Page 52
VLAD
B iting her lower lip, she struggles to cross the needle through my skin. Her brows are drawn together as she concentrates on getting it right, though she's admitted to not being great at arts and crafts.
A smile on my face, I watch her entranced, the mere fact that her two dainty hands are working to put me back together makes my heart swell in my chest.
"Are they still watching, you think?" she asks, lowering her voice.
"I don't know," I whisper, my mouth close to her ear.
As soon as Catalina had left the room I'd noticed that she was lingering a little in the hallway, her hand creeping up to open the door a little better, ensuring the angle gave enough visibility in the room. One look in the hallway and I'd seen a camera pointed right at us.
Although we hadn't acted per se, Sisi's grief still raw, her sadness influencing my own, I had whispered in her ear that her brother might be observing us. So she'd decided the best example of our teamwork would be to patch me back together.
"I still can't believe he shot you." She purses her lips as she pierces the skin.
Two fingers are holding together the flaps of flesh as she's sewing them in place.
"And you had to dig the bullet out too." She shakes her head and one look into her eyes and I know she'd swat my arm if I weren't the patient.
"It's all about the show, hell girl," I say as I tip her chin up. "I wanted your brother to see that he doesn't intimidate me, no matter how many guns he waves around."
"Were the tears for show too?" she asks quietly.
"Sisi." My voice goes down an octave. "You hurt, I hurt." I bring her hand to my heart, pressing it to my chest, so she can feel that semi-useless organ that beats only for her. "You cry, I cry. We're a team."
A slow smile appears on her face, lighting up her features and making her eyes crinkle around the corners.
"Good," she says and I release a breath, feeling like I just passed the most important test of my life.
"We should head down now." I nod at her to grab her stuff while I put on my shirt.
When she's ready, she shows me her small bag and I feel an ache in my chest at seeing her meager possessions, vowing she'll have anything she desires in the future.
Grabbing her bag, I motion her to go down.
As expected, Marcello is expecting us, a grim expression on his face and I know he doesn't want to admit he was wrong. He looks even more sour as he invites us back into the study.
"So what changed your mind, 'Cello?" I ask, looking around the room, "Was it my eye for redecoration?" I nod toward the fallen shelves and he groans.
"Behave." Sisi gives me a look and I immediately acquiesce, imitating a zipper over my mouth with two fingers.
"Lina and I have decided to give you a chance." He clears his throat. "We can see how much Sisi loves you, and for that alone we'll accept your relationship," he continues, his back straight, his entire posture screaming high and mighty.
I have to bite my tongue really hard to not reply to him in my usual fashion, since I know this is the longest olive branch he's willing to extend to me.
"Thank you." Sisi is the first to speak, her entire face glowing with happiness. And for that alone I'll keep my damned mouth shut.
"I guess now onto more important business," I change the topic after everyone's had time to be sappy.
"What do you mean?" Marcello turns to me.
"We've discovered some evidence pointing toward Sacre Coeur having dealings with Miles.
More specifically Mother Superior." I quickly give them a rundown of everything we'd learned, and I reluctantly tell them about the attacks on the house and the plane too, even though I can already see fire in Marcello's eyes when he hears that I put his precious sister in danger.
"No." Sisi places herself between us when our staring contest becomes too heated. "We're not doing this again. Besides, I handled myself quite well. Vlad's been teaching me how to defend myself," she states proudly, her chin raised high, her features unflinching.
That's my girl!
"We don't need you two at each other's throats," she sighs as she shakes her head, "no matter how much you dislike him being with me." She turns to Marcello.
Fuck, but I love when she's so assertive.
It makes me so hard that I have to shift around, so I don't draw unnecessary attention to myself—yet again.
I'm sure Marcello wouldn't appreciate me rubbing it into his face that his sister and I are, indeed, having sex.
Or the mere fact that her voice, scent, and her fucking presence are enough to give me a raging hard-on—like now.
"Good." She nods, satisfied. "I'm glad we can engage in a civil conversation for once," she comes next to me, grabbing my hand and placing it in her lap.
"I do remember those cases, back in the day," Lina starts, shifting the topic back to Sacre Coeur, "when the twins disappeared. And a few others too. You would always ask me why they weren't looking for them," Lina addresses Sisi, who nods grimly.
