A chill runs down my spine.
He’s never said that to me, not as an adult. Not in so many words. He’s the kind of man who’d rather send an envelope of unmarked bills to my apartment when I’m low on rent than have a genuine conversation about emotions.
Something is wrong. Something is very, very wrong.
I grab his hand. “Papà.What’s going on?”
He squeezes my hand back. “Come. I’ll explain when we’re inside.”
“Is this about the Guild?” I ask anyway as he leads us in. “Are you in danger? Do you need me to get you out?”
My father laughs humorlessly as he pushes through the doors, bypassing the main reception area altogether to beeline for a set of doors on the far side of the hall.
“You worry about me too much.”
“I feel like I worry about you an adequate amount, actually,” I snap back at him before glancing back over my shoulder. “I think the restaurant was back there.”
He ignores me and continues to pull me across the hall.
I dig my heels in and pull us to a stop. “Not another step until you give mesomething.Where are you taking me?”
“There’s a room set up in the back. It’s…more discreet.”
Something finally clicks.
“Who else is here?”
“Mia…”
“No,” I take a step back. “Tell me.”
“I can’t?—”
“Can’t or won’t? Because if this is another one of Teo’s fucking interventions to get me to join the Guild, I’m leaving right now.”
“Mia!” My father’s voice booms out loudly enough for several of the other guests to look our way. “You will take my hand, and you will follow me into that room, or else, I swear to God, I will drag you in there myself.”
I snort. “Good luck with that. We both know your back isn’t up to it.”
“This is not a game anymore.” Each word that leaves his mouth feels like ice slicing across my skin. “You know how precarious the situation is between the Guild and the Prince’s Hand right now.”
“Is this some kind of test?” I hiss back. “Because if it is, then I wouldn’t know a thing about any of that, would I?”
“We need this alliance?—”
“We?I have nothing to do with this.”
“Amos Rubio would disagree. You’re mydaughter.”
Something stirs within me at the mention of the Cartel’s kingpin—the man responsible for so many of my father’s gray hairs and the eternal thorn in the Guild’s side.
As much as I loathe having to admit it, my father has a point. If the Cartel targets Marco Chiavari, his entire family is at risk by association. And, from what I’ve gathered so far, an alliance with the Prince’s Hand is our best bet to ensure that never happens.
But the Guild’s Italian contemporaries from Manhattan have been feuding with them for years. So it’s no real surprise that negotiations aren’t going smoothly.
Despite the fact that Teo married the don’s sister.
“Give me one honest reason I should follow you into that room.” I glare at my father.
