Page 44 of No Darker Temptation

“I don’t know,” I snap. “I don’t interfere with his work.”

“His shipment was derailed in France. Twenty-five million euros’ worth of cargo was seized. All of this could’ve been avoided if Alejo wasn’t so stubborn…” She says the last part to herself.

Her words sting. The intimacy with which she says his name doesn’t evade my notice. No one’s ever addressed Alejandro as Alejo before, at least not in my presence. Which means it must’ve been something shared between the two of them. It makes me sick to my stomach.

“I need you to pass on a message. Can I trust you to give it to him?”

“If Alejandro hasn’t accepted your help yet, it’s for a reason. As for trust?” I say. “I don’t trust you. Not as far as I can throw you. I already said what I came here to say. Stay away from Karina and don’t ever send messages to my house again.”

When I try to leave she side steps me and blocks the exit. Valor evaporating, I quickly realize how reckless the decision to come out here was. She could have a weapon on her or men hiding in plain sight. Why didn’t I inspect the apartment more thoroughly when I came in? Why didn’t I grab something to defend myself when I ran out of the house?

Why did I come here alone?

“You’re very beautiful.” She muses aloud, the statement made without admiration but a matter-of-factness that doesn’t evade my notice. “You’re different in person. Then again, I expected...”

“Expected what?”

“Someone more like me.”

Her comment hits a nerve and I’m half tempted to choke her to death with the chain on my bag.

“A conniving, cold-hearted bitch?”

If I didn’t know any better, I might mistake the flicker in her eyes for amusement. “I have to admit, this meeting is entirely self-serving. You’re the first woman in his life since me. I was curious.”

My mouth sours as she circles me, taking up space and absorbing the air in the room, her eyes assessing me with all the interest and cool detachment of a predator hunting prey.

“Maybe he couldn’t trust that the next woman he got close to wouldn’t betray him again.”

She stops in her tracks, eyes dimming. After a while, she tsks. “Goodness. I had no idea I was still his favorite topic of conversation during pillow talk.”

“You’re testing my patience.”

“And you are stepping into my life. Living with the family that should’ve been mine, being loved by the man who loved me first. Have a bit of compassion. This is very difficult for me.”

She coats her words in a fine layer of sarcasm but I feel the truth and pain behind them. Regina speaks in the present tense, as if her failed nuptials weren’t years ago. Then again, maybe for Regina Sandoval, it makes no difference. In her mind, she would’ve won Alejandro back one day and my presence has thrown a wrench into her plans.

With a resigned sigh, Regina resumes her pacing. “I’m trying to help.”

“And how exactly is cornering me on your brother’s territory helping?”

Regina waits before responding. “I’d never let anything happen to you. Contrary to what everyone thinks I’m neither heartless nor cruel. Alejandro loves you. If you were hurt under my watch he’d never forgive me.”

“To be clear, he’d kill you.”

She flinches. “Excuse me?”

“I said, he’d kill you,” I repeat, as clearly as I did the first time. “If something happens to me while I’m here, he will kill you.”

With curtness, she replies, “I need you to pass on a message. Sandro is planning something. And it isn’t another assassination attempt. This is big—it’s dangerous. Alejandro has no idea what’s about to come his way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sandro’s making foreign alliances that could bring the city to its knees. The entire underground operation could collapse.”

Curiosity gets the better of me. “How so?”

“The Twelve Families have been in power for decades—since the sixties. We control the local government, police force, economy…everything.” She continues. “If Sandro keeps making foreign alliances, bringing new families into the fold, everyone is going to fight to come out on top. The ports Alejandro controls are arguably the most important in all of Europe. Merchandise comes here first before it’s transported to the rest of the continent and across the Mediterranean, reaching as far as North Africa.