Page 104 of Accidental Alliance

“I’m not here to negotiate with you,” Elio replies.

His eyes move over Davide’s shoulder, locking on the mirror as if he can see straight through it to me.

A shiver races up my spine.

He can’t see me. The rational part of my mind knows that. He sees only himself, the table, Davide, and the harsh light above him. He cannot possibly know where I stand and yet his gaze finds mine with the same impossible accuracy it always has.

For a moment, the interrogation room disappears and I am back in his apartment with city lights burning behind us.

I am back in the Conti safehouse with his body too close and my hatred failing to protect me from reacting to his touch like it should.

“You aren’t in a position to be negotiating with anyone,” Davide says.

Elio’s attention shifts back to him. “Five minutes. That’s all I want. I’ll give you what you want after that.”

“What I want?” Davide asks.

“Reprieve from my family overtaking your territory. I’ll help you push them back.”

Davide goes still for a fraction of a second.

Enough for Elio to catch, judging by the faint tightening around his eyes as he stares at the man sitting in front of him. Davide is quiet for a while before slowly rising to his feet.

Elio watches him carefully, though I see the exhaustion beneath the mask keeping his expression locked tight now that I let myself look closer.

His eyes are bloodshot with a faint dark bruising beneath as if sleep has become something he no longer remembers how to do.

I hate myself for the little stab of tenderness that follows.

Davide crosses the room at the same time I move in the observation space, my body acting before I’m fully conscious of it. He opens the door and steps out into the hallway.

I meet him there, the door shutting behind him with a muted click. There are two Bianchi guards stationed near the stairs and one at the end of the corridor, all of them pretending not to watch too closely.

I feel a cold wave of anxiety washing over me.

“What do you think he wants?” Davide asks.

I shake my head. “I don’t know. I can’t imagine he’d come all this way to ask me how I escaped or why. His motivations for doing this with no backup are anyone’s guess.”

Davide nods slowly, his features tugging into a thoughtful look. “Yes. I’m a bit baffled too.”

I look back toward the interrogation room door.

I hate how affected by him I still am. I want him gone, yet at the same time, I want answers from him.

I want to stop feeling this gravitational pull from him across every room we’re separated between. At this point, it’s become some kind of sickness with no cure.

Davide lowers his voice. “Isabella, you do not owe him five minutes.”

I sigh and look back at him. “I know.”

I know the danger. I feel it radiating off Elio even from behind the locked door. But something deeper whispers that I need to hear what he has to say.

The same part of me that once trusted him more than anyone still lives inside me, however broken it is now.

Davide finally relents with obvious reluctance. “Five minutes. If he tries anything, I put a bullet in his head.”

I nod in agreement.