Page 28 of Bitter Prince

“What?” Dante retrieved a cigarette and lit it. “We Leones can’t help it, we’re irresistible to women.”

“Then why are you single?” Hiroshi muttered under his breath.

Dante got worked up and started listing the reasons why being single was better, which was met by Hiroshi’s cold indifference. I let their back-and-forth go in one ear and out the other. As well as I got along with Ojisan’sright-hand man—who was now my right-hand man—he and Dante bickered like fucking children.

Hiroshi and Dante grew silent, pulling my attention to them. They stared at the phone in Hiroshi’s hand, the tattoo of a dragon and kanji symbol etched on the weathered skin of his wrist.

“What?” I questioned them both.

The look in Dante’s eyes was off, but he replied in his suave voice, “The Yakuza. Itsuki’s been looking into Reina again.” The fucker had been keeping tabs on Reina Romero for years, ever since that shit with her father went down. I feared that maybe I’d piqued my cousin’s interest even more by saving her on the side of the road.

“So?” It was old news. It was how I tracked them down to Reina’s yoga studio. I stared at my advisor, wondering what I was missing.

“Your cousin made a deal with the Brazilian cartel to sell her. As a virgin.”

Anger sent a rush of heat through me. “Which family?” I growled.

“The Cortes family.”

My chest twisted with burning heat before going cold. Something violent spread through my veins, leaving frostbite in its wake. And I knew—fuckingknew—it was because Reina would be my downfall. I had known it since I was a boy. It made no fucking sense. I barely knew her, and I couldn’t let myself have her, but I’d be damned if I let anyone else have her. Or hurt her.

“Reach out to Kian and see if there’s anything he can do to stop it.” It was a known fact his brother, Perez Cortes, had a cruel fascination for blondes.

Dante shot me a dubious look. “You’re kidding, right? He wasn’t able to stop his own family from selling his baby sister to the old Marchetti. I don’t think he’ll be able to stop this.”

My fists tightened.

It was time to remind my cousin of my conditions. The only reason I joined his fucking organization in the first place was to ensure her protection.

In the meantime, I would get Kian’s agency to watch her.

15

AMON

Three days had passed since I had dinner with Reina, and in a strange kind of way, I itched to see her again. I could barely focus, my mind was always on her.

“We should just kidnap both girls and get the location of their father’s safe out of them,” Dante said when we were left alone.

Manic energy vibrated off him. A fire burned brighter in his eyes every time the Romero girls were mentioned, and something about it set me on edge. I didn’t want Reina anywhere near my brother.

“Your insane plans only manage to get us into shit,” I retorted dryly. “Use your head, not your impulse.”

“Every mastermind in history started with an insane plan.”

I leaned back against my table.

“Your brand of crazy is annoying me today,” I deadpanned. “Spare me that shit, will you?”

Dante grinned, and I shook my head. “You like my brand of crazy. Keeps your boring life exciting.”

“I could do without some of that excitement in my life, you crazy fucker.”

“The Romero sisters are part of the Omertà world, whether they know it or not. They will pay for their father’s sins eventually. Whether to us or someone else. We know all too well there’s no escaping your last name.”

Unfortunately, he was right. The fact that we were Angelo Leone’s sons often worked against us. Dante’s kidnapping two years ago was caused by Father’s stupidity. The children of the underworld always paid the price for their parents’ sins.

“We already discussed and agreed. We’ll get close to the Romero sisters and get the location of the safes.”