“Why am I here?”he asks as I walk to one of the tall windows and turn my back on him again.That’s my own show of disrespect, signaling he’s of no consequence to me.Or something like it.
Truth is, I don’t want him to sense any weakness in me and that’s easier done when he’s not staring me down with his sharp brown eyes.
Him and Goldie have the same color eyes.But hers are never this black, this full of hate and revenge.I hope they never will be.
“You don’t like this penthouse?”I ask casually.“I thought you and your family would be more comfortable here than in some guesthouse with the rest of my soldiers.But you just say the word.”
I look at him over my shoulder.Being in charge of overseeing the family properties, I’ve dealt with a lot of proud, arrogant guys who thought they deserved more than they were getting.And who thought they deserved to be dealt with by guys older than eighteen-year-old kids—which is how old I was when I took over.
But I brought them all to heel and I’m gonna do the same with this guy.
Why the fuck do I still want him to like me?
It’s never gonna happen anyway.
He doesn’t react well to my show of arrogant superiority, his face contorting into an ugly mask of hate.
“You take my daughter from me, keep her God knows where, do God knows what with her and then you put us up in this fuck pad and expect me to be, what, grateful?”he says, the hair on his head bouncing dangerously in his rage.If he jumps at me, I’m gonna have to react so I hope it doesn’t come to that.
“Fuck pad?”I ask.“This used to be my home.Before you and the rest of the old school back in New York decided it was best to just take it all away from me, while making me a servant to the guy who destroyed my family.”
“Nothing was stopping you from trying to kill that guy,” he hisses.
“And die in the process?Was that your grand plan?”I ask.“Then you could swoop in, collect all our family assets and call it a day?”
I had entertained the idea of doing exactly that in the beginning—slitting Dante’s throat while he slept and getting my revenge that way.There were days when I barely stopped myself from doing it and I can feel all that pent up rage of those days now, my palms actually itching.But I had my sister’s fate to consider, and I figured I was spared to fight another day.And that day is finally dawning.
“I was the one who made it possible for you to keep everything,” he says.“I was the one who fought like hell to convince the others to let you live and to freeze all the assets for you to claim if you ever managed to rise again.I wish to hell I hadn’t done that now.”
His face is beet red now, and he’s shaking all over.
“Calm down, Gianna wouldn’t want you to have a heart attack now,” I say and that just makes his shaking worse and his face turn a few shades darker.
“If you had any kind of honor, you would return my daughter to me,” he says.
“She’s doing fine, just so you know, and you’ll get her back in one piece,” I say, unable to fight the smile that thinking about kissing her sweet body and fucking her sweet pussy always brings.“After you help me reclaim everything I’ve lost.”
I wonder if that’s actually true.Because I’ll never willingly surrender Gianna back to him.If nothing else, he’s as old school as they come and she’s been defiled by me.That’s how his reasoning goes.She’s worthless to him now, since he can’t marry her off to a decent man.
“Fact is, you should’ve just sent an army instead of making me Dante Moretti’s slave,” I add.“Then we wouldn’t be here right now.But all would still not be well in your world.”
“Enough talking,” he barks like he’s the one in charge.“Let’s get this little show of yours underway now.But your small army might not be enough.Moretti has grown powerful, and he has many powerful allies now.”
I narrow my eyes at him.“I know.I was by his side all the time for seven years.But what do you know about it?”
For the first time since he came in here, he looks unsure.Like he said more than he meant to.Like he’s losing control.But then he steels his face again, rage flooding his eyes.
“I’ve kept tabs on you, kept a close watch, making sure Moretti was living up to his side of the bargain,” he says.“I figured I owed your family that much.It’s why I hired you the moment you showed up in New York, citing you rescuing my daughters as giving me the right to.Moretti was raising hell, wanting you back, but I refused.I wish to Christ I’d been smarter than that.”
I’d have to have a heart of stone not to appreciate this.I had no idea all this was going on in the background.
“Maybe if I’d known all that things would be different.”Not where Gianna is concerned.I’d still have stolen her from him.So I guess we are right where we’re supposed to be.
“There’s a meeting tonight,” I say.“Someone will come pick you up.I expect you to share everything you know about Moretti.The sooner he’s dealt with, the sooner you get your freedom.”
“And my daughters?”
“You better not fuck around for their sakes,” I say and walk to the door.“Be ready by six.”
