Panic swirls inside my chest. What will Nero do when he finds out what Maksim wants?
He’ll probably lose it.
But what if he doesn’t? What if he thinks it’s a fair price in exchange for getting what we want?
“Blake?”
I stare at my lap, my vision turning blurry. There’s a loud whooshing sound inside my ears. And then Nero’s right there, kneeling beside me.
He cups my cheek with his warm hand and forces me to meet his worried gaze. “Blake.”
A tear slides down my cheek, and his concerned expression turns to pure stone.
“What happened?” he asks in a rough voice.
When I can’t get an answer past my tight throat, he directs his attention to the man beside me.
“Whatthe fuckdid you say to my wife?”
CHAPTER 24
NERO
Maksim rises out of his chair and walks around the desk, as if realizing it’s better if there’s something standing between him and me right now.
How the hell did this scumbag make Blake cry in only five minutes during my pointless phone call with Cosimo Ferraro?
That jerk-off didn’t even have anything important to say to me besides demanding my presence at some fucking meeting he’s organizing for his made guys tomorrow night. I told him where he could shove his meeting. He didn’t like it, but I don’t give a damn. If he’s upset, he can go cry to his daddy, who’ll tell him I have more important things to do than stroke his ego.
And now I’m even more pissed about that useless exchange, because clearly, I never should have left Blake alone with Maksim.
The Russian places his hands flat on the desk. “I simply made Blake an offer.”
“What kind of an offer?”
“A fair one. One night with her in exchange for my help in getting you out of the mess you’re in.”
It takes me a few moments to register what he means. When I do, my eyes immediately snap to Blake.
The look in her eyes rattles me. Why does she seem so unsure?
Is she actually considering his offer?
No way. There’s no fucking way she could even imagine going through with it.
Why didn’t she slap him as soon as he said the words? Why didn’t she storm the hell out of this office?
I shove all those questions away until after I’ve dealt with Maksim. “Do you have a death wish?”
Maksim smirks, crossing his arms over his chest. “You want to get revenge against the Ferraros and the Messeros. You want to reclaim your power. I can help you do that.”
“How’s that exactly?”
“If you tell me where they store their weapons, I’ll pass the information to the pakhan, and he’ll do the rest. You won’t have to do a thing for Gino Ferraro anymore, because he’ll be dead. Wouldn’t it feel great to know your information causes their downfall?”
This motherfucker. He’s playing on my ego. He thinks the satisfaction of being the one responsible for the Italians’ demise will be worth more than anything to me, but he couldn’t be more wrong.
“You make it sound like you’d be doing me a favor. But let’s be real, your boss stands to gain a lot from my intel.”
