Page 14 of Dishonored

“Worked, how?” she asked.

“Seems Angelo Accardo has finally put someone on the streets to try and handle us—his oldest son, Caesar. He’s been back for about a week now.”

“Where was he again?”

“I heard New York.”

Aria nodded. “So the difficult son is back, then.”

Caesar Accardo’s antics in his family were well-known … well, as long as someone had deep enough pockets to pay someone for the information. Seemed the guy liked to cause trouble, and couldn’t keep his dick in his pants, for whatever reason.

Aria figured she could use that to her advantage.

“And he is …?” she trailed off, allowing Nico to fill in the blank she had been hoping for.

“Caesar is at his regular haunts,” Nico said, making her grin. “At least in the evenings.”

Her plan was coming together.

It was beautiful, really.

The two of them quieted as Aria went back to putting the final touches on her look with a black velvet choker around her throat, and diamond studs in her ears. Sexy, and classic, but nothing that might take attention away from her face or her body.

“It’s a shame, isn’t it?” she asked quietly.

Nico raised one dark eyebrow. “What is?”

“How this has all shaken out for this clan of ours.”

He chuckled dryly. “It’s really only you who has done all of this. It’s you who wants to control Philly, and who is determined enough to burn down the city in order to get what you want.”

“And you who is willing to help me,” she shot back.

Nico nodded once. “We both know why that is, though.”

She did.

And it was not because he loved her. Oh, sure, he did love her, but like a sister. It was only because of those feelings that Nico noticed what her father hadn’t, and was the first to step in and try to help her in any way that he could.

If only it had worked …

Well, it was working now.

That’s what mattered.

“Had it been you that Jac demanded I marry a year and a half ago before he went into prison,” Aria said, “I would not have been happy, but I would not be this, either.”

Nico glanced away. “I shouldn’t have said no when he asked.”

No, she didn’t love him, either. He’d never touched her, and she never thought to try with him, either. It would be like kissing her brother, and that only left her feeling icky. Still, had it been Nico who tied her down, she would have at least been safe.

Instead, it had been—

“Raffe called just before the meeting started,” Nico murmured.

That name again.

That feeling in her spine again.