Page 51 of Devil's Azalea

“Your intel was wrong,I’mthe right man. There’s no information in this city I’m not privy to.” My heart quickens as I realize there’s a rich opportunity in dangling this carrot in front of her. I could make her pay any price I want in exchange for the information she so desperately needs.

She scoffs in disbelief, obviously thinking I’m teasing her. “So what, Rafael? I should just come to you? You’ll tell me whatever I want if I ask nicely? As if.”

“Iwilltell you—within reasonable boundaries.” Victory is so close I can practically taste it. But I’m not stupid. I haven’t forgotten who she is and what organization she works with. I’m not going to risk my brothers, my men, my empire, no matter what. “But I have a condition, no,twoconditions.”

She rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. “Of course you do. This should be good. What do you want? For me to stop going after you and the others? For me to quit my job? What?”

My lips curl up. Underneath all that bluster and defiance, she’s dying with curiosity. “Nice try,piccola. But you’re wrong. Want another guess?”

“Just fucking spit out your conditions so I can take great pleasure in telling youno.”

We’ll see about that.

I tilt my head down at her as I oblige. “My first condition is simple. I want you to tell me why you hate me.” I let my mask slip for just a second, allowing genuine confusion to show. “Youbetrayedme. You have no grounds to be angry at me.”

It’s a conundrum I’ve been unable to solve no matter how long I think about it. I've turned it over in my mind for years.

It couldn’t be because I kicked her out of my home in the middle of the night. No, it goes way beyond that. Anybody in my position, whose safety—and that of his brothers—was compromised because of his woman, would’ve done the same. Hell, maybe even worse. She has to know that.

She presses her lips together. Tight. Silent.

“And the second condition?” she finally asks.

I pause, seriously considering it. Then I smirk. “This one might be even simpler than the first. I want so much from you,piccola, but I’ll settle for a kiss.”

Just one kiss. To start.

17

EMILIA

I stare at him speechlessly for a few seconds.A kiss.My heart stutters, then takes off at a sprint that makes my chest tight.

“No fucking way,” I retort, spinning on my heel to get the hell out of his office. I’ve had enough of his bullshit, enough of him.

But his next words freeze me in place.

“That means you don’t want to successfully complete any mission in my city,” he says so quietly I almost don’t hear him. “What happened with Jason Moore is just the tip of the iceberg. I can make things incredibly difficult for you here if I want to.”

Bastard.

I whirl on him with a glare that’s brought grown men to their knees.

But not Rafael.

He doesn’t even flinch. Just stands there, cool and detached, like he didn’t just ask me for a fuckingkiss.

“What are you talking about?” I demand, though the sinking feeling in my stomach tells me I already know exactly what picture he’s painting.

The Nightshades and Rafael are so deeply entrenched inthe city, you can’t have one without the other. Like a fucking cancer that refuses to go away no matter how aggressive the treatment.

“For you to get any useful piece of information regarding any case you might have in this city, you’ll need to talk withmypeople.” His eyes harden as he speaks, and I raise my chin defiantly, doing my best not to stare at his lips.

“And?”

“I can make sure they all remain quiet.” He steps closer, not enough to touch, but enough to tower. “All I have to do is share your picture. And that of your little friend’s. Katherine, was it? I’ll make sure they all know what a traitorous little spy you are. Anyone who values their tongue will keep it firmly behind their teeth.”

I expected that—or something just as cruel—but the sheer savagery still hits like a punch. “You fucking asshole, you?—”