’s why I had tried to escape when I could. I had the perfect chance and I failed miserably.
Rico spins me in his arms, his deep blue eyes penetrating mine. The noise of chaos in my head quiets. He brushes his knuckle along the apple of my cheek before tipping my chin up. “Wait here.“
His soft request liquifies me. I nod my head afraid to speak. He grants me a hint of a smile and then he’s gone.
I step out from under the skylight hating that Carina is right. It didn’t provide me the warmth I was searching for. Not even close.
It lies within a man with whom it should not.
And the taste on my tongue? It’s bittersweet.
CHAPTER 25
Rico
“We need to figure out what to do with the girl and fast,” Constantine says with frustration from his desk, Carina propped on his thigh. One of his hands is splayed on her stomach while the other is formed into a hard fist on the desk. Her hand rests assuringly over his. Her thumb brushes rhythmically back and forth. “I will not stand to lose this business with Alvaro and I will certainly not lose any more of my men.”
His eyes fall on me. A silent warning and threat I can read clearly.
“How much money was lost?” Carina asks.
“Four million,” I answer.
Constantine breathes thinly through clenched teeth. A string of muttered curses in Italian poured from his lips. “How am I to explain this to Alvaro? He entrusted us with his new drug. And what have we given him in return? Absolutely no reassurance we can handle the distribution.”
“We are at war, Don,” I supply. He gives me a leveled look. “Casualties and product loss is expected.”
The muscle in his jaw ticks. “Si, but if this is to continue then what business will remain? My father was a smart man, you know this just as well as I do, Rico. If you lose the trust of one partnership others will follow in a domino effect.”
“Then we regain trust with Alavro. Our cocaine business with him is successful. This has been a rough start—” Pietro snorts. “but it will be just as profitable, if not more, than the other drugs.”
