Page 4 of Blood Vows

Dante

Dante shut the door behind him and immediately wanted to open it again, and that just plain pissed him off. He’d left women alone in rooms before. Hell, he’d left men tied to chairs knowing they wouldn’t be breathing by the time he came back, and he’d never given them another thought. But walking away from Elena Romano felt wrong.

He told himself it was because she was their only lead, and that it had nothing to do with the way she’d looked at him when she insisted she wasn’t lying. It had nothing to do with those dark eyes challenging him to believe her. And it sure as fuck had nothing to do with the fact that he’d been standing close enough to smell whatever perfume she wore and had caught himself wondering what she would feel like pressed against him. That was a complication he didn’t need.

Dante pulled his phone from his pocket and headed toward the kitchen. “What?” he answered.

“Did she talk?” Luca asked, cutting straight to business. His directness was the reason Dante liked working for him.

“She talked,” Dante said.

“And?” Luca asked. Dante glanced toward the hallway. One of the guards stood near the front door. The other was positioned at the back of the house. Dante himself had handpicked both men, and he trusted them as much as he trusted anyone who wasn’t Luca.

“She says someone is using her name and credentials to move money,” Dante almost whispered.

Luca was silent for a beat. “You believe her?”

Dante leaned against the kitchen counter. “I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” Dante’s jaw tightened. Luca knew him too fucking well.

“I think she’s scared,” Dante said.

“That doesn’t make her innocent,” Luca reminded.

“No, it doesn’t,” Dante agreed.

“But?” Dante hated that there was a but.

“She knew about the accounts before we picked her up,” he said. “She admitted her father handled money off the books for people outside the Romano family. She claims she didn’t know the extent of it until after he died.”

“Claims? So you don’t believe her,” Luca breathed.

“She’s holding something back.” That much Dante knew. Elena might not have lied about someone using her identity, but she’d lied when she said she didn’t have anything connected to her father. He’d seen it when she looked at him, though—her tiny hesitation and the way her gaze shifted. She was hiding something. The only question was whether she knew how important it was.

“What do you think she’s holding back?” Luca asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Dante admitted.

“Find out and report back to me,” Luca ordered.

“I plan to,” Dante said.

Luca hesitated, and Dante was sure he wouldn’t like what his boss said next. “Marco found another account.”

Dante straightened. “Where?”

“In the Caymans. It was opened fourteen months ago under Elena’s name,” Luca said.

Dante swore under his breath. “How much is in the account?”

“Just over four million,” Luca said.

“Jesus,” Dante breathed.

“And it gets better,” Luca continued.

“It always fucking does,” Dante grumbled.