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“Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I whisper. Then, louder, “Let me go.”

“Keep your voice down.” He shakes me. Not hard, but hard enough for me to feel how much stronger he is than me. “Nico isn’t who you think he is. He was involved in the shooting that killed your mom.”

“Wait, what?”

Adrian reaches inside his jacket pocket and takes out a small plastic device with wires wrapped around it. He places it on the counter. “Shut up and listen. You’re going to record Nico. Get him to admit to anything about the mob, the Family, on tape. Otherwise, wewillfind you. You’ll become a plaything for the Bratva. These are very bad men, understand? The things they’d do to you…” He shudders, then takes a piece of paper from his pocket and lays it on the counter. “That’s proof Nico was involved.”

Adrian lets me go, glaring.

“I mean it. We need them on tape.”

“Them?”

“Nico and Gianna.”

“You only said Nico.”

“I saidbothof them.”

He didn’t, but I’m not going to argue with him. His words, combined with his sheer presence, are enough to paralyze me.

“I’ve known for a while she’s his consigliere. I just need proof. Understand?” When I hesitate, he darts his hand out and grabs me by the throat. “Understand?”

“Yes,” I say, hating the fear in my voice. “I get it. You don’t have to do anything. Please.” He squeezes harder, making me gasp. “Puh-please.”

Finally, he lets go, looking over his shoulder to make sure that nobody is watching us. “Hide the bug. Hide the report. And just know, if you mess this up, we will find you. The Bratva will make you their little toy. Your life will become hell.”

He leaves the bathroom as quickly as he came. When he’s gone, I lean against the wall, struggling to catch my breath. I grab the report and scan it through blurry eyes. I won’t let myself devolve into frantic sobs, but I can’t do anything about the mist filling my eyes.

The report has Nico Moretti’s name in the ‘person of interest’ section, with two witnesses claiming they saw him fleeing the scene. There’s even an arrest record, which I knew nothing about… and a note that the charges were later dropped because Nico intimidated the witnesses. There’s also a note about a bullet matching a weapon apparently belonging to Nico.

I stuff the bug into my cleavage and then stumble into the hallway. I’ve still got the report clutched in my hand as I struggle to catch my breath. I stumble against the wall, almost falling.

Quickly, I fold up the report and stick that in my cleavage, too. I’m going to need to be careful about having physical contact with Nico now.

Is that going to be a problem?

My man, my lover… it was only a couple of nights ago he promised he wouldn’t make me regret trusting him.

ChapterTwenty-One

Nico

Viktor sidles up to me as I approach the bar. I don’t even want another drink. I’m nursing a glass of whiskey. But I need an excuse to leave Anya so I can look for Sienna. She disappeared to the bathroom and hasn’t returned. Maybe seeing me with Anya was more difficult than she thought.

“Lovely evening?” Viktor asks.

“Not too bad, Viktor,” I reply, knowing full well his shit-eating grin is fake. There’s a large chance he was behind the hit Adrian tried to walk me into.

“Who are you looking for?”

“No one.”

“You were scanning the room as I approached.”

I smile tightly. “Occupational hazard.”