Page 9 of Wrathful King

“Perez Cortes got her.” My heart twisted so fucking bad I was sure it was being pulled out of my chest. Perez Cortes was a sadistic motherfucker. “I learned something over the last week.”

“What’s that?” I asked while my mind already worked on a plan, starting with getting out of this fucking bed.

“Father had an agreement with Perez Cortes once upon a time.”

My attention snapped to him. “What? Are you sure?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“How do you know?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. Angelo had never hid his business from us, exactly, and I didn’t remember seeing any mention of his business dealings with the Cortes cartel. “And what was the agreement?”

“Kian told me,” he explained. “It’s how Father obtainedstockfor his whorehouses.” It still disgusted me that he’d participated in that shit. “Apparently our old man liked to bid at Marabella’s auction too, for his more prestigious clients. And it gave him a taste of girls from all different ethnic backgrounds.” If Angelo Leone were alive, I’d murder him myself. Right. The. Fuck. Now.

“Anyhow, Father ended it the same summer Romero moved his family back to Italy. Kian said our father made a rash and out-of-the-blue decision and turned against the trafficking of illegitimate mafia princesses.” The Cortes cartel had been running the Marabella auctions for the past two hundred years. It was a lucrative business and drew men with large pockets and no scruples. They’d built a hefty fortune from it. “Apparently Cortes has had it out for Angelo since then.”

My brows furrowed as puzzle pieces slowly fell into place. If Angelo suspected one of the Romero daughters was his illegitimate daughter, he might have ended the deal so as not to risk putting her in danger. If this turned out to be true, it would be the one decent thing he’d done in his life.

“Maybe the marriage arrangement was what ultimately put the Romero girls on Perez’s radar,” he added pensively. “Although it was you who sealed the deal.”

My eyes narrowed. “I wondered when you’d bring it up. After all, we have to discuss it.”

Dante gave me a blank look. “Discuss what?” he asked innocently. Christ, I didn’t have patience for any of this shit right now.

“Reina,” I gritted.

He let out a wry laugh. “What? Eager to discuss kidnapping my bride?”

I tilted my head, studying him. What did he mean? Not even he would have followed through with those wedding plans after what I told him, no matter how pissed off he might’ve been that I’d taken her.

“She was never your bride,” I snapped. “And you know it.”

He casually lifted his shoulder. “She could have been.”

“No, she couldn’t and wouldn’t have been. Not unless you wanted to be a dead man the moment you said ‘I do,’ assuming I’d allow the ceremony to get that far.”

“You could have called or texted me, you know,” he grumbled.

“I did text you. I told you she was your sister and I was saving your ass.” Literally.

He eyed me suspiciously. “What?”

“Stop playing games,” I said, suddenly exhausted. “I’m sure the doctor would tell you it’s bad for my health.”

He glared down at me. “This isn’t the time for games. After everything we’ve been through, you should know that I wouldn’t fuck around.Whattext?”

Dante watched me, his expression solemn.

“Fuck,” I muttered, pushing my hand through my hair and meeting his gaze. It was unpredictable how he’d take the news, but there was no sense in delaying it any more. “Reina’s your half sister.”

Silence fell and my brother’s eyes widened slightly as the reality of the situation sunk in.

“Half sister,” he repeated slowly, standing up and pacing the room. One minute stretched into two, then three. “I almost married my halfsister?”

Dante had always been my ally, the only one I could trust. And even when we went through periods of distance, I always had his back. I could only hope that the secrets about to come out wouldn’t destroy that.

I waited for the wheels in his brain to click the rest of the information into place, and I saw the exact moment he started to question my connection to Reina.

“You and her—”