Page 56 of Reign of a Billionaire

I flashed him a too-sweet smile.

“Maybe a little bit of both.” Our gazes locked, and I thought back to the first time I saw him. “What was the deal with you and my mother back at the hotel lobby?” I asked, referencing the coded conversation that was impossible to follow.

He shrugged. “I was delivering my uncle’s message.” My eyebrows knitted as he continued, “I had to play my part in his schemes.”

“What schemes?”

“His human trafficking deals with your mother.”

I stiffened. “You supported it?”

“No. I’ve been slowly dismantling it, but the fucker was paranoid and kept a lot of information to himself.”

That sounded about right, and it reminded me of my mother.

He pushed his hand through his dark hair, and it was only then that I noticed Giovanni’s eyes glazing with fury. “What’s the matter?” I demanded.

His jaw clenched before he ran his tongue across his teeth, flicking his gaze to the side before bringing it back to me.

“Perez wants me to hand you over today.”

My heart skipped a beat and I clapped my hands in delight. “That’s good. It was our goal all along.”

He shook his head. “That wasyourgoal. Not mine.”

I scowled, my senses on alert. “Explain yourself.”

“It’s not safe, Liana. I don’t like this plan one bit.” There was no fucking way I would give up now, not after hearing that Perez had information on my sister. I needed to find out who he sold her to, and then I’d kill the motherfucker.

“You cannot go back on our agreement,” I growled in a rush. “I need to destroy his human trafficking ring from within.”

“We can do it together,” he reasoned. “The safe way.”

My fingers twitched with an urge to murder him if he refused to follow through. I was sick and tired of men thinking they knew better than me. My heart tripped over itself, realizing this was probably how my mother became who she was today.

Her firstborn—the most precious—daughter was taken from her and she vowed to become the most powerful and ruthless woman in the underworld.

Shoving it all into the dark corner of my mind to deal with later, I locked eyes with him.

“No.” It took all my willpower not to reach for my knife. “You’re now the head of the Tijuana cartel. You’ll hold up your end of the bargain and deliver me to Perez with a fucking bow, smiling all the way through it.”

I was committed to this vendetta. I needed to get close to Perez now more than ever. I needed to know where my twin was. If she was alive, I needed to save her.

He sighed tiredly, and I knew I was close to winning.

“Hold up your end of the bargain,” I continued. “It will prove to Perez and the likes of him that you can be trusted. Then getthe list of anyone involved with it, and destroy them from the inside.”

“You’re too bossy,” he said in a begrudging tone.

“So fucking what?” My palms came to rest on my waist, ready to battle him. The stupid sleeves hung half off, somewhat hindering my pissed-off image. “If I were a man, you’d acknowledge it’s a brilliant idea.”

“Jesus,” he muttered, blowing out a breath. I’d never had a big brother, but I imagined if I had one, he’d be just as annoying and overbearing as this man in front of me. “Perez is a psychopath. You’ll be at his mercy, and more vulnerable than ever.”

“I can handle myself.” My teeth clenched. “Unless you forgot, I killed your uncle,” I pointed out.

“Perez will have a whole fucking army around him. Especially now that you single-handedly killed off my uncle and all his guards.” I killed Santiago, but I wouldn’t have been able to get near him without Giovanni’s help. Not that we’d share that tiny bit of information with Perez.

“Like I said, I can handle myself.”