Page 130 of Villainous Kingpin

I blinked confused. I had no fucking idea what they were talking about.

“God, you people are something,” Winston announced while an amused spark flickered in his eyes. Both Ashford brothers didn’t move, relaxed against the doorframe. They just needed a bowl of popcorn to make their entertainment full.

“Now, now, everyone,” Byron deadpanned with that masked civility. He was just as brutal as the rest of the underworld. I’d stake my life on it. “We have to settle this like normal people. Let my cousins say what they want, and we can all come to terms. Without any bloodshed.”

“Cousins,” Emory sneered. “Just because your mother was sister to our father, doesn’t make us family.”

“I didn’t call you family, did I?” Byron drawled, his eyes cold on her.

“Byron, your cousins are crazy,” I rasped, my breath shaky.

Nobody acknowledged me. Byron and Winston had their eyes on the men ready to shoot each other. I felt like prey caught in the war, unsure which way to run.

Maybe stay with the current captor?

“I don’t give a shit whose cousins they are,” Killian spit. “They kidnapped a woman.My cousin.DiLustro's gone too far.”

“Wynter ismine,” Bas growled. “She is the payment for a debt owed.” Confusion twisted in my stomach as my eyes frantically sought out my uncle and Killian, then Sasha. My sixth sense warned, but my brain wasn’t coming up with the details fast enough. “Forty million dollars.”

Realization slammed into me.

“Fuck,” I cursed at the same time as Uncle. I attempted to elbow Bas but his arm around me wouldn’t budge. Instead, my butt ground against him.

His lips pressed to my ear.

“Careful, principessa,” he rasped low so nobody else could hear him. “You're giving me a boner, pushing up against me like that.”

I instantly stilled, my eyes flashing to Uncle and Sasha. The latter looked like he was ready to start shooting and call it a day. My uncle was the strategic one.

“I’ll have the money wired to you,” Uncle assured him. “This morning.”

A sardonic amusement flashed across Basilio’s expression. “No can do, Brennan.”

“What do you want then, DiLustro?” Uncle gritted.

My heart hammered against my ribcage; it actually hurt to breathe. Something about Uncle’s question had my survival instinct kicking in. And just like prey, I felt the need to run.

I turned my head around to find Bas’ eyes shimmering with darkness. For a fraction of a second his eyes met mine, and something vulnerable flashed in those depths, it made my chest ache.

My breaths grew short as all the suppressed feelings slammed into me. The man I used to know offered me glimpses of his vulnerability, but just as I went to open my mouth, his expression changed back to a cold, dark mask.

“A wife,” Bas replied and his gaze hardened as it returned to my uncle. A cold realization filled my lungs as I watched Uncle’s eyes turn dark, like the deepest oceans during a violent storm. I had never seen this look on his face before, not when we got caught with our shenanigans and not when I lost my shit on him.

“Put an ad in the paper,” Uncle bit out. “You won’t have my niece. In fact, none of my family.”

Slowly, like I was trapped in a slow motion movie, I glanced at Dante, then Emory whose eyes flickered with regret.

“Why would I do that?” Bas drawled. “I already found my bride.”

I shook my head, unable to breathe. Words escaped me and my heart squeezed in my chest. I couldn’t marry him. I fell for him once and moving on almost destroyed me. I couldn’t be around him; my heart would fall for him again. I wouldn’t survive it.

The silence that fell upon the room was loathing and angry from Uncle and Sasha, annoyance from Luca King, thoughtfulness from the Ashford brothers and apathy from Bas.

“No, no, no,” I breathed.

“She doesn’t want you, fucker,” Killian said, his voice cold while Bas’ gaze burned through me.

I wouldn’t survive my old lover.