Taking in the polished office, I inhale. Aftershave, gunpowder, and wood polish, it still smells like when Nico ran things. The capo hasn’t exactly branched out and made the family his yet.
Glancing to my side, I incline my head the slightest to Tony, the capo’s second. With a bald head and broad shoulders, Tony is a cousin with special ops training. And the keeper of a few secrets I never want to get out.
He returns the greeting, the barest hint of fear in his eyes.
“Capo.” I take the vacant seat before his desk. Papers cover the top, a book of expenses open wide at the corner. A cigarette burns in the ashtray beside his arm, and I tsk. “Still smoking? I’m sure Sloane wouldn’t be happy about that.”
“Fuck off,” he growls, stubbing it out. “You’d smoke too if you had twins due any day.”
Maybe. I’m not married to the resident wild child. That’s his problem.
His black hair glistens under the soft light, his ebony leather gloves crinkling against the silence of the room. He wears them to cover the burns that cover his hands and body. He sustained them as a child in Italy, before Nico, his uncle and former capo, brought him here.
I could consider him attractive, with his burning amber eyes, warm skin, and laugh lines—if I didn’t have this insane urge to gut him whenever he’s near.
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“So.” He reclines in his seat. His black Armani suit, pressed with all the right creases, hides the large, obnoxious watch on his wrist. “My product. Where is it?”
Crossing my legs, I shrug. His pulse thumps, and something tickles me to cause him this aggravation.
“You don’t know?”
“Oh, I do.”
Exhaling, he slaps his hand on the desk. “Thenoutwith it, Reaper. Where the fuck are my pills?”
God, it’s too fun riling him up.
Smirking, I pluck a cigarette from my coat. Snapping his fingers, he says, “Hey, what about the bullshit you gave me?”
“I don’t have a wife to answer to,” I reply. “I’ll keep my bad habit.”
“No. Only a master.” He scoffs. “Speaking of. Does she know you’re here?”
I just stare.
Lex nods, laughing. “Whatever you two are doing, keep me out of it. I don’t need Ace cutting out my heart. She’s psychotic.”
Smart man.He remembers Ace cutting off his cousin’s head when he tried to harm Sloane. It was beautiful watching her saw into his throat and crack his spinal cord as she dislodged his head. Poetic, really.
Blowing out a puff of smoke, I sigh. “The pills have been destroyed.”
“Destroyed?” The vein on the side of his neck bulges. I wonder if Sloane makes it a game, counting how often it throbs. I’m tempted to try.
“Bruno,” I say by explanation. “He’s becoming a nuisance.”
Checking his phone, the capo raises a brow. “I don’t have a text about his death. I would assume by now Ace killed him and a new leader was chosen.”
I don’t like how well he knowsmygirl.
Rubbing my bottom lip, I fantasize about slicing his neck. “She tried. I stopped it.” Flicking ash onto his floor, I ignore his glare. “We have a situation at home.”
Lex pauses, tilting his head. “Is Sloane in danger?”
Is she?
So far, the Board has only gone after Maeve and the clan. Technically, Sloane is a De Luca. Attacking her would equal war.
