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I lean my elbow on the side of the chair and rest my chin in my palm. “And I don’t appreciate you killing four of my men and stealing four hundred million dollars’ worth of my weapons.”

“Why didn’t your father come here? He is still in charge, isn’t he? Or does he only send his pitiful son to do his work these days?”

I ignore his words. They don’t affect me at all. “Give us back our weapons or we will expose you. Humiliate you.”

He laughs. “I think you are the ones humiliated. Your weapons being stolen on your own turf.”

“That’s not what I was talking about. You are the one who gambled the family money away. You’ve resorted to threats and stealing weapons. Which I wouldn’t put past a mafia family. But the others don’t know who it is. And now that your errand boy is dead, what will you do?”

“You have no idea what you are talking about,” Giancarlo spits.

I don’t miss the look Dante gives me when I mention the money. “I think you’ve forgotten who you are dealing with.”

“No, I think you have forgotten.”

I chuckle. “Oh, Giancarlo, do we really need to dig up the past? I remember that deal you tried to make with my father years ago. But your brother told you not to. Told you not to cross The Partners because that’s what you planned on doing, wasn’t it? Making a deal just to steal from them. Then my father played you, did what you were going to do to him, and stole from you instead.”

“My father had nothing to do with that,” Dante chimes in. “That was Benito getting too risky with business.”

I look over at Dante, into his dark eyes. “That’s what Giancarlo told you.” I click my tongue and shake my head. “Your father pretended to be his brother. Benito was the smart one, he knew when a business deal was bad. But Giancarlo over here doesn’t. He thinks he can take and take and take. My father should have killed him, but instead, he killed Benito and his wife. Mistaken identity because your father is a coward.”

“You’re lying.”

“Am I?” I turn my head from Dante to Giancarlo. “What about the other times?”

“What other times?” Dante asks his father.

“How about your own father, Giancarlo? Or your first wife? Or the gambling? Those nights you go out on business but you are just losing money—”

“Enough,” Giancarlo commands.

I smile at him in a devilish way, knowing I got to him. Knowing that Dante will badger him about everything I just said.

“What do you want?”

“Don’t threaten my daughter’s life again.” He nods. “And I want all those weapons you stole from us.”

He laughs in my face. “Oh, Kilian, you think you have the upper hand here? Because you spout some lies about me.”

“You know they aren’t lies.”

“Believe what you want. But I know the truth.” His eyes burn into mine. “You have to choose, Mr. Bancroft.”

“Father,” Dante hisses. “You aren’t really going to let him walk away?”

Giancarlo ignores his oldest son, his Underboss, and keeps his eyes trained on me. “What’s it going to be, the safety of your daughter and my niece or the weapons?”

27

MIRABELLA

Ihaven’t heard from Kilian in three days. He said he would be back yesterday. But I am trying to keep a positive attitude around Aria. Deep down, I am worried sick. I saw that look on his face when he was on the phone. I know something was wrong. And I have an inkling it has to do with my family. The entire reason I even know Kilian is alive is because of my dead brother. But if something happened to him, I don’t know what I would do.

Go after my uncle? My cousin? Both of them would kill Kilian in a heartbeat. Dante wanted to kill him ten years ago.

And I can’t help but worry about the threat Giancarlo made. About my life and Aria’s. Would he get rid of Kilian and come after me? He has to know I’m not home. He has to know Kilian is the one protecting us.

“You okay?” Cam asks me as she sits next to me on the terrace. “You look like you’re about to chew your lip off.”