Page 52

“Why do I find that hard to believe, King?”

I clench my teeth to suppress the curse that fights to make its way out of my mouth. Just the fact that he calls her by her name insults me and makes me want to gouge his eyes out.

I know the tracker he had implanted in her tells him she is lying. If he’d been tracking it, he’d know she had been free to roam around the house. He’d know she spent a considerable amount of time in one particular room after I was shot. He knows she is lying, and this makes him unpredictable. To know that Kingsley was trying to pull one on him could send this situation in any direction. Especially since she wouldn’t know he had access to her in ways she couldn’t possibly imagine.

My men would be making their move any minute now; I couldn’t delay making myself known much longer. All they are waiting on was one word from Pietro once he saw me emerge and approach Kingsley and Tate.

“I’m getting tired, Tate. I need air. And water. And a restroom. You can’t keep me tied up like this.”

“I can keep you tied up as long as I want.”

“You’ve gone mad, Tate. I don’t know what you’re hoping to accomplish here, but we can’t keep going around in circles like this.”

“You know what I want.”

“And you’re delusional if you think I’m going to give you what you want.”

“I have all day, King. And all night. Tomorrow. The day after. I have the upper hand here. I will keep you here until your body withers away and your bones rot, if need be.”

“You’re despicable!”

Kingsley is furious. I can hear the chair knocking against the floor as she tries to free herself of her shackles. I walk around the truck slowly until I have a view of her in the chair, Tate standing over her menacingly, about to strike her again.

49

DANTE

“Iwouldn’t do that if I were you,” I say, my voice calm and assured.

If he is surprised by my arrival, he doesn’t show it, although I assume he knows a thing or two about hiding his emotions. Especially as it seems he doesn’t have any.

“Ahhhh… Dante Accardi,” he acknowledges, a welcoming tone lacing his voice. “You’ve come to play the white knight again.”

He lowers his hand and moves behind Kingsley, holding a gun in her direction, a move which I have more than anticipated. There is no way he will get away with killing Kingsley without getting himself killed in the process. But for a man of his stature, I believe maybe death is a welcome alternative to losing everything he’s ever worked towards.

“Untie her,” I order him.

“Not so fast. I think you’ll be interested in what I have to say.”

I look toward Kingsley, only fleetingly, notice one cheek is flaming red compared to the other. He definitely hit her earlier. My eyes rise to meet his again, my two guns still aimed at him. He mocks me with his eyes, daring me to put a bullet in him. I can’t do it without possibly hurting Kingsley, and that is a risk I’m not willing to take.

“What do you want?” I ask him, impatient.

“I have somethingyouwant that will work in both our favors.”

“You have nothing I could possibly want.” He lowers his eyes to the back of Kingsley’s head, like he knows I’m here for her but won’t come right out and say it. If he weren’t certain of her value to me, he wouldn’t be so cocky.

“The docks. I will give you the docks you so badly want.”

I flick my eyes momentarily to Kingsley. This is not something we have discussed. I wonder how much she now knows about our campaign to win the docks from her father. I wonder what he’s told her to poison her mind.

“They’re not yours to give,” I remind him.

“They will be. King and I are going to run the Murray empire together. You will have the docks, and we will never hear from you again. Bygones be bygones.”

Kingsley remains silent, her eyes telling me everything I need to know. He’s filled her head with enough nonsense that she now looks at me with conflicted eyes, but I won’t let her be the sacrificial lamb here.

“This is what she wants, Accardi. This is what she and I agreed on.”