Page 62 of Hades’ Revenge

“That’s not how I expected that meeting to go,” he said.

“I wouldn’t have guessed a future alliance either.” I went down the steps that led to the street. “Maybe it was time for me to resurface.”

I had no intention of staying in the states, but it couldn’t hurt to have a friend in Romero. Now that Leo had unleashed Lazaro on all of us, there was no telling what the future held. I had to find a way to get Capri out of what he had promised her for. Romero could be just who I needed.

A large, black Mercedes SUV stopped at the curb in front of us as I put my sunglasses on.

“That’s a little ostentatious for the streets of this city,” Atticus said. “Do you want to take bets on who it belongs to?”

Before I could respond, Leo stepped out of the back passenger door and joined me in front of the club.

“You can’t seem to stay away from me, can you?” I asked. “What now?”

“Bilotti.” He thumbed toward the club. “What could you possibly want with him?”

“He requested I meet him, so the question you should be asking is what does he want with me?”

“I don’t give a shit what he wants with you.” He slammed his door shut. “But what I do care about is Capri.”

“That’s debatable.”

“Fuck you!”

“What do you want?” I glanced at my watch. “Because I’m ready for lunch. How about you, Atticus?”

“I could eat.” Atticus smiled at Leo. “Nice to see you again.”

“Gia told me that my daughter was in your suite again this morning.” Leo stepped off the curb, putting him eye-level with me. “What part of ‘stay away from her’ didn’t you understand?”

“She came to me, but I would never turn her away.” I shrugged. “You might want to tell that wife of yours to tone it down, because the more Gia fights me, the harder Capri is going to resist.”

“I don’t need parenting advice from a man who thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to fuck a woman young enough to be his daughter.”

“Actually, she’s my goddaughter, so…”

It was wrong to use Capri in that way, considering I didn’t see her as anything other than a strong, intelligent woman who went after what she wanted. My admiration grew for her every day. Because of those feelings, I couldn’t kill Leo, but I could provoke him enough for him to reveal his true colors.

“You’re sick.” Leo pointed in my face. “Call that brute of a guard off of her. She doesn’t need your protection.”

“I disagree.”

“I don’t care what you think. I don’t need a professional diamond thief guarding Capri. What I do need is for the three of you—” He glanced at Atticus. “—to get the hell out of my town and go back to Greece.”

“That’s funny.” I ran my hand along my chin. “The last time I checked, it was Romero’s town. From what I can see, he runs things now. I don’t know why you stopped climbing the criminal ladder in your own city to associate with the cartel, but that isn’t my problem.”

“Nothing I do should concern you.”

“That would have been true if you didn’t involve Capri.” I tried to keep my composure, but the more I thought about Leo using her to unite his family with Lazaro, the more I wanted to kill him. “I’m the only one looking out for her.”

“She doesn’t need anything from you.” He clenched his jaw, igniting memories of the two of us working together to take down anyone who stood in our way. Now we were in one another’s way, and one of us had to move. “Stay away from her.”

“You know how dangerous that family is. How they treat their women.” In the last two years, one woman had gone missing and another was found at the bottom of a lake. “Is it because you think that since the man you’re sacrificing your daughter to has a law degree from Yale, he won’t hurt her?”

“Don’t stand here and pretend for a second that what you’re doing is protecting Capri. You’re the one using her. You’ve let this grudge fester for almost twenty years. All you needed was something to get to me.”

“Revenge happens when you least expect it, Leo.”

“Forget Capri exists.”