"We think there's an entire trafficking ring that may have roots in Sacre Coeur and its orphanages," Sisi says.
"And there's a high possibility the five families are involved," I point out.
"We know your father entertained the idea, even if he never fully went through with it.
" I nod to Marcello, "But I haven't been able to find any evidence that the other families are involved.
I've spoken to Enzo, and he has no clue who Miles is, so I'm excluding him. "
Catalina's smile grows when I mention that her brother's innocent, and I get the urge to roll my eyes.
Enzo is anything but innocent considering the shit he's involved in right now.
He may not have wanted Jimenez's empire, but he's stuck with it.
And I for one can't wait to see how he's going to deal with that.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the Marchesi are involved, but they've been rather absent from the scene," I start, but Catalina stops me.
"They're dead," she says, and I frown.
Now, that is one piece of news that I had not heard yet.
"Really?" I lean back in my seat, a little surprised.
"Yes, and I don't know who's the next in line to inherit the business. Allegra has a cousin, but I'm not completely sure of the specifics," she mentions, going a little into detail about the Marchesi scheme and how it had gotten them killed.
I keep to myself that I'd already been aware of Enzo's secret, but I have to say I am impressed that she single-handedly killed her entire family.
"Then that leaves Guerra and DeVille, and knowing their enmity, I wouldn't bet any money that both would sign up for the same thing," I chuckle.
The Guerra and DeVille dilemma is an old one, going back a few generations. Still, the two families are always at each other's throats, looking for ways to bankrupt and destroy the other. And after Benedicto's eldest daughter, Gianna, had eloped with a DeVille, the tensions became higher than ever.
"Yes," Marcello agrees, looking pensive, "it's one or the other.
I've gotten a closer look at Benedicto's financials since we were supposed to merge our families," he adds drily, the animosity directed wholly at me, "and I couldn't see anything suspicious.
Again, I was not looking for any connection with Miles.
But from what I did see, his businesses are mostly on the side of legal. "
"Then that leaves DeVille." I grimly nod.
The thing with DeVille is that they are quite possibly the most insular family in New York. They play by their own rules, and don't really subscribe to the same principles the others do.
"I'm curious how that would have worked, since by all accounts, Mother Superior was close with Guerra," I throw the theory out there.
"Well, isn't that reason enough?" Marcello smiles wolfishly, "Compete with Guerra for resources. It's all they've ever done. Benedicto was sure that it was DeVille behind Sisi's abduction." He raises an eyebrow at me, and I hear the condemnation in his words.
"Then I'll pay more attention to DeVille. It's certainly bound to be interesting," I reply, ignoring Marcello's jibe.
"You're aware Guerra will be out for blood, aren't you? And I'm not helping you with that," Marcello mutters.
"I can take care of myself, bro-in-law. Don't you worry." I wink at him.
"Might be more difficult now that Raf is missing too," Catalina adds worriedly.
"What do you mean?" Sisi is the first to speak and my hand tightens around hers.
I know she's friends with the boy, but I cannot help the rage that forms inside of me at the thought that had I been one more minute late, she would have been lost to me.
Oh, but how I would have killed the boy myself if it weren't for that stupid promise I made to Sisi. I may be a degenerate, but I am a degenerate who keeps his promises, much to my dismay.
"We don't know the particularities," Marcello answers, "but Benedicto's been in touch, thinking whoever kidnapped Sisi also kidnapped his son. Now, I didn't tell him about your prank, because that would have been akin to declaring war," he says, still eyeing me with hostility.
"Well, that's fine by me," I add, lounging in my seat, a little too happy at the turn of events. I don't even have to move a finger because someone else beat me to it.
"Vlad." Sisi elbows me, and I raise an eyebrow at her. I might be at her beck and call, but that doesn't mean I can't be gleeful because a thorn in my side–a thorn I couldn't myself pull–has suddenly disappeared. So I just shrug, a smile on my face.
"It seems that fortune favors the bold, after all." I lean in, lifting her hand to my lips and kissing her knuckles.
"Or the reckless," she mutters under her breath, and my smile widens.
"I never engage in recklessness, hell girl. I prefer to call it organized chaos," I murmur softly, my gaze trained on hers.
"Only you would take pride in something like that," she snorts.
Table of Contents
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- Page 52 (Reading here)
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