Page 119 of Thorns of Silence

“Since when are you such a chauvinist?”

I let out a dark laugh. Amon had seen my crazy, but it’d be nothing compared to the blood trail I’d leave behind when it came to Phoenix if the need should arise.

“Never mind me and my ways. Anything about Hiroshi?”

“No, nothing.”

“Maybe he’s dead already?”

“I doubt it. Hiroshi is a sneaky bastard and death won’t find him by accident.” I agreed with my brother. “He’ll have to be outsmarted.”

“More like he’s been stabbing everyone in the back, starting with your ojisan.”

“And there’s that. It just pisses me off that I didn’t see it sooner.” I had no doubt. “What’s your plan now?” he asked.

“I’m not leaving Greece till I find Phoenix. I’ve never been the giving-up type, and I certainly won’t start being one now.” I’d waited patiently enough for the past three years. It was time to make Nix my wife and finalize this deal. “How is my newfound sister doing?”

It was best we changed the subject because if Amon got an inkling of my wedding plans to Nix, I was sure he’d try and put a stop to it.

“Better.”

“That’s good. Being a Leone really didn’t serve her well, did it?” It didn’t serve any of us. Not Amon. Not me. Not Hana, Amon’s mother. And certainly not my biological mother. “No matter though, she was a Leone for a hot second before you snatched her back to the Romero side.”

“She’s still your half sister,” he pointed out.

“Yes, but I get the sense she sees Father when she looks at me.” It would be hard not to. I was the spitting image of him. Just as the woman who birthed me predicted. Devil reincarnate.

“If she does, she’s never said it. Besides, once she gets to know you, she’ll see you’re nothing like him.”

“Maybe if she’s still on drugs. If they’re out of her system, she’d have to be blind not to see.”

Not to mention once I dragged Phoenix, her precious sister, down the aisle, Reina would want to murder me.

“We all resemble our parents in one way or another,” Amon pointed out. “If she’s accepted me and forgiven me for all the shit I’ve put her through, I know she won’t hold who your father is against you.”

There was one main difference. “The girl’s head over heels for you. She’d forgive you for burning down the world.” And everyone in it. But not Phoenix. She’d be the first to sentence me to death row.

“Angelo is Reina’s biological father too, and she knows to hold it against you is to hold it against herself. Trust me, she’s not seeing Father when she sees you, and if she does, it won’t last.”

“Yeah, maybe.” There was no sense in rehashing this over and over again. I had my woman to find. “Maybe I’ll kidnap Phoenix and marry her like you did Reina so we won’t have a choice but to be a family.”

It was a sound plan if you asked me.

“That won’t make Reina like you more. If anything, it’ll piss her off. And tone your humor down. It might scare Phoenix.”

“Pfft. Women crave my comedy.”

“In your dreams.”

“There too, but mostly in reality.”

“Well, this woman probably doesn’t.” Why did he have to rain on my parade?

“She’ll have to tell me that herself. But if it makes you feel better, I promise to handle Phoenix gently.”With my hands exploring every inch and curve of her body.

“I honestly can’t wait until she puts you in your place. Now stop whining and find her so my wife can be happy.”

I rolled my eyes despite the fact he couldn’t see me. “You’re no fun since I learned you’re a Romero. Maybe that’s why Phoenix evades me, because she thinks like you.”