She sucked in a harsh, broken breath as her little hand flew to her mouth.
I ignored it, moving to the impressive book collection on the opposite side of the study.
My angel remained frozen in her spot. Without looking, I snapped my fingers, and heard movement. Xander, one of my men, moved to stand behind Karina. If things went south, his orders were to get her out and, on a plane, back to St. Louis—to her family.
“Charles Tipponi’s blood is not on my hands,” I said simply, snatching a rare copy of Dante’s Inferno from the shelf before turning back to the mourning princess. A personal favorite of mine. “A man like me has the decency to deliver one’s head back to the family.”
Gift wrapped, too, though, sometimes that cost extra.
The young woman hissed through her tears. “You are sick!”
“Glad to see that you're finally catching on,” I deadpanned, glaring at her.
“If you didn’t kill my father, then how do you know about it and I don’t?” she demanded, bracing her palms on the large, wooden desk. Now she was asking the right questions. Such a clever girl.
The demon inside me smiled, my plan falling into place so beautifully. Someone should snap a picture to capture the moment.
“Ray Romano told me himself.”
She reared back, a gasp leaving her as betrayal slapped her in the face. Months ago, when her older brother, Gabrial, was found dead in the streets of St. Louis, there was a meeting. Their father demanded revenge—action to be taken. Of course, Romano trusted me with the job of finding theDoctor—all while I was still hunting down Kevin. Talk about knocking two birds out with one stone. The truth was, I didn’t want to bring Kevin back to Romano.
But to keep up appearances, I had to.
Charles thought that he could stand up to Romano.
I had to applaud the man for having the balls. They just weren’t big enough.
As punishment, Charles lost a hand and a daughter to Ray. Emily was to be married to Tony Romano, and even after his death, Romano had kept in touch with the mafia princess.
He used her innocence against her and played her like a fool.
I knew better.
“He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about you or your family, Emily,” I began, walking slowly to her. “I was at that meeting in New York when your father wanted to avenge Gabrial.”
She flinched again as her brother’s name left my lips.
“Romano didn’t care, but everyone else was concerned about your brother’s killer. OurKingdidn’t give a shit about your only sibling, Emily. All he said about it was thatyoushould take over the Midwest branch,” I finished, stopping in front of her desk, noting the flash of hurt in her eyes.
Good.
She stared at me for a long while, the room frozen in silence.
“So what do you want?” she asked, clearing her throat as she regained her composure. I leaned over the desk, getting into her space.
“Your loyalty.”
She gasped. “He’ll kill you, Mr. Stevens.”
I smiled. “His kingdom is mine, Emily. I want you to stand with me. Boston is mine, Chicago is mine, Dallas is mine…” I trailed off, leaving the rest of the cities to her imagination.
She regarded me with hesitation. “What’s in it for me?”
I tilted my head. “For one, I won’t sell you to the sex rings like Romano plans to.”
Her legs gave out the same time Karina gasped from behind me, collapsing back into the chair, her jaw hanging open in disbelief. “No, Mr. Romano wouldn’t do that. He said that—”
“Swear your loyalty to me, and I'll ensure the safety of you, your home, and the man currently residing in your bed,” I said, rising to my full height.
