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He pins me with a harsh look.

Stupid man. He was the hit I didn’t complete. And he’ll never know I didn’t miss on purpose.

Word travels fast, and in our world, it travels even faster. In the underworld, information is the biggest bargaining chip. So, when Cato calls me, I pick up, already knowing what he wants.

“Why isn’t she dead yet, Enzo?” His voice is neutral. Like every word he utters, he weighs before speaking. Cato is not a big talker; he’s an action driven man and something tells me he would like nothing more than to come to Reno and kill her himself. He’ll die before stepping foot in my territory. Alliance is moot when it comes to Luciana.

It’s been one month, but I knew from the start that I wouldn’t kill her.

“What I do with her is none of your business.”

“Do you need a fucking reminder of who you’re talking to?”

“When and if she dies, it’s for me to decide.”

I hang up, aware that this could cost me the alliance and then all other agencies will have to pick sides. If the Syndicate labels you as an enemy, you’re already dead. But they can’t come into my territory. The losses would be too severe on both sides.

As I watch Luciana with my sister, I can’t believe I will risk it all once again for her. My alliance with the Syndicate is fragile. Soon, I will take over the Council even though the Syndicate believes it’s under their purview. One power strike after the other.

The girls eat ice cream on a bench in the garden, they seem close like it should be. This was Luciana’s place all along. I am not only hiding her true identity from her and everyone else, but also protecting the father who was behind it all.

After Luciana betrayed me, I opened my father’s letter which said,Open when you’re in love. I never thought I’d open it, but I respected his wishes.

In it, he confessed his greatest remorse: the attack that killed Mikail’s mother was supposed to take out his father.

My father wanted Reno for himself. The entireI am starting over with no seat on the Councilwas a ruse. He and Augustus were secretly aligned in their desire to get their hands on the West Coast. Augustus sent a team of killers. But neither of them realized the wife and one-year-old daughter were in the car.

That baby was Luciana, and my father never knew she survived since the car explosion covered all their tracks. Riddled by guilt, my father broke every tie afterward. The mess up was the only reason the entire process of leaving the Council went smoothly.

Guilt overcomes me, hiding the truth from my best friend and partner. While it’s not my sin to confess, the longer I keep his sister away from him, the more I become complicit.

But fuck, I am not done with her. Every night I fuck her senseless, to appease the growing need and my desperation to keep her at any cost, knowing full well I can’t.

In the last four weeks, she has settled. My men even respect her. These stupid motherfuckers always lose bets against her.

She has proven to live up to her reputation. She can shoot from even two miles right in the middle of the target. With all the money she made, she and my sister shop. I think this woman would forsake eating for a high-end garment.

My men wear uniforms, not her. She struts in her skirts and shirts while wearing high heels. Every night she loses them as I fuck myself into her as if that’s my sole duty in this world.

And Kill, the fucking traitor, wiggles his tail at her as if he’s not a killing machine. She turned him into her lap dog, following her around the property.

She even gained the attention of my mother. Which is why I am waiting in the sitting room to have coffee with her.

I am enraptured by the sight of Luciana with my sister, chatting animatedly, when my mother enters. “It’s her, isn’t it?”

I turn to her. “It doesn’t matter.” All is doomed between us.

“I didn’t raise a quitter.”

I sigh, knowing full well it has nothing to do with that.

“Your sister likes her.”

It’s easy once she removes all her masks.

“She’s her friend,” my mother says, clear relief in her voice.

“I think she’s Luciana’s first friend too.”