Page 140 of Sins of the Orchid

“It’s just business, Grandma,” I told her calmly. “You are reading too much into it.”

Before either Santi or my grandmother could say another word, I strode out of the office. I needed to put distance between Santi and me. I had to get over him.

You’ll never get over him, my mind whispered, and I silently cursed it.

CHAPTER51

Santino

“Happy?” Regina hissed in annoyance. “I told you Amore wouldn’t go along with it.”

“She will,” I told her. “And you will ensure that she does.”

The woman hated being cornered. Too fucking bad.

“And if I don’t?” she growled. The woman had balls, that was for sure.

“The world will know that the Perèz Cartel is run by the same woman as Regalè Fashion,” I deadpanned. I wasn’t fucking around. I was playing for my queen, for Amore, and nobody would refuse me and keep me away from her. Not her grandmother. Not her father. Fucking nobody! “Imagine that stock price,” I drawled with a smirk. “All your granddaughter's hard work increasing the share price will go down the toilet.”

“I should have expected as much from a Russo,” she gritted out. “Greedy, selfish bastards.”

I slipped my hands into my pants pockets. Her fucking opinion meant nothing to me.

“You better watch it, Regina,” I warned her in my indifferent voice with the lazy, sardonic stare I was known for. I’d give it to her; she wasn’t easily scared. Most men shook in their pants when I got this way. “And imagine what Amore would think… she might even blame you for her mother’s death.”

The first flicker of emotion passed through her face. The woman was a fucking dragon, but she had a weakness. Her granddaughter.

Regina Regalè had run the Perèz Cartel all these years, fighting against the Anderson Cartel. Inadvertently, she had put Amore and her mother’s life in danger. Amore’s grandfather intended to merge the Anderson and Perèz Cartel with his daughter’s marriage to George Anderson.

Regina convinced him not to because she knew her daughter’s baby wasn’t George’s. And the dominoes rolled for twenty years. One event led to another. With her dumb behavior, she had put Amore’s life at risk and caused her mother’s death. She knew Amore would never forgive her if she knew.

“The Andersons blackmailed me to turn over the Perèz drug business,” she hissed. “Margaret was just a stepping stone for George. He wanted it to become a legacy for his sons.” Two brothers. One dead by my hand. The other by Amore’s. “Instead of doing that and signing certain death for both my daughter and granddaughter, I gambled. I struck a deal with the Carreras but Amore ended up escaping George’s clutches on her own. I lost my daughter. In the most brutal way.”

The woman was good at hiding her emotions, but I saw a slight tremor to her hands. “Did it ever occur to you that maybe it would have been better for your daughter to be a single mother? Rather than sign her off to a cartel member.”

“I really don’t like you,” she grumbled, though I heard a hint of respect in her tone.

“I don’t give a shit,” I told her. I truly didn’t. All I wanted right now was to make Amore mine. I'd be damned if I’d sit back and watch her marry my brother. “I want updates on Amore’s activities every day. Tell her I’m her security; I don't give a shit. But I want to know her schedule all day, every day.”

I headed for the door when her question stopped me.

“Is that the only reason you want her?” I slowly turned to face her. If she was a man, I’d wring her neck. She was lucky she was Amore’s relative and for some incomprehensible reason, Amore loved her grandmother. “To take over the Perèz Cartel?”

“What makes you think I want her?”

“Don’t fuck with me Russo,” she sneered. “I’ve seen you two. You want her.”

“What’s your point, Regina?” I wouldn’t be playing games with the dragon. I was under no illusion that she’d stab me in the back without a second thought.

She got behind her large, regal desk. The woman just loved her power status.

“It was the reason your father and Savio wanted her mother.” She slowly sat down with a knowing smile. She didn’t know crap.

I shrugged. “I don’t give a shit about your cartel. However, since Savio created a marriage contract to keep her away from me and my world, I have no choice but to pull her knee deep into it.” Regina’s eyes widened. Oh, so she didn’t know about the marriage contract either!

She survived running the Perèz Cartel all these years, had contacts and arrangements all over the world, yet she couldn’t come to terms with Savio Bennetti.

“Who?” she asked.