Her husband.
“Killing her is not an option,” she says with a hand on the don’s shoulder. She’s powerful, poised, and staring daggers at Alex…oh, that’s his name.
If I hadn’t already suspected that Alex had a mental deficiency, there was no doubt about it when he squared his shoulders to verbally retaliate. “She’s a menace and a liability. It’s the cleanest solution.”
“You so much as touch her, and I’ll hand you over to Amos Rubio myself with your head shoved between your ass cheeks.” Red barely has to raise her voice to be threatening. I’d be impressed if it weren’t for…
“Mia,” Leon warns his wife softly.
That’s not my Red.
That’s Mia Natali, mercent for hire and spy for the Prince’s Guild, the woman they sent to befriend and use me for information on my father. Information she then passed on obediently to her husband, our greatest enemy.
If I’m being honest with myself, the root of my anger lies with my own self. For being so fucking naive.
“Carmen isn’t just Rubio’s daughter,” Mia continues as if I’m not even there. “She’s his sole heiress. She’s the Cartel’s bargaining chip for alliances across the border. Without her, they can’t marry her off to the highest bidder and claim the spoils.”
I stare at Mia blankly, wondering how she found this out. Was it when she was snooping through my father’s rooms when she was supposed to be looking out for me? Or does she still think enough of me to bother doing her own research?
“All I’m hearing is a more compelling argument for killing her,” Alex mutters under his breath.
Mia reaches for her gun and points it at the back of Alex’s head.
Leon quickly reaches up to lower her arm.
“We can’t kill her,” he says resolutely. “Not when it means we can keep the Cartel cut off from any further support. She’s valuable to them beyond sentimentality, which means she’s a bargaining chip I’m not prepared to lose. Give me other options.”
The request is met with stony silence until Teo sighs and leans back in his chair. “We could move her out of the country,” he says. “Take her passport so that even if she manages to get a message out or run, she can’t get back.”
Leon considers this a moment. “Europe?”
Teo’s dark eyes flicker to something behind me. “Emilia-Romagna.”
Italy?
I’d forgotten, momentarily, that there was someone behind me. That is, until he starts muttering, and a cold shudder of familiarity runs down my spine.
“I’m going to kill Rocco.”
Asshole number one. The one with the sly grin and the awful pickup lines who doesn’t stay down when knocked out by a serving tray.
Leon’s eyes are now trained on the man behind me. “Do you have a safe house there?”
With a sigh that sounds practically indignant, the asshole replies. “I have contacts.”
As if sensing his hesitation, Leon’s eyes narrow. “This is important, Dante.”
I mentally scrawl the name into the top spot of my list with flourishing cursive.
“I’ll have to make a call,” Dante seems to swallow down something bitter.
He’s uncomfortable. Good.
“Then I’ll leave Ms. Rubio’s care in your more than capable hands,” Leon announces as if he hasn’t just sentenced us both to death.
“You ignorant bastard,” I find myself hissing. “If I’m sullied before my union, it won’t matter if I’m dead or in Italy or anywhere else on this fucking planet. The wrath of the Cartel and my future husband will be on your doorstep before you can even beg for mercy.”
This draws a satisfying amount of alarm from those before me. I can only hope the threat resonates with the man behind me, too.